Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
A Prayer for Mercy in Troubled Times
For the director of music. With stringed instruments. By the sheminith. A song of David.
6 Lord, don’t correct me when you are angry.
Don’t punish me when you are very angry.
2 Lord, be kind to me because I am weak.
Heal me, Lord, because my bones ache.
3 I am very upset.
Lord, how long will it be?
4 Lord, return and save me.
Save me because of your kindness.
5 Dead people don’t remember you.
Those in the grave don’t praise you.
6 I am tired of crying to you.
Every night my bed is wet with tears.
My bed is soaked from my crying.
7 My eyes are weak from so much crying.
They are weak from crying about my enemies.
8 Get away from me, all you who do evil.
The Lord has heard my crying.
9 The Lord has heard my cry for help.
The Lord will answer my prayer.
10 All my enemies will be ashamed and troubled.
They will turn and suddenly leave in shame.
3 There were four men with a harmful skin disease at the entrance to the city gate. They said to each other, “Why do we sit here until we die? 4 A time of hunger is in the city. So if we go into the city, we will die there. If we stay here, we will die. So let’s go to the Aramean camp. If they let us live, we will live. If they kill us, then we die.”
5 So they got up at twilight. And they went to the Aramean camp. But when they arrived, no one was there. 6 The Lord had caused the Aramean army to hear the sound of chariots, horses and a large army. They had said to each other, “The king of Israel has hired the Hittite and Egyptian kings to attack us!” 7 So they ran away in the twilight. They left their tents, horses and donkeys. They left the camp standing and ran for their lives.
8 The men with the skin disease came to the edge of the camp. Then they went into one of the tents. They ate and drank. They carried silver, gold and clothes out of the camp and hid them. Then they came back and entered another tent. They carried things from this tent and hid them, also. 9 Then they said to each other, “We’re doing wrong. Today we have good news, but we are silent. If we wait until the sun comes up, we’ll be punished. Let’s go now and tell the people in the king’s palace.”
10 So they went and called to the gatekeepers of the city. They said, “We went to the Aramean camp. But no one is there. We didn’t hear anyone. The horses and donkeys were still tied up, and the tents were still standing.”
14 So, my dear friends, stay away from worshiping idols. 15 I am speaking to you, as to reasonable people; judge for yourselves what I say. 16 We give thanks for the cup of blessing.[a] It is a sharing in the blood of Christ’s death. And the bread that we break is a sharing in the body of Christ. 17 There is one loaf of bread. And we are many people. But we all share from that one loaf. So we are really one body.
18 Think about the people of Israel: Do not those who eat the sacrifices share in the altar? 19 I do not mean that the food sacrificed to an idol is something important. And I do not mean that an idol is anything at all. 20 But I say that what is sacrificed to idols is offered to demons, not to God. And I do not want you to share anything with demons. 21 You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons, too. You cannot share in the Lord’s table and the table of demons, too. 22 Do we want to make the Lord jealous? We are not stronger than he is, are we?
How to Use Christian Freedom
23 “We are allowed to do all things.” Yes. But not all things are good for us to do. “We are allowed to do all things.” Yes. But not all things help others grow stronger. 24 No one should try to do what will help only himself. He should try to do what is good for others.
25 Eat any meat that is sold in the meat market. Do not ask questions about the meat to see if it is something you think is wrong to eat. 26 You can eat it, “because the earth and everything on it belong to the Lord.”[b]
27 Someone who is not a believer may invite you to eat with him. If you want to go, eat anything that is put before you. Do not ask questions about it. 28 But if anyone says to you, “That food was offered to idols,” then do not eat it. Do not eat it because of that person who told you and because eating it would be something that might be thought wrong. 29 I don’t mean that you think it is wrong. But the other person might think it is wrong. My own freedom should not be judged by what someone else thinks. 30 I eat the meal with thankfulness. And I do not want to be criticized because of something I thank God for.
31 So if you eat, or if you drink, or if you do anything, do everything for the glory of God. 32 Never do anything that might make others do wrong—Jews, Greeks, or God’s church. 33 I do the same thing. I try to please everybody in every way. I am not trying to do what is good for me. I try to do what is good for the most people. I do this so that they can be saved.
11 Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.