Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Prayer for Protection from the Wicked.

To the Chief Musician; on wind instruments. A Psalm of David.

³⁵ Now a certain man of ^[a]the sons of the prophets said to another by the word of the Lord, “Please strike me.” But the man refused to strike him. ³⁶ Then the prophet said to him, “Because you have not obeyed the voice of the Lord, behold, as soon as you leave me, a lion will kill you.” And as soon as he left him, a lion found him and killed him. ³⁷ Then the prophet found another man and said, “Please strike me.” So the man struck him hard, wounding him. ³⁸ So the prophet left and waited for King Ahab by the road, and disguised himself [as a wounded soldier] with a bandage over his eyes. ³⁹ As the king passed by, the prophet called out to the king and said, “Your servant went out into the middle of the battle, and behold, a man turned aside and brought a man to me and said, ‘Guard this man; if for any reason he is missing, then your life shall be required for his life, or else you shall pay a talent of silver.’ ⁴⁰ But while your servant was busy here and there, he [escaped and] was gone.” And the king of Israel said to him, “Such is your own judgment (verdict); you have determined it.” ⁴¹ Then the prophet quickly removed the bandage from his eyes, and [Ahab] the king of Israel recognized him as one of the prophets. ⁴² He said to the king, “Thus says the Lord: ‘Because you have released from your hand the man [Ben-hadad] whom I had devoted to destruction, your life shall be required for his life, and your people for his people.’” ⁴³ So the king of Israel went to his house resentful and sullen, and came to Samaria.^(A)

¹⁷ One day as He was teaching, there were Pharisees and teachers of the Law sitting there who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was present with Him to heal. ¹⁸ Some men came carrying on a stretcher a man who was paralyzed, and they tried to bring him in and lay him down in front of Jesus.^{(A) 19} But finding no way to bring him in because of the crowd, they went up on the ^[a]roof [and removed some tiles to make an opening] and lowered him through the tiles with his stretcher, into the middle of the crowd, in front of Jesus. ²⁰ When Jesus saw their [active] faith [springing from confidence in Him], He said, “Man, your sins are forgiven.” ²¹ The scribes and the Pharisees began to consider and question [the implications of what He had said], saying, “Who is this man who speaks blasphemies [by claiming the rights and prerogatives of God]? Who can forgive sins [that is, remove guilt, nullify sin’s penalty, and assign righteousness] except God alone?” ²² But Jesus, knowing their [hostile] thoughts, answered them, “Why are you questioning [these things] in your hearts? ²³ Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? ²⁴ But, in order that you may know that the Son of Man (the Messiah) has authority and power on earth to forgive sins”—He said to the paralyzed man, “I say to you, get up, pick up your stretcher and go home.” ²⁵ He immediately stood up before them, picked up his stretcher, and went home glorifying and praising God. ²⁶ They were all astonished, and they began glorifying God; and they were filled with [reverential] fear and kept saying, “We have seen wonderful and incredible things today!”