Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
135 Hallelujah! 2 Yes, let his people praise him as they stand in his Temple courts. 3 Praise the Lord because he is so good; sing to his wonderful name. 4 For the Lord has chosen Israel as his personal possession.
5 I know the greatness of the Lord—that he is greater far than any other god. 6 He does whatever pleases him throughout all of heaven and earth and in the deepest seas. 7 He makes mists rise throughout the earth; he sends the lightning to bring down the rain and sends the winds from his treasuries. 8 He destroyed the eldest child in each Egyptian home, along with the firstborn of the flocks. 9 He did great miracles in Egypt before Pharaoh and all his people. 10 He smote great nations, slaying mighty kings— 11 Sihon, king of Amorites; and Og, the king of Bashan; and the kings of Canaan— 12 and gave their land as an eternal gift to his people Israel.
13 O Jehovah, your name endures forever; your fame is known to every generation. 14 For Jehovah will vindicate his people and have compassion on his servants.
15 The heathen worship idols of gold and silver made by men— 16 idols with speechless mouths, sightless eyes, 17 and ears that cannot hear; they cannot even breathe. 18 Those who make them become like them! And so do all who trust in them!
19 O Israel, bless Jehovah! High Priests of Aaron, bless his name. 20 O Levite priests, bless the Lord Jehovah! Oh, bless his name, all of you who trust and reverence him. 21 All people of Jerusalem, praise the Lord,[a] for he lives here in Jerusalem. Hallelujah!
12 Then this message of the Lord came to me:
13 “Son of dust, if the people of a land sin against me, then I will crush them with my fist, break off their food supply, and send famine to destroy both man and beast. 14 Even if Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it, they alone would be saved by their righteousness, and I would destroy the remainder of Israel,” says the Lord God.
15 “If I send an invasion of dangerous wild animals into the land to devastate the land, 16 even if these three men were there, the Lord God swears that it would do no good—it would not save the people from their doom. Those three only would be saved, but the land would be devastated.
17 “Or if I bring war against that land and tell the armies of the enemy to come and destroy everything, 18 even if these three men were in the land, the Lord God declares that they alone would be saved.
19 “And if I pour out my fury by sending an epidemic of disease into the land, and the plague kills man and beast alike, 20 though Noah, Daniel, and Job were living there, the Lord God says that only they would be saved because of their righteousness.”
21 And the Lord says: “Four great punishments await Jerusalem to destroy all life: war, famine, ferocious beasts, plague. 22 If there are survivors and they come here to join you as exiles in Babylon, you will see with your own eyes how wicked they are, and you will know it was right for me to destroy Jerusalem. 23 You will agree, when you meet them, that it is not without cause that all these things are being done to Israel.”
24 Then he left Galilee and went to the region of Tyre and Sidon,[a] and tried to keep it a secret that he was there, but couldn’t. For as usual the news of his arrival spread fast.
25 Right away a woman came to him whose little girl was possessed by a demon. She had heard about Jesus and now she came and fell at his feet, 26 and pled with him to release her child from the demon’s control. (But she was Syrophoenician—a “despised Gentile”!)
27 Jesus told her, “First I should help my own family—the Jews.[b] It isn’t right to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.”
28 She replied, “That’s true, sir, but even the puppies under the table are given some scraps from the children’s plates.”
29 “Good!” he said. “You have answered well—so well that I have healed your little girl. Go on home, for the demon has left her!”
30 And when she arrived home, her little girl was lying quietly in bed, and the demon was gone.
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.