Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 5
With You the Wicked Cannot Dwell
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For the choir director. For flutes. A psalm by David.
Access in Prayer
1 Turn your ear to my words, O Lord.
Understand me when I sigh.
2 Pay attention to my cry for help,
my King and my God,
for to you I pray.
3 Lord, in the morning you hear my voice.
In the morning I lay out my requests in front of you,
and I watch for your answer.
No Access
4 For you are not a God who takes pleasure in evil.
With you the wicked cannot dwell.
5 The arrogant cannot stand before your eyes.
You hate all evildoers.
6 You put to death those who speak lies.
The Lord is disgusted with bloodthirsty, deceitful men.
Access in Prayer
7 But as for me, by your great mercy
I will enter your house.
I will bow down toward your holy temple
with reverence for you.
8 Lord, lead me in your righteousness.
Because of those who slander me,
make your way straight before me.
God’s Judgment on Ahab
35 Then by the word of the Lord one of the sons of the prophets[a] said to his neighbor, “Strike me, please.” But the man refused to strike him. 36 So he said to him, “Because you did not listen to the voice of the Lord, when you leave me, a lion will kill you.” When he left him, a lion found him and killed him.
37 Then he found another man and said, “Strike me, please.” The man struck him and wounded him. 38 The prophet went and stood before the king at the road and disguised himself with a bandage over his eyes.
39 When the king was passing by, the prophet shouted to the king, “Your servant went out in the middle of the battle. Then someone brought a man to me and said, ‘Guard this man. If you can’t account for him, then it will be your life for his life, or you will have to pay a talent of silver.’ 40 But while your servant was busy doing this and that, all of a sudden the man was gone!”
Then the king of Israel said to him, “That is your sentence. You have pronounced it on yourself.”
41 Then he quickly removed the bandage from his eyes, and the king of Israel recognized that he was one of the prophets.
42 He said to the king, “This is what the Lord says. Because you set a man free, whom I had devoted to destruction, it will be your life for his life and your people for his people.” 43 The king of Israel headed for his palace sullen and angry, and he arrived in Samaria.
Jesus Forgives Sins
17 On one of the days while Jesus was teaching, Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem. The power of the Lord was with him to heal. 18 Just then, men who were carrying a paralyzed man on a stretcher tried to bring him in and lay him in front of Jesus. 19 Since they did not find a way to bring him in because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him down through the tiles on his stretcher into the middle of the crowd, right in front of Jesus. 20 When he saw their faith, he said, “Man, your sins have been forgiven.”
21 The experts in the law and the Pharisees began to think to themselves, “Who is this fellow who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins except God alone?”
22 But Jesus knew their thoughts and answered them, “Why are you thinking this in your hearts? 23 Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins have been forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? 24 But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins. . .” He said to the paralyzed man, “I tell you, get up, take your stretcher, and go home.”
25 Immediately, he stood up in front of them, picked up what he had been lying on, and went home glorifying God. 26 They were all astonished and glorified God. They were also filled with reverence and said, “We have seen wonderful things today.”
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.