Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Prayer for Protection from the Wicked.

For the music director; for ^[a]flute accompaniment. A Psalm of David.

³⁵ Now a man from ^(A)the sons of the prophets said to ^[a]another ^(B)by the word of the Lord, “Please strike me.” But the man refused to strike him. ³⁶ Then he said to him, “Because you have not listened to the voice of the Lord, behold, as soon as you leave me, ^(C)a lion will ^[b]kill you.” And as soon as he left him a lion found him and ^[c]killed him. ³⁷ Then he found another man and said, “Please strike me.” And the man struck him, ^[d]injuring him. ³⁸ So the prophet departed and waited for the king by the road, and ^(D)disguised himself with a bandage over his eyes. ³⁹ And as the king passed by, he cried out to the king and said, “Your servant went out into the midst 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 goes missing, ^(E)then your life shall be forfeited in place of his life, or else you shall pay a ^[e]talent of silver.’ ⁴⁰ Now while your servant was busy here and there, he disappeared.” And the king of Israel said to him, “So shall your judgment be; you yourself determined it.” ⁴¹ Then he quickly took the bandage away from his eyes, and the king of Israel recognized him, that he was one of the prophets. ⁴² And the prophet said to him, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Since you have let go from your hand the man I had designated for destruction, ^(F)your ^[f]life shall be forfeited in place of his ^[g]life, and your people in place of his people.’” ⁴³ So ^(G)the king of Israel went to his house sullen and furious, and came to Samaria.

A Man Lowered through a Roof

^17 [a]One day He was teaching, and ^(A)there were some Pharisees and ^(B)teachers of the Law sitting there who had ^(C)come from every village of Galilee and Judea, and from Jerusalem; and ^(D)the power of the Lord was present for Him to perform healing. ^18 (E)And some men were carrying a man on a stretcher who was paralyzed; and they were trying to bring him in and to set him down in front of Him. ¹⁹ But when they did not find any way to bring him in because of the crowd, they went up on ^(F)the roof and let him down ^(G)through the tiles with his stretcher, into the middle of the crowd, in front of Jesus. ²⁰ And seeing their faith, He said, “^[b]Friend, ^(H)your sins are forgiven you.” ²¹ The scribes and the Pharisees ^(I)began thinking of the implications, saying, “^(J)Who is this man who speaks blasphemies? ^(K)Who can forgive sins, except God alone?” ²² But Jesus, ^[c]aware of their thoughts, responded and said to them, “Why are you thinking this way in your hearts? ²³ Which is easier, to say: ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ 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 ^(L)man who was paralyzed, “I say to you, get up, and pick up your stretcher, and go home.” ²⁵ And immediately he got up before them, and picked up what he had been lying on, and went home ^(M)glorifying God. ²⁶ And ^[d]they were all struck with astonishment and began ^(N)glorifying God. They were also filled ^(O)with fear, saying, “We have seen remarkable things today!”