Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Lead Me in Your Righteousness

To the choirmaster: for the flutes. A Psalm of David.

A Prophet Condemns Ben-hadad's Release

³⁵ And a certain man of ^(A)the sons of the prophets said to his fellow ^(B)at the command of the Lord, “Strike me, please.” But the man refused to strike him. ³⁶ Then he said to him, “Because you have not obeyed the voice of the Lord, behold, as soon as you have gone from me, a lion shall strike you down.” And as soon as he had departed from him, ^(C)a lion met him and struck him down. ³⁷ Then he found another man and said, “Strike me, please.” And the man struck him—struck him and wounded him. ³⁸ So the prophet departed and waited for the king by the way, ^(D)disguising himself with a bandage over his eyes. ³⁹ And as the king passed, he cried to the king and said, “Your servant went out into the midst of the battle, and behold, a soldier turned and brought a man to me and said, ‘Guard this man; if by any means he is missing, ^(E)your life shall be for his life, or else you shall pay a talent^[a] of silver.’ ⁴⁰ And as your servant was busy here and there, he was gone.” The king of Israel said to him, “So shall your judgement be; you yourself have decided it.” ⁴¹ Then he hurried to take the bandage away from his eyes, and the king of Israel recognized him as one of the prophets. ⁴² And he said to him, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Because you have let go out of your hand the man whom I had devoted to destruction,^[b] therefore ^(F)your life shall be for his life, and your people for his people.’” ⁴³ And the king of Israel ^(G)went to his house vexed and sullen and came to Samaria.

Jesus Heals a Paralytic

¹⁷ On one of those days, as he was teaching, Pharisees and ^(A)teachers of the law were sitting there, who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem. And ^(B)the power of the Lord was with him to heal.^{[a] 18 (C)}And behold, some men were bringing ^(D)on a bed a man who was paralysed, and they were seeking to bring him in and lay him before Jesus, ¹⁹ but finding no way to bring him in, because of the crowd, they went up on ^(E)the roof and let him down with his bed ^(F)through the tiles into the midst before Jesus. ²⁰ And ^(G)when he saw their faith, he said, “Man, ^(H)your sins are forgiven you.” ²¹ And the scribes and the Pharisees began to question, saying, “Who is this who speaks ^(I)blasphemies? ^(J)Who can forgive sins but God alone?” ²² When Jesus ^(K)perceived their thoughts, he answered them, “Why do you question in your hearts? ²³ Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you’, or to say, ‘Rise and walk’? ²⁴ But that you may know that ^(L)the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the man who was paralysed—“I say to you, rise, pick up your bed and go home.” ²⁵ And immediately he rose up before them and picked up what he had been lying on and went home, ^(M)glorifying God. ²⁶ And amazement seized them all, and they ^(N)glorified God and were filled ^(O)with awe, saying, “We have seen extraordinary things today.”