Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
To the Director: For flutes. A Davidic Psalm
A Prayer for God’s Help
5 Lord, listen to my words,
consider my groaning.
2 Pay attention to my cry for help,[a]
my king and my God,
for unto you will I pray.
3 Lord, in the morning you will hear my voice;
in the morning I will pray[b] to you,
and I will watch for your answer.[c]
4 Indeed, you aren’t a God who delights in wickedness;
evil will never dwell with you.
5 Boastful ones will not stand before you;
you hate all those who practice wickedness.
6 You will destroy those who speak lies.
The Lord abhors the person of bloodshed and deceit.
7 But I, because of the abundance of your gracious love,
may come into your house.
In awe of you, I will worship in your holy Temple.
8 Lord, lead me in your righteousness because of my enemies.
Make your path straight before me.
Ahab is Condemned
35 Right about then, one of the members of the guild[a] of prophets told another through a message from the Lord: “Please strike me!” But the man refused to do so, 36 so he told him, “Because you haven’t obeyed the Lord’s voice, as soon as you leave here, a lion will kill you.” As soon as the man left, a lion found him and killed him.
37 Later, he found another man and told him, “Please strike me!” So the man struck him and wounded him. 38 Then the prophet left and waited for the king to pass by, disguising himself with a bandage over his eyes.
39 As the king was passing by, he cried out to the king and told him, “Your servant went out into the middle of the battle, and a soldier turned aside, brought a prisoner to me, and told me, ‘Guard this man. If he turns up missing for any reason at all, you’ll pay for it with your life or be fined one talent[b] of silver.’ 40 While your servant was busy here and there, the prisoner escaped.”
The king told him, “By your actions you’ve earned the proper judgment!”
41 Then the prophet quickly tore off his bandage, and the king of Israel recognized him as being one of the prophets. 42 He told the king,[c] “This is what the Lord says: ‘Because you let the man whom I had dedicated to destruction go free, therefore your life is to be forfeited for his life, and your people for his people.’”
43 After hearing this, the king of Israel rode back to his palace in Samaria, frustrated and in a foul mood.
Jesus Heals a Paralyzed Man(A)
17 One day, as Jesus[a] was teaching, some Pharisees and teachers of the Law happened to be sitting nearby. The people[b] had come from every village in Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem. The power of the Lord was present to heal them.[c] 18 Some men were bringing a paralyzed man on a stretcher. They were trying to take him into the house[d] and place him in front of Jesus.[e] 19 When they couldn’t find a way to get him in because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and let him down on his stretcher through the tiles into the middle of the room,[f] right in front of Jesus. 20 When Jesus[g] saw their faith, he said, “Mister,[h] your sins are forgiven.”
21 The scribes and the Pharisees began to argue among themselves, saying, “Who is this man who is uttering blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone?”
22 Because Jesus knew that they were arguing, he asked them, “Why are you arguing about this among yourselves?[i] 23 Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? 24 But so you’ll know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins….” he told the paralyzed man, “I say to you: Get up, pick up your stretcher, and go home!” 25 So the man[j] immediately stood up in front of them and picked up what he had been lying on. Then he went home, praising God.
26 Amazement seized all the people, and they began to praise God. They were filled with fear[k] and declared, “We have seen wonderful things today!”
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