Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 5[a]
Prayer for Divine Help
1 For the leader; with wind instruments. A psalm of David.
I
2 Give ear to my words, O Lord;
understand my sighing.(A)
3 Attend to the sound of my cry,
my king and my God!
For to you I will pray, Lord;
4 in the morning you will hear my voice;
in the morning I will plead before you and wait.(B)
II
5 You are not a god who delights in evil;
no wicked person finds refuge with you;
6 the arrogant cannot stand before your eyes.
You hate all who do evil;
7 you destroy those who speak falsely.(C)
A bloody and fraudulent man
the Lord abhors.
III
Prophetic Condemnation. 35 Acting on the word of the Lord, one of the guild prophets said to his companion, “Strike me.” But he refused to strike him. 36 Then he said to him, “Since you did not obey the voice of the Lord, a lion will attack you when you leave me.” When he left him, a lion came upon him and attacked him.(A) 37 Then the prophet met another man and said, “Strike me.” The man struck him a blow and wounded him. 38 The prophet went on and waited for the king on the road, disguising himself with a bandage over his eyes. 39 As the king was passing, he called out to the king and said: “Your servant went into the thick of the battle, and suddenly someone turned and brought me a man and said, ‘Guard this man. If he is missing, you shall have to pay for his life with your life or pay out a talent of silver.’[a] 40 But while your servant was occupied here and there, the man disappeared.” The king of Israel said to him, “That is your sentence. You have decided it yourself.” 41 He quickly removed the bandage from his eyes, and the king of Israel recognized him as one of the prophets. 42 (B)He said to him: “The Lord says, Because you have set free the man I put under the ban,[b] your life shall pay for his life, your people for his people.” 43 (C)Disturbed and angry, the king of Israel set off for home and entered Samaria.
17 [a]One day as Jesus was teaching, Pharisees[b] and teachers of the law were sitting there who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and Jerusalem, and the power of the Lord was with him for healing. 18 And some men brought on a stretcher a man who was paralyzed; they were trying to bring him in and set [him] in his presence. 19 But not finding a way to bring him in because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him on the stretcher through the tiles[c] into the middle in front of Jesus. 20 When he saw their faith, he said, “As for you, your sins are forgiven.”[d] 21 Then the scribes[e] and Pharisees began to ask themselves, “Who is this who speaks blasphemies? Who but God alone can forgive sins?”(A) 22 Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them in reply, “What are you thinking in your hearts?(B) 23 Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’? 24 [f](C)But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the man who was paralyzed, “I say to you, rise, pick up your stretcher, and go home.” 25 He stood up immediately before them, picked up what he had been lying on, and went home, glorifying God. 26 Then astonishment seized them all and they glorified God, and, struck with awe, they said, “We have seen incredible things today.”
The Call of Levi.(D)
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.