Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Prayer for Help

5 Hear my words, O Lord. Think about my crying. ² Listen to my cry for help, my King and my God. For I pray to you. ³ In the morning, O Lord, You will hear my voice. In the morning I will lay my prayers before You and will look up.

⁴ You are not a God Who is pleased with what is bad. The sinful cannot be with You. ⁵ The proud cannot stand before You. You hate all who do wrong. ⁶ You destroy those who tell lies. The Lord hates liars and men who kill other people.

⁷ But as for me, by Your great loving-kindness, I will come into Your house. At Your holy house I will put my face to the ground before You in love and fear. ⁸ O Lord, lead me in what is right and good, because of the ones who hate me. Make Your way straight in front of me.

A Man of God Speaks

³⁵ Now a certain son of the men who spoke for God said to another by the word of the Lord, “Hit me.” But the man would not hit him. ³⁶ Then he said to him, “Because you have not listened to the voice of the Lord, as soon as you have left me, a lion will kill you.” And as soon as he had left him, a lion found him and killed him. ³⁷ Then he found another man and said, “Hit me.” And the man hit him, and hurt him. ³⁸ So the man of God left, and waited for the king by the way. He tied a cloth over his eyes so no one would know him. ³⁹ As the king passed by, he cried to the king and said, “Your servant went out to the battle. A soldier turned and brought a man to me, and said, ‘Keep this man. If he is missing for any reason, you will pay for his life with your own. Or else you must pay a man’s weight in silver.’ ⁴⁰ But while your servant was doing things here and there, the man got away.” The king of Israel said to him, “So you must be punished. You yourself have decided it.” ⁴¹ In a hurry the man took the cloth away from his eyes. And the king of Israel saw that he was one of the men who speak for God. ⁴² The man said to him, “This is what the Lord says. ‘You have let the man go whom I had given to be destroyed. So you will pay for his life with your own. And your people will pay for his people.’” ⁴³ So the king of Israel went home sad and angry, and came to Samaria.

Jesus Heals a Man Let Down through the Roof of a House ^(A)

¹⁷ On one of the days while Jesus was teaching, some proud religious law-keepers and teachers of the Law were sitting by Him. They had come from every town in the countries of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem. The power of the Lord was there to heal them. ¹⁸ Some men took a man who was not able to move his body to Jesus. He was carried on a bed. They looked for a way to take the man into the house where Jesus was. ¹⁹ But they could not find a way to take him in because of so many people. They made a hole in the roof over where Jesus stood. Then they let the bed with the sick man on it down before Jesus. ²⁰ When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the man, “Friend, your sins are forgiven.”

²¹ The teachers of the Law and the proud religious law-keepers thought to themselves, “Who is this Man Who speaks as if He is God? Who can forgive sins but God only?” ²² Jesus knew what they were thinking. He said to them, “Why do you think this way in your hearts? ²³ Which is easier to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or, ‘Get up and walk’?

²⁴ “So that you may know the Son of Man has the right and the power on earth to forgive sins,” He said to the man who could not move his body, “I say to you, get up. Take your bed and go to your home.” ²⁵ At once the sick man got up in front of them. He took his bed and went to his home thanking God. ²⁶ All those who were there were surprised and gave thanks to God, saying, “We have seen very special things today.”