Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
A song. A Psalm of Asaph
A Plea for Judgment
83 God, do not rest!
Don’t be silent!
Don’t stay inactive, God!
2 See! Your enemies rage;
those who hate you issue threats.[a]
3 They plot against[b] your people
and conspire against your cherished ones.
4 They say, “Let us go and erase them as a nation
so the name of Israel will not be remembered anymore.”
5 Indeed, they shrewdly planned together,
forming an alliance against you—
6 the tents of Edom, the Ishmaelites,
Moab, the Hagrites,
7 Gebal, Ammon, Amalek, Philistia,
and the inhabitants of Tyre.
8 Even Assyria joined them
to strengthen the descendants of Lot.
9 Deal with them as you did to Midian,[c]
Sisera, and Jabin at the Kishon Brook.[d]
10 They were destroyed at En-dor
and became as dung on the ground.
11 Punish their nobles like Oreb and Zeeb,[e]
and all their princes like Zebah and Zalmunna,[f]
12 who said, “Let us possess the pastures of God.”
13 God, set them up like dried thistles,
like straw before the wind.
14 Like a fire burning a forest,
and a flame setting mountains ablaze.
15 Pursue them with your storm and
terrify them with your whirlwind.
16 Fill their faces with shame
until they seek your name, God.
17 Let them be humiliated and terrified permanently
until they die in shame.[g]
18 Then they will know that you alone—
whose name is Lord—
are the Most High over all the earth.
The Judgment of God
5 “I’ll come near to you for judgment. I’ll be a witness, quick to speak against sorcerers, against adulterers, against those who swear falsely, against those who defraud the laborer of his wage, against those who defraud[a] the widow and the orphan, against those who deprive the alien of justice, and against those who don’t fear me,” says the Lord of the Heavenly Armies. 6 “Because I the Lord don’t change; therefore you children of Jacob aren’t destroyed.”
God’s Sixth Complaint: Against His People—Gifts and Offerings
7 “Ever since the time of your ancestors, you have turned away from my decrees and haven’t kept them. Return to me and I’ll return to you,” says the Lord of the Heavenly Armies. “But you ask, ‘How will we return?’ 8 “Will a person rob God? Yet you are robbing me! But you ask, ‘How are we robbing you?’ “By the tithe and the offering. 9 You are cursed under the curse—the entire nation—because you are robbing me!
10 “Bring the entire tithe into the storehouse that there may be food in my house. So put me to the test in this right now,” says the Lord of the Heavenly Armies, “and see if I won’t throw open the windows[b] of heaven for you and pour out on you blessing without measure. 11 And I’ll prevent the devourer from harming you,[c] so that he does not destroy the crops of your land. Nor will the vines in your fields drop their fruit,” says the Lord of the Heavenly Armies.
12 “Then all the nations will call you blessed, for you will be a land of delight,” says the Lord of the Heavenly Armies.
Jesus Heals a Paralyzed Man(A)
2 Several days later, Jesus[a] returned to Capernaum and it was reported that he was at home. 2 Such a large crowd gathered that there wasn’t room for them, even in front of the door. Jesus[b] was speaking his message to them 3 when some people[c] came and brought him a paralyzed man being carried by four men. 4 Since they couldn’t bring him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof over the place where he was. They dug through it and let down the mat on which the paralyzed man was lying.
5 When Jesus saw their faith, he told the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”
6 Now some scribes were sitting there, arguing among themselves,[d] 7 “Why does this man talk this way? He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?”
8 At once, Jesus knew in his spirit what they were saying to themselves. “Why are you arguing about such things among yourselves?”[e] he asked them. 9 “Which is easier: to say to the paralyzed man, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or ‘Get up, pick up your mat, and walk’? 10 But I want you to know[f] that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins…” Then he told the paralyzed man, 11 “I say to you, get up, pick up your mat, and go home!” 12 So the man[g] got up, immediately picked up his mat, and went out in front of all of them.
As a result, all of the people were amazed and began to glorify God as they kept on saying, “We have never seen anything like this!”
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