Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Davidic
A Prayer for Deliverance
35 Argue my case,[a] Lord,
against those who argue against me.
Fight against those who fight against me.
2 Take up the buckler[b] and the shield,
and rise up to help me.
3 Take out the spear and the ax to confront the one who pursues me;
say to me, “I am your deliverer!”
4 Let those who seek my life be ashamed and disgraced;
let those who plot evil against me be driven back and confounded.
5 Make them like the chaff before the wind,
as the messenger of the Lord pushes them aside.
6 May their path be dark and slippery,
as the messenger of the Lord tracks them down.
7 Without justification they laid a snare for me;
without justification they dug a pit to trap me.
8 Let destruction come upon them[c] unawares,
and let the net that he hid catch him;
let him fall into destruction.
9 My soul will rejoice in the Lord
and be glad in his deliverance.
10 All my bones will say,
“Lord, who is like you?
Who delivers the weak from the one who is stronger than he,
and the weak and the needy from the one who wants to rob him?”
Jeremiah’s Letter to the Exiles
29 These are the words of the letter that the prophet Jeremiah sent from Jerusalem to the remaining elders among the exiles, to the priests, to the prophets, and to all the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had taken into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon, 2 after King Jeconiah, the queen mother, the palace officials,[a] the officials[b] of Judah and Jerusalem, the craftsmen, and the smiths left Jerusalem. 3 The letter was sent by Shaphan’s son Elasah and by Hilkiah’s son Gemariah, whom King Zedekiah of Judah sent to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon in Babylon, and it said, 4 “This is what the Lord of the Heavenly Armies, the God of Israel, says to all the exiles who were taken from Jerusalem into exile to Babylon, 5 ‘Build houses and live in them.[c] Plant gardens and eat their produce. 6 Take wives and father sons and daughters. Take wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so they may have sons and daughters. Increase in numbers there, don’t decrease. 7 Seek the welfare of the city to which I’ve exiled you and pray to the Lord for it, for your welfare depends on its welfare.’[d] 8 For this is what the Lord of the Heavenly Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘Don’t let the prophets and diviners[e] who are among you deceive you, and don’t listen to them when they tell you their dreams.[f] 9 Indeed, they’re prophesying lies to you in my name. I didn’t send them,’ declares the Lord.
10 “For this is what the Lord says: ‘When Babylon’s seventy years are completed, I’ll take note of you and will fulfill my good promises to you by bringing you back to this place. 11 For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for well-being, and not for calamity, in order to give you a future and a hope. 12 When you call out to me and come and pray to me, I’ll hear you. 13 You will seek me and find me when you search for me with all your heart. 14 I’ll be found by you,’ declares the Lord, ‘and I’ll restore your security[g] and gather you from all the nations and all the places to which I’ve driven you,’ declares the Lord. ‘I’ll bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.’
Jesus Heals a Demon-Possessed Man(A)
5 They arrived at the other side of the sea in the territory of the Gerasenes.[a] 2 Just as Jesus[b] stepped out of the boat, a man with an unclean spirit came out of the tombs and met him. 3 He lived among the tombs, and no one could restrain him any longer, not even with a chain. 4 He had often been restrained with shackles and chains, but had snapped the chains apart and broken the shackles in pieces. No one could tame him. 5 He kept screaming night and day among the tombs and on the mountainsides, and kept cutting himself with stones.
6 When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and fell down in front of him, 7 screaming in a loud voice, “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you in the name of[c] God never to torment me!”
8 Jesus[d] had been saying to him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!” 9 Then Jesus[e] asked him, “What’s your name?”
He told him, “My name is Legion,[f] because there are many of us.” 10 He kept pleading with Jesus[g] not to send them out of that region.
11 Now a large herd of pigs was grazing on a hillside nearby. 12 So the demons[h] begged him, “Send us among the pigs, so that we can go into them!” 13 So he let them do this. The unclean spirits came out of the man[i] and went into the pigs, and the herd of about 2,000 rushed down a steep slope into the sea and drowned there.[j]
14 Now when those who had been taking care of the pigs ran away, they reported what had happened[k] in the city and countryside. So the people[l] went to see what had happened. 15 When they came to Jesus and saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of demons, sitting there dressed and in his right mind, they were frightened. 16 The people who had seen it told them what had happened to the demon-possessed man and the pigs. 17 So they began to beg Jesus[m] to leave their territory.
18 As Jesus[n] was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed kept begging him to let him go with him. 19 But Jesus[o] wouldn’t let him. Instead, he told him, “Go home to your family, and tell them how much the Lord has done for you and how merciful he has been to you.” 20 So the man[p] left and began proclaiming in the Decapolis[q] how much Jesus had done for him. And everyone was utterly amazed.
Copyright © 1995-2014 by ISV Foundation. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTERNATIONALLY. Used by permission of Davidson Press, LLC.