Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
35 Plead my cause, O Lord, with them that strive with me; fight against them that fight against me.
2 Take hold of shield and buckler, and stand up for mine help.
3 Draw out also the spear, and block the way against them that persecute me. Say unto my soul, “I am thy salvation.”
4 Let them be confounded and put to shame that seek after my soul; let them be turned back and brought to confusion that devise my hurt.
5 Let them be as chaff before the wind, and let the angel of the Lord chase them.
6 Let their way be dark and slippery, and let the angel of the Lord persecute them.
7 For without cause they have hid their net for me in a pit, which without cause they have dug for my soul.
8 Let destruction come upon him unawares; and let the net which he hath hidden catch himself; into that very destruction let him fall.
9 Then my soul shall be joyful in the Lord; it shall rejoice in His salvation.
10 All my bones shall say, “Lord, who is like unto Thee, who deliverest the poor from him that is too strong for him, yea, the poor and needy from him that would plunder him?”
29 Now these are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem unto the residue of the elders who were carried away captives, and to the priests, and to the prophets, and to all the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had carried away captive from Jerusalem to Babylon
2 (after Jeconiah the king, and the queen, and the eunuchs, the princes of Judah and Jerusalem, and the carpenters, and the smiths had departed from Jerusalem),
3 by the hand of Elasah the son of Shaphan and Gemariah the son of Hilkiah, whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent unto Babylon to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, saying:
4 “Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, unto all who are carried away captives, whom I have caused to be carried away from Jerusalem unto Babylon:
5 Build ye houses and dwell in them, and plant gardens and eat the fruit of them.
6 Take ye wives and beget sons and daughters, and take wives for your sons and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters, that ye may be increased there, and not diminished.
7 And seek the peace of the city whither I have caused you to be carried away captives, and pray unto the Lord for it; for in the peace thereof shall ye have peace.
8 For thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Let not your prophets and your diviners who are in the midst of you deceive you, neither hearken to your dreams which ye cause to be dreamed.
9 For they prophesy falsely unto you in My name: I have not sent them, saith the Lord.
10 “For thus saith the Lord: That after seventy years are accomplished at Babylon, I will visit you and perform My good word toward you, causing you to return to this place.
11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you an expected end.
12 Then shall ye call upon Me, and ye shall go and pray unto Me and I will hearken unto you.
13 And ye shall seek Me and find Me when ye shall search for Me with all your heart.
14 And I will be found by you, saith the Lord, and I will return you from captivity, and I will gather you from all the nations and from all the places whither I have driven you, saith the Lord; and I will bring you back into the place from whence I caused you to be carried away captive.
5 And they came over unto the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gadarenes.
2 And when He had come out of the boat, immediately there met Him from out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit,
3 who had his dwelling among the tombs. And no man could bind him, no, not even with chains,
4 because he had been often bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had been rent asunder by him and the fetters broken in pieces; neither could any man tame him.
5 And always, night and day, he was in the mountains and in the tombs, crying out and cutting himself with stones.
6 But when he saw Jesus afar off, he ran and worshiped Him,
7 and cried with a loud voice, and said, “What have I to do with Thee, Jesus, Thou Son of the Most High God? I adjure Thee by God that Thou torment me not!”
8 For He had said unto him, “Come out of the man, thou unclean spirit.”
9 And Jesus asked him, “What is thy name?” And he answered, saying, “My name is Legion, for we are many.”
10 And he besought Him much that He would not send them away out of the country.
11 Now there was there nigh unto the mountains a great herd of swine feeding.
12 And all the devils besought Him, saying, “Send us into the swine, that we may enter into them.”
13 And forthwith Jesus gave them leave. And the unclean spirits went out and entered into the swine; and the herd ran violently down a steep place and into the sea (they were about two thousand), and were choked in the sea.
14 And those who fed the swine fled, and told it in the city and in the country. And the people went out to see what it was that had been done.
15 And they came to Jesus, and saw him that had been possessed by the devil and had the legion, sitting and clothed and in his right mind; and they were afraid.
16 And those who saw it told the people what had befallen him that was possessed by the devil, and also concerning the swine.
17 And they began to pray Him to depart from their borders.
18 And when He had gotten into the boat, he that had been possessed with the devil prayed Him that he might be with Him.
19 But Jesus suffered him not, and said unto him, “Go home to thy friends, and tell them what great things the Lord hath done for thee, and how He hath had compassion on thee.”
20 And he departed and began to proclaim in Decapolis what great things Jesus had done for him. And all men marveled.
Copyright © 1994 by Deuel Enterprises, Inc.