Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
147 Hallelujah! Yes, praise the Lord! How good it is to sing his praises! How delightful, and how right!
2 He is rebuilding Jerusalem and bringing back the exiles. 3 He heals the brokenhearted, binding up their wounds. 4 He counts the stars and calls them all by name. 5 How great he is! His power is absolute! His understanding is unlimited. 6 The Lord supports the humble, but brings the wicked into the dust.
7 Sing out your thanks to him; sing praises to our God, accompanied by harps. 8 He covers the heavens with clouds, sends down the showers, and makes the green grass grow in mountain pastures. 9 He feeds the wild animals, and the young ravens cry to him for food. 10 The speed of a horse is nothing to him. How puny in his sight is the strength of a man. 11 But his joy is in those who reverence him, those who expect him to be loving and kind.
20 something he has not done with any other nation; they have not known his commands.
Hallelujah! Yes, praise the Lord!
46 1-2 The idols of Babylon, Bel and Nebo,[a] are being hauled away on ox carts! But look! The beasts are stumbling! The cart is turning over! The gods are falling out onto the ground! Is that the best that they can do? If they cannot even save themselves from such a fall, how can they save their worshipers from Cyrus?
3 “Listen to me, all Israel who are left; I have created you and cared for you since you were born. 4 I will be your God through all your lifetime, yes, even when your hair is white with age. I made you and I will care for you. I will carry you along and be your Savior.
5 “With what in all of heaven and earth do I compare? Whom can you find who equals me? 6 Will you compare me with an idol made lavishly with silver and with gold? They hire a goldsmith to take your wealth and make a god from it! Then they fall down and worship it! 7 They carry it around on their shoulders, and when they set it down, it stays there, for it cannot move! And when someone prays to it, there is no answer, for it cannot get him out of his trouble.
8 “Don’t forget this, O guilty ones. 9 And don’t forget the many times I clearly told you what was going to happen in the future. For I am God—I only—and there is no other like me 10 who can tell you what is going to happen. All I say will come to pass, for I do whatever I wish. 11 I will call that swift bird of prey from the east—that man Cyrus from far away. And he will come and do my bidding. I have said I would do it and I will. 12 Listen to me, you stubborn, evil men! 13 For I am offering you my deliverance; not in the distant future, but right now! I am ready to save you, and I will restore Jerusalem and Israel, who is my glory.
9 Then he went over to the synagogue 10 and noticed there a man with a deformed hand. The Pharisees[a] asked Jesus, “Is it legal to work by healing on the Sabbath day?” (They were, of course, hoping he would say yes, so they could arrest him!) 11 This was his answer: “If you had just one sheep, and it fell into a well on the Sabbath, would you work to rescue it that day? Of course you would.[b] 12 And how much more valuable is a person than a sheep! Yes, it is right to do good on the Sabbath.” 13 Then he said to the man, “Stretch out your arm.” And as he did, his hand became normal, just like the other one!
14 Then the Pharisees called a meeting to plot Jesus’ arrest and death.
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.