Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
A Contrite Sinner’s Prayer for Pardon.
To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David; when Nathan the prophet came to him after he had sinned with Bathsheba.
51 Have mercy on me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness;
According to the greatness of Your compassion blot out my transgressions.
2
Wash me thoroughly from my wickedness and guilt
And cleanse me from my sin.
3
For I am conscious of my transgressions and I acknowledge them;
My sin is always before me.
4
Against You, You only, have I sinned
And done that which is evil in Your sight,
So that You are justified when You speak [Your sentence]
And faultless in Your judgment.(A)
5
I was brought forth in [a state of] wickedness;
In sin my mother conceived me [and from my beginning I, too, was sinful].(B)
6
Behold, You desire truth in the innermost being,
And in the hidden part [of my heart] You will make me know wisdom.
7
Purify me with [a]hyssop, and I will be clean;
Wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
8
Make me hear joy and gladness and be satisfied;
Let the bones which You have broken rejoice.
9
Hide Your face from my sins
And blot out all my iniquities.
10
Create in me a clean heart, O God,
And renew a right and steadfast spirit within me.
11
Do not cast me away from Your presence
And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.
12
Restore to me the joy of Your salvation
And sustain me with a willing spirit.
2
O Lord, I have heard the report about You and I fear.
O Lord, revive Your work in the midst of the years,
In the midst of the years make it known;
In wrath [earnestly] remember compassion and love.
3
God [approaching from Sinai] comes from Teman (Edom),
And the Holy One from [a]Mount Paran. Selah ([b]pause, and calmly think of that).
His splendor and majesty covers the heavens
And the earth is full of His praise.
4
His brightness is like the sunlight;
He has [bright] rays flashing from His hand,
And there [in the sunlike splendor] is the hiding place of His power.
5
Before Him goes the pestilence [of judgment as in Egypt],
And [the burning] plague [of condemnation] follows at His feet [as in Sennacherib’s army].(A)
6
He stood and measured the earth;
He looked and startled the nations,
Yes, the eternal mountains were shattered,
The ancient hills bowed low and collapsed.
His ways are eternal.
7
I [Habakkuk, in my vision] saw the tents of Cushan under distress;
The tent curtains of the land of Midian were trembling.
8
Did the Lord rage against the rivers,
Or was Your anger against the rivers,
Or was Your wrath against the [Red] Sea,
That You rode on Your horses,
On Your chariots of salvation?
9
Your bow was made bare;
The rods of chastisement were sworn. Selah (pause, calmly think of that).
You split the earth with rivers [bringing waters to dry places].(B)
10
The mountains saw You and [they] trembled and writhed [as if in pain];
The downpour of waters swept by [as a deluge].
The deep uttered its voice and raged,
It lifted its hands high.
11
The sun and moon stood in their places [as before Joshua];
They went away at the light of Your [swift] arrows,
At the radiance and gleam of Your glittering spear.(C)
12
In indignation You marched through the earth;
In anger You trampled and threshed the nations.
13
You went forth for the salvation of Your people,
For the salvation and rescue of Your anointed [people Israel].
You struck the [c]head from the house of the wicked
To lay him open from the thigh to the neck. Selah (pause, and calmly think of that).
Mary Anoints Jesus
12 Six days before the Passover, Jesus went to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom He had raised from the dead.(A) 2 So they gave a supper for Him there. Martha was serving, and Lazarus was one of those reclining at the table with Him. 3 Then [a]Mary took a pound of very expensive perfume of pure [b]nard, and she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped His feet with her hair; and the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. 4 But Judas Iscariot, one of His disciples, the one who was going to betray Him, said, 5 “Why was this perfume not sold for [c]three hundred denarii and [the money] given to the poor?” 6 Now he said this, not because he cared about the poor [for he had never cared about them], but because he was a thief; and since he had the money box [serving as treasurer for the twelve disciples], he used to pilfer what was put into it. 7 So Jesus said, “Let her alone, so that she may keep [the rest of] it for the day of My burial. 8 You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have Me.”
9 A large crowd of Jews learned that He was there [at Bethany]; and they came, not only because of Jesus, but also to see Lazarus, whom He had raised from the dead. 10 So the chief priests planned to kill Lazarus also, 11 because on account of him many of the Jews were going away [from the teaching and traditions of the Jewish leaders] and believing in Jesus [following Him as Savior and Messiah].
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