Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

A Prayer of Thanks

118 Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good. His loving-kindness lasts forever. ² Let Israel say, “His loving-kindness lasts forever.”

¹⁹ Open to me the gates of what is right and good. I will go through them and give thanks to the Lord. ²⁰ This is the gate of the Lord. Those who are right with God will pass through it. ²¹ I will give thanks to You, for You have answered me. And You are the One Who saves me.

²² The stone that was put aside by the workmen has become the most important stone in the building. ²³ The Lord has done this. We think it is great! ²⁴ This is the day that the Lord has made. Let us be full of joy and be glad in it. ²⁵ O Lord, we beg You to save us! O Lord, we ask that You let everything go well for us! ²⁶ Great and honored is he who comes in the name of the Lord. We honor you from the house of the Lord. ²⁷ The Lord is God. He has given us light. Tie the gift with rope to the horns of the altar on this special day. ²⁸ You are my God and I will give You thanks. You are my God and I will praise You. ²⁹ Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good. His loving-kindness lasts forever.

¹⁰ “This is what the Lord says: ‘You say of this place, “It is a waste, without man or animal.” Yet in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem that are laid waste, with no man or animal living in them, there will again be heard ¹¹ the voice of joy and the voice of happiness. In this place will be heard the voice of the man to be married and the voice of the bride, and the voice of those who say, “Give thanks to the Lord of All, for the Lord is good. His loving-kindness lasts forever.” And here will be heard the voice of those who bring a gift of thanks into the house of the Lord. For I will bring them back to the land as they were before,’ says the Lord.

¹² “The Lord of All says, ‘This place is now a waste, without man or animal. Yet there will again be shepherds living in this place and in all its cities who can care for their sheep. ¹³ In the cities of the hill country, in the cities of the valley, in the cities of the Negev, in the land of Benjamin, in the land around Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, the flocks will again pass under the hands of the one who numbers them,’ says the Lord.

¹⁴ ‘See, the days are coming,’ says the Lord, ‘when I will do what I promised to the people of Israel and the people of Judah. ¹⁵ In those days and at that time I will cause a right and good Branch of David to rise up. And He will do what is fair and right and good on the earth. ¹⁶ In those days Judah will be saved, and Jerusalem will be safe. And this is the name it will be called: The Lord makes us right and good.’

Jesus Tells of His Death the Third Time ^(A)

³² They were on their way to Jerusalem. Jesus walked in front of them. Those who followed were surprised and afraid. Then Jesus took the twelve followers by themselves. He told them what would happen to Him. ³³ He said, “Listen, we are going to Jerusalem. The Son of Man will be handed over to the religious leaders of the Jews and to the teachers of the Law. They will say that He must be put to death. They will hand Him over to the people who are not Jews. ³⁴ They will make fun of Him and will beat Him. They will spit on Him and will kill Him. But three days later He will be raised from the dead.”

Healing of the Blind Man ^(A)

⁴⁶ Then they came to the city of Jericho. When He was leaving the city with His followers and many people, a blind man was sitting by the road. He was asking people for food or money as they passed by. His name was Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus. ⁴⁷ He heard that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by. He began to speak with a loud voice, saying, “Jesus, Son of David, take pity on me!” ⁴⁸ Many people spoke sharp words to the blind man telling him not to call out like that. But he spoke all the more. He said, “Son of David, take pity on me.” ⁴⁹ Jesus stopped and told them to call the blind man. They called to him and said, “Take hope! Stand up, He is calling for you!” ⁵⁰ As he jumped up, he threw off his coat and came to Jesus. ⁵¹ Jesus said to him, “What do you want Me to do for you?” The blind man said to Him, “Lord, I want to see!” ⁵² Jesus said, “Go! Your faith has healed you.” At once he could see and he followed Jesus down the road.