Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
A Davidic Psalm for the dedication of the Temple.
Thanksgiving for Deliverance
30 I exalt you, Lord,
for you have lifted me up,
and my enemies could not gloat over me.
2 Lord, my God!
I cried out to you for help
and you healed me.
3 Lord, you brought me from death;[a]
you kept me alive so that I did not descend into the Pit.[b]
4 You, his godly ones,
sing to the Lord,
give thanks at the mention of his holiness.
5 For his wrath is only momentary;
yet his favor is for a lifetime.
Weeping may lodge for the night,
but shouts of joy will come in the morning.
6 As for me,
I said in my prosperity,
“I will never be moved.”
7 By your favor, Lord,
you established me as a strong mountain;
Then you hid your face,
and I was dismayed.
8 I cried out to you, Lord,
and I make supplication to the Lord:
9 “What profit is there in my death[c] if I go down to the Pit?[d]
Can dust worship you?
Can it proclaim your faithfulness?”
10 Hear me, Lord,
and have mercy on me!
Lord, help me!
11 You have turned my mourning into dancing;
you took off my sackcloth
and clothed me with a garment of joy,
12 so that I may sing praise to you
and not remain silent.
Lord, my God,
I will give you thanks forever!
The Hospitality of a Woman from Shunem
8 Some time later, Elisha went to Shunem,[a] where he met a prominent and wealthy[b] woman who persuaded him to have a meal with her. As a result, whenever he was in the area, he stopped by to eat with her. 9 So she had a talk with her husband. “Look here! I’ve learned that this is a holy and godly man[c] who comes by here on a regular basis. 10 Now then, let’s build a small upper room and put a bed in it for him there, along with a table, a chair, and a lamp stand. That way, when he comes to visit, he can rest[d] there.”
11 One day, Elisha[e] came by to visit and stopped in to rest in the upper chamber. 12 He told his attendant[f] Gehazi, “Call this Shunammite.” So when he had summoned her, she stood in front of him.
13 Elisha[g] told him, “Ask her, ‘Look how you’ve gone to all this trouble to care for us! What can I do for you? Do you wish to be mentioned to the king or to the head of the army?’”
She replied, “I’m at home[h] living among my own people.”
14 He responded, “What, then, is to be done on her behalf?”
Gehazi answered, “Well, she has no son and her husband is growing old.”
15 “Call her,” Elisha[i] ordered. After he called her, she came and stood in the doorway, 16 and he told her, “About this time next year you will be embracing a son.”
“No, sir! Please, as a godly man,[j] don’t mislead your servant!” 17 But the woman did conceive and did bear a son at that very same time the next year, just as Elisha had told her.
14 For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am merely human,[a] sold as a slave to sin.[b] 15 I don’t understand what I am doing. For I don’t practice what I want to do, but instead do what I hate. 16 Now if I practice what I don’t want to do, I am admitting that the Law is good. 17 As it is, I am no longer the one who is doing it, but it is the sin that is living in me.
18 For I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but I cannot carry it out. 19 For I don’t do the good I want to do, but instead do the evil that I don’t want to do. 20 But if I do what I don’t want to do, I am no longer the one who is doing it, but it is the sin that is living in me.
21 So I find this to be a principle:[c] when I want to do what is good, evil is right there with me. 22 For I delight in the Law of God in my inner being, 23 but I see in my body[d] a different principle[e] waging war with the Law in my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin that exists in my body.[f] 24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is infected by[g] death? 25 Thank God through Jesus the Messiah,[h] our Lord, because with my mind I myself can serve the Law of God, even while with my human nature[i] I serve the law of sin.
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