Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
מ Mem
97 How I love your instruction!(A)
It is my meditation all day long.(B)
98 Your command makes me wiser than my enemies,(C)
for it is always with me.
99 I have more insight than all my teachers
because your decrees are my meditation.(D)
100 I understand more than the elders(E)
because I obey your precepts.(F)
101 I have kept my feet from every evil path(G)
to follow your word.
102 I have not turned from your judgments,(H)
for you yourself have instructed me.
103 How sweet your word is(I) to my taste—
sweeter than honey in my mouth.
104 I gain understanding from your precepts;(J)
therefore I hate every false way.(K)
Lament Turned to Joy
15 This is what the Lord says:
A voice was heard in Ramah,(A)
a lament with bitter weeping—
Rachel weeping for her children,
refusing to be comforted for her children
because they are no more.(B)
16 This is what the Lord says:
Keep your voice from weeping
and your eyes from tears,
for the reward for your work will come—
this is the Lord’s declaration—
and your children will return from the enemy’s land.
17 There is hope for your future(C)—
this is the Lord’s declaration—
and your children will return to their own territory.
18 I have surely heard Ephraim moaning,
“You disciplined me, and I have been disciplined
like an untrained calf.(D)
Take me back, so that I can return,
for you, Lord, are my God.(E)
19 After my return, I felt regret;
After I was instructed, I struck my thigh in grief.(F)
I was ashamed and humiliated(G)
because I bore the disgrace of my youth.”
20 Isn’t Ephraim a precious son to me,
a delightful child?(H)
Whenever I speak against him,
I certainly still think about him.
Therefore, my inner being yearns for him;
I will truly have compassion on him.(I)
This is the Lord’s declaration.
Repentance and Restoration
21 Set up road markers(J) for yourself;
establish signposts!
Keep the highway in mind,
the way you have traveled.
Return, Virgin Israel!
Return to these cities of yours.
22 How long will you turn here and there,
faithless daughter?(K)
For the Lord creates something new in the land[a]—
a female[b] will shelter[c] a man.
23 This is what the Lord of Armies, the God of Israel, says: “When I restore their fortunes,[d] they will once again speak this word in the land of Judah and in its cities: ‘May the Lord bless you, righteous settlement,(L) holy mountain.’(M) 24 Judah and all its cities will live in it together—also farmers and those who move[e] with the flocks— 25 for I satisfy the thirsty person and feed all those who are weak.”(N)
26 At this I awoke and looked around. My sleep had been most pleasant to me.
A Blind Man Healed
46 They(A) came to Jericho.(B) And as he was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a large crowd, Bartimaeus (the son of Timaeus), a blind(C) beggar,(D) was sitting by the road.(E) 47 When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth,(F) he began to cry out, “Jesus, Son of David,(G) have mercy(H) on me!” (I) 48 Many warned him to keep quiet, but he was crying out all the more, “Have mercy on me,(J) Son of David!”
49 Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.”
So they called the blind man and said to him, “Have courage!(K) Get up; he’s calling for you.” 50 He threw off his coat,(L) jumped up, and came to Jesus.
51 Then Jesus answered him, “What do you want(M) me to do for you?”
“Rabboni,”[a](N) the blind man said to him, “I want to see.”
52 Jesus said to him, “Go, your faith has saved you.”(O) Immediately he could see and began to follow Jesus on the road.
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