Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

A Psalm of David.

¹ ¶ Plead my cause, O LORD, with those that strive with me; fight against those that fight against me.

² Take hold of shield and buckler, and stand up in my help.

³ Draw out also the spear, and stop the way against those that persecute me; say unto my soul; I am thy saving health.

⁴ Let them be confounded and put to shame that seek after my soul; let them be turned back and brought to confusion that devise my hurt.

⁵ Let them be as chaff before the wind, and let the angel of the LORD chase them.

⁶ Let their way be dark and slippery, and let the angel of the LORD persecute them.

⁷ For without cause they have hid their net for me in a pit, which without cause they have dug for my soul.

⁸ Let destruction come upon him at unawares, and let his net that he has hid catch himself; into that very destruction let him fall.

⁹ And my soul shall be joyful in the LORD; it shall rejoice in his saving health.

¹⁰ All my bones shall say, LORD, who is like unto thee, who delivers the poor from him that is too strong for him, yea, the poor and the needy from him that spoils him?

29 ¶ Now these are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem unto the residue of the elders which were carried away captives, and to the priests and to the prophets and to all the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had carried away captive from Jerusalem to Babylon;

² (after Jeconiah the king, and the queen, and the eunuchs, the princes of Judah and Jerusalem, and the carpenters, and the smiths, were departed from Jerusalem;)

³ by the hand of Elasah the son of Shaphan, and Gemariah the son of Hilkiah, (whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent unto Babylon to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon) saying,

⁴ Thus hath the LORD of the hosts the God of Israel said, unto all that are carried away captives, whom I have caused to be carried away from Jerusalem unto Babylon,

⁵ Build houses and dwell in them; and plant gardens and eat the fruit of them;

⁶ take wives and beget sons and daughters; give wives unto your sons and give husbands unto your daughters, that they may bear sons and daughters; that ye may be multiplied there and not diminished.

⁷ And seek the peace of the city where I have caused you to be carried away captives, and pray unto the LORD for it; for in the peace thereof shall ye have peace.

⁸ ¶ For thus hath the LORD of the hosts the God of Israel said: Let not your prophets and your diviners that are in the midst of you, deceive you, neither hearken to your dreams which ye dream.

⁹ For they prophesy falsely unto you in my name: I have not sent them, said the LORD.

¹⁰ For thus hath the LORD said, That after seventy years are accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and quicken my good word upon you to cause you to return to this place.

¹¹ For I know the thoughts that I think concerning you, said the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you the end that you wait for.

¹² Then ye shall call upon me, and ye shall walk in my ways and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you.

¹³ And ye shall seek me, and find me, for ye shall seek me with all your heart.

¹⁴ And I will be found of you, said the LORD: and I will turn away your captivity, and I will gather you from all the Gentiles and from all the places where I have driven you, said the LORD; and I will bring you again into the place from where I caused you to be carried away captive.

5 ¶ And they came over unto the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gadarenes.

² And when he was come out of the ship, immediately there met him a man of the tombs, with an unclean spirit,

³ who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no one could bind him, no, not with chains,

⁴ because many times he had been bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had been broken in pieces by him, and the fetters shattered; neither could anyone tame him.

⁵ And always, night and day, he was in the mountains and in the tombs, crying out and hurting himself with stones.

⁶ But when he saw Jesus afar off, he ran and worshipped him.

⁷ Crying out with a loud voice, he said, What hast thou with me, Jesus, thou Son of the most high God? I adjure thee by God, that thou torment me not.

⁸ For he said unto him, Come out of the man, thou unclean spirit.

⁹ And he asked him, What is thy name? And he answered, saying, My name is Legion, for we are many.

¹⁰ And he besought him much that he would not send him away out of that country.

¹¹ Now near unto the mountains there was a great herd of swine feeding,

¹² and all those devils besought him, saying, Send us into the swine, that we may enter into them.

¹³ And forthwith Jesus gave them leave. And the unclean spirits went out and entered into the swine, and the herd fell over a cliff into the sea (they were about two thousand) and were choked in the sea.

¹⁴ And those that fed the swine fled and told it in the city and in the country. And people went out to see what it was that had happened.

¹⁵ And they come to Jesus and see him that was tormented by the demon and had the legion sitting and clothed and in his right mind; and they were afraid.

¹⁶ And those that saw it told them what happened to him that had the demon and also concerning the swine.

¹⁷ And they began to plead with him to depart out of their borders.

¹⁸ And as he was entering into the ship, he that had been troubled by the demon besought him that he might be with him.

¹⁹ But Jesus suffered him not but said unto him, Go home to thy friends and family and tell them what great things the Lord has done with thee and how he has had mercy on thee.

²⁰ And he went and began to publish in Decapolis what great things Jesus had done with him, and everyone marveled.