Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 38
A Psalm of David. To bring remembrance.
1 O Lord, do not rebuke me in Your wrath,
nor chasten me in Your hot displeasure.
2 For Your arrows pierce me,
and Your hand presses down on me.
3 There is no soundness in my flesh because of Your indignation,
nor is there health in my bones because of my sin.
4 For my iniquities have passed over my head;
as a heavy burden they are too heavy for me.
5 My wounds grow foul and fester
because of my foolishness.
6 I am bent, I am bowed down greatly;
I go mourning all the day long.
7 For my sides are filled with burning,
and there is no soundness in my flesh.
8 I am numb and completely crushed;
I have roared because of the groaning of my heart.
9 Lord, all my desire is before You,
and my sighing is not hidden from You.
10 My heart throbs, my strength fails me;
as for the light of my eyes, it also is gone from me.
11 My friends and my companions stand back because of my affliction,
and those close to me stand at a distance.
12 The people who seek my life strike at me;
those who seek my harm speak destruction,
and plan treacheries all the day long.
13 But I, like a deaf man, did not hear;
and like a dumb man, did not open my mouth.
14 Thus I was as a man who does not hear,
and in whose mouth are no reproofs.
15 For in You, O Lord, do I hope;
You will answer, O Lord my God.
16 For I said, “Lest otherwise they should rejoice over me.
When my foot slips, they magnify themselves against me.”
17 For I am ready to stumble,
and my pain is continually before me.
18 For I will declare my iniquity;
I am anxious because of my sin.
19 But my enemies are lively, and they are strong;
and those who wrongfully hate me are many.
20 Those also who repay evil for good are my adversaries,
because I pursue good.
21 Do not abandon me, O Lord;
O my God, do not be far from me.
22 Make haste to help me,
O Lord, my salvation.
The Guilt Offering
5 When a person sins in hearing the spoken oath, and he is a witness, whether he saw or knew about the incident, if he does not report it, he bears guilt.
2 Or when a person touches any ceremonially unclean thing, whether it is a carcass of unclean wildlife, or a carcass of an unclean domesticated animal, or the carcass of an unclean crawling thing, and he did not realize it, then he has become unclean and guilty.
3 Or when he touches human uncleanness, any uncleanness by which he may become ceremonially unclean, and he did not realize it, when he realizes it, then he shall be guilty.
4 Or when a person swears by speaking rashly with his lips to do evil or to do good, anything that a man may speak rashly by oath, and he did not realize it, but when he realizes it, then he has become guilty of any of these things.
5 When he becomes guilty of one of these things, he shall confess that he has sinned in that thing. 6 And he shall bring his guilt offering to the Lord for his sin which he has committed, a female from the flock, a lamb or goat, for a sin offering. And the priest shall make atonement for him concerning his sin.
7 If he cannot afford an animal, then he shall bring for his guilt offering, on account of the sin that he committed, two turtledoves or two pigeons to the Lord, one for a sin offering and one for a burnt offering. 8 He shall bring them to the priest who shall offer the one for the sin offering first. He will wring off its head at its neck, but he shall not sever it. 9 Then he shall sprinkle some of the blood of the sin offering on the side of the altar, and the rest of the blood shall be poured out at the base of the altar. It is a sin offering. 10 But the second he shall treat as a burnt offering according to the regulation. The priest shall make atonement for him for his sin that he committed, and he shall be forgiven.
11 But if he cannot afford to bring two turtledoves or two pigeons, he shall bring for his offering for the sin that he committed one-tenth of an ephah[a] of wheat flour for a sin offering. He shall not place olive oil on it, nor shall he put frankincense on it, for it is a sin offering. 12 Then he shall bring it to the priest, and the priest shall scoop out a handful from it as a memorial portion and burn it on the altar as a food offering to the Lord made by fire. It is a sin offering. 13 The priest shall make atonement for him concerning his sin that he committed from any of these offenses, and he shall be forgiven. The remainder will belong to the priest, like the grain offering.
Some Sayings of Jesus(A)
17 Then He said to the disciples, “It is impossible except that offenses will come. But woe to him through whom they come! 2 It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he was thrown into the sea, than to offend one of these little ones. 3 Take heed to yourselves.
“If your brother sins against you, rebuke him. And if he repents, forgive him. 4 If he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turns to you, saying, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.”
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.