Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Naaman Healed of Leprosy
5 Now Naaman, captain of the army of the king of Aram, was a great man before his master and held favor because by him the Lord had given deliverance to Aram. He was also a mighty warrior, but he had leprosy.
2 The Arameans had gone out raiding and had taken captive a little girl from the land of Israel, and she waited on the wife of Naaman. 3 She said to her mistress, “If only my lord were before the prophet who is in Samaria! Then he would take away his leprosy from him.”
4 So Naaman went in and told his lord, “Thus and so spoke the girl from the land of Israel.” 5 The king of Aram said, “Go, and I will send a letter to the king of Israel.” So he went and took with him ten talents[a] of silver, six thousand shekels[b] of gold, and ten sets of clothes. 6 He brought the letter to the king of Israel, which read, “Now when this letter comes to you, know that I have sent Naaman my servant to you, that you may take away from him his leprosy.”
7 When the king of Israel had read the letter, he tore his clothes and said, “Am I God, to kill and to give life, that this man sends a man to me to take away his leprosy? But consider, and see how he is seeking a quarrel with me.”
8 But when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, he sent word to the king, saying, “Why have you torn your clothes? Let him come to me, and he will know that there is a prophet in Israel.” 9 So Naaman came with his horses and chariot and stood at the entrance to the house of Elisha. 10 Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, “Go and wash seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will be returned and cleansed.”
11 But Naaman became angry and went away and said to himself, “Surely he could have come out, and stood and called on the name of the Lord his God, and waved his hand over the infected area, and taken away the leprosy. 12 Are not Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them and be clean?” So he turned and went away in a rage.
13 But his servants approached and spoke to him, “My father, if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more when he said to you, ‘Wash and be clean’?” 14 So he went down and dipped himself in the Jordan seven times, according to the word of the man of God, and his flesh returned like the flesh of a little boy, and he was clean.
Psalm 30
A Psalm of David. A Song at the dedication of the temple.
1 I will extol You, O Lord, for You have drawn me up,
and have not caused my foes to rejoice over me.
2 O Lord my God, I cried to You,
and You healed me.
3 O Lord, You have brought up my soul from the grave;
You have kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit.
4 Sing to the Lord, O you saints of His,
and give thanks at the remembrance of His holiness.
5 For His anger endures but a moment,
in His favor is life;
weeping may endure for a night,
but joy comes in the morning.
6 In my prosperity I said,
“I will never be moved.”
7 Lord, by Your favor
You had set me strong as a mountain;
You hid Your face,
and I was terrified.
8 I cried to You, O Lord,
and to the Lord I made supplication:
9 “What profit is there in my death,
if I go down to the pit?
Will the dust give You thanks?
Will it declare Your truth?
10 Hear, O Lord, and be gracious to me;
Lord, be my helper.”
11 For You have turned my mourning into dancing;
You have put off my sackcloth and girded me with gladness,
12 so that my glory may sing praise to You and not be silent.
O Lord my God, I will give thanks to You forever.
Bear One Another’s Burdens
6 Brothers, if a man is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore such a one in the spirit of meekness, watching yourselves, lest you also be tempted. 2 Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. 3 For if someone thinks himself to be something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. 4 But let each one examine his own work, and then he will have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another. 5 For each one shall bear his own burden. 6 Let him who is taught in the word share all good things with him who teaches.
7 Be not deceived. God is not mocked. For whatever a man sows, that will he also reap. 8 For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. 9 And let us not grow weary in doing good, for in due season we shall reap, if we do not give up. 10 Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who are of the household of faith.
Final Warning and Benediction
11 You see what large letters I have written to you with my own hand.
12 It is those who desire to make a good showing in the flesh that try to compel you to be circumcised, only that they may not be persecuted for the cross of Christ. 13 For they themselves who are circumcised do not keep the law. But they desire to have you circumcised, so that they may boast in your flesh. 14 God forbid that I should boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified to me, and I to the world. 15 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything, but a new creation. 16 Peace and mercy be on all who walk according to this rule and upon the Israel of God.
The Mission of the Seventy
10 After this the Lord appointed seventy others, and sent them two by two ahead of Him into every city and place where He Himself was about to come. 2 He said to them, “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Pray therefore the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest. 3 Go your ways. Listen, I am sending you out as lambs among wolves. 4 Carry no purse, no bag, no shoes, and greet no one on the road.
5 “When you enter a house, first say, ‘Peace be to this house.’ 6 If a son of peace is there, your peace will rest upon him; but if not, it will return upon you. 7 Remain in the same house, eating and drinking what they give, for the laborer is worthy of his hire. Do not go from house to house.
8 “When you enter a city and they receive you, eat what is set before you. 9 Heal the sick who are there and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ 10 But when you enter a city and they do not receive you, go your way out into their streets and say, 11 ‘Even the dust of your city which clings to us, we wipe off against you. Yet be sure of this, that the kingdom of God has come near to you.’
16 “He who listens to you listens to Me, he who rejects you rejects Me, and he who rejects Me rejects Him who sent Me.”
The Return of the Seventy
17 The seventy returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us through Your name.”
18 He said to them, “I saw Satan as lightning fall from heaven. 19 Look, I give you authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy. And nothing shall by any means hurt you. 20 Nevertheless do not rejoice that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.