Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Great Is the Lord

Of David.

Jeremiah's Letter to the Exiles

29 These are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to ^(A)the surviving elders of the exiles, and to ^(B)the priests, ^(C)the prophets, and ^(D)all the people, whom Nebuchadnezzar had taken into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. ² This was after ^(E)King Jeconiah and the queen mother, the eunuchs, the officials of Judah and Jerusalem, the craftsmen, and the metal workers had departed from Jerusalem. ³ The letter was sent by the hand of Elasah the son of ^(F)Shaphan and Gemariah the son of ^(G)Hilkiah, whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent to Babylon to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. It said: ⁴ “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: ^5 (H)Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce. ⁶ Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. ⁷ But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and ^(I)pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare. ⁸ For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: ^(J)Do not let your prophets and ^(K)your diviners who are among you deceive you, and do not listen to the dreams that they dream,^{[a] 9} for ^(L)it is a lie that they are prophesying to you in my name; ^(M)I did not send them, declares the Lord.

¹⁰ “For thus says the Lord: ^(N)When seventy years are completed for Babylon, ^(O)I will visit you, ^(P)and I will fulfill to you my promise ^(Q)and bring you back to this place. ^11 (R)For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare^[b] and not for evil, ^(S)to give you a future and a hope. ^12 (T)Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, ^(U)and I will hear you. ^13 (V)You will seek me and find me, when you seek me ^(W)with all your heart. ¹⁴ I will be found by you, declares the Lord, ^(X)and I will restore your fortunes and ^(Y)gather you from all the nations and all the places ^(Z)where I have driven you, declares the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.

Jesus Heals a Man with a Demon

5 ^(A)They came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gerasenes.^{[a] 2} And when Jesus^[b] had stepped out of the boat, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit. ^3 (B)He lived among the tombs. And no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain, ⁴ for he had often been bound with shackles and chains, but he wrenched the chains apart, and he broke the shackles in pieces. No one had the strength to subdue him. ⁵ Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains he was always crying out and cutting himself with stones. ⁶ And when he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and ^(C)fell down before him. ⁷ And ^(D)crying out with a loud voice, he said, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, ^(E)Son of ^(F)the Most High God? ^(G)I adjure you by God, do not torment me.” ⁸ For he was saying to him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!” ⁹ And Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” He replied, “My name is ^(H)Legion, for we are many.” ¹⁰ And he begged him earnestly not to send them out of the country. ¹¹ Now a great herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside, ¹² and they begged him, saying, “Send us to the pigs; let us enter them.” ¹³ So he gave them permission. And the unclean spirits came out and entered the pigs; and the herd, numbering about two thousand, rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned in the sea.

¹⁴ The herdsmen fled and told it in the city and in the country. And people came to see what it was that had happened. ¹⁵ And they came to Jesus and saw the demon-possessed^[c] man, the one who had had ^(I)the legion, sitting there, ^(J)clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid. ¹⁶ And those who had seen it described to them what had happened to the demon-possessed man and to the pigs. ¹⁷ And ^(K)they began to beg Jesus^[d] to depart from their region. ¹⁸ As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed with demons begged him that he might be with him. ¹⁹ And he did not permit him but said to him, “Go home to your friends and ^(L)tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” ²⁰ And he went away and began to proclaim in ^(M)the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone marveled.