Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
21 Do you not know?
Do you not hear?
Has it not been told to you since the very beginning?
Have you not understood from the time the earth’s foundations were made?
22 He is the one who sits on the earth’s horizon;[a]
its inhabitants are like grasshoppers before him.[b]
He is the one who stretches out the sky like a thin curtain,[c]
and spreads it out[d] like a pitched tent.[e]
23 He is the one who reduces rulers to nothing;
he makes the earth’s leaders insignificant.
24 Indeed, they are barely planted;
yes, they are barely sown;
yes, they barely take root in the earth,
and then he blows on them, causing them to dry up,
and the wind carries them away like straw.
25 “To whom can you compare me? Whom do I resemble?”
says the Holy One.[f]
26 Look up at the sky![g]
Who created all these heavenly lights?[h]
He is the one who leads out their ranks;[i]
he calls them all by name.
Because of his absolute power and awesome strength,
not one of them is missing.
27 Why do you say, Jacob,
Why do you say, Israel,
“The Lord is not aware of what is happening to me;[j]
My God is not concerned with my vindication”?[k]
28 Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The Lord is an eternal God,
the Creator of the whole earth.[l]
He does not get tired or weary;
there is no limit to his wisdom.[m]
29 He gives strength to those who are tired;
to the ones who lack power, he gives renewed energy.
30 Even youths get tired and weary;
even strong young men clumsily stumble.[n]
31 But those who wait for the Lord’s help[o] find renewed strength;
they rise up as if they had eagles’ wings,[p]
they run without growing weary,
they walk without getting tired.
Psalm 147[a]
147 Praise the Lord,
for it is good to sing praises to our God.
Yes,[b] praise is pleasant and appropriate.
2 The Lord rebuilds Jerusalem,
and gathers the exiles of Israel.
3 He heals[c] the brokenhearted,
and bandages their wounds.
4 He counts the number of the stars;
he names all of them.
5 Our Lord is great and has awesome power;[d]
there is no limit to his wisdom.[e]
6 The Lord lifts up the oppressed,
but knocks[f] the wicked to the ground.
7 Offer to the Lord a song of thanks.[g]
Sing praises to our God to the accompaniment of a harp.
8 He covers[h] the sky with clouds,
provides the earth with rain,
and causes grass to grow on the hillsides.[i]
9 He gives food to the animals,
and to the young ravens when they chirp.[j]
10 He is not enamored with the strength of a horse,
nor is he impressed by the warrior’s strong legs.[k]
11 The Lord takes delight in his faithful followers,[l]
and in those who wait for his loyal love.
20 He has not done so with any other nation;
they are not aware of his regulations.
Praise the Lord!
16 For if I preach the gospel, I have no reason for boasting, because I am compelled to do this. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! 17 For if I do this voluntarily, I have a reward. But if I do it unwillingly, I am entrusted with a responsibility. 18 What then is my reward? That when I preach the gospel I may offer the gospel free of charge, and so not make full use of my rights in the gospel.
19 For since I am free from all I can make myself a slave to all, in order to gain even more people.[a] 20 To the Jews I became like a Jew to gain the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law)[b] to gain those under the law. 21 To those free from the law I became like one free from the law (though I am not free from God’s law but under the law of Christ) to gain those free from the law. 22 To the weak I became weak in order to gain the weak. I have become all things to all people, so that by all means I may save some.
23 I do all these things because of the gospel, so that I can be a participant in it.
Healings at Simon’s House
29 Now[a] as soon as they left the synagogue,[b] they entered Simon and Andrew’s house,[c] with James and John. 30 Simon’s mother-in-law was lying down, sick with a fever, so[d] they spoke to Jesus[e] at once about her. 31 He came and raised her up by gently taking her hand. Then the fever left her and she began to serve[f] them. 32 When it was evening, after sunset, they brought to him all who were sick and demon-possessed. 33 The whole town gathered by the door. 34 So[g] he healed many who were sick with various diseases and drove out many demons.[h] But[i] he would not permit the demons to speak,[j] because they knew him.[k]
Praying and Preaching
35 Then[l] Jesus[m] got up early in the morning when it was still very dark, departed, and went out to a deserted place, and there he spent time in prayer.[n] 36 Simon and his companions searched for him. 37 When they found him, they said, “Everyone is looking for you.” 38 He replied,[o] “Let us go elsewhere, into the surrounding villages, so that I can preach there too. For that is what I came out here to do.”[p] 39 So[q] he went into all of Galilee preaching in their synagogues[r] and casting out demons.
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