Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
David wrote this song to ask God not to forget him.
Lord, please remember me[a]
38 Lord, when you are angry,
please do not punish me.
2 You have shot your arrows deep into me.
Your hand has pushed me down to the ground.[b]
3 Your punishment has made my whole body ill.
My health has gone, because of my sin.
4 My sin is too much for me!
It is like a heavy weight,
that I cannot carry.
5 My wounds make a bad smell,
and they get worse.
This is because I have done stupid things.
6 My body is bent down to the ground.
Every day I weep because I am so sad.
7 My body is hot with fever.[c]
I am very ill.
8 The pain has made me tired and weak.
I am so upset that I cry aloud.
9 My Lord, you already know what I want most.
You hear me when I cry with pain.
10 My heart beats very fast,
and my strength is leaving me.
Even my eyes can no longer see properly.
11 My family and my friends stay away from me,
because of my illness.
They do not come near to me.
12 My enemies prepare traps,
because they want to kill me.
They talk about ways to destroy me.
They want to hurt me,
so they talk about that all through the day.
13 But I am like a deaf man who hears nothing.
I am like a dumb man who says nothing.
14 So I live like a man who cannot hear what people say.
I refuse to argue against them.
15 Yes, Lord, I wait for you to help me!
I believe that you will answer me, my Lord and my God.
16 I have prayed that my enemies will not laugh at me.
If I slip and fall down,
they will be very happy!
17 I will soon fall down to the ground.
I have nothing but pain all the time.
18 But I agree that I have done wrong things.
I am sorry about my sins.
19 I have many enemies and they are strong.
They have no reason to hate me.
20 When I do good things,
they do evil things to me in return!
I try to do what is right,
but they turn against me.
21 Lord, please do not leave me alone.
Do not stay far away from me, my God!
22 My Lord, you are the one who can save me,
so come quickly to help me!
Sins for which people must give an offering
5 A person may know about something that is wrong. He may not speak about it at a public meeting. That person is sinning.
2 God has said that some animals and insects are not clean. A person may touch a dead animal or an insect like that. If he does, he is doing something wrong. It is a sin even if he did not really want to touch it.
3 A person may touch something that another person has made bad. If he does, he is doing something wrong. He might not know that it is bad, but he is still doing a wrong thing.
4 A person is doing a wrong thing if he says any careless promise. The promise might be good or bad. People will tell him that he has not obeyed God's rules. Then he will know that he has sinned.
5 A person must tell the priest if he has done any of these things. 6 He must give a sheep or a goat for a sin offering. Then the Lord will not be angry with him. The priest will kill the animal as a sacrifice to atone for that sin.
What the people should do if they do not have much money
7 A person may not have money to buy a sheep or a goat. If he does not, he must buy two doves or two pigeons.[a] He must give them to the Lord. One bird will be a sin offering. The second bird will be a burnt offering.
8 The priest will bring one of the birds to the altar. It is the sin offering. He will break the neck of the bird, but he will not pull the head off. 9 He will shake some of the blood onto the side of the altar. He will pour the blood that he did not shake onto the floor. He must pour it in front of the altar. 10 The priest will burn the other bird. God will not be angry with the man when the priest does this.
11 A person may not have money to buy two doves or two pigeons. If he does not, he must give a tenth of an ephah (about two litres) of flour. He must not put oil or incense on the flour because it is a sin offering. 12 He must take it to the priest. The priest will burn some of the flour on the altar as a special part of the flour. It is a sin offering to the Lord. 13 He will forgive the person when the priest does this. The flour that he did not burn is like the grain offering. It belongs to the priests.” ’
17 Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Some bad things in this world will make other people do wrong things. You can be sure about that. But God will punish anyone who makes these bad things happen. 2 These other people may not seem to be important.[a] But you must not make them do wrong things. Do not do that! It would be better if someone tied a big stone round your neck, and then he threw you into the sea.[b]
3 Be careful how you live. If your Christian brother does something wrong, speak to him. Tell him that he has done a bad thing. He may say, “I am sorry for what I did. I will not do it again.” If he says that, you must forgive him. 4 Your brother may do a bad thing to you seven times in one day. He may turn to you each time and say, “I am sorry for what I did. I will not do it again.” If he does that, you must forgive him every time.’
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