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Israel’s Guilt and Punishment

3Hear this word that the Lord has spoken against you, O people of Israel, against the whole family that I brought up out of the land of Egypt:
² You only have I known
   of all the families of the earth;
therefore I will punish you
   for all your iniquities.

³ Do two walk together
   unless they have made an appointment?
⁴ Does a lion roar in the forest,
   when it has no prey?
Does a young lion cry out from its den,
   if it has caught nothing?
⁵ Does a bird fall into a snare on the earth,
   when there is no trap for it?
Does a snare spring up from the ground,
   when it has taken nothing?
⁶ Is a trumpet blown in a city,
   and the people are not afraid?
Does disaster befall a city,
   unless the Lord has done it?
⁷ Surely the Lord God does nothing,
   without revealing his secret
   to his servants the prophets.
⁸ The lion has roared;
   who will not fear?
The Lord God has spoken;
   who can but prophesy?

Psalm 18

1  I love you, O Lord my strength. ♦︎
   The Lord is my crag, my fortress and my deliverer,
2  My God, my rock in whom I take refuge, ♦︎
   my shield, the horn of my salvation and my stronghold.
3  I cried to the Lord in my anguish ♦︎
   and I was saved from my enemies.
4  The cords of death entwined me ♦︎
   and the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me.
5  The cords of the Pit fastened about me ♦︎
   and the snares of death entangled me.
6  In my distress I called upon the Lord ♦︎
   and cried out to my God for help.
7  He heard my voice in his temple ♦︎
   and my cry came to his ears.
8  The earth trembled and quaked; ♦︎
   the foundations of the mountains shook;
      they reeled because he was angry.
9  Smoke rose from his nostrils
      and a consuming fire went out of his mouth; ♦︎
   burning coals blazed forth from him.
10  He parted the heavens and came down ♦︎
   and thick darkness was under his feet.
11  He rode upon the cherubim and flew; ♦︎
   he came flying on the wings of the wind.
12  He made darkness his covering round about him, ♦︎
   dark waters and thick clouds his pavilion.
13  From the brightness of his presence, through the clouds ♦︎
   burst hailstones and coals of fire.
14  The Lord also thundered out of heaven; ♦︎
   the Most High uttered his voice
      with hailstones and coals of fire.
15  He sent out his arrows and scattered them; ♦︎
   he hurled down lightnings and put them to flight.
16  The springs of the ocean were seen,
      and the foundations of the world uncovered ♦︎
   at your rebuke, O Lord,
      at the blast of the breath of your displeasure.
17  He reached down from on high and took me; ♦︎
   he drew me out of the mighty waters.
18  He delivered me from my strong enemy, ♦︎
   from foes that were too mighty for me.
19  They came upon me in the day of my trouble; ♦︎
   but the Lord was my upholder.
20  He brought me out into a place of liberty; ♦︎
   he rescued me because he delighted in me.

²¹ For I have kept the ways of the Lord,
   and have not wickedly departed from my God.
²² For all his ordinances were before me,
   and his statutes I did not put away from me.
²³ I was blameless before him,
   and I kept myself from guilt.
²⁴ Therefore the Lord has recompensed me according to my righteousness,
   according to the cleanness of my hands in his sight.

²⁵ With the loyal you show yourself loyal;
   with the blameless you show yourself blameless;
²⁶ with the pure you show yourself pure;
   and with the crooked you show yourself perverse.
²⁷ For you deliver a humble people,
   but the haughty eyes you bring down.
²⁸ It is you who light my lamp;
   the Lord, my God, lights up my darkness.
²⁹ By you I can crush a troop,
   and by my God I can leap over a wall.
³⁰ This God—his way is perfect;
   the promise of the Lord proves true;
   he is a shield for all who take refuge in him.

5¹Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children, ²and live in love, as Christ loved us^* and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

Renounce Pagan Ways

3 But fornication and impurity of any kind, or greed, must not even be mentioned among you, as is proper among saints. ⁴Entirely out of place is obscene, silly, and vulgar talk; but instead, let there be thanksgiving. ⁵Be sure of this, that no fornicator or impure person, or one who is greedy (that is, an idolater), has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.

6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes on those who are disobedient. ⁷Therefore do not be associated with them. ⁸For once you were darkness, but now in the Lord you are light. Live as children of light— ⁹for the fruit of the light is found in all that is good and right and true. ¹⁰Try to find out what is pleasing to the Lord. ¹¹Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. ¹²For it is shameful even to mention what such people do secretly; ¹³but everything exposed by the light becomes visible, ¹⁴for everything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says,
‘Sleeper, awake!
   Rise from the dead,
and Christ will shine on you.’

15 Be careful then how you live, not as unwise people but as wise, ¹⁶making the most of the time, because the days are evil. ¹⁷So do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.

Jesus Heals a Paralytic

2When he returned to Capernaum after some days, it was reported that he was at home. ²So many gathered around that there was no longer room for them, not even in front of the door; and he was speaking the word to them. ³Then some people^* came, bringing to him a paralysed man, carried by four of them. ⁴And when they could not bring him to Jesus because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him; and after having dug through it, they let down the mat on which the paralytic lay. ⁵When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, ‘Son, your sins are forgiven.’ ⁶Now some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts, ⁷‘Why does this fellow speak in this way? It is blasphemy! Who can forgive sins but God alone?’ ⁸At once Jesus perceived in his spirit that they were discussing these questions among themselves; and he said to them, ‘Why do you raise such questions in your hearts? ⁹Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, “Your sins are forgiven”, or to say, “Stand up and take your mat and walk”? ¹⁰But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins’—he said to the paralytic— ¹¹‘I say to you, stand up, take your mat and go to your home.’ ¹²And he stood up, and immediately took the mat and went out before all of them; so that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, ‘We have never seen anything like this!’