7th Sunday of Matthew

Take, brothers, for an example of suffering and of perseverance, the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. ¹¹Behold, we call them blessed who endured. You have heard of the perseverance of Job and have seen the Lord in the outcome, and how the Lord is full of compassion and mercy.

¹²But above all things, my brothers, don’t swear—not by heaven, or by the earth, or by any other oath; but let your “yes” be “yes”, and your “no”, “no”, so that you don’t fall into hypocrisy.

¹³Is any among you suffering? Let him pray. Is any cheerful? Let him sing praises. ¹⁴Is any among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the assembly, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord; ¹⁵and the prayer of faith will heal him who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. If he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. ¹⁶Confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The insistent prayer of a righteous person is powerfully effective. ¹⁷Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain, and it didn’t rain on the earth for three years and six months. ¹⁸He prayed again, and the sky gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit.

¹⁹Brothers, if any among you wanders from the truth and someone turns him back, ²⁰let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.

As Jesus passed by from there, two blind men followed him, calling out and saying, “Have mercy on us, son of David!”

²⁸When he had come into the house, the blind men came to him. Jesus said to them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” They told him, “Yes, Lord.”

²⁹Then he touched their eyes, saying, “According to your faith be it done to you.” ³⁰Then their eyes were opened. Jesus strictly commanded them, saying, “See that no one knows about this.” ³¹But they went out and spread abroad his fame in all that land.

³²As they went out, behold, a mute man who was demon possessed was brought to him. ³³When the demon was cast out, the mute man spoke. The multitudes marveled, saying, “Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel!”

³⁴But the Pharisees said, “By the prince of the demons, he casts out demons.”

³⁵Jesus went about all the cities and the villages, teaching in their synagogues and preaching the Good News of the Kingdom, and healing every disease and every sickness among the people.