Healing, Infirmity, and Compassionate Care

¹Of David. Bless the LORD, O my soul; all that is within me, bless His holy name. ²Bless the LORD, O my soul, and do not forget all His kind deeds— ³He who forgives all your iniquities and heals all your diseases, ⁴who redeems your life from the Pit and crowns you with loving devotion and compassion, ⁵who satisfies you with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

¹⁴When Jesus arrived at Peter’s house, He saw Peter’s mother-in-law sick in bed with a fever. ¹⁵So He touched her hand, and the fever left her, and she got up and began to serve Him. ¹⁶When evening came, many who were demon-possessed were brought to Jesus, and He drove out the spirits with a word and healed all the sick. ¹⁷This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah: “He took up our infirmities and carried our diseases.”

¹⁰One Sabbath Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues, ¹¹and a woman there had been disabled by a spirit for eighteen years. She was hunched over and could not stand up straight. ¹²When Jesus saw her, He called her over and said, “Woman, you are set free from your disability.” ¹³Then He placed His hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and began to glorify God. ¹⁴But the synagogue leader was indignant that Jesus had healed on the Sabbath. “There are six days for work,” he told the crowd. “So come and be healed on those days and not on the Sabbath.” ¹⁵“You hypocrites!” the Lord replied. “Does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or donkey from the stall and lead it to water? ¹⁶Then should not this daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long years, be released from her bondage on the Sabbath day?” ¹⁷When Jesus said this, all His adversaries were humiliated. And the whole crowd rejoiced at all the glorious things He was doing.

³⁸how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how Jesus went around doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, because God was with Him.

¹³Is any one of you suffering? He should pray. Is anyone cheerful? He should sing praises. ¹⁴Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. ¹⁵And the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick. The Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. ¹⁶Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man has great power to prevail.

¹Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. ²I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. ³And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying: “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man, and He will dwell with them. They will be His people, and God Himself will be with them as their God. ⁴‘He will wipe away every tear from their eyes,’ and there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the former things have passed away.” ⁵And the One seated on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.” Then He said, “Write this down, for these words are faithful and true.”

²⁶saying, “If you will listen carefully to the voice of the LORD your God, and do what is right in His eyes, and pay attention to His commands, and keep all His statutes, then I will not bring on you any of the diseases I inflicted on the Egyptians. For I am the LORD who heals you.”

¹For the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. Blessed is the one who cares for the poor; the LORD will deliver him in the day of trouble. ²The LORD will protect and preserve him; He will bless him in the land and refuse to give him over to the will of his foes. ³The LORD will sustain him on his bed of illness and restore him from his bed of sickness.

⁴Surely He took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows; yet we considered Him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted. ⁵But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.

²³Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people. ²⁴News about Him spread all over Syria, and people brought to Him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering acute pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed, and He healed them.

³⁵Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness. ³⁶When He saw the crowds, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.

⁹Moving on from there, Jesus entered their synagogue, ¹⁰and a man with a withered hand was there. In order to accuse Jesus, they asked Him, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?” ¹¹He replied, “If one of you has a sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will he not take hold of it and lift it out? ¹²How much more valuable is a man than a sheep! Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.” ¹³Then Jesus said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” So he stretched it out, and it was restored to full use, just like the other.

¹A few days later Jesus went back to Capernaum. And when the people heard that He was home, ²they gathered in such large numbers that there was no more room, not even outside the door, as Jesus spoke the word to them. ³Then a paralytic was brought to Him, carried by four men. ⁴Since they were unable to get to Jesus through the crowd, they uncovered the roof above Him, made an opening, and lowered the paralytic on his mat. ⁵When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” ⁶But some of the scribes were sitting there and thinking in their hearts, ⁷“Why does this man speak like this? He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?” ⁸At once Jesus knew in His spirit that they were thinking this way within themselves. “Why are you thinking these things in your hearts?” He asked. ⁹“Which is easier: to say to a paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, pick up 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 tell you, get up, pick up your mat, and go home.” ¹²And immediately the man got up, picked up his mat, and walked out in front of them all. As a result, they were all astounded and glorified God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this!”

²⁵And a woman was there who had suffered from bleeding for twelve years. ²⁶She had borne much agony under the care of many physicians and had spent all she had, but to no avail. Instead, her condition had only grown worse. ²⁷When the woman heard about Jesus, she came up through the crowd behind Him and touched His cloak. ²⁸For she kept saying, “If only I touch His garments, I will be healed.” ²⁹Immediately her bleeding stopped, and she sensed in her body that she was healed of her affliction. ³⁰At once Jesus was aware that power had gone out from Him. Turning to the crowd, He asked, “Who touched My garments?” ³¹His disciples answered, “You can see the crowd pressing in on You, and yet You ask, ‘Who touched Me?’” ³²But He kept looking around to see who had done this. ³³Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell down before Him trembling in fear, and she told Him the whole truth. ³⁴“Daughter,” said Jesus, “your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be free of your affliction.”

¹Now as Jesus was passing by, He saw a man blind from birth, ²and His disciples asked Him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” ³Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but this happened so that the works of God would be displayed in him. ⁴While it is daytime, we must do the works of Him who sent Me. Night is coming, when no one can work. ⁵While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” ⁶When Jesus had said this, He spit on the ground, made some mud, and applied it to the man’s eyes. ⁷Then He told him, “Go, wash in the Pool of Siloam” (which means “Sent”). So the man went and washed, and came back seeing.

¹One afternoon Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour. ²And a man who was lame from birth was being carried to the temple gate called Beautiful, where he was put every day to beg from those entering the temple courts. ³When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for money. ⁴Peter looked directly at him, as did John. “Look at us!” said Peter. ⁵So the man gave them his attention, expecting to receive something from them. ⁶But Peter said, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, get up and walk!” ⁷Taking him by the right hand, Peter helped him up, and at once the man’s feet and ankles were made strong. ⁸He sprang to his feet and began to walk. Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and leaping and praising God. ⁹When all the people saw him walking and praising God, ¹⁰they recognized him as the man who used to sit begging at the Beautiful Gate of the temple, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.

¹⁸I consider that our present sufferings are not comparable to the glory that will be revealed in us. ¹⁹The creation waits in eager expectation for the revelation of the sons of God. ²⁰For the creation was subjected to futility, not by its own will, but because of the One who subjected it, in hope ²¹that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God. ²²We know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until the present time. ²³Not only that, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. ²⁴For in this hope we were saved; but hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he can already see? ²⁵But if we hope for what we do not yet see, we wait for it patiently. ²⁶In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know how we ought to pray, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groans too deep for words. ²⁷And He who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.

⁷or because of these surpassingly great revelations. So to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. ⁸Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. ⁹But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is perfected in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly in my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest on me. ¹⁰That is why, for the sake of Christ, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

¹³You know that it was because of an illness that I first preached the gospel to you. ¹⁴And although my illness was a trial to you, you did not despise or reject me. Instead, you welcomed me as if I were an angel of God, as if I were Christ Jesus Himself.

²³Stop drinking only water and use a little wine instead, because of your stomach and your frequent ailments.

²⁰Erastus has remained at Corinth, and Trophimus I left sick in Miletus.

²Beloved, I pray that in every way you may prosper and enjoy good health, as your soul also prospers.

¹⁴Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. ¹⁵And the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick. The Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. ¹⁶Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man has great power to prevail.

¹Now as Jesus was passing by, He saw a man blind from birth, ²and His disciples asked Him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” ³Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but this happened so that the works of God would be displayed in him.

²Bless the LORD, O my soul, and do not forget all His kind deeds— ³He who forgives all your iniquities and heals all your diseases, ⁴who redeems your life from the Pit and crowns you with loving devotion and compassion, ⁵who satisfies you with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.