Isaiah 63:7-16
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
God’s Mercy Remembered
7 I will recount the gracious deeds of the Lord,
the praiseworthy acts of the Lord,
because of all that the Lord has done for us
and the great favor to the house of Israel
that he has shown them according to his mercy,
according to the abundance of his steadfast love.(A)
8 For he said, “Surely they are my people,
children who will not act deceitfully,”
and he became their savior
9 in all their distress.
It was no messenger or angel
but his presence that saved them;
in his love and pity it was he who redeemed them;
he lifted them up and carried them all the days of old.(B)
10 But they rebelled
and grieved his holy spirit;
therefore he became their enemy;
he himself fought against them.(C)
11 Then they[a] remembered the days of old,
of Moses his servant.[b]
Where is the one who brought them up out of the sea
with the shepherds of his flock?
Where is the one who put within them
his holy spirit,(D)
12 who caused his glorious arm
to march at the right hand of Moses,
who divided the waters before them
to make for himself an everlasting name,(E)
13 who led them through the depths?
Like a horse in the desert,
they did not stumble.(F)
14 Like cattle that go down into the valley,
the spirit of the Lord gave them rest.
Thus you led your people,
to make for yourself a glorious name.(G)
A Prayer of Penitence
15 Look down from heaven and see,
from your holy and glorious habitation.
Where are your zeal and your might?
Your great pity and your compassion are withheld from me.(H)
16 For you are our father,
though Abraham does not know us
and Israel does not acknowledge us;
you, O Lord, are our father;
our Redeemer from of old is your name.(I)
Galatians 2:15-3:5
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Jews and Gentiles Are Saved by Faith
15 We ourselves are Jews by birth and not gentile sinners, 16 yet we know that a person is justified[a] not by the works of the law but through the faith of Jesus Christ.[b] And we have come to believe in Christ Jesus, so that we might be justified by the faith of Christ[c] and not by doing the works of the law, because no one will be justified by the works of the law.(A) 17 But if, in our effort to be justified in Christ, we ourselves have been found to be sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin? Certainly not! 18 But if I build up again the very things that I once tore down, then I demonstrate that I am a transgressor. 19 For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ,(B) 20 and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God,[d] who loved me and gave himself for me.(C) 21 I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness[e] comes through the law, then Christ died for nothing.
Law or Faith
3 You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly exhibited as crucified!(D) 2 The only thing I want to learn from you is this: Did you receive the Spirit by doing the works of the law or by believing what you heard?(E) 3 Are you so foolish? Having started with the Spirit, are you now ending with the flesh?(F) 4 Did you experience so much for nothing?—if it really was for nothing.(G) 5 Well then, does God[f] supply you with the Spirit and work miracles among you by your doing the works of the law or by your believing what you heard?
John 1:1-18
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
The Word Became Flesh
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.(A) 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being(B) 4 in him was life,[a] and the life was the light of all people.(C) 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overtake it.
6 There was a man sent from God whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. 8 He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. 9 The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.[b](D)
10 He was in the world, and the world came into being through him, yet the world did not know him.(E) 11 He came to what was his own,[c] and his own people did not accept him. 12 But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God,(F) 13 who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.(G)
14 And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son,[d] full of grace and truth.(H) 15 (John testified to him and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks ahead of me because he was before me.’ ”) 16 From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.[e](I) 17 The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.(J) 18 No one has ever seen God. It is the only Son, himself God, who[f] is close to the Father’s heart,[g] who has made him known.(K)
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 1.4 Or
. . . through him. And without him not one thing came into being that has come into being. In him was life - 1.9 Or He was the true light that enlightens everyone coming into the world
- 1.11 Or to his own home
- 1.14 Or the Father’s only Son
- 1.16 Or grace in place of grace
- 1.18 Other ancient authorities read is the only Son who
- 1.18 Gk bosom
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.