My Soul Thirsts for You

A Psalm of David, ^(A)when he was in the wilderness of Judah.

Hide Me from the Wicked

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

Report from Jerusalem

1 The words of ^(A)Nehemiah the son of Hacaliah.

Now it happened in the month of ^(B)Chislev, ^(C)in the twentieth year, as I was in ^(D)Susa the citadel, ² that ^(E)Hanani, one of my brothers, came with certain men from Judah. And I asked them concerning the Jews who escaped, who had survived the exile, and concerning Jerusalem. ³ And they said to me, “The remnant there in the province who had survived the exile is in great trouble and ^(F)shame. ^(G)The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, ^(H)and its gates are destroyed by fire.”

Nehemiah's Prayer

⁴ As soon as I heard these words I ^(I)sat down and wept and mourned for days, and I continued fasting and praying before the ^(J)God of heaven. ⁵ And I said, “O Lord God of heaven, ^(K)the great and awesome God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, ^6 (L)let your ear be attentive and your eyes open, to hear the prayer of your servant that I now pray before you day and night for the people of Israel your servants, ^(M)confessing the sins of the people of Israel, which we have sinned against you. Even ^(N)I and my father's house have sinned. ^7 (O)We have acted very corruptly against you and have not kept the commandments, the statutes, and the rules ^(P)that you commanded your servant Moses. ⁸ Remember the word that you commanded your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful, ^(Q)I will scatter you among the peoples, ^9 (R)but if you return to me and keep my commandments and do them, ^(S)though your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of heaven, from there I will gather them and bring them ^(T)to the place that I have chosen, to make my name dwell there.’ ^10 (U)They are your servants and your people, whom you have redeemed by your great power and by your strong hand. ¹¹ O Lord, ^(V)let your ear be attentive to the prayer of your servant, and to the prayer of your servants who delight to fear your name, and give success to your servant today, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man.”

Now I was ^(W)cupbearer to the king.

Behold, the Lamb of God

²⁹ The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, ^(A)the Lamb of God, who ^(B)takes away the sin ^(C)of the world! ³⁰ This is he of whom I said, ^(D)‘After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.’ ³¹ I myself did not know him, but ^(E)for this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel.” ³² And John ^(F)bore witness: ^(G)“I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and ^(H)it remained on him. ³³ I myself did not know him, but ^(I)he who sent me to baptize ^(J)with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, ^(K)this is he who baptizes ^(L)with the Holy Spirit.’ ³⁴ And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son^[a] of God.”

Jesus Calls the First Disciples

³⁵ The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples, ³⁶ and he looked at Jesus as he walked by and said, “Behold, ^(M)the Lamb of God!” ³⁷ The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. ³⁸ Jesus turned and saw them following and said to them, ^(N)“What are you seeking?” And they said to him, ^(O)“Rabbi” (which means Teacher), “where are you staying?” ³⁹ He said to them, “Come and you will see.” So they came and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day, for it was about the tenth hour.^{[b] 40 (P)}One of the two who heard John speak and followed Jesus^[c] was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. ⁴¹ He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found ^(Q)the Messiah” (which means Christ). ⁴² He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon the son of ^(R)John. You shall be called ^(S)Cephas” (which means ^(T)Peter^[d]).

Jesus Calls Philip and Nathanael

^43 (U)The next day Jesus decided ^(V)to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” ⁴⁴ Now ^(W)Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. ⁴⁵ Philip found ^(X)Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him of whom ^(Y)Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus ^(Z)of Nazareth, ^(AA)the son of Joseph.” ⁴⁶ Nathanael said to him, ^(AB)“Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” ⁴⁷ Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, “Behold, ^(AC)an Israelite indeed, ^(AD)in whom there is no deceit!” ⁴⁸ Nathanael said to him, “How ^(AE)do you know me?” Jesus answered him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” ⁴⁹ Nathanael answered him, ^(AF)“Rabbi, ^(AG)you are the Son of God! You are the ^(AH)King of Israel!” ⁵⁰ Jesus answered him, “Because I said to you, ‘I saw you under the fig tree,’ do you believe? You will see greater things than these.” ⁵¹ And he said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you,^[e] you will see ^(AI)heaven opened, and ^(AJ)the angels of God ascending and descending on ^(AK)the Son of Man.”