Book of Common Prayer

A psalm of David.

For the director of music. A psalm of David to the tune of “The Death of the Son.”

A psalm of David.

⁶ After 40 days Noah opened a window he had made in the ark. ⁷ He sent out a raven. It kept flying back and forth until the water on the earth had dried up. ⁸ Then Noah sent out a dove. He wanted to see if the water on the surface of the ground had gone down. ⁹ But the dove couldn’t find any place to rest. Water still covered the whole surface of the earth. So the dove returned to Noah in the ark. Noah reached out his hand and took the dove in. He brought it back to himself in the ark. ¹⁰ He waited seven more days. Then he sent out the dove again from the ark. ¹¹ In the evening the dove returned to him. There in its beak was a freshly picked olive leaf! So Noah knew that the water on the earth had gone down. ¹² He waited seven more days. Then he sent out the dove again. But this time it didn’t return to him.

¹³ It was the first day of the first month of Noah’s 601st year. The water on the earth had dried up. Then Noah removed the covering from the ark. He saw that the surface of the ground was dry. ¹⁴ By the 27th day of the second month the earth was completely dry.

¹⁵ Then God said to Noah, ¹⁶ “Come out of the ark. Bring your wife and your sons and their wives with you. ¹⁷ Bring out every kind of living thing that is with you. Bring the birds, the animals, and all the creatures that move along the ground. Then they can multiply on the earth. They can have little ones and the number of them can increase.”

¹⁸ So Noah came out of the ark. His sons and his wife and his sons’ wives were with him. ¹⁹ All the animals came out of the ark. The creatures that move along the ground also came out. So did all the birds. Everything that moves on land came out of the ark, one kind after another.

²⁰ Then Noah built an altar to honor the Lord. He took some of the “clean” animals and birds. He sacrificed them on the altar as burnt offerings. ²¹ The smell of the offerings pleased the Lord. He said to himself, “I will never put a curse on the ground again because of human beings. I will not do it even though their hearts are always directed toward evil. Their thoughts are evil from the time they are young. I will never destroy all living things again, as I have just done.

Jesus Is the Great High Priest

¹⁴ We have a great high priest. He has gone up into heaven. He is Jesus the Son of God. So let us hold firmly to what we say we believe. ¹⁵ We have a high priest who can feel it when we are weak and hurting. We have a high priest who has been tempted in every way, just as we are. But he did not sin. ¹⁶ So let us boldly approach God’s throne of grace. Then we will receive mercy. We will find grace to help us when we need it.

5 Every high priest is chosen from among the people. He is appointed to act for the people. He acts for them in whatever has to do with God. He offers gifts and sacrifices for their sins. ² Some people have gone astray without knowing it. He is able to deal gently with them. He can do that because he himself is weak. ³ That’s why he has to offer sacrifices for his own sins. He must also do it for the sins of the people. ⁴ And no one can take this honor for himself. Instead, he receives it when he is appointed by God. That is just how it was for Aaron.

⁵ It was the same for Christ. He did not take for himself the glory of becoming a high priest. But God said to him,

⁶ In another place God said,

²³ Meanwhile, he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast. Many people saw the signs he was doing. And they believed in his name. ²⁴ But Jesus did not fully trust them. He knew what people are like. ²⁵ He didn’t need anyone to tell him what people are like. He already knew why people do what they do.

Jesus Teaches Nicodemus

3 There was a Pharisee named Nicodemus. He was one of the Jewish rulers. ² He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. We know that God is with you. If he weren’t, you couldn’t do the signs you are doing.”

³ Jesus replied, “What I’m about to tell you is true. No one can see God’s kingdom unless they are born again.”

⁴ “How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “They can’t go back inside their mother! They can’t be born a second time!”

⁵ Jesus answered, “What I’m about to tell you is true. No one can enter God’s kingdom unless they are born with water and the Holy Spirit. ⁶ People give birth to people. But the Spirit gives birth to spirit. ⁷ You should not be surprised when I say, ‘You must all be born again.’ ⁸ The wind blows where it wants to. You hear the sound it makes. But you can’t tell where it comes from or where it is going. It is the same with everyone who is born with the Spirit.”

⁹ “How can this be?” Nicodemus asked.

¹⁰ “You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus. “Don’t you understand these things? ¹¹ What I’m about to tell you is true. We speak about what we know. We are witnesses about what we have seen. But still you people do not accept what we say. ¹² I have spoken to you about earthly things, and you do not believe. So how will you believe if I speak about heavenly things? ¹³ No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven. He is the Son of Man. ¹⁴ Moses lifted up the snake in the desert. In the same way, the Son of Man must also be lifted up. ¹⁵ Then everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.”