Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
110 Jehovah said to my Lord the Messiah,[a] “Rule as my regent—I will subdue your enemies and make them bow low before you.”
2 Jehovah has established your throne[b] in Jerusalem to rule over your enemies. 3 In that day of your power your people shall come to you willingly, dressed in holy altar robes.[c] And your strength shall be renewed day by day like morning dew. 4 Jehovah has taken oath and will not rescind his vow that you are a priest forever like[d] Melchizedek. 5 God stands beside you to protect you. He will strike down many kings in the day of his anger. 6 He will punish the nations and fill them with their dead. He will crush many heads. 7 But he himself shall be refreshed from springs along the way.
7 Then the Lord told him, “I have seen the deep sorrows of my people in Egypt and have heard their pleas for freedom from their harsh taskmasters. 8 I have come to deliver them from the Egyptians and to take them out of Egypt into a good land, a large land, a land ‘flowing with milk and honey’—the land where the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites live. 9 Yes, the wail of the people of Israel has risen to me in heaven, and I have seen the heavy tasks the Egyptians have oppressed them with. 10 Now I am going to send you to Pharaoh, to demand that he let you lead my people out of Egypt.”
11 “But I’m not the person for a job like that!” Moses exclaimed.
12 Then God told him, “I will certainly be with you, and this is the proof that I am the one who is sending you: When you have led the people out of Egypt, you shall worship God here upon this mountain!”
13 But Moses asked, “If I go to the people of Israel and tell them that their fathers’ God has sent me, they will ask, ‘Which God are you talking about?’ What shall I tell them?”
14 “‘The Sovereign God,’”[a] was the reply. “Just say, ‘I Am has sent me!’ 15 Yes, tell them, ‘Jehovah,[b] the God of your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, has sent me to you.’ (This is my eternal name, to be used throughout all generations.)
39 “Our father is Abraham,” they declared.
“No!” Jesus replied, “for if he were, you would follow his good example. 40 But instead you are trying to kill me—and all because I told you the truth I heard from God. Abraham wouldn’t do a thing like that! 41
They replied, “We were not born out of wedlock—our true Father is God himself.”
42 Jesus told them, “If that were so, then you would love me, for I have come to you from God. I am not here on my own, but he sent me. 43 Why can’t you understand what I am saying? It is because you are prevented from doing so! 44 For you are the children of your father the devil and you love to do the evil things he does. He was a murderer from the beginning and a hater of truth—there is not an iota of truth in him. When he lies, it is perfectly normal; for he is the father of liars. 45 And so when I tell the truth, you just naturally don’t believe it!
46 “Which of you can truthfully accuse me of one single sin? No one![a] And since I am telling you the truth, why don’t you believe me? 47 Anyone whose Father is God listens gladly to the words of God. Since you don’t, it proves you aren’t his children.”
48 “You Samaritan! Foreigner! Devil!” the Jewish leaders snarled. “Didn’t we say all along you were possessed by a demon?”
49 “No,” Jesus said, “I have no demon in me. For I honor my Father—and you dishonor me. 50 And though I have no wish to make myself great, God wants this for me and judges those who reject me.[b] 51 With all the earnestness I have I tell you this—no one who obeys me shall ever die!”
52 The leaders of the Jews said, “Now we know you are possessed by a demon. Even Abraham and the mightiest prophets died, and yet you say that obeying you will keep a man from dying! 53 So you are greater than our father Abraham, who died? And greater than the prophets, who died? Who do you think you are?” 54 Then Jesus told them this: “If I am merely boasting about myself, it doesn’t count. But it is my Father—and you claim him as your God—who is saying these glorious things about me. 55 But you do not even know him. I do. If I said otherwise, I would be as great a liar as you! But it is true—I know him and fully obey him. 56 Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day. He knew I was coming and was glad.”
57 The Jewish leaders: “You aren’t even fifty years old—sure, you’ve seen Abraham!”
58 Jesus: “The absolute truth is that I was in existence before Abraham was ever born!”
59 At that point the Jewish leaders picked up stones to kill him. But Jesus was hidden from them, and walked past them and left the Temple.
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.