Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

⁷ O God of all, bring us back to You. Make Your face shine upon us, and we will be saved.

⁸ You brought a vine out of Egypt. You drove out the nations, and You planted it. ⁹ You cleared the land for it. And its roots went deep and filled the land. ¹⁰ The mountains were covered with its shadow. And the tall trees were covered with its branches. ¹¹ It sent out its branches to the sea, and its new branches to the River. ¹² Why have You broken down its walls so that all who pass by pick its fruit? ¹³ The wild pig from among the trees eats it away. And whatever moves in the field eats from it.

¹⁴ O God of all, we beg You to return. Look down from heaven and see. Take care of this vine. ¹⁵ Take care of the root Your right hand has planted, and the branch that You have raised up for Yourself.

Armies around Jerusalem

6 “Run away to be safe, O sons of Benjamin! Run from Jerusalem! Blow the horn in Tekoa, and light a fire in Beth-haccerem. For a sinful power is coming down from the north, that will destroy much. ² I will cut off the beautiful and fine ones, the people of Zion. ³ Shepherds and their flocks will come to her. They will set up their tents around her and feed their flocks there, each in his place. ⁴ Make war against her. Rise up, let us go and fight her at noon. It is bad for us, for the day is passing! The shadows of the evening are longer! ⁵ Rise up, let us go and fight in the night and destroy her strong houses!” ⁶ For the Lord of All says, “Cut down her trees, and build a battle-wall against Jerusalem. This is the city to be punished. There is nothing but a sinful power that makes hard times for others within her. ⁷ As a well keeps its water good for drinking, so Jerusalem keeps going on in her sin. The sounds of those who fight and those who destroy are heard in her. Sickness and sorrow are always before Me. ⁸ Listen about the danger, O Jerusalem, or I will become a stranger to you. I will make you a waste, a land with no people.”

Israel Will Not Listen

⁹ The Lord of All says, “They will gather all the people of Israel who are left like gathering from the vine. Pass your hand over the branches again like one who gathers grapes.” ¹⁰ Whom should I tell of the danger, that they may hear? See, their ears are closed and they cannot listen. They have become ashamed of the Word of the Lord. They have no joy in it.

The People Cannot Make Up Their Minds Who He Is

⁴⁰ When many of the people heard His words, they said, “For sure, this is the One Who speaks for God.” ⁴¹ Others said, “He is the Christ!” Some said, “The Christ would not come from the country of Galilee, would He? ⁴² Do not the Holy Writings say that the Christ will come from the family of David? Will He not come from the town of Bethlehem where David lived?” ⁴³ The people were divided in what they thought about Him. ⁴⁴ Some of them wanted to take Him. But no one put their hands on Him.

⁴⁵ The soldiers came back to the religious leaders of the Jews and to the proud religious law-keepers. They said to the soldiers, “Why did you not bring Him?” ⁴⁶ The soldiers answered, “No man has ever spoken like this Man speaks.” ⁴⁷ The proud religious law-keepers said, “Have you been led the wrong way also? ⁴⁸ Has anyone of the leaders or anyone from our group believed in Him? ⁴⁹ As for all these people, they do not know the Law. They are guilty and will be punished by God.”

⁵⁰ (Nicodemus was one of the proud religious law-keepers. He had come to Jesus at another time.) Nicodemus said to them, ⁵¹ “Our Law does not say a man is guilty before he has been in court and before we know what he has done.” ⁵² They said to him, “Are you from Galilee also? Look into the Word of God yourself. You will see that no one who speaks for God comes from Galilee.”