Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Prayer for Help against the Sinful
7 O Lord my God, in You I have put my trust. Save me from all those who come for me, and keep me safe. 2 Or they will tear me like a lion, carrying me away where there is no one to help. 3 O Lord my God, if I have done this, and there is guilt on my hands, 4 if I have done wrong to him who was at peace with me, or without a reason have robbed him who worked against me, 5 let him who hates me come for me and catch me. Let him break me under his feet until I die, and lay my honor in the dust.
6 Rise up in Your anger, O Lord. Rise up against the anger of those who hate me. Awake, my God, and help me. Prove what is right. 7 Let the people gather around You, and rule over them from Your throne. 8 May the Lord judge which people are guilty or not. O Lord, judge in my favor if I am right with You, and if I am without blame. 9 Let the sins of the sinful stop. But build up those who are right with You. For the God Who is right and good tests both the hearts and the minds. 10 I am kept safe by God, Who saves those who are pure in heart.
11 God is always right in how He judges. He is angry with the sinful every day. 12 If a man is not sorry for his sins and will not turn from them, God will make His sword sharp. He will string His bow and make it ready. 13 He takes up His sword and the bow of death. And He makes arrows of fire.
14 See how the sinful man thinks up sins and plans trouble and lies start growing inside him. 15 He has dug out a deep hole, and has fallen into the hole he has dug. 16 The trouble he makes will return to him. When he hurts others it will come down on his own head. 17 I will give thanks to the Lord because He is right and good. I will sing praise to the name of the Lord Most High.
7 “Son of man, I have chosen you as a watchman for the people of Israel. So when I give you the word, you must tell them of the danger. 8 When I tell a sinful man that he will die for sure, and you do not speak to him about the danger of his way, that sinful man will die in his sin. But your blood must be given. 9 But if you tell a sinful man to turn from his way, and he does not turn from his way, he will die in his sin. But you have saved your life.
God Judges Well
10 “Son of man, say to the people of Israel, ‘You have said, “Our sins are upon us, and we are wasting away in them. How then can we live?”’ 11 Say to them, ‘As I live,’ says the Lord God, ‘I am not pleased when sinful people die. But I am pleased when the sinful turn from their way and live. Turn! Turn from your sinful ways! Why will you die, O people of Israel?’ 12 Now, son of man, tell the children of your people, ‘If a man does what is right and good, it will not save him when he sins.’ And the sins of a sinful man will not make him fall when he turns from his sinful way. But the man who is right and good will not be able to live by his good ways when he sins. 13 When I tell the man who is right and good that he will live, and he trusts in his good ways so much that he sins, none of his good works will be remembered. He will die for the sin he has done. 14 But when I tell the sinful man that he will die, and he turns from his sin and does what is right and good, 15 if he gives back what a person gave him as trust for a promise, pays back what he had stolen, follows the Laws that give life and does not sin, he will live for sure. He will not die. 16 None of the sins he has done will be remembered against him. He has done what is right and good, and he will live for sure.
17 “Yet the children of your people say, ‘The way of the Lord is not right.’ But it is their way that is not right. 18 When the right and good man turns from his good way and sins, he will die for it. 19 But when the sinful man turns from his sin and does what is right and good, he will live because of it. 20 Yet you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not right.’ O people of Israel, I will judge each of you by his ways.”
Jesus Tells How He Works
19 Then Jesus said to them, “For sure, I tell you, the Son can do nothing by Himself. He does what He sees the Father doing. Whatever the Father does, the Son does also. 20 The Father loves the Son and shows the Son everything He does. The Father will show Him greater works than these. They will surprise you. 21 The Father raises up the dead and makes them live. The Son also gives life to anyone He chooses. 22 The Father does not say who is guilty. He gives this to the Son to do. 23 He does this so that all people will honor the Son as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father Who sent Him.
24 “For sure, I tell you, anyone who hears My Word and puts his trust in Him Who sent Me has life that lasts forever. He will not be guilty. He has already passed from death into life.
The Good People and the Sinful People Are Raised from the Dead
25 “For sure, I tell you, the time is coming. Yes, the time is here when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God. Those who hear will live. 26 The Father has life in Himself. He has given power to the Son to have life in Himself. 27 God has given Him the right and the power to say if people are guilty, because He is the Son of Man. 28 Do not be surprised at this. The time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear His voice. 29 They will come out. Those who have done good will be raised again and will have new life. Those who have been sinful will be raised again and will be told they are guilty and will be punished.
Jesus Tells of John and of Himself
30 “I can do nothing by Myself. I say who is guilty only as My Father tells Me. That way, what I say is right, because I am not trying to do what I want to do. I am doing what the Father, Who sent Me, wants Me to do. 31 If I tell about Myself, My words are worth nothing. 32 There is another One Who tells about Me. I know the words He says about Me are true.
33 “You sent to John the Baptist and he told you the truth. 34 I do not need words from men to say I am right. I say this that you might be saved from the punishment of sin. 35 John the Baptist was a burning and shining light. You were willing for awhile to be glad in his light. 36 I have something greater than John which tells of Me. I am doing works the Father has given Me to do and they are proving that the Father has sent Me. 37 The Father has told of Me and has sent Me. You have never heard His voice. You have never seen Him. 38 You do not have His Word living in your hearts because you do not put your trust in the One He sent.
39 “You do read the Holy Writings. You think you have life that lasts forever just because you read them. They do tell of Me. 40 But you do not want to come to Me so you might have life.
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