Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Psalm 115
1 Not for us, O Eternal One; this glory is not for us—but for Your name
because of Your loyal love and truth.
2 Why should the nations ask,
“Where is their God now?”
3 Our God is in heaven
doing whatever He chooses.
4 Those nations worship idols of silver and gold,
crafted by human hands:
5 They have given their gods mouths, but they cannot speak;
eyes, but they cannot see.
6 They have provided their idols with ears, but they cannot hear;
noses, but they cannot smell.
7 They have fashioned hands, but the idols cannot reach out and touch;
feet, but they cannot walk.
Their idols cannot make a sound in their finely crafted throats.
8 The people who make idols will become useless like them,
like all who trust in idols.
9 O Israel, put your trust in the Eternal.
He is their helper and defender.
10 O family of Aaron, put your trust in the Eternal.
He is their helper and defender.
11 All who fear and know the Eternal, put your trust in Him.
He is their helper and defender.
12 The Eternal has remembered us, and He will bless us.
He will bless the people of Israel.
He will bless the priestly family of Aaron.
13 The Eternal will bless those who worship and stand in awe of Him,
from the least to the greatest.
14 May the Eternal prosper your family,
growing both you and your descendants.
15 May the blessings of the Eternal,
maker of heaven and earth, be on you.
16 The heavens above belong to the Eternal,
and yet earth in all of its beauty has been given to humanity by Him.
17 The dead do not praise the Eternal,
nor do any who descend into the silent grave.
18 But we will praise and bless You—our Eternal One—
today and forever.
Praise the Eternal!
5 At the evening offering, I stopped mourning with the people and turned my attention to God. In my torn garments, I knelt before Him and stretched out my hands to the Eternal God.
Ezra’s Prayer: 6 O my True God, witness my shame and embarrassment as I appeal to You. My True God, our sins are so great that they have flooded over us, and they have reached to the heavens. 7 Our people are chronic sinners, our sin is greater than we could have imagined, and You have tried to correct our behavior by subjecting our kings and our priests to death, captivity, theft, and shame by foreign rulers. Those pagans continue to rule us today. 8 Even though You, our Eternal God, have shown Your grace by preserving a remnant and by giving us a secure hold in Your holy place, may You, our God, brighten our eyes and grant us assurance even in our bondage to the Persian rulers. 9 We are still their slaves. In this bondage, You, our True God, have not forgotten us; Your loyal love inspired the kings of Persia to allow us to rebuild Your house and the walls to provide protection in Judah and Jerusalem.
10 But in spite of Your love, we have abandoned Your commands, and we have no excuse. 11 You warned us through Your servants, the prophets, that the land of Canaan was polluted with pagans, that their evil actions had removed anything pure or good there, even filling up the land from end to end with horrible practices. 12 You warned us not to marry our children to theirs, to seek treaties with them, or to covet their prosperity so that we would remain strong as a nation and as individuals, eating good foods from the earth and leaving that earth to Your children always.
13 In spite of Your mercy toward us—You, our True God, did not punish us as much as our obvious guilt and our evil actions required and have freed these exiles— 14 once again we have ignored Your commands. We married pagans and have taken on their horrible practices, knowing that Your anger would motivate You to destroy every last Jew without leaving any remnant people.
15 Eternal God of Israel, You are righteous and justified in everything You do. Today we are nothing but the preserved remnant who escaped Your wrath, and today we confess our guilt. None of us should be able to stand and be acquitted before You.
16 For a little while you will not see Me; but after that, a time will come when you will see Me again.
Some of His Disciples: 17 What does He mean? “I’ll be here, and then I won’t be here, because I’ll be with the Father”?
Other Disciples: 18 What is He saying? “A little while”? We don’t understand.
The promise of eternity is a reminder that God’s children are made for a renewed world. There is great comfort amid fear, knowing believers will be reunited with Jesus and joined with the Father. As believers labor together in this world—enduring pain, loss, and unfulfilled desires—they should be encouraged that in eternity all needs will be fulfilled in the presence of God.
19 Jesus knew they had questions to ask of Him, so He approached them.
Jesus: Are you trying to figure out what I mean when I say you will see Me in a little while? 20 I tell you the truth, a time is approaching when you will weep and mourn while the world is celebrating. You will grieve, but that grief will give birth to great joy. 21-22 In the same way that a woman labors in great pain during childbirth only to forget the intensity of the pain when she holds her child, when I return, your labored grief will also change into a joy that cannot be stolen.
23 When all this transpires, you will finally have the answers you have been seeking. I tell you the truth, anything you ask of the Father in My name, He will give to you. 24 Until this moment, you have not sought after anything in My name. Ask and you will receive so that you will be filled with joy.
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.