Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Holy is the Lord
6 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting upon his[a] throne, high and exalted. The train of his robe filled the Temple. 2 The seraphim stood above him. Each had six wings:[b] with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he was flying. 3 They kept on calling to each other:[c]
“Holy, holy, holy[d] is the Lord of the Heavenly Armies!
The whole earth is full of his glory!”
4 The foundations of the thresholds quaked at the sound of those who kept calling out,[e] and the Temple was filled with smoke.
5 “How terrible it will be for me!” I cried, “because I am ruined! I’m a man with unclean lips, and I live among a people with unclean lips! And my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of the Heavenly Armies!”
The Calling of Isaiah
6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me, carrying a burning coal in his hand that he had taken from the altar with tongs. 7 He touched my mouth and said, “Look! Now that this has touched your[f] lips, your guilt is taken away, and your sins[g] atoned for.”
8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord as he was asking, “Whom will I send? Who will go for us?”
“Here I am!” I replied. “Send me.”
A Davidic Psalm.
Praise to the Majestic Lord
29 Ascribe to the Lord, you heavenly beings;
ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
2 Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name;
worship the Lord wearing holy attire.
3 The voice of the Lord was heard[a] above the waters;
the God of glory thundered;
the Lord was heard[b] over many waters.
4 The voice of the Lord is powerful;
the voice of the Lord is majestic.
5 The voice of the Lord snaps the cedars;[c]
the Lord snaps the cedars of Lebanon.
6 He makes them stagger like a calf,
even Lebanon and Sirion[d] like a young wild ox.
7 The voice of the Lord shoots out flashes of fire.
8 The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness;
the voice of the Lord shakes[e] the wilderness of Kadesh.
9 The voice of the Lord causes deer to give birth,
and strips the forest bare.
In his Temple all of them shout, “Glory!”
10 The Lord sat enthroned over the flood,
and the Lord sits as king forever.
11 The Lord will give strength to his people;
the Lord will bless his people with peace.
12 Consequently, brothers, we are not—with respect to human nature, that is—under an obligation to live according to human nature. 13 For if you live according to human nature, you are going to die, but if by the Spirit you continuously put to death the activities of the body, you will live. 14 For all who are led by God’s Spirit are God’s children. 15 For you have not received a spirit of slavery that leads you into fear again. Instead, you have received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba![a] Father!” 16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. 17 Now if we are children, we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with the Messiah[b]—if, in fact, we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.
Jesus Talks with Nicodemus
3 Now there was a man from the Pharisees, a leader of the Jews, whose name was Nicodemus. 2 He came to Jesus[a] at night and told him, “Rabbi,[b] we know that you have come from God as a teacher, because no one can perform these signs that you are doing unless God is with him.”
3 Jesus replied to him, “Truly, I tell you[c] emphatically, unless a person is born from above[d] he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
4 Nicodemus asked him, “How can a person be born when he is old? He can’t go back into his mother’s womb a second time and be born, can he?”
5 Jesus answered, “Truly, I tell you[e] emphatically, unless a person is born of water and Spirit he cannot enter the kingdom of God.[f] 6 What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Don’t be astonished that I told you, ‘All of you must be born from above.’[g] 8 The wind[h] blows where it wants to. You hear its sound, but you don’t know where it comes from or where it is going. That’s the way it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
9 Nicodemus asked him, “How can that be?”
10 Jesus answered him, “You’re the teacher of Israel, and you can’t understand this? 11 Truly, I tell you[i] emphatically, we know what we’re talking about, and we testify about what we’ve seen. Yet you people[j] do not accept our testimony. 12 If I have told you people[k] about earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you about heavenly things?
13 “No one has gone up to heaven except the one who came down from heaven, the Son of Man who is in heaven.[l] 14 Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 so that everyone who believes in him would have eternal life.[m]
16 “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his uniquely existing Son so that everyone who believes in him would not be lost but have eternal life. 17 Because God sent the Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world would be saved through him.
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