Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

¹⁶⁹ Let my cry come to You, O Lord. Give me understanding because of Your Word. ¹⁷⁰ Let my prayer come to You. Help me because of Your Word. ¹⁷¹ May praise come from my lips, for You teach me Your Law. ¹⁷² May my tongue sing about Your Word, for all of Your Word is right and good. ¹⁷³ May Your hand be ready to help me, for I have chosen Your Law. ¹⁷⁴ I have much desire for Your saving power, O Lord. Your Law is my joy. ¹⁷⁵ Let me live so I may praise You, and let Your Law help me. ¹⁷⁶ I have gone from the way like a lost sheep. Look for Your servant, for I do not forget Your Word.

¹² So when the Lord has completed all His work on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, He will punish the proud heart of the king of Assyria and his proud spirit. ¹³ For the king has said, “I did this by the power of my hand and by my wisdom, for I have understanding. I moved the land-marks of the people and took their riches. Like a strong man I have brought down those who sat on thrones. ¹⁴ My hand has taken the riches of the people like one taken from a nest. I gathered all the earth as one gathers eggs that have been left. And there was not one that moved its wing or opened its mouth or made a sound.”

¹⁵ Can an ax say it is more important than the one who uses it? Is the saw more important than the one who saws with it? A stick of wood does not lift up a man. A man lifts up a stick. ¹⁶ So the Lord, the Lord of All, will send a wasting disease among the strong Assyrian soldiers. Under the king’s greatness a fire will be started that will burn and burn. ¹⁷ The light of Israel and his Holy One will become a fire. And it will burn and destroy his thorns and thistles in one day. ¹⁸ The Lord will destroy the greatness of the trees and the fields that give much fruit, both soul and body. It will be as when a sick man wastes away. ¹⁹ And the rest of his trees will be so few that a child could write them down.

A Few of Israel Will Return

²⁰ In that day those of Israel and of the family of Jacob who are still alive will never again trust in the one who destroyed them. But they will trust in the Lord, the Holy One of Israel.

²⁵ Some of the people of Jerusalem said, “Is not this the Man the Jews want to kill? ²⁶ But see! This Man is speaking out in the open. They are saying nothing to Him. Do the leaders know this is the true Christ? ²⁷ We know where this Man came from. When the Christ comes, no one will know where He comes from.”

²⁸ Then Jesus spoke with a loud voice as He taught in the house of God. He said, “You know Me. You know where I came from. I have not come on My own. The One Who sent Me is true but you do not know Him. ²⁹ I know Him because I am from Him and He sent Me.”

³⁰ Then they wanted to take Jesus but no one put his hands on Him. His time had not yet come. ³¹ Many of the people believed in Him. They said, “When Christ comes, will He do more powerful works than this Man?”

³² The proud religious law-keepers heard the people talking about Jesus. The religious leaders of the Jews and the proud religious law-keepers sent soldiers to take Him. ³³ Jesus said to them, “I will be with you a little while yet. Then I will go back to Him Who sent Me. ³⁴ You will look for Me but you will not find Me. Where I go, you cannot come.”

³⁵ The Jews said to themselves, “Where can He go that we will not find Him? Will He go to our people who live among the Greeks and teach the Greeks? ³⁶ What does He mean when He says, ‘You will look for Me but you will not find Me, and where I go, you cannot come’?”