Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
To the director: On the gittith. One of Asaph’s songs.
81 Be happy and sing to God, our strength.
Shout with joy to the God of Jacob.
2 Begin the music.
Play the tambourines.
Play the pleasant harps and lyres.
3 Blow the ram’s horn at the time of the new moon[a]
and at the time of the full moon,[b] when our festival begins.
4 This is the law for the people of Israel.
The God of Jacob gave the command.
5 God made this agreement with Joseph’s people,
when he led them out of Egypt.
In a language we didn’t understand, God said,
6 “I took the load from your shoulder.
I let you drop the worker’s basket.
7 When you were in trouble, you called for help, and I set you free.
I was hidden in the storm clouds, and I answered you.
I tested you by the water at Meribah.[c]” Selah
8 “My people, I am warning you.
Israel, listen to me!
9 Don’t worship any of the false gods
that the foreigners worship.
10 I, the Lord, am your God.
I brought you out of Egypt.
Israel, open your mouth,
and I will feed you.
11 “But my people did not listen to me.
Israel did not obey me.
12 So I let them go their own stubborn way
and do whatever they wanted.
13 If my people would listen to me
and would live the way I want,
14 then I would defeat their enemies.
I would punish those who cause them trouble.
15 Those who hate the Lord would shake with fear.
They would be punished forever.
16 I would give the best wheat to my people.
I would give them the purest honey, until they were satisfied.”
4 Family of Jacob, hear the Lord’s message.
Tribes of Israel, listen.
5 This is what the Lord says:
“Do you think that I was not fair to your ancestors?
Is that why they turned away from me?
Your ancestors worshiped worthless idols,
and they became worthless themselves.
6 Your ancestors did not say,
‘The Lord brought us out of Egypt.
He led us through the desert,
through a dry and rocky land.
He led us through a dark and dangerous land.
No one lives there;
people don’t even travel through that land.
But the Lord led us through that land.
So where is he now?’
7 “I brought you into a good land,
a land filled with many good things.
I did this so that you could eat the fruit and crops that grow there.
But you only made my land ‘dirty.’
I gave that land to you,
but you made it a bad place.
8 “The priests did not ask,
‘Where is the Lord?’
The people who know the law did not want to know me.
The leaders of the people of Israel turned against me.
The prophets spoke[a] in the name of the false god Baal.
They worshiped worthless idols.”
9 The Lord says, “So now I will accuse you again,
and I will also accuse your grandchildren.
10 Go across the sea to the Islands of Kittim.[b]
Send someone to the land of Kedar.
Look very carefully.
See if anyone has ever done anything like this.
11 Has any nation ever stopped worshiping their old gods
so that they could worship new gods?
No! And their gods are not really gods at all!
But my people stopped worshiping their glorious God
and started worshiping idols that are worth nothing.
12 “Skies, be shocked at what happened!
Shake with great fear!”
This message is from the Lord.
13 “My people have done two evil things.
They turned away from me,
and they dug their own water cisterns.[c]
I am the source of living water;
those cisterns are broken and cannot hold water.
Jesus Teaches in Jerusalem
14 When the festival was about half finished, Jesus went to the Temple area and began to teach. 15 The Jewish leaders were amazed and said, “How did this man learn so much? He never had the kind of teaching we had!”
16 Jesus answered, “What I teach is not my own. My teaching comes from the one who sent me. 17 People who really want to do what God wants will know that my teaching comes from God. They will know that this teaching is not my own. 18 If I taught my own ideas, I would just be trying to get honor for myself. But if I am trying to bring honor to the one who sent me, I can be trusted. Anyone doing that is not going to lie. 19 Moses gave you the law, right? But you don’t obey that law. If you do, then why are you trying to kill me?”
20 The people answered, “A demon is making you crazy! We are not trying to kill you.”
21 Jesus said to them, “I did one miracle on a Sabbath day, and you were all surprised. 22 But you obey the law Moses gave you about circumcision—and sometimes you do it on a Sabbath day. (Really, Moses is not the one who gave you circumcision. It came from our ancestors who lived before Moses.) Yes, you often circumcise baby boys on a Sabbath day. 23 This shows that someone can be circumcised on a Sabbath day to obey the Law of Moses. So why are you angry with me for healing a person’s whole body on the Sabbath day? 24 Stop judging by the way things look. Be fair and judge by what is really right.”
People Wonder if Jesus Is the Messiah
25 Then some of the people who lived in Jerusalem said, “This is the man they are trying to kill. 26 But he is teaching where everyone can see and hear him. And no one is trying to stop him from teaching. Maybe the leaders have decided that he really is the Messiah. 27 But when the real Messiah comes, no one will know where he comes from. And we know where this man’s home is.”
28 Jesus was still teaching in the Temple area when he said loudly, “Do you really know me and where I am from? I am here, but not by my own decision. I was sent by one who is very real. But you don’t know him. 29 I know him because I am from him. He is the one who sent me.”
30 When Jesus said this, the people tried to grab him. But no one was able even to touch him, because the right time for him had not yet come. 31 But many of the people believed in Jesus. They said, “We are waiting for the Messiah to come. When he comes, will he do more miraculous signs than this man has done?”
Jesus Talks About the Holy Spirit
37 The last day of the festival came. It was the most important day. On that day Jesus stood up and said loudly, “Whoever is thirsty may come to me and drink. 38 If anyone believes in me, rivers of living water will flow out from their heart. That is what the Scriptures say.” 39 Jesus was talking about the Spirit. The Spirit had not yet been given to people, because Jesus had not yet been raised to glory. But later, those who believed in Jesus would receive the Spirit.
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International