Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Psalm 81
A Call to Obedience
For the choir director: on the Gittith. Of Asaph.(A)
1 Sing for joy to God our strength;
shout in triumph to the God of Jacob.(B)
2 Lift up a song—play the tambourine,
the melodious lyre, and the harp.(C)
3 Blow the horn on the day of our feasts[a][b]
during the new moon(D)
and during the full moon.
4 For this is a statute for Israel,
a judgment of the God of Jacob.(E)
5 He set it up as an ordinance for Joseph
when He went throughout[c] the land of Egypt.(F)
I heard an unfamiliar language:
6 “I relieved his shoulder from the burden;
his hands were freed from carrying the basket.(G)
7 You called out in distress, and I rescued you;
I answered you from the thundercloud.(H)
I tested you at the waters of Meribah.(I)
8 Listen, My people, and I will admonish you.
Israel, if you would only listen to Me!(J)
9 There must not be a strange god among you;
you must not bow down to a foreign god.(K)
10 I am Yahweh your God,
who brought you up from the land of Egypt.(L)
Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it.(M)
11 “But My people did not listen to Me;
Israel did not obey Me.(N)
12 So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts
to follow their own plans.(O)
13 If only My people would listen to Me
and Israel would follow My ways,(P)
14 I would quickly subdue their enemies
and turn My hand against their foes.”(Q)
15 Those who hate the Lord
would pretend submission to Him;(R)
their doom would last forever.(S)
16 But He would feed Israel[d] with the best wheat.
“I would satisfy you with honey from the rock.”(T)
4 Hear the word of the Lord, house of Jacob
and all families of the house of Israel.
5 This is what the Lord says:
What fault did your fathers find in Me(A)
that they went so far from Me,
followed worthless idols,(B)
and became worthless themselves?(C)
6 They stopped asking, “Where is the Lord(D)
who brought us from the land of Egypt,
who led us through the wilderness,(E)
through a land of deserts and ravines,
through a land of drought and darkness,[a]
a land no one traveled through
and where no one lived?”
7 I brought you to a fertile land(F)
to eat its fruit and bounty,
but after you entered, you defiled My land;(G)
you made My inheritance(H) detestable.
8 The priests quit asking, “Where is the Lord?”
The experts in the law no longer knew Me,(I)
and the rulers(J) rebelled against Me.
The prophets prophesied by[b] Baal(K)
and followed useless idols.(L)
9 Therefore, I will bring a case against you again.
This is the Lord’s declaration.
I will bring a case against your children’s children.(M)
10 Cross over to Cyprus[c](N) and take a look.
Send someone to Kedar(O) and consider carefully;
see if there has ever been anything like this:
11 Has a nation ever exchanged its gods?(P)
(But they were not gods!(Q))
Yet My people have exchanged their[d] Glory
for useless idols.(R)
12 Be horrified at this, heavens;(S)
be shocked and utterly appalled.
This is the Lord’s declaration.
14 When the festival was already half over, Jesus went up into the temple complex(A) and began to teach. 15 Then the Jews were amazed and said, “How does He know the Scriptures,(B) since He hasn’t been trained?”
16 Jesus answered them, “My teaching isn’t Mine but is from the One who sent Me.(C) 17 If anyone wants to do His will,(D) he will understand whether the teaching is from God or if I am speaking on My own. 18 The one who speaks for himself seeks his own glory.(E) But He who seeks the glory(F) of the One who sent Him is true,(G) and there is no unrighteousness in Him.(H) 19 Didn’t Moses(I) give you the law? Yet none of you keeps the law!(J) Why do you want to kill Me?”
20 “You have a demon!” the crowd responded. “Who wants to kill You?”
21 “I did one work,(K) and you are all amazed,” Jesus answered. 22 “Consider this: Moses has given you circumcision(L)—not that it comes from Moses but from the fathers(M)—and you circumcise a man on the Sabbath.(N) 23 If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath(O) so that the law of Moses(P) won’t be broken, are you angry at Me because I made a man entirely well on the Sabbath? 24 Stop judging(Q) according to outward appearances; rather judge according to righteous judgment.”
The Identity of the Messiah
25 Some of the people of Jerusalem(R) were saying, “Isn’t this the man they want to kill? 26 Yet, look! He’s speaking publicly and they’re saying nothing to Him. Can it be true that the authorities(S) know He is the Messiah?(T) 27 But we know where this man is from.(U) When the Messiah comes, nobody will know where He is from.”
28 As He was teaching in the temple complex,(V) Jesus cried out, “You know Me and you know where I am from. Yet I have not come on My own, but the One who sent Me(W) is true. You don’t know Him;(X) 29 I know Him because I am from Him, and He sent Me.”(Y)
30 Then they tried to seize Him. Yet no one laid a hand on Him because His hour[a] had not yet come. 31 However, many from the crowd believed in Him and said, “When the Messiah comes, He won’t perform more signs than this man has done,(Z) will He?”
The Promise of the Spirit
37 On the last and most important day of the festival,(A) Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone is thirsty, he should come to Me[a](B) and drink!(C) 38 The one who believes in Me,(D) as the Scripture(E) has said,[b] will have streams of living water(F) flow(G) from deep within him.” 39 He said this about the Spirit.(H) Those who believed in Jesus were going to receive the Spirit,(I) for the Spirit[c] had not yet been received[d][e] because Jesus had not yet been glorified.
Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville Tennessee. All rights reserved.