Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

42 Behold my ^[a]Servant, Whom I uphold, My elect in Whom My soul delights! I have put My Spirit upon Him; He will bring forth justice and right and reveal truth to the nations.^(A)

² He will not cry or shout aloud or cause His voice to be heard in the street.

³ A bruised reed He will not break, and a dimly burning wick He will not quench; He will bring forth justice in truth.^(B)

⁴ He will not fail or become weak or be crushed and discouraged till He has established justice in the earth; and the islands and coastal regions shall wait hopefully for Him and expect His direction and law.^(C)

⁵ Thus says God the Lord—He Who created the heavens and stretched them forth, He Who spread abroad the earth and that which comes out of it, He Who gives breath to the people on it and spirit to those who walk in it:

⁶ I the Lord have called You [the Messiah] for a righteous purpose and in righteousness; I will take You by the hand and will keep You; I will give You for a covenant to the people [Israel], for a light to the nations [Gentiles],

⁷ To open the eyes of the blind, to bring out prisoners from the dungeon, and those who sit in darkness from the prison.^(D)

⁸ I am the Lord; that is My name! And My glory I will not give to another, nor My praise to graven images.

⁹ Behold, the former things have come to pass, and new things I now declare; before they spring forth I tell you of them.

⁵ Your mercy and loving-kindness, O Lord, extend to the skies, and Your faithfulness to the clouds.

⁶ Your righteousness is like the mountains of God, Your judgments are like the great deep. O Lord, You preserve man and beast.

⁷ How precious is Your steadfast love, O God! The children of men take refuge and put their trust under the shadow of Your wings.

⁸ They relish and feast on the abundance of Your house; and You cause them to drink of the stream of Your pleasures.

⁹ For with You is the fountain of life; in Your light do we see light.^(A)

¹⁰ O continue Your loving-kindness to those who know You, Your righteousness (salvation) to the upright in heart.

¹¹ Let not the foot of pride overtake me, and let not the hand of the wicked drive me away.

¹¹ But [that appointed time came] when Christ (the Messiah) appeared as a High Priest of the better things that have come and are to come. [Then] through the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with [human] hands, that is, not a part of this material creation,

¹² He went once for all into the [Holy of] Holies [of heaven], not by virtue of the blood of goats and calves [by which to make reconciliation between God and man], but His own blood, having found and secured a complete redemption (an everlasting release for us).

¹³ For if [the mere] sprinkling of unholy and defiled persons with blood of goats and bulls and with the ashes of a burnt heifer is sufficient for the purification of the body,^(A)

¹⁴ How much more surely shall the blood of Christ, Who ^[a]by virtue of [His] eternal Spirit [His own preexistent ^[b]divine personality] has offered Himself as an unblemished sacrifice to God, purify our consciences from dead works and lifeless observances to serve the [ever] living God?

¹⁵ [Christ, the Messiah] is therefore the Negotiator and Mediator of an [entirely] new agreement (testament, covenant), so that those who are called and offered it may receive the fulfillment of the promised everlasting inheritance—since a death has taken place which rescues and delivers and redeems them from the transgressions committed under the [old] first agreement.

12 So six days before the Passover Feast, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, who had died and whom He had raised from the dead.

² So they made Him a supper; and Martha served, but Lazarus was one of those at the table with Him.

³ Mary took a pound of ointment of pure liquid nard [a rare perfume] that was very expensive, and she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped them with her hair. And the whole house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.

⁴ But Judas Iscariot, the one of His disciples who was about to betray Him, said,

⁵ Why was this perfume not sold for 300 denarii [a year’s wages for an ordinary workman] and that [money] given to the poor (the destitute)?

⁶ Now he did not say this because he cared for the poor but because he was a thief; and having the bag (the money box, the purse of the Twelve), he took for himself what was put into it [pilfering the collections].

⁷ But Jesus said, Let her alone. It was [intended] that she should keep it for the time of My preparation for burial. [She has kept it that she might have it for the time of My ^[a]embalming.]

⁸ You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have Me.

⁹ Now a great crowd of the Jews heard that He was at Bethany, and they came there, not only because of Jesus but that they also might see Lazarus, whom He had raised from the dead.

¹⁰ So the chief priests planned to put Lazarus to death also,

¹¹ Because on account of him many of the Jews were going away [were withdrawing from and leaving the Judeans] and believing in and adhering to Jesus.