Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

A song of thanks.

23 “It will be very bad for the shepherds of the people of Judah. They are destroying the sheep. They are making the sheep run from my pasture in all directions.” This message is from the Lord.

² They are responsible for my people. And this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says to them: “You shepherds have made my sheep run away in all directions. You have forced them to go away, and you have not taken care of them. But I will take care of you—I will punish you for the evil things you did.” This message is from the Lord: ³ “I sent my sheep to other countries. But I will gather together my sheep that are left, and I will bring them back to their pasture. When my sheep are back in their pasture, they will have many children and grow in number. ⁴ I will place new shepherds over my sheep. They will take care of my sheep, and my sheep will never again feel afraid. None of my sheep will be lost.” This message is from the Lord.

The Good “Branch”

⁷ “So the time is coming,” says the Lord, “when people will not make a promise by saying, ‘As surely as the Lord lives, the one who brought the Israelites out of the land of Egypt ….’ ⁸ But people will say something new: ‘As surely as the Lord lives, the one who brought the Israelites out of the land of the north and out of all the countries where he had sent them ….’ Then the people of Israel will live in their own land.”

Jesus Talks Again About His Death^(A)

¹⁷ Jesus was going to Jerusalem. His twelve followers were with him. While they were walking, he gathered the followers together and spoke to them privately. He said to them, ¹⁸ “We are going to Jerusalem. The Son of Man will be handed over to the leading priests and the teachers of the law, and they will say he must die. ¹⁹ They will hand him over to the foreigners, who will laugh at him and beat him with whips, and then they will kill him on a cross. But on the third day after his death, he will be raised to life again.”

A Mother Asks a Special Favor^(B)

²⁰ Then Zebedee’s wife came to Jesus and brought her sons. She bowed before Jesus and asked him to do something for her.

²¹ Jesus said, “What do you want?”

She said, “Promise that one of my sons will sit at your right side in your kingdom and the other at your left.”

²² So Jesus said to the sons, “You don’t understand what you are asking. Can you drink from the cup^[a] that I must drink from?”

The sons answered, “Yes, we can!”

²³ Jesus said to them, “It is true that you will drink from the cup that I drink from. But it is not for me to say who will sit at my right or my left. My Father has decided who will do that. He has prepared those places for them.”

²⁴ The other ten followers heard this and were angry with the two brothers. ²⁵ So Jesus called the followers together. He said, “You know that the rulers of the non-Jewish people love to show their power over the people. And their important leaders love to use all their authority over the people. ²⁶ But it should not be that way with you. Whoever wants to be your leader must be your servant. ²⁷ Whoever wants to be first must serve the rest of you like a slave. ²⁸ Do as I did: The Son of Man did not come for people to serve him. He came to serve others and to give his life to save many people.”