Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Psalm 131

A pilgrimage song. Of David.

Jeremiah’s symbolic acts

13 The Lord proclaimed to me: Go and buy a linen undergarment. Wear it for a while without washing it. ² So I bought a linen undergarment, as the Lord told me, and I put it on. ³ The Lord spoke to me again: ⁴ Take the undergarment that you are wearing and go at once to the Euphrates and put it under a rock. ⁵ So I went and buried it at the Euphrates,^[a] as the Lord instructed. ⁶ After a long time, the Lord said to me: Return to the Euphrates and dig up the undergarment that I commanded you to bury there. ⁷ So I went to the Euphrates and I dug up the linen undergarment from the place I had buried it. But it was ruined and good for nothing.

⁸ Then the Lord’s word came to me: ⁹ The Lord proclaims: In the same way I will ruin the brazen pride of Judah and Jerusalem! ¹⁰ Instead of listening to me, this wicked people follow their own willful hearts and pursue other gods, worshipping and serving them. They will become like this linen garment—good for nothing! ¹¹ Just as a linen undergarment clings to the body, so I created the people of Israel and Judah to cling to me, declares the Lord, to be my people for my honor, praise, and grandeur. But they wouldn’t obey.

Foot washing

13 Before the Festival of Passover, Jesus knew that his time had come to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them fully.

² Jesus and his disciples were sharing the evening meal. The devil had already provoked Judas, Simon Iscariot’s son, to betray Jesus. ³ Jesus knew the Father had given everything into his hands and that he had come from God and was returning to God. ⁴ So he got up from the table and took off his robes. Picking up a linen towel, he tied it around his waist. ⁵ Then he poured water into a washbasin and began to wash the disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel he was wearing. ⁶ When Jesus came to Simon Peter, Peter said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?”

⁷ Jesus replied, “You don’t understand what I’m doing now, but you will understand later.”

⁸ “No!” Peter said. “You will never wash my feet!”

Jesus replied, “Unless I wash you, you won’t have a place with me.”

⁹ Simon Peter said, “Lord, not only my feet but also my hands and my head!”

¹⁰ Jesus responded, “Those who have bathed need only to have their feet washed, because they are completely clean. You disciples are clean, but not every one of you.” ¹¹ He knew who would betray him. That’s why he said, “Not every one of you is clean.”

¹² After he washed the disciples’ feet, he put on his robes and returned to his place at the table. He said to them, “Do you know what I’ve done for you? ¹³ You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and you speak correctly, because I am. ¹⁴ If I, your Lord and teacher, have washed your feet, you too must wash each other’s feet. ¹⁵ I have given you an example: Just as I have done, you also must do. ¹⁶ I assure you, servants aren’t greater than their master, nor are those who are sent greater than the one who sent them. ¹⁷ Since you know these things, you will be happy if you do them.