Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Psalm 89[a]
A well-written song[b] by Ethan the Ezrahite.
89 I will sing continually[c] about the Lord’s faithful deeds;
to future generations I will proclaim your faithfulness.[d]
2 For I say, “Loyal love is permanently established;[e]
in the skies you set up your faithfulness.”[f]
3 The Lord said,[g]
“I have made a covenant with my chosen one;
I have made a promise on oath to David, my servant:
4 ‘I will give you an eternal dynasty[h]
and establish your throne throughout future generations.’”[i] (Selah)
19 Then you[a] spoke through a vision to your faithful followers[b] and said:
“I have placed a young hero[c] over a warrior;
I have raised up a young man[d] from the people.
20 I have discovered David, my servant.
With my holy oil I have anointed him as king.[e]
21 My hand will support him,[f]
and my arm will strengthen him.
22 No enemy will be able to exact tribute[g] from him;[h]
a violent oppressor will not be able to humiliate him.[i]
23 I will crush his enemies before him;
I will strike down those who hate him.
24 He will experience my faithfulness and loyal love,[j]
and by my name he will win victories.[k]
25 I will place his hand over the sea,
his right hand over the rivers.[l]
26 He will call out to me,
‘You are my father,[m] my God, and the protector who delivers me.’[n]
2 There was a man named Manoah from Zorah, from the Danite tribe. His wife was infertile and childless.[a] 3 The angel of the Lord appeared to the woman and said to her, “You[b] are infertile and childless,[c] but you will conceive and have a son. 4 Now be careful! Do not drink wine or beer, and do not eat any food that will make you ritually unclean.[d] 5 Look, you will conceive and have a son.[e] You must never cut his hair,[f] for the child will be dedicated to God[g] from birth. He will begin to deliver Israel from the power[h] of the Philistines.”
6 The woman went and said to her husband, “A man sent from God[i] came to me! He looked like God’s angel—he was very awesome.[j] I did not ask him where he came from, and he did not tell me his name. 7 He said to me, ‘Look, you will conceive and have a son.[k] So now, do not drink wine or beer and do not eat any food that will make you ritually unclean.[l] For the child will be dedicated[m] to God from birth till the day he dies.’”
8 Manoah prayed to the Lord,[n] “Please, Lord, allow the man sent from God[o] to visit[p] us again, so he can teach[q] us how we should raise[r] the child who will be born.” 9 God answered Manoah’s prayer.[s] God’s angel visited[t] the woman again while she was sitting in the field. But her husband Manoah was not with her. 10 The woman ran at once and told her husband,[u] “Come quickly,[v] the man who visited[w] me the other day has appeared to me!” 11 So Manoah got up and followed his wife. When he met[x] the man, he said to him, “Are you the man who spoke to my wife?”[y] He said, “Yes.”[z] 12 Manoah said, “Now, when your announcement comes true,[aa] how should the child be raised and what should he do?”[ab] 13 The angel of the Lord told[ac] Manoah, “Your wife should pay attention to everything I told her.[ad] 14 She should not drink[ae] anything that the grapevine produces. She must not drink wine or beer, and she must not eat any food that will make her ritually unclean.[af] She should obey everything I commanded her to do.” 15 Manoah said to the angel of the Lord, “Please stay here awhile,[ag] so we can prepare a young goat for you to eat.”[ah] 16 The angel of the Lord said to Manoah, “If I stay,[ai] I will not eat your food. But if you want to make a burnt sacrifice to the Lord, you should offer it.” (He said this because Manoah did not know that he was the angel of the Lord.)[aj] 17 Manoah said to the angel of the Lord, “Tell us your name, so we can honor you when your announcement comes true.”[ak] 18 The angel of the Lord said to him, “You should not ask me my name, because you cannot comprehend it.”[al] 19 Manoah took a young goat and a grain offering and offered them on a rock to the Lord. The Lord’s messenger did an amazing thing as Manoah and his wife watched.[am] 20 As the flame went up from the altar toward the sky, the angel of the Lord went up in it[an] while Manoah and his wife watched. They fell facedown[ao] to the ground.
21 The angel of the Lord did not appear again to Manoah and his wife. After all this happened Manoah realized that the visitor had been the angel of the Lord. 22 Manoah said to his wife, “We will certainly die, because we have seen a supernatural being!”[ap] 23 But his wife said to him, “If the Lord wanted to kill us, he would not have accepted the burnt offering and the grain offering from us.[aq] He would not have shown us all these things, or have spoken to us like this just now.”
24 Manoah’s wife[ar] gave birth to a son and named him Samson.[as] The child grew and the Lord empowered[at] him.
Differing Opinions About Jesus
40 When they heard these words, some of the crowd[a] began to say, “This really[b] is the Prophet!”[c] 41 Others said, “This is the Christ!”[d] But still others said, “No,[e] for the Christ doesn’t come from Galilee, does he?[f] 42 Don’t the scriptures say that the Christ is a descendant[g] of David[h] and comes from Bethlehem,[i] the village where David lived?”[j] 43 So there was a division in the crowd[k] because of Jesus.[l] 44 Some of them were wanting to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him.[m]
Lack of Belief
45 Then the officers[n] returned[o] to the chief priests and Pharisees,[p] who said to them, “Why didn’t you bring him back with you?”[q] 46 The officers replied, “No one ever spoke like this man!” 47 Then the Pharisees answered,[r] “You haven’t been deceived too, have you?[s] 48 None of the members of the ruling council[t] or the Pharisees have believed in him, have they?[u] 49 But this rabble[v] who do not know the law are accursed!”
50 Nicodemus, who had gone to Jesus[w] before and who was one of the rulers,[x] said,[y] 51 “Our law doesn’t condemn[z] a man unless it first hears from him and learns[aa] what he is doing, does it?”[ab] 52 They replied,[ac] “You aren’t from Galilee too, are you?[ad] Investigate carefully and you will see that no prophet[ae] comes from Galilee!”
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