Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

⁷ “Likewise you, human being — I have appointed you as watchman for the house of Isra’el. Therefore, when you hear the word from my mouth, warn them for me. ⁸ When I tell the wicked person, ‘Wicked person, you will certainly die’; and you fail to speak and warn the wicked person to leave his way; then that wicked person will die guilty; and I will hold you responsible for his death. ⁹ On the other hand, if you warn the wicked to turn from his way, and he doesn’t turn from his way; then he will still die guilty, but you will have saved your own life.

¹⁰ “Therefore, you, human being, say to the house of Isra’el: ‘You say, “Our crimes and sins are weighing us down, we’re pining away because of them, how can we even stay alive?”’ ¹¹ Say to them, ‘As I live,’ swears Adonai Elohim, ‘I take no pleasure in having the wicked person die, but in having the wicked person turn from his way and live. So repent! Turn from your evil ways! For why should you die, house of Isra’el?’

¹² “Next, you, human being, say to your people: ‘The righteousness of the righteous person will not save him, once he starts committing crimes; and likewise, the wickedness of the wicked person will not cause him to fall, once he turns from his wickedness. No, the righteous person cannot live by virtue of [his former righteousness], once he starts sinning. ¹³ So if, after I tell the righteous person that he will surely live, he begins trusting in his own [former] righteousness and starts committing crimes; then none of his [former] righteous actions will be remembered; on the contrary, he will die for the evil deeds he has committed. ¹⁴ Likewise, if, after I tell the wicked person, “You must die,” he turns from his sin and does what is lawful and right — ¹⁵ if the wicked person restores pledged property and returns what he stole, so that he lives by the laws that give life and does not commit evil deeds; then he will live, he will not die. ¹⁶ None of the sins he committed will be remembered against him; he has done what is lawful and right; he will surely live.’

¹⁷ “Now your people say, ‘Adonai’s way isn’t fair!’ But it is their way, theirs, that isn’t fair! ¹⁸ When the righteous person turns away from his righteousness and commits wickedness, he will die because of it. ¹⁹ And when the wicked person turns from his wickedness and does what is lawful and right, he will live because of it. ²⁰ Yet you say, ‘Adonai’s way isn’t fair!’ House of Isra’el, I will judge each of you according to his ways.”

¹⁹ Therefore, Yeshua said this to them: “Yes, indeed! I tell you that the Son cannot do anything on his own, but only what he sees the Father doing; whatever the Father does, the Son does too. ²⁰ For the Father loves the Son and shows him everything he does; and he will show him even greater things than these, so that you will be amazed. ²¹ Just as the Father raises the dead and makes them alive, so too the Son makes alive anyone he wants. ²² The Father does not judge anyone but has entrusted all judgment to the Son, ²³ so that all may honor the Son as they honor the Father. Whoever fails to honor the Son is not honoring the Father who sent him. ²⁴ Yes, indeed! I tell you that whoever hears what I am saying and trusts the One who sent me has eternal life — that is, he will not come up for judgment but has already crossed over from death to life! ²⁵ Yes, indeed! I tell you that there is coming a time — in fact, it’s already here — when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who listen will come to life. ²⁶ For just as the Father has life in himself, so he has given the Son life to have in himself. ²⁷ Also he has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man. ²⁸ Don’t be surprised at this; because the time is coming when all who are in the grave will hear his voice ²⁹ and come out — those who have done good to a resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to a resurrection of judgment. ³⁰ I can’t do a thing on my own. As I hear, I judge; and my judgment is right; because I don’t seek my own desire, but the desire of the one who sent me.

³¹ “If I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is not valid. ³² But there is someone else testifying on my behalf, and I know that the testimony he is making is valid — ³³ you have sent to Yochanan, and he has testified to the truth. ³⁴ Not that I collect human testimony; rather, I say these things so that you might be saved. ³⁵ He was a lamp burning and shining, and for a little while you were willing to bask in his light.

³⁶ “But I have a testimony that is greater than Yochanan’s. For the things the Father has given me to do, the very things I am doing now, testify on my behalf that the Father has sent me.

³⁷ “In addition, the Father who sent me has himself testified on my behalf. But you have never heard his voice or seen his shape; ³⁸ moreover, his word does not stay in you, because you don’t trust the one he sent. ³⁹ You keep examining the Tanakh because you think that in it you have eternal life. Those very Scriptures bear witness to me, ⁴⁰ but you won’t come to me in order to have life!