Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
7 O God, commander of armies, restore us and smile on us
so that we may be saved.
8 You brought a vine from Egypt.
You forced out the nations and planted it.
9 You cleared the ground for it
so that it took root and filled the land.
10 Its shade covered the mountains.
Its branches covered the mighty cedars.
11 It reached out with its branches to the Mediterranean Sea.
Its shoots reached the Euphrates River.
12 Why did you break down the stone fences around this vine?
All who pass by are picking its fruit.
13 Wild boars from the forest graze on it.
Wild animals devour it.
14 O God, commander of armies, come back!
Look from heaven and see!
Come to help this vine.
15 Take care of what your right hand planted,
the son you strengthened for yourself.
The Lord’s Rejection of Judah
6 “Take cover, people of Benjamin!
Run away from Jerusalem!
Blow the ram’s horn in Tekoa.
Raise the flag over Beth Hakkerem,
because disaster and widespread destruction
are coming from the north.
2 “My people Zion are like lovely pastures.
3 With their flocks, shepherds will come to them,
pitch their tents all around them,
and each of them will tend his own flock.
4 ⌞The shepherds say,⌟ ‘Prepare yourselves for war against Zion.
Let’s attack at noon!
How horrible it will be for us. The day is passing,
and the shadows of evening are growing longer.
5 Let’s attack at night and destroy its palaces.’ ”
6 This is what the Lord of Armies says:
Cut down its trees.
Build up dirt mounds to attack Jerusalem.
This city must be punished.
There is nothing but oppression in it.
7 As a well keeps its water fresh,
so Jerusalem keeps its evil fresh.
Violence and destruction can be heard in it.
I see that it is sick and wounded.
8 Pay attention to my warning, Jerusalem,
or I will turn away from you.
I will make your land desolate,
a land where no one will live.
9 This is what the Lord of Armies says:
Thoroughly pick through the faithful few of Israel
like someone picks through a grapevine.
Like someone picking grapes, pass your hand over its branches again.
10 Whom can I speak to?
Whom can I give a warning to?
Who will listen?
Their ears are plugged,
and they aren’t able to pay attention.
When the Lord speaks his word to them,
they show contempt for it and object to it.
40 After some of the crowd heard Jesus say these words, they said, “This man is certainly the prophet.” 41 Other people said, “This man is the Messiah.” Still other people asked, “How can the Messiah come from Galilee? 42 Doesn’t Scripture say that the Messiah will come from the descendants of David and from the village of Bethlehem, where David lived?” 43 So the people were divided because of Jesus. 44 Some of them wanted to arrest him, but they couldn’t.
45 When the temple guards returned, the chief priests and Pharisees asked them, “Why didn’t you bring Jesus?”
46 The temple guards answered, “No human has ever spoken like this man.”
47 The Pharisees asked the temple guards, “Have you been deceived too? 48 Has any ruler or any Pharisee believed in him? 49 This crowd is cursed because it doesn’t know Moses’ Teachings.”
50 One of those Pharisees was Nicodemus, who had previously visited Jesus. Nicodemus asked them, 51 “Do Moses’ Teachings enable us to judge a person without first hearing that person’s side of the story? We can’t judge a person without finding out what that person has done.”
52 They asked Nicodemus, “Are you saying this because you’re from Galilee? Study ⌞the Scriptures⌟, and you’ll see that no prophet comes from Galilee.” [a]
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