Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Prayer and Praise for Deliverance from Enemies
A (A)Meditation[a] of David, which he sang to the Lord (B)concerning the words of Cush, a Benjamite.
7 O Lord my God, in You I put my trust;
(C)Save me from all those who persecute me;
And deliver me,
2 (D)Lest they tear me like a lion,
(E)Rending me in pieces, while there is none to deliver.
3 O Lord my God, (F)if I have done this:
If there is (G)iniquity in my hands,
4 If I have repaid evil to him who was at peace with me,
Or (H)have plundered my enemy without cause,
5 Let the enemy pursue me and overtake me;
Yes, let him trample my life to the earth,
And lay my honor in the dust. Selah
6 Arise, O Lord, in Your anger;
(I)Lift Yourself up because of the rage of my enemies;
(J)Rise up [b]for me to the judgment You have commanded!
7 So the congregation of the peoples shall surround You;
For their sakes, therefore, return on high.
8 The Lord shall judge the peoples;
(K)Judge me, O Lord, (L)according to my righteousness,
And according to my integrity within me.
9 Oh, let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end,
But establish the just;
(M)For the righteous God tests the hearts and [c]minds.
10 [d]My defense is of God,
Who saves the (N)upright in heart.
11 God is a just judge,
And God is angry with the wicked every day.
12 If he does not turn back,
He will (O)sharpen His sword;
He bends His bow and makes it ready.
13 He also prepares for Himself instruments of death;
He makes His arrows into fiery shafts.
14 (P)Behold, the wicked brings forth iniquity;
Yes, he conceives trouble and brings forth falsehood.
15 He made a pit and dug it out,
(Q)And has fallen into the ditch which he made.
16 (R)His trouble shall return upon his own head,
And his violent dealing shall come down on [e]his own crown.
17 I will praise the Lord according to His righteousness,
And will sing praise to the name of the Lord Most High.
7 (A)“So you, son of man: I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; therefore you shall hear a word from My mouth and warn them for Me. 8 When I say to the wicked, ‘O wicked man, you shall surely die!’ and you do not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at your hand. 9 Nevertheless if you warn the wicked to turn from his way, and he does not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have [a]delivered your soul.
10 “Therefore you, O son of man, say to the house of Israel: ‘Thus you say, “If our transgressions and our sins lie upon us, and we (B)pine[b] away in them, (C)how can we then live?” ’ 11 Say to them: ‘As I live,’ says the Lord God, (D)‘I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked (E)turn from his way and live. Turn, turn from your evil ways! For (F)why should you die, O house of Israel?’
The Fairness of God’s Judgment
12 “Therefore you, O son of man, say to the children of your people: ‘The (G)righteousness of the righteous man shall not deliver him in the day of his transgression; as for the wickedness of the wicked, (H)he shall not fall because of it in the day that he turns from his wickedness; nor shall the righteous be able to live because of his righteousness in the day that he sins.’ 13 When I say to the righteous that he shall surely live, (I)but he trusts in his own righteousness and commits iniquity, none of his righteous works shall be remembered; but because of the iniquity that he has committed, he shall die. 14 Again, (J)when I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die,’ if he turns from his sin and does [c]what is lawful and [d]right, 15 if the wicked (K)restores the pledge, (L)gives back what he has stolen, and walks in (M)the statutes of life without committing iniquity, he shall surely live; he shall not die. 16 (N)None of his sins which he has committed shall be remembered against him; he has done what is lawful and right; he shall surely live.
17 (O)“Yet the children of your people say, ‘The way of the Lord is not [e]fair.’ But it is their way which is not fair! 18 (P)When the righteous turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, he shall die because of it. 19 But when the wicked turns from his wickedness and does what is lawful and right, he shall live because of it. 20 Yet you say, (Q)‘The way of the Lord is not [f]fair.’ O house of Israel, I will judge every one of you according to his own ways.”
19 Then Jesus answered and said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, (A)the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner. 20 For (B)the Father loves the Son, and (C)shows Him all things that He Himself does; and He will show Him greater works than these, that you may marvel. 21 For as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, (D)even so the Son gives life to whom He will. 22 For the Father judges no one, but (E)has committed all judgment to the Son, 23 that all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father. (F)He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.
Life and Judgment Are Through the Son
24 “Most assuredly, I say to you, (G)he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, (H)but has passed from death into life. 25 Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when (I)the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear will live. 26 For (J)as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have (K)life in Himself, 27 and (L)has given Him authority to execute judgment also, (M)because He is the Son of Man. 28 Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will (N)hear His voice 29 (O)and come forth—(P)those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation. 30 (Q)I can of Myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because (R)I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me.
The Fourfold Witness
31 (S)“If I bear witness of Myself, My witness is not [a]true. 32 (T)There is another who bears witness of Me, and I know that the witness which He witnesses of Me is true. 33 You have sent to John, (U)and he has borne witness to the truth. 34 Yet I do not receive testimony from man, but I say these things that you may be saved. 35 He was the burning and (V)shining lamp, and (W)you were willing for a time to rejoice in his light. 36 But (X)I have a greater witness than John’s; for (Y)the works which the Father has given Me to finish—the very (Z)works that I do—bear witness of Me, that the Father has sent Me. 37 And the Father Himself, who sent Me, (AA)has testified of Me. You have neither heard His voice at any time, (AB)nor seen His form. 38 But you do not have His word abiding in you, because whom He sent, Him you do not believe. 39 (AC)You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and (AD)these are they which testify of Me. 40 (AE)But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.