Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
The New Promise
31 “The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will make a new promise [a] to Israel and Judah. 32 It will not be like the promise that I made to their ancestors when I took them by the hand and brought them out of Egypt. They rejected that promise, although I was a husband to them,” declares the Lord. 33 “But this is the promise that I will make to Israel after those days,” declares the Lord: “I will put my teachings inside them, and I will write those teachings on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. 34 No longer will each person teach his neighbors or his relatives by saying, ‘Know the Lord.’ All of them, from the least important to the most important, will know me,” declares the Lord, “because I will forgive their wickedness and I will no longer hold their sins against them.”
For the choir director; a psalm by David when the prophet Nathan came to him after David’s adultery with Bathsheba.
51 Have pity on me, O God, in keeping with your mercy.
In keeping with your unlimited compassion, wipe out my rebellious acts.
2 Wash me thoroughly from my guilt,
and cleanse me from my sin.
3 I admit that I am rebellious.
My sin is always in front of me.
4 I have sinned against you, especially you.
I have done what you consider evil.
So you hand down justice when you speak,
and you are blameless when you judge.
5 Indeed, I was born guilty.
I was a sinner when my mother conceived me.
6 Yet, you desire truth and sincerity.
Deep down inside me you teach me wisdom.
7 Purify me from sin with hyssop,[a] and I will be clean.[b]
Wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
8 Let me hear ⌞sounds of⌟ joy and gladness.
Let the bones that you have broken dance.
9 Hide your face from my sins,
and wipe out all that I have done wrong.
10 Create a clean heart in me, O God,
and renew a faithful spirit within me.
11 Do not force me away from your presence,
and do not take your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore the joy of your salvation to me,
and provide me with a spirit of willing obedience.
9 How can a young person keep his life pure?
⌞He can do it⌟ by holding on to your word.
10 I wholeheartedly searched for you.
Do not let me wander away from your commandments.
11 I have treasured your promise in my heart
so that I may not sin against you.
12 Thanks be to you, O Lord.
Teach me your laws.
13 With my lips I have repeated
every regulation that ⌞comes⌟ from your mouth.
14 I find joy in the way ⌞shown by⌟ your written instructions
more than I find joy in all kinds of riches.
15 I want to reflect on your guiding principles
and study your ways.
16 Your laws make me happy.
I never forget your word.
5 So Christ did not take the glory of being a chief priest for himself. Instead, the glory was given to him by God, who said,
“You are my Son.
Today I have become your Father.”
6 In another place in Scripture, God said,
“You are a priest forever,
in the way Melchizedek was a priest.”
7 During his life on earth, Jesus prayed to God, who could save him from death. He prayed and pleaded with loud crying and tears, and he was heard because of his devotion to God. 8 Although Jesus was the Son ⌞of God⌟, he learned to be obedient through his sufferings. 9 After he had finished his work, he became the source of eternal salvation for everyone who obeys him. 10 God appointed him chief priest in the way Melchizedek was a priest.
Some Greeks Ask to See Jesus
20 Some Greeks were among those who came to worship during the Passover festival. 21 They went to Philip (who was from Bethsaida in Galilee) and told him, “Sir, we would like to meet Jesus.” 22 Philip told Andrew, and they told Jesus.
23 Jesus replied to them, “The time has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24 I can guarantee this truth: A single grain of wheat doesn’t produce anything unless it is planted in the ground and dies. If it dies, it will produce a lot of grain. 25 Those who love their lives will destroy them, and those who hate their lives in this world will guard them for everlasting life. 26 Those who serve me must follow me. My servants will be with me wherever I will be. If people serve me, the Father will honor them.
27 “I am too deeply troubled now to know how to express my feelings. Should I say, ‘Father, save me from this time ⌞of suffering⌟’? No! I came for this time of suffering. 28 Father, give glory to your name.”
A voice from heaven said, “I have given it glory, and I will give it glory again.”
29 The crowd standing there heard the voice and said that it had thundered. Others in the crowd said that an angel had talked to him. 30 Jesus replied, “That voice wasn’t for my benefit but for yours.
31 “This world is being judged now. The ruler of this world will be thrown out now. 32 When I have been lifted up from the earth, I will draw all people toward me.” 33 By saying this, he indicated how he was going to die.
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