Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
For the director of music. A psalm of Asaph to the tune of “The Lilies of the Covenant.”
80 Shepherd of Israel, hear us.
You lead the people of Joseph like a flock.
You sit on your throne between the cherubim.
Show your glory
2 to the people of Ephraim, Benjamin and Manasseh.
Call your strength into action.
Come and save us.
3 God, make us new again.
May you be pleased with us.
Then we will be saved.
4 Lord God, you rule over all.
How long will you be angry?
Will you be angry with your people even when they pray to you?
5 You have given us tears as our food.
You have made us drink tears by the bowlful.
6 You have let our neighbors mock us.
Our enemies laugh at us.
7 God who rules over all, make us new again.
May you be pleased with us.
Then we will be saved.
8 You brought Israel out of Egypt.
Israel was like a vine.
After you drove the nations out of Canaan,
you planted the vine in their land.
9 You prepared the ground for it.
It took root and spread out over the whole land.
10 The mountains were covered with its shade.
The shade of its branches covered the mighty cedar trees.
11 Your vine sent its branches out all the way to the Mediterranean Sea.
They reached as far as the Euphrates River.
12 Why have you broken down the walls around your vine?
Now all who pass by it can pick its grapes.
13 Wild pigs from the forest destroy it.
Insects from the fields feed on it.
14 God who rules over all, return to us!
Look down from heaven and see us!
Watch over your vine.
15 Guard the root you have planted with your powerful right hand.
Take care of the branch you have raised up for yourself.
16 Your vine has been cut down and burned in the fire.
You have been angry with us, and we are dying.
17 May you honor the people at your right hand.
May you honor the nation you have raised up for yourself.
18 Then we won’t turn away from you.
Give us new life. We will worship you.
19 Lord God who rules over all, make us new again.
May you be pleased with us.
Then we will be saved.
The Lord Will Create New Heavens and a New Earth
17 “I will create new heavens and a new earth.
The things that have happened before will not be remembered.
They will not even enter your minds.
18 So be glad and full of joy forever
because of what I will create.
I will cause others to take delight in Jerusalem.
They will be filled with joy
when they see its people.
19 And I will be full of joy because of Jerusalem.
I will take delight in my people.
Weeping and crying
will not be heard there anymore.
20 “Babies in Jerusalem will no longer
live only a few days.
Old people will not fail
to live for a very long time.
Those who live to the age of 100
will be thought of as mere children when they die.
Those who die before they are 100
will be considered as having been under God’s curse.
21 My people will build houses and live in them.
They will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
22 They will no longer build houses
only to have others live in them.
They will no longer plant crops
only to have others eat them.
My people will live to be as old as trees.
My chosen ones will enjoy for a long time
the things they have worked for.
23 Their work will not be worthless anymore.
They will not have children who are sure to face sudden terror.
Instead, I will bless them.
I will also bless their children after them.
24 Even before they call out to me, I will answer them.
While they are still speaking, I will hear them.
25 Wolves and lambs will eat together.
Lions will eat straw like oxen.
Serpents will eat nothing but dust.
None of those animals will harm or destroy
anything or anyone on my holy mountain of Zion,”
says the Lord.
18 I will not leave you like children who don’t have parents. I will come to you. 19 Before long, the world will not see me anymore. But you will see me. Because I live, you will live also. 20 On that day you will realize that I am in my Father. You will know that you are in me, and I am in you. 21 Anyone who has my commands and obeys them loves me. My Father will love the one who loves me. I too will love them. And I will show myself to them.”
22 Then Judas spoke. “Lord,” he said, “why do you plan to show yourself only to us? Why not also to the world?” The Judas who spoke those words was not Judas Iscariot.
23 Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them. We will come to them and make our home with them. 24 Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. The words you hear me say are not my own. They belong to the Father who sent me.
25 “I have spoken all these things while I am still with you. 26 But the Father will send the Friend in my name to help you. The Friend is the Holy Spirit. He will teach you all things. He will remind you of everything I have said to you. 27 I leave my peace with you. I give my peace to you. I do not give it to you as the world does. Do not let your hearts be troubled. And do not be afraid.
28 “You heard me say, ‘I am going away. And I am coming back to you.’ If you loved me, you would be glad I am going to the Father. The Father is greater than I am. 29 I have told you now before it happens. Then when it does happen, you will believe. 30 I will not say much more to you. The prince of this world is coming. He has no power over me. 31 But he comes so that the world may learn that I love the Father. They must also learn that I do exactly what my Father has commanded me to do.
“Come now. Let us leave.
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