Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

To Your Name Give Glory

⁵ And at the ^(A)evening sacrifice I rose from my fasting, with my garment ^(B)and my cloak torn, and fell upon my knees ^(C)and spread out my hands to the Lord my God, ⁶ saying:

“O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift my face to you, my God, for our iniquities ^(D)have risen higher than our heads, and our ^(E)guilt has ^(F)mounted up to the heavens. ^7 (G)From the days of our fathers to this day we have been in great ^(H)guilt. And for our iniquities we, our kings, and our priests have been given into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity, to plundering, ^(I)and to utter shame, as it is today. ⁸ But now for a brief moment favour has been shown by the Lord our God, to leave us a ^(J)remnant and to give us a ^(K)secure hold^[a] within his holy place, that our God may ^(L)brighten our eyes and grant us a little reviving in our slavery. ^9 (M)For we are slaves. Yet our God has not forsaken us in our slavery, ^(N)but has extended to us his steadfast love before the kings of Persia, to grant us some reviving to set up the house of our God, to repair its ruins, and to give us protection^[b] in Judea and Jerusalem.

¹⁰ “And now, O our God, what shall we say after this? For we have forsaken your commandments, ¹¹ which you commanded by your servants the prophets, saying, ‘The land that you are entering, to take possession of it, is a land impure with the impurity of the peoples of the lands, with their abominations that have filled it from end to end with ^(O)their uncleanness. ^12 (P)Therefore do not give your daughters to their sons, neither take their daughters for your sons, and never seek their peace or prosperity, that you may be strong and eat the good of the land ^(Q)and leave it for an inheritance to your children for ever.’ ¹³ And after all that has come upon us for our evil deeds and for ^(R)our great guilt, seeing that you, our ^(S)God, have punished us less than our iniquities deserved and have given us such a ^(T)remnant as this, ¹⁴ shall we break your commandments again and ^(U)intermarry with the peoples who practise these abominations? Would you not be angry with us ^(V)until you consumed us, so that there should be no ^(W)remnant, nor any to escape? ¹⁵ O Lord, the God of Israel, you are just, for we are left a ^(X)remnant that has escaped, as it is today. Behold, we are before you in our ^(Y)guilt, ^(Z)for none can stand before you because of this.”

Your Sorrow Will Turn into Joy

^16 (A)“A little while, and you will see me no longer; and ^(B)again a little while, and you will see me.” ¹⁷ So ^(C)some of his disciples said to one another, “What is this that he says to us, ^(D)‘A little while, and you will not see me, and again a little while, and you will see me’; and, ^(E)‘because I am going to the Father’?” ¹⁸ So they were saying, “What does he mean by ‘a little while’? ^(F)We do not know what he is talking about.” ^19 (G)Jesus knew that they wanted to ask him, so he said to them, “Is this what you are asking yourselves, what I meant by saying, ‘A little while and you will not see me, and again a little while and you will see me’? ²⁰ Truly, truly, I say to you, ^(H)you will weep and lament, but ^(I)the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but ^(J)your sorrow will turn into joy. ^21 (K)When a woman is giving birth, she has sorrow because her hour has come, but when she has delivered the baby, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world. ^22 (L)So also you have sorrow now, but ^(M)I will see you again, and ^(N)your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you. ^23 (O)In that day you will ^(P)ask nothing of me. Truly, truly, I say to you, ^(Q)whatever you ask of the Father in my name, ^(R)he will give it to you. ²⁴ Until now you have asked nothing in my name. ^(S)Ask, and you will receive, ^(T)that your joy may be full.