Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
7 The Lord says this:
‘Sing with joy for Jacob's descendants!
They are the greatest of all the nations!
Praise the Lord with loud voices!
Say, “Lord, please save your people.
Save those Israelites who are still alive.”
8 See what I will do!
I will bring them back from the land in the north.
Wherever they are, I will bring them back.
A great crowd of my people will return.
Blind people will be among them,
and people who cannot walk well.
There will be pregnant women
and some who will very soon give birth.
9 They will be weeping as they come.
They will pray for my help as I lead them.
I will lead them beside streams of fresh water,
and on flat paths where they will not fall down.
I will help them because I am a father for Israel's people.
Ephraim is like my firstborn son.’[a]
A song to sing as we climb.
The Lord has done great things for us![a]
126 When the Lord turned us round,
so that we enjoyed a good life in Zion again,
we thought that we were dreaming!
2 At that time, we laughed a lot.
We shouted because we were so happy!
People in other countries said to each other,
‘The Lord has done great things for them!’
3 Yes, the Lord has done great things for us.
So we are very happy.
4 Lord, please bless us like before.
That will be like streams of water that return to the desert.[b]
5 When people went out to plant their seeds,
they were crying.
But they will be happy when they bring in the harvest!
6 People were weeping when they took their bags of seeds to plant.[c]
But when they carry their crops back home,
they will shout because they are so happy![d]
23 In the old way, there were many Levite priests. Each one of them died, so that they could not continue to serve God as priests. 24 But Jesus lives for ever, so he will never stop being a priest. 25 Jesus is always alive and he asks God to help his people. So he can completely save everyone who believes in him. He will lead them to God.
26 Jesus is the kind of special priest that we need. He completely belongs to God. He has never done anything wrong. He is completely good and clean. He is separate from everyone who does wrong things. God has raised him up to the most important place in heaven. 27 Jesus is not like the Levite priests. They need to offer sacrifices to God every day. First, they offer sacrifices so that God will forgive their own sins. Then they offer sacrifices on behalf of the other people, so that God will forgive their sins too. But Jesus offered one sacrifice for all time. That sacrifice was himself. 28 In the old agreement, Moses' laws decide who will become special priests. Because those men are weak, they often do wrong things. But God's very strong promise came after the Law that he gave to Moses. With that promise, God chose his Son to be his special priest. And his Son has become everything that God wants him to be, completely and for ever.[a]
Jesus causes a blind man to see
46 Then Jesus and his disciples arrived in Jericho. When they were leaving the city again, a large crowd of people followed them. A blind man was sitting by the side of the road. He was asking people to give him money.[a] His name was Bartimaeus and he was the son of Timaeus.
47 Somebody told Bartimaeus that Jesus from Nazareth was walking past him. So he began to shout. He said, ‘Jesus, Son of David! Please be kind to me and help me!’
48 Many people were angry with Bartimaeus. They told him that he should be quiet. But he shouted even louder than before, ‘Son of David![b] Please help me!’
49 Jesus stopped. He said to the people, ‘Tell the man to come here.’ So the people said to the blind man, ‘Be brave! Stand up. Jesus is asking you to go to him.’ 50 So Bartimaeus threw away his coat. He jumped up and he came to Jesus.
51 Then Jesus said to Bartimaeus, ‘What do you want me to do for you?’
The blind man said to Jesus, ‘Teacher, I want to see again.’
52 ‘Go,’ Jesus said to him. ‘You are well now, because you believed in me.’ Immediately, Bartimaeus could see again. He followed Jesus along the road.
EasyEnglish Bible Copyright © MissionAssist 2019 - Charitable Incorporated Organisation 1162807. Used by permission. All rights reserved.