Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
A Prayer in Troubled Times
Of David.
28 Lord, my Rock, I call out to you for help.
Do not be deaf to me.
If you are silent,
I will be like those in the grave.
2 Hear the sound of my prayer,
when I cry out to you for help.
I raise my hands
toward your Most Holy Place.
3 Don’t drag me away with the wicked,
with those who do evil.
They say “Peace” to their neighbors,
but evil is in their hearts.
4 Pay them back for what they have done,
for their evil deeds.
Pay them back for what they have done;
give them their reward.
5 They don’t understand what the Lord has done
or what he has made.
So he will knock them down
and not lift them up.
6 Praise the Lord,
because he heard my prayer for help.
7 The Lord is my strength and shield.
I trust him, and he helps me.
I am very happy,
and I praise him with my song.
8 The Lord is powerful;
he gives victory to his chosen one.
9 Save your people
and bless those who are your own.
Be their shepherd and carry them forever.
10 “Nations, listen to the message from the Lord.
Tell this message in the faraway lands by the sea:
‘The one who scattered the people of Israel will bring them back,
and he will watch over his people like a shepherd.’
11 The Lord will pay for the people of Jacob
and will buy them back from people stronger than they were.
12 The people of Israel will come to the high points of Jerusalem
and shout for joy.
Their faces will shine with happiness about all the good things from the Lord:
the grain, new wine, oil, young sheep, and young cows.
They will be like a garden that has plenty of water,
and they will not be troubled anymore.
13 Then young women of Israel will be happy and dance,
the young men and old men also.
I will change their sadness into happiness;
I will give them comfort and joy instead of sadness.
14 The priests will have more than enough sacrifices,
and my people will be filled with the good things I give them!” says the Lord.
Jesus Has God’s Authority
19 But Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing alone. The Son does only what he sees the Father doing, because the Son does whatever the Father does. 20 The Father loves the Son and shows the Son all the things he himself does. But the Father will show the Son even greater things than this so that you can all be amazed. 21 Just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to those he wants to. 22 In fact, the Father judges no one, but he has given the Son power to do all the judging 23 so that all people will honor the Son as much as they honor the Father. Anyone who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him.
24 “I tell you the truth, whoever hears what I say and believes in the One who sent me has eternal life. That person will not be judged guilty but has already left death and entered life. 25 I tell you the truth, the time is coming and is already here when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will have life. 26 Life comes from the Father himself, and he has allowed the Son to have life in himself as well. 27 And the Father has given the Son the approval to judge, because he is the Son of Man. 28 Don’t be surprised at this: A time is coming when all who are dead and in their graves will hear his voice. 29 Then they will come out of their graves. Those who did good will rise and have life forever, but those who did evil will rise to be judged guilty.
Jesus Is God’s Son
30 “I can do nothing alone. I judge only the way I am told, so my judgment is fair. I don’t try to please myself, but I try to please the One who sent me.
31 “If only I tell people about myself, what I say is not true. 32 But there is another who tells about me, and I know that the things he says about me are true.
33 “You have sent people to John, and he has told you the truth. 34 It is not that I need what humans say; I tell you this so you can be saved. 35 John was like a burning and shining lamp, and you were happy to enjoy his light for a while.
36 “But I have a proof about myself that is greater than that of John. The things I do, which are the things my Father gave me to do, prove that the Father sent me. 37 And the Father himself who sent me has given proof about me. You have never heard his voice or seen what he looks like. 38 His teaching does not live in you, because you don’t believe in the One the Father sent. 39 You carefully study the Scriptures because you think they give you eternal life. They do in fact tell about me, 40 but you refuse to come to me to have that life.
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.