Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

God is good, so thank him^[a]

¹⁰ The Lord says, “You say that this place is like a desert, and no people or animals live here. But I tell you that people will return to live here. You will hear the voices of people in the streets of Jerusalem and in the towns of Judah that are now empty. ¹¹ You will hear the sounds of happy people. You will hear the songs of men and women at their weddings. You will hear the voices of people as they bring gifts to the Lord's temple to thank him. They will say,

Yes, I will make the land successful again, as it was before.” That is what the Lord says.

¹² The Lord Almighty says, “This place will become a heap of stones. No people or animals will live here. But I will put fields of grass around the towns again. There will be places for shepherds to rest with their sheep. ¹³ Shepherds will count their sheep again, one by one. They will do that in the towns of the hill country, in the low hills in the west and in the Negev region in the south. They will do it in the land that belongs to Benjamin's tribe, in the villages around Jerusalem and in all the towns of Judah.” That is what the Lord says.

¹⁴ The Lord also says, “A time will soon come when I do good things for the nations of Israel and Judah. I will do what I have promised to do for them. ¹⁵ At that time, I will cause a descendant of David to be born. He will be righteous. He will grow like a branch on the tree of David's family. He will do what is right and fair in the land.^{[a] 16} When he rules, the people of Judah will be safe. Jerusalem's people will live in peace. People will give this name to the city: ‘The Lord is our righteous Saviour.’ ”

Jesus talks again about his death

³² Jesus and his disciples were walking along the road towards Jerusalem. Jesus was walking in front of them all. The disciples were very upset. Other people who were following behind them were afraid. Jesus again took his 12 apostles away from the other people. He began to tell them what would happen to him soon. ³³ ‘Listen!’ he said to them. ‘We are going to Jerusalem. There, someone will give the Son of Man to the leaders of the priests and to the teachers of God's Law. These Jewish leaders will decide that he must die. Then they will put him under the power of people who are not Jews. ³⁴ Those people will laugh at him. They will spit at him. They will hit him with whips. Then they will kill him. But after three days, he will become alive again.’

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.