Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

One True God

115 Let honor be given to Your name and not to us, O Lord, not to us. Because You are loving and kind and faithful. ² Why should the nations say, “Where is their God now?” ³ But our God is in the heavens. He does whatever He wants to do. ⁴ Their gods are silver and gold, the work of human hands. ⁵ They have mouths but they cannot speak. They have eyes but they cannot see. ⁶ They have ears but they cannot hear. They have noses but they cannot smell. ⁷ They have hands but they cannot feel. They have feet but they cannot walk. They cannot make a sound come out of their mouths. ⁸ Those who make them and trust them will be like them.

⁹ O Israel, trust in the Lord. He is their help and safe-covering. ¹⁰ O house of Aaron, trust in the Lord. He is their help and safe-covering. ¹¹ You who fear the Lord, trust in the Lord. He is their help and safe-covering. ¹² The Lord has remembered us and will make good come to us. He will make good come to the house of Israel. He will make good come to the house of Aaron. ¹³ He will make good come to those who fear the Lord, both the small and the great. ¹⁴ May the Lord make your numbers grow, both you and your children. ¹⁵ May you be given good things by the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.

¹⁶ The heavens belong to the Lord. But He has given the earth to the children of men. ¹⁷ The dead do not praise the Lord. Neither do those who go down into the quiet place. ¹⁸ But we will give honor and thanks to the Lord, now and forever. Praise the Lord!

⁵ When the evening gift was given, I rose up from my trouble, with my clothing and coat torn. And I got down on my knees and spread out my hands to the Lord my God. ⁶ I said, “O my God, I am ashamed to lift up my face to You, my God, for our sins have risen above our heads. Our guilt has grown even to the heavens. ⁷ We have been very guilty since the days of our fathers to this day. Because of our sins, we and our kings and our religious leaders have been given into the hand of the kings of the lands. We have been killed by the sword. We have been carried away to a strange land. We have had our things taken from us, and have been put to shame, as it is this day. ⁸ But now for a short time loving-favor has been shown to us from the Lord our God. He has kept some of us alive to return to get a hold on His holy place, that our God may give light to our eyes, and give us some new life while we are under the power of Persia. ⁹ For we are servants, but our God has not left us even while we are servants of another nation. He has shown us loving-kindness in the eyes of the kings of Persia. He has given us new life to set up the house of our God, to build again its parts that have been destroyed, and to give us a wall in Judah and Jerusalem. ¹⁰ And now, our God, what should we say after this? For we have turned away from Your Laws, ¹¹ which You have given to us by Your servants who spoke for You, saying, ‘The land which you are going in to take for your own is an unclean land. The peoples of the lands are unclean and have sinful ways, and they have filled it from end to end with their sin. ¹² So do not let your daughters marry their sons, or their daughters marry your sons. Never look for their peace or their well-being, that you may be strong and eat the good things of the land, and leave it as a gift to your children forever.’ ¹³ You, our God, have made our punishment less than our sins. You have given us these people who are left of the Jews and who have returned from a strange land. And after all that has come upon us because of our wrong-doing and much guilt, ¹⁴ should we break Your Laws again and marry the peoples who do these sinful things? Would You not be angry with us until we are destroyed and there is no one left? ¹⁵ O Lord God of Israel, You are right and good. For some of us have been left alive to return, as it is this day. See, we are guilty before You. No one can stand before You because of this.”

Jesus Tells of His Death

¹⁶ “In a little while you will not see Me. Then in a little while you will see Me again.” ¹⁷ Some of His followers said to each other, “What is He trying to tell us when He says, ‘In a little while you will not see Me, and in a little while you will see Me again,’ and ‘Because I go to My Father’?” ¹⁸ So they said, “What is He trying to tell us by saying, ‘A little while’? We do not know what He is talking about.”

¹⁹ Jesus knew they wanted to ask Him something. He said to them, “Are you asking each other why I said, ‘In a little while you will not see Me, and in a little while you will see Me again’? ²⁰ For sure, I tell you, you will cry and have sorrow, but the world will have joy. You will have sorrow, but your sorrow will turn into joy. ²¹ When a woman gives birth to a child, she has sorrow because her time has come. After the child is born, she forgets her pain. She is full of joy because a child has been born into the world. ²² You are sad now. I will see you again and then your hearts will be full of joy. No one can take your joy from you.

Asking and Receiving

²³ “When the time comes that you see Me again, you will ask Me no question. For sure, I tell you, My Father will give you whatever you ask in My name. ²⁴ Until now you have not asked for anything in My name. Ask and you will receive. Then your joy will be full.