Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
49-50 Never forget your promises to me your servant, for they are my only hope. They give me strength in all my troubles; how they refresh and revive me! 51 Proud men hold me in contempt for obedience to God, but I stand unmoved. 52 From my earliest youth I have tried to obey you; your Word has been my comfort.
53 I am very angry with those who spurn your commands. 54 For these laws of yours have been my source of joy and singing through all these years of my earthly pilgrimage. 55 I obey them even at night and keep my thoughts, O Lord, on you. 56 What a blessing this has been to me—to constantly obey.
10-12 “When the Lord your God has brought you into the land he promised your ancestors, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and when he has given you great cities full of good things—cities you didn’t build, wells you didn’t dig, and vineyards and olive trees you didn’t plant—and when you have eaten until you can hold no more, then beware lest you forget the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt, the land of slavery. 13 When you are full, don’t forget to be reverent to him and to serve him and to use his name alone to endorse your promises.
14 “You must not worship the gods of the neighboring nations, 15 for Jehovah your God who lives among you is a jealous God, and his anger may rise quickly against you, and wipe you off the face of the earth. 16 You must not provoke him and try his patience as you did when you complained against him at Massah. 17 You must actively obey him in everything he commands. 18 Only then will you be doing what is right and good in the Lord’s eyes. If you obey him, all will go well for you, and you will be able to go in and possess the good land that the Lord promised your ancestors. 19 You will also be able to throw out all the enemies living in your land, as the Lord agreed to help you do.
20 “In the years to come when your son asks you, ‘What is the purpose of these laws which the Lord our God has given us?’ 21 you must tell him, ‘We were Pharaoh’s slaves in Egypt, and the Lord brought us out of Egypt with great power 22 and mighty miracles—with terrible blows against Egypt and Pharaoh and all his people. We saw it all with our own eyes. 23 He brought us out of Egypt so that he could give us this land he had promised to our ancestors. 24 And he has commanded us to obey all of these laws and to reverence him so that he can preserve us alive as he has until now. 25 For it always goes well with us when we obey all the laws of the Lord our God.’
45 And so at last many of the Jewish leaders who were with Mary and saw it happen, finally believed on him. 46 But some went away to the Pharisees and reported it to them.
47 Then the chief priests and Pharisees convened a council to discuss the situation.
“What are we going to do?” they asked each other. “For this man certainly does miracles. 48 If we let him alone the whole nation will follow him—and then the Roman army will come and kill us and take over the Jewish government.”
49 And one of them, Caiaphas, who was High Priest that year, said, “You stupid idiots— 50 let this one man die for the people—why should the whole nation perish?”
51 This prophecy that Jesus should die for the entire nation came from Caiaphas in his position as High Priest—he didn’t think of it by himself, but was inspired to say it. 52 It was a prediction that Jesus’ death would not be for Israel only, but for all the children of God scattered around the world. 53 So from that time on the Jewish leaders began plotting Jesus’ death.
54 Jesus now stopped his public ministry and left Jerusalem; he went to the edge of the desert, to the village of Ephraim, and stayed there with his disciples.
55 The Passover, a Jewish holy day, was near, and many country people arrived in Jerusalem several days early so that they could go through the cleansing ceremony before the Passover began. 56 They wanted to see Jesus, and as they gossiped in the Temple, they asked each other, “What do you think? Will he come for the Passover?” 57 Meanwhile the chief priests and Pharisees had publicly announced that anyone seeing Jesus must report him immediately so that they could arrest him.
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.