Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

⁹ How shall a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed and keeping watch [on himself] according to Your word [conforming his life to it].

¹⁰ With my whole heart have I sought You, inquiring for and of You and yearning for You; Oh, let me not wander or step aside [either in ignorance or willfully] from Your commandments.^(A)

¹¹ Your word have I laid up in my heart, that I might not sin against You.

¹² Blessed are You, O Lord; teach me Your statutes.

¹³ With my lips have I declared and recounted all the ordinances of Your mouth.

¹⁴ I have rejoiced in the way of Your testimonies as much as in all riches.

¹⁵ I will meditate on Your precepts and have respect to Your ways [the paths of life marked out by Your law].^(B)

¹⁶ I will delight myself in Your statutes; I will not forget Your word.

2 In the seventh month, on the twenty-first day of the month, in the second year of Darius king [of Persia], came the word of the Lord by the prophet Haggai, saying,

² Speak now to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to the remainder of the people, saying,

³ Who is left among you who saw this house in its former glory? And how do you see it now? Is not this in your sight as nothing in comparison to that?

⁴ Yet now be strong, alert, and courageous, O Zerubbabel, says the Lord; be strong, alert, and courageous, O Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest; and be strong, alert, and courageous, all you people of the land, says the Lord, and work! For I am with you, says the Lord of hosts.

⁵ According to the promise that I covenanted with you when you came out of Egypt, so My Spirit stands and abides in the midst of you; fear not.

⁶ For thus says the Lord of hosts: Yet once more, in a little while, I will shake and make tremble the [starry] heavens, the earth, the sea, and the dry land;^(A)

⁷ And I will shake all nations and the ^[a]desire and the precious things of all nations shall come in, and I will fill this house with splendor, says the Lord of hosts.^(B)

⁸ The silver is Mine and the gold is Mine, says the Lord of hosts.

⁹ The latter glory of this house [with its successor, to which Jesus came] shall be greater than the former, says the Lord of hosts; and in this place will I give peace and prosperity, says the Lord of hosts.

²⁰ And again the word of the Lord came to Haggai on the twenty-fourth day of the month, saying,

²¹ Speak to Zerubbabel [the representative of the Davidic monarchy and covenant and in direct line of the ancestry of Jesus Christ] governor of Judah, saying, I will shake the heavens and the earth;^(A)

²² And I will [in the distant future] overthrow the throne of kingdoms and I will destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the [ungodly] nations, and I will overthrow the chariots and those who ride in them, and the horses and their riders shall go down, every one by the sword of his brother.^(B)

²³ In that day, says the Lord of hosts, will I take you, O Zerubbabel, My servant, the son of Shealtiel, says the Lord, and will make you [through the Messiah, your descendant] My signet ring; for I have chosen you [as the one with whom to renew My covenant to David’s line], says the Lord of hosts.^(C)

³⁴ At this the people answered Him, We have learned from the Law that the Christ is to remain forever; how then can You say, The Son of Man must be lifted up [on the cross]? Who is this Son of Man?^(A)

³⁵ So Jesus said to them, You will have the Light only a little while longer. Walk while you have the Light [keep on living by it], so that darkness may not overtake and overcome you. He who walks about in the dark does not know where he goes [he is drifting].

³⁶ While you have the Light, believe in the Light [have faith in it, hold to it, rely on it], that you may become sons of the Light and be filled with Light. Jesus said these things, and then He went away and hid Himself from them [was lost to their view].

³⁷ Even though He had done so many miracles before them (right before their eyes), yet they still did not trust in Him and failed to believe in Him—

³⁸ So that what Isaiah the prophet said was fulfilled: Lord, who has believed our report and our message? And to whom has the arm (the power) of the Lord been shown (unveiled and revealed)?^(B)

³⁹ Therefore they could not believe [they were unable to believe]. For Isaiah has also said,

⁴⁰ He has blinded their eyes and hardened and benumbed their [callous, degenerated] hearts [He has made their minds dull], to keep them from seeing with their eyes and understanding with their hearts and minds and repenting and turning to Me to heal them.

⁴¹ Isaiah said this because he saw His glory and spoke of Him.^(C)

⁴² And yet [in spite of all this] many even of the leading men (the authorities and the nobles) believed and trusted in Him. But because of the Pharisees they did not confess it, for fear that [if they should acknowledge Him] they would be expelled from the synagogue;

⁴³ For they loved the approval and the praise and the glory that come from men [instead of and] more than the glory that comes from God. [They valued their credit with men more than their credit with God.]

⁴⁴ But Jesus loudly declared, The one who believes in Me does not [only] believe in and trust in and rely on Me, but [in believing in Me he believes] in Him Who sent Me.

⁴⁵ And whoever sees Me sees Him Who sent Me.

⁴⁶ I have come as a Light into the world, so that whoever believes in Me [whoever cleaves to and trusts in and relies on Me] may not continue to live in darkness.

⁴⁷ If anyone hears My teachings and fails to observe them [does not keep them, but disregards them], it is not I who judges him. For I have not come to judge and to condemn and to pass sentence and to inflict penalty on the world, but to save the world.

⁴⁸ Anyone who rejects Me and persistently sets Me at naught, refusing to accept My teachings, has his judge [however]; for the [very] message that I have spoken will itself judge and convict him at the last day.

⁴⁹ This is because I have never spoken on My own authority or of My own accord or as self-appointed, but the Father Who sent Me has Himself given Me orders [concerning] what to say and what to tell.^(D)

⁵⁰ And I know that His commandment is (means) eternal life. So whatever I speak, I am saying [exactly] what My Father has told Me to say and in accordance with His instructions.