Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

God the Ruler of the World^[a]

The Lord Promises to Restore Jerusalem

8 The Lord Almighty gave this message to Zechariah: ² “I have longed to help Jerusalem because of my deep love for her people, a love which has made me angry with her enemies. ³ I will return to Jerusalem, my holy city, and live there. It will be known as the faithful city, and the hill of the Lord Almighty^[a] will be called the sacred hill. ⁴ Once again old men and women, so old that they use canes when they walk, will be sitting in the city squares. ⁵ And the streets will again be full of boys and girls playing.

⁶ “This may seem impossible to those of the nation who are now left, but it's not impossible for me. ⁷ I will rescue my people from the lands where they have been taken, ⁸ and will bring them back from east and west to live in Jerusalem. They will be my people, and I will be their God, ruling over them faithfully and justly.

⁹ “Have courage! You are now hearing the same words the prophets spoke at the time the foundation was being laid for rebuilding my Temple. ¹⁰ Before that time no one could afford to hire either men or animals, and no one was safe from enemies. I turned people against one another. ¹¹ But now I am treating the survivors of this nation differently. ¹² They will plant their crops in peace. Their vines will bear grapes, the earth will produce crops, and there will be plenty of rain. I will give all these blessings to the people of my nation who survive. ¹³ People of Judah and Israel! In the past foreigners have cursed one another by saying, ‘May the same disasters fall on you that fell on Judah and Israel!’ But I will save you, and then those foreigners will say to one another, ‘May you receive the same blessings that came to Judah and Israel!’ So have courage and don't be afraid.”

¹⁴ The Lord Almighty says, “When your ancestors made me angry, I planned disaster for them and did not change my mind, but carried out my plans. ¹⁵ But now I am planning to bless the people of Jerusalem and Judah. So don't be afraid. ^16 (A)These are the things you should do: Speak the truth to one another. In the courts give real justice—the kind that brings peace. ¹⁷ Do not plan ways of harming one another. Do not give false testimony under oath. I hate lying, injustice, and violence.”

The Authority of the Son

¹⁹ So Jesus answered them, “I tell you the truth: the Son can do nothing on his own; he does only what he sees his Father doing. What the Father does, the Son also does. ²⁰ For the Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing. He will show him even greater things to do than this, and you will all be amazed. ²¹ Just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, in the same way the Son gives life to those he wants to. ²² Nor does the Father himself judge anyone. He has given his Son the full right to judge, ²³ so that all will honor the Son in the same way as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him.

²⁴ “I am telling you the truth: those who hear my words and believe in him who sent me have eternal life. They will not be judged, but have already passed from death to life. ²⁵ I am telling you the truth: the time is coming—the time has already come—when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear it will come to life. ²⁶ Just as the Father is himself the source of life, in the same way he has made his Son to be the source of life. ²⁷ And he has given the Son the right to judge, because he is the Son of Man. ²⁸ Do not be surprised at this; the time is coming when all the dead will hear his voice ^29 (A)and come out of their graves: those who have done good will rise and live, and those who have done evil will rise and be condemned.