Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 81
For the Music Director. According to The Gittith. A Psalm of Asaph.
1 Sing aloud unto God our strength;
make a joyful noise unto the God of Jacob.
2 Lift up a melody, and sound the tambourine,
the pleasant lyre with the harp.
3 Blow the trumpet at the New Moon,
at the full moon on our feast day.
4 For this is a statute for Israel,
a decree of the God of Jacob.
5 This He ordained in Joseph as a decree
when He went out against the land of Egypt.
I heard a voice that I had not known:
6 “I removed his shoulder from the burden;
his hands were released from holding the basket.
7 You called in trouble, and I delivered you;
I answered you in the secret place of thunder;
I tested you at the waters of Meribah. Selah
8 Hear, O My people, and I will testify against you.
O Israel, if you would listen to me!
9 There shall be no strange god among you;
neither shall you bow down to any strange god.
10 I am the Lord your God,
who brought you out of the land of Egypt;
open your mouth wide, and I will fill it.
11 “But My people would not listen to My voice;
Israel would not submit to Me.
12 So I gave them up to their stubborn hearts,
to walk in their own counsels.
13 “Oh, that My people would listen to Me,
and Israel would follow in My ways!
14 I would soon subdue their enemies,
and turn My hand against their adversaries.
15 Let those who hate the Lord cower before Him
and their fate might last forever.
16 But I would feed them with the finest of wheat,
and with honey out of the rock I would satisfy you.”
4 Hear the word of the Lord, O house of Jacob
and all the families of the house of Israel.
5 Thus says the Lord:
What iniquity have your fathers found in Me,
that they have gone far from Me,
and have walked after vanity
and have become vain?
6 They did not say, “Where is the Lord
who brought us up out of the land of Egypt,
who led us through the wilderness,
through a land of deserts and of pits,
through a land of drought and of the shadow of death,
through a land that no man passed through and where no man lived?”
7 And I brought you into a plentiful country
to eat its fruit and its goodness.
But when you entered, you defiled My land
and made My heritage an abomination.
8 The priests did not say,
“Where is the Lord?”
And those who handle the law did not know Me;
the shepherds also transgressed against Me,
and the prophets prophesied by Baal
and walked after things that do not profit.
9 Therefore I will yet contend with you,
says the Lord,
and with your sons’ sons I will contend.
10 For pass over the coastlands of Cyprus and see,
and send to Kedar and consider diligently,
and see if there is such a thing.
11 Has a nation changed their gods,
though they are not gods?
But My people have changed their glory
for that which does not profit.
12 Be astonished at this, O heavens,
and be horribly afraid, be very desolate,
says the Lord.
13 For My people have committed two evils.
They have forsaken Me,
the fountain of living waters,
and hewed out for themselves cisterns,
broken cisterns, that can hold no water.
14 Now about the middle of the feast Jesus went up into the temple and began teaching. 15 The Jews marveled, saying, “How has this Man become educated, having never been taught?”
16 Jesus answered them, “My teaching is not Mine, but His who sent Me. 17 If any man desires to do His will, he shall know whether the teaching is from God or whether I speak on My own authority. 18 He who speaks on his own authority seeks his own glory. But He who seeks the glory of Him who sent Him is true, and no unrighteousness is in Him. 19 Did Moses not give you the law, and yet none of you keeps the law? Why do you seek to kill Me?”
20 The people answered and said, “You have a demon. Who is seeking to kill You?”
21 Jesus answered them, “I did one work, and you all marvel. 22 Yet, because Moses gave you circumcision, you circumcise a man on the Sabbath day (although it did not come from Moses, but from the Patriarchs). 23 If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath day, so that the Law of Moses should not be broken, are you angry at Me because I completely healed a man on the Sabbath day? 24 Do not judge according to appearance, but practice righteous judgment.”
Is He the Christ?
25 Then some of them from Jerusalem said, “Is this not He whom they seek to kill? 26 Look! He speaks publicly, and they say nothing to Him. Do the rulers indeed know that this is really the Christ? 27 But we know where this Man is from. When the Christ comes, no one will know where He is from.”
28 Then Jesus, still teaching in the temple, cried out, “You know Me and you likewise know where I am from. I have not come on My own authority, but He who sent Me is true, whom you do not know. 29 But I know Him, for I am from Him, and He sent Me.”
30 So they tried to seize Him, but no one laid hands on Him, because His hour had not yet come. 31 Still, many of the people believed in Him and said, “When the Christ comes, will He do more signs than these which this Man has done?”
Rivers of Living Water
37 On the last and greatest day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. 38 He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart shall flow rivers of living water.” 39 By this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believe in Him would receive. For the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.