Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
8 Listen! I hear the voice of my lover!
Look! He is coming!
He moves quickly across the mountains.
He runs across the hills.
9 My lover is like a gazelle or a young male deer.
Look! There he is!
He is standing behind our wall.
He is looking through the window.
He wants to see into the room.
10 My lover said this to me:
‘My beautiful friend, I love you.
Get up now and come with me.
11 Look! The winter time has finished.
The heavy rains have stopped.
12 Flowers are appearing everywhere.
It is now the season to sing happy songs.
We can hear the voices of doves around us.
13 New fruit is growing on the fig trees.
There are flowers on the vines,
and their sweet smell is in the air.
I love you, my beautiful friend.
Please get up now and come with me!’
31 The Lord saw that Jacob did not love Leah. So he let her become pregnant. But Rachel did not give birth to any children. 32 Leah became pregnant and she gave birth to a son. She called him Reuben. She said, ‘It is because the Lord has seen how sad I am. My husband will love me now because I have given birth to a son.’
33 Leah became pregnant again. She gave birth to another son. She said, ‘The Lord has given me another son because he knows that I am not loved.’ She called this son Simeon.
34 Leah became pregnant again. Later, she gave birth to another son. She said, ‘Now I have given my husband three sons, so he will want to stay with me.’ She called this son Levi.
35 Leah became pregnant again. She gave birth to another son. She said, ‘This time I will praise the Lord.’ She called this son Judah. Then she stopped giving birth to children.
Jesus washes his disciples' feet
13 It was nearly time for the Passover Festival. Jesus knew that he would soon leave this world and to go to the Father. He had always loved those who were his own people in the world. He continued to love them to the end.
2 Jesus and his disciples were eating supper. The Devil had already put an idea into the mind of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son. The idea was to sell Jesus to his enemies. 3 Jesus knew that the Father had given him power over everything. He knew that he had come from God. And he knew that he would soon return to God. 4 So, during the meal, he stood up. He took off the coat that he wore over his other clothes. He tied a piece of cloth round himself. 5 Then he poured water into a bowl and he began to wash the disciples' feet. Jesus made their feet dry with the cloth that was round him.
6 Jesus came to Simon Peter. Peter asked him, ‘Lord, will you really wash my feet?’ 7 Jesus answered him, ‘You do not understand now what I am doing. But you will understand in the future.’ 8 Peter said, ‘No! You will never wash my feet!’ Jesus answered, ‘If I do not wash you, you do not belong with me.’ 9 Simon Peter replied, ‘So Lord, do not wash my feet only! Wash my hands and my head too!’ 10 Jesus said, ‘A person who has washed his whole body is completely clean. He needs only to wash his feet. And all of you are clean, except one of you.’ 11 Jesus knew already who would sell him to his enemies. That is why he said, ‘Not every one of you is clean.’
12 When he had finished washing the disciples' feet, Jesus put on his coat. He returned to his place at the meal. He asked them, ‘I want you to understand what I have just done for you. 13 You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right. That is what I am. 14 I am your Teacher and your Lord, but I have washed your feet. So you also should wash each other's feet. 15 I have given you an example. You should do the same for others as I have done for you. 16 I tell you this: No servant is more important than his master is. No messenger is more important than the person who sent him with a message. 17 Now you understand these things. So you should do them, and God will bless you.’
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