Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Gimel.
17
Deal bountifully with Your servant,
That I may live and keep Your word [treasuring it and being guided by it day by day].(A)
18
Open my eyes [to spiritual truth] so that I may behold
Wonderful things from Your law.
19
I am a stranger on the earth;
Do not hide Your commandments from me.(B)
20
My soul is crushed with longing
For Your ordinances at all times.
21
You rebuke the presumptuous and arrogant, the cursed ones,
Who wander from Your commandments.
22
Take reproach and contempt away from me,
For I observe Your testimonies.
23
Even though princes sit and talk to one another against me,
Your servant meditates on Your statutes.
24
Your testimonies also are my delight
And my counselors.
Daleth.
25
My earthly life clings to the dust;
Revive and refresh me according to Your word.(C)
26
I have told of my ways, and You have answered me;
Teach me Your statutes.
27
Make me understand the way of Your precepts,
So that I will meditate (focus my thoughts) on Your wonderful works.(D)
28
My soul dissolves because of grief;
Renew and strengthen me according to [the promises of] Your word.
29
Remove from me the way of falsehood and unfaithfulness,
And graciously grant me Your law.
30
I have chosen the faithful way;
I have placed Your ordinances before me.
31
I cling tightly to Your testimonies;
O Lord, do not put me to shame!
32
I will run the way of Your commandments [with purpose],
For You will give me a heart that is willing.
5
The Lord God of hosts [the Omnipotent Ruler],
It is He who touches the earth [in judgment] and it melts,
And all who dwell on it mourn [in despair and fear],
And all of it rises up like the Nile
And subsides like the Nile of Egypt;
6
It is He who builds His upper chambers in the heavens
And has established His vaulted dome (the firmament of heaven) over the earth,
He who calls to the waters of the sea
And pours them out on the face of the earth—
The Lord is His name.
7
“Are you [degenerate ones] not as the [despised] sons of Ethiopia to Me,
O sons of Israel?” says the Lord.
“Have I not brought up Israel from the land of Egypt,
And the Philistines from Caphtor and the Arameans (Syrians) from Kir?
8
“Behold, the eyes of the Lord God are on the sinful [northern] kingdom [of Israel’s ten tribes]
And I shall destroy it from the face of the earth;
But I shall not totally destroy the house of Jacob [that is, the entire nation of Israel],”
Says the Lord.
9
“For behold, I am commanding,
And I shall shake and sift the house of Israel among all nations [and cause it to tremble]
Like grain is shaken in a sieve [removing the chaff],
But not a kernel [of the faithful remnant] shall fall to the ground and be lost [from My sight].(A)
10
“All the sinners among My people will die by the sword,
Those who say [defiantly], ‘The disaster will not overtake or confront us.’
The Restoration of Israel
11
“In that day I shall raise up and restore the fallen [a]tabernacle (booth) of David,
And wall up its breaches [in the city walls];
I will also raise up and restore its ruins
And rebuild it as it was in the days of old,
12
That they may possess the remnant of Edom (ancient enemies)
And all the nations that are called by My name,”
Says the Lord who does this.(B)
13
“Behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord,
“When the plowman shall overtake the one who gathers the harvest,
And the one who treads the grapes [shall overtake] him who sows the seed [for the harvest continues until planting time];
When the mountains will drip sweet wine
And all the hills shall melt [that is, everything that was once barren will overflow with streams of blessing].(C)
14
“Also I shall bring back the exiles of My people Israel,
And they will rebuild the deserted and ruined cities and inhabit them:
They will also plant vineyards and drink their wine,
And make gardens and eat their fruit.
15
“I will also plant them on their land,
And they shall never again be uprooted from their land
Which I have given them,”
Says the Lord your God.
Words to the Jews
41 Now the Jews murmured and found fault with Him because He said, “I am the Bread that came down out of heaven.” 42 They kept saying, “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does He now [have the arrogance to] say, ‘I have come down out of heaven’?” 43 So Jesus answered, “Stop murmuring among yourselves. 44 No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him [giving him the desire to come to Me]; and I will raise him up [from the dead] on the last day. 45 It is written in the prophets, ‘And they will all be taught of God.’ Everyone who has listened to and learned from the Father, comes to Me.(A) 46 Not that anyone has seen the Father, except He [who was with the Father and] who is from God; He [alone] has seen the Father. 47 I assure you and most solemnly say to you, he who believes [in Me as Savior—whoever adheres to, trusts in, relies on, and has faith in Me—already] has eternal life [that is, now possesses it]. 48 I am the Bread of Life [the Living Bread which gives and sustains life]. 49 Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. 50 This is the Bread that comes down out of heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. 51 I am the Living Bread that came down out of heaven. If anyone eats of this Bread [believes in Me, accepts Me as Savior], he will live forever. And the Bread that I will give for the life of the world is My flesh (body).”
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