Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
The Servant of the Lord
42 “Behold! (A)My Servant whom I uphold,
My [a]Elect One in whom My soul (B)delights!
(C)I have put My Spirit upon Him;
He will bring forth justice to the Gentiles.
2 He will not cry out, nor raise His voice,
Nor cause His voice to be heard in the street.
3 A bruised reed He will not break,
And [b]smoking flax He will not [c]quench;
He will bring forth justice for truth.
4 He will not fail nor be discouraged,
Till He has established justice in the earth;
(D)And the coastlands shall wait for His law.”
5 Thus says God the Lord,
(E)Who created the heavens and stretched them out,
Who spread forth the earth and that which comes from it,
(F)Who gives breath to the people on it,
And spirit to those who walk on it:
6 “I,(G) the Lord, have called You in righteousness,
And will hold Your hand;
I will keep You (H)and give You as a covenant to the people,
As (I)a light to the Gentiles,
7 (J)To open blind eyes,
To (K)bring out prisoners from the prison,
Those who sit in (L)darkness from the prison house.
8 I am the Lord, that is My name;
And My (M)glory I will not give to another,
Nor My praise to carved images.
9 Behold, the former things have come to pass,
And new things I declare;
Before they spring forth I tell you of them.”
5 Your mercy, O Lord, is in the heavens;
Your faithfulness reaches to the clouds.
6 Your righteousness is like the [a]great mountains;
(A)Your judgments are a great deep;
O Lord, You preserve man and beast.
7 How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God!
Therefore the children of men (B)put their trust under the shadow of Your wings.
8 (C)They are abundantly satisfied with the fullness of Your house,
And You give them drink from (D)the river of Your pleasures.
9 (E)For with You is the fountain of life;
(F)In Your light we see light.
10 Oh, continue Your lovingkindness to those who know You,
And Your righteousness to the upright in heart.
11 Let not the foot of pride come against me,
And let not the hand of the wicked drive me away.
The Heavenly Sanctuary
11 But Christ came as High Priest of (A)the good things [a]to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation. 12 Not (B)with the blood of goats and calves, but (C)with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place (D)once for all, (E)having obtained eternal redemption. 13 For if (F)the blood of bulls and goats and (G)the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, [b]sanctifies for the [c]purifying of the flesh, 14 how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without [d]spot to God, (H)cleanse your conscience from (I)dead works (J)to serve the living God? 15 And for this reason (K)He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that (L)those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.
The Anointing at Bethany(A)
12 Then, six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, (B)where Lazarus was [a]who had been dead, whom He had raised from the dead. 2 (C)There they made Him a supper; and Martha served, but Lazarus was one of those who sat at the table with Him. 3 Then (D)Mary took a pound of very costly oil of (E)spikenard, anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped His feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil.
4 But one of His disciples, (F)Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, who would betray Him, said, 5 “Why was this fragrant oil not sold for [b]three hundred denarii and given to the poor?” 6 This he said, not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief, and (G)had the money box; and he used to take what was put in it.
7 But Jesus said, “Let her alone; [c]she has kept this for the day of My burial. 8 For (H)the poor you have with you always, but Me you do not have always.”
The Plot to Kill Lazarus
9 Now a great many of the Jews knew that He was there; and they came, not for Jesus’ sake only, but that they might also see Lazarus, (I)whom He had raised from the dead. 10 (J)But the chief priests plotted to put Lazarus to death also, 11 (K)because on account of him many of the Jews went away and believed in Jesus.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.