Wednesday, January 27, 2021

 Isaiah 43

¹But now, this is what the LORD says-- he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: "Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. ²When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. ³For I am the LORD, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior; I give Egypt for your ransom, Cush and Seba in your stead. ⁴Since you are precious and honored in my sight, and because I love you, I will give men in exchange for you, and people in exchange for your life. ⁵Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bring your children from the east and gather you from the west. ⁶I will say to the north, 'Give them up!' and to the south, 'Do not hold them back.' Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the ends of the earth-- ⁷everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made."

⁸Lead out those who have eyes but are blind, who have ears but are deaf. ⁹All the nations gather together and the peoples assemble. Which of them foretold this and proclaimed to us the former things? Let them bring in their witnesses to prove they were right, so that others may hear and say, "It is true." ¹⁰"You are my witnesses," declares the LORD, "and my servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me no god was formed, nor will there be one after me. ¹¹I, even I, am the LORD, and apart from me there is no savior. ¹²I have revealed and saved and proclaimed-- I, and not some foreign god among you. You are my witnesses," declares the LORD, "that I am God. ¹³Yes, and from ancient days I am he. No one can deliver out of my hand. When I act, who can reverse it?"

¹⁴This is what the LORD says-- your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: "For your sake I will send to Babylon and bring down as fugitives all the Babylonians, in the ships in which they took pride. ¹⁵I am the LORD, your Holy One, Israel's Creator, your King."

¹⁶This is what the LORD says-- he who made a way through the sea, a path through the mighty waters, ¹⁷who drew out the chariots and horses, the army and reinforcements together, and they lay there, never to rise again, extinguished, snuffed out like a wick: ¹⁸"Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. ¹⁹See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland. ²⁰The wild animals honor me, the jackals and the owls, because I provide water in the desert and streams in the wasteland, to give drink to my people, my chosen, ²¹the people I formed for myself that they may proclaim my praise.

²²"Yet you have not called upon me, O Jacob, you have not wearied yourselves for me, O Israel. ²³You have not brought me sheep for burnt offerings, nor honored me with your sacrifices. I have not burdened you with grain offerings nor wearied you with demands for incense. ²⁴You have not bought any fragrant calamus for me, or lavished on me the fat of your sacrifices. But you have burdened me with your sins and wearied me with your offenses.

²⁵"I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more. ²⁶Review the past for me, let us argue the matter together; state the case for your innocence. ²⁷Your first father sinned; your spokesmen rebelled against me. ²⁸So I will disgrace the dignitaries of your temple, and I will consign Jacob to destruction and Israel to scorn.

 

 

Psalm 26

¹Of David. Vindicate me, O LORD, for I have led a blameless life; I have trusted in the LORD without wavering. ²Test me, O LORD, and try me, examine my heart and my mind; ³for your love is ever before me, and I walk continually in your truth. ⁴I do not sit with deceitful men, nor do I consort with hypocrites; ⁵I abhor the assembly of evildoers and refuse to sit with the wicked. ⁶I wash my hands in innocence, and go about your altar, O LORD, ⁷proclaiming aloud your praise and telling of all your wonderful deeds. ⁸I love the house where you live, O LORD, the place where your glory dwells. ⁹Do not take away my soul along with sinners, my life with bloodthirsty men, ¹⁰in whose hands are wicked schemes, whose right hands are full of bribes. ¹¹But I lead a blameless life; redeem me and be merciful to me. ¹²My feet stand on level ground; in the great assembly I will praise the LORD.

 

 

John 11:45–57

⁴⁵Therefore many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary, and had seen what Jesus did, put their faith in him. ⁴⁶But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. ⁴⁷Then the chief priests and the Pharisees called a meeting of the Sanhedrin.

"What are we accomplishing?" they asked. "Here is this man performing many miraculous signs. ⁴⁸If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and then the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation."

⁴⁹Then one of them, named Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, spoke up, "You know nothing at all! ⁵⁰You do not realize that it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish."

⁵¹He did not say this on his own, but as high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the Jewish nation, ⁵²and not only for that nation but also for the scattered children of God, to bring them together and make them one. ⁵³So from that day on they plotted to take his life.

⁵⁴Therefore Jesus no longer moved about publicly among the Jews. Instead he withdrew to a region near the desert, to a village called Ephraim, where he stayed with his disciples.

⁵⁵When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, many went up from the country to Jerusalem for their ceremonial cleansing before the Passover. ⁵⁶They kept looking for Jesus, and as they stood in the temple area they asked one another, "What do you think? Isn't he coming to the Feast at all?" ⁵⁷But the chief priests and Pharisees had given orders that if anyone found out where Jesus was, he should report it so that they might arrest him.