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Psalm 107:1–43 (CSB) THANKSGIVING FOR GOD’S DELIVERANCE 1 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;  his faithful love endures forever.  2 Let the redeemed of the Lord proclaim  that he has redeemed them from the power of the foe  3 and has gathered them from the lands— from the east and the west,  from the north and the south.  4 Some wandered in the desolate wilderness,  finding no way to a city where they could live.  5 They were hungry and thirsty;  their spirits failed within them.  6 Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble;  he rescued them from their distress.  7 He led them by the right path  to go to a city where they could live.  8 Let them give thanks to the Lord for his faithful love  and his wondrous works for all humanity.  9 For he has satisfied the thirsty  and filled the hungry with good things.  10 Others sat in darkness and gloom— prisoners in cruel chains— 11 because they rebelled against God’s commands  and despised the counsel of the Most High.  12 He broke their spirits with hard labor;  they stumbled, and there was no one to help.  13 Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble;  he saved them from their distress.  14 He brought them out of darkness and gloom  and broke their chains apart.  15 Let them give thanks to the Lord for his faithful love  and his wondrous works for all humanity.  16 For he has broken down the bronze gates  and cut through the iron bars.  17 Fools suffered affliction  because of their rebellious ways and their iniquities.  18 They loathed all food  and came near the gates of death.  19 Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble;  he saved them from their distress.  20 He sent his word and healed them;  he rescued them from their traps.  21 Let them give thanks to the Lord for his faithful love  and his wondrous works for all humanity.  22 Let them offer thanksgiving sacrifices  and announce his works with shouts of joy.  23 Others went to sea in ships,  conducting trade on the vast water.  24 They saw the Lord’s works,  his wondrous works in the deep.  25 He spoke and raised a stormy wind  that stirred up the waves of the sea., 26 Rising up to the sky, sinking down to the depths,  their courage melting away in anguish,  27 they reeled and staggered like a drunkard,  and all their skill was useless.  28 Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble,  and he brought them out of their distress.  29 He stilled the storm to a whisper,  and the waves of the sea were hushed.  30 They rejoiced when the waves grew quiet.  Then he guided them to the harbor they longed for.  31 Let them give thanks to the Lord for his faithful love  and his wondrous works for all humanity.  32 Let them exalt him in the assembly of the people  and praise him in the council of the elders.  33 He turns rivers into desert,  springs into thirsty ground,  34 and fruitful land into salty wasteland,  because of the wickedness of its inhabitants.  35 He turns a desert into a pool,  dry land into springs.  36 He causes the hungry to settle there,  and they establish a city where they can live.  37 They sow fields and plant vineyards  that yield a fruitful harvest.  38 He blesses them, and they multiply greatly;  he does not let their livestock decrease.  39 When they are diminished and are humbled  by cruel oppression and sorrow,  40 he pours contempt on nobles  and makes them wander in a trackless wasteland.  41 But he lifts the needy out of their suffering  and makes their families multiply like flocks.  42 The upright see it and rejoice,  and all injustice shuts its mouth.  43 Let whoever is wise pay attention to these things  and consider the Lord’s acts of faithful love. Proverbs 19:19–25 (CSB) 19 A person with intense anger bears the penalty;  if you rescue him, you’ll have to do it again.  20 Listen to counsel and receive instruction  so that you may be wise later in life., 21 Many plans are in a person’s heart,  but the Lord’s decree will prevail.  22 What is desirable in a person is his fidelity;  better to be a poor person than a liar.  23 The fear of the Lord leads to life;  one will sleep at night without danger.  24 The slacker buries his hand in the bowl;  he doesn’t even bring it back to his mouth!  25 Strike a mocker, and the inexperienced learn a lesson;  rebuke the discerning, and he gains knowledge. John 10 (CSB) THE GOOD SHEPHERD 10 “Truly I tell you, anyone who doesn’t enter the sheep pen by the gate but climbs in some other way is a thief and a robber. 2 The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 The gatekeeper opens it for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he has brought all his own outside, he goes ahead of them. The sheep follow him because they know his voice. 5 They will never follow a stranger; instead they will run away from him, because they don’t know the voice of strangers.” 6 Jesus gave them this figure of speech, but they did not understand what he was telling them.  7 Jesus said again, “Truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. 8 All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep didn’t listen to them. 9 I am the gate. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will come in and go out and find pasture. 10 A thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come so that they may have life and have it in abundance.  11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 The hired hand, since he is not the shepherd and doesn’t own the sheep, leaves them and runs away when he sees a wolf coming. The wolf then snatches and scatters them. 13 This happens because he is a hired hand and doesn’t care about the sheep.  14 “I am the good shepherd. I know my own, and my own know me, 15 just as the Father knows me, and I know the Father. I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 But I have other sheep that are not from this sheep pen; I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. Then there will be one flock, one shepherd. 17 This is why the Father loves me, because I lay down my life so that I may take it up again. 18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down on my own. I have the right to lay it down, and I have the right to take it up again. I have received this command from my Father.” 19 Again the Jews were divided because of these words. 20 Many of them were saying, “He has a demon and he’s crazy. Why do you listen to him?” 21 Others were saying, “These aren’t the words of someone who is demon-possessed. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?”  JESUS AT THE FESTIVAL OF DEDICATION 22 Then the Festival of Dedication took place in Jerusalem, and it was winter. 23 Jesus was walking in the temple in Solomon’s Colonnade. 24 The Jews surrounded him and asked, “How long are you going to keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.”, 25 “I did tell you and you don’t believe,” Jesus answered them. “The works that I do in my Father’s name testify about me. 26 But you don’t believe because you are not of my sheep., 27 My sheep hear my voice, I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all. No one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. 30 I and the Father are one.” RENEWED EFFORTS TO STONE JESUS 31 Again the Jews picked up rocks to stone him.  32 Jesus replied, “I have shown you many good works from the Father. For which of these works are you stoning me?”  33 “We aren’t stoning you for a good work,” the Jews answered, “but for blasphemy, because you—being a man—make yourself God.”  34 Jesus answered them, “Isn’t it written in your law, I said, you are gods?, 35 If he called those to whom the word of God came ‘gods’—and the Scripture cannot be broken—36 do you say, ‘You are blaspheming’ to the one the Father set apart and sent into the world, because I said: I am the Son of God? 37 If I am not doing my Father’s works, don’t believe me. 38 But if I am doing them and you don’t believe me, believe the works. This way you will know and understand that the Father is in me and I in the Father.” 39 Then they were trying again to seize him, but he escaped their grasp.  MANY BE

Psalm 106 (CSB) Psalm 106 ISRAEL’S UNFAITHFULNESS TO GOD 1 Hallelujah!  Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;  his faithful love endures forever.  2 Who can declare the Lord’s mighty acts  or proclaim all the praise due him?  3 How happy are those who uphold justice,  who practice righteousness at all times.  4 Remember me, Lord,  when you show favor to your people.  Come to me with your salvation  5 so that I may enjoy the prosperity  of your chosen ones,  rejoice in the joy of your nation,  and boast about your heritage.  6 Both we and our ancestors have sinned;  we have done wrong and have acted wickedly.  7 Our ancestors in Egypt did not grasp  the significance of your wondrous works  or remember your many acts of faithful love;  instead, they rebelled by the sea—the Red Sea.  8 Yet he saved them for his name’s sake,  to make his power known.  9 He rebuked the Red Sea, and it dried up;  he led them through the depths as through a desert.  10 He saved them from the power of the adversary;  he redeemed them from the power of the enemy.  11 Water covered their foes;  not one of them remained.  12 Then they believed his promises  and sang his praise.  13 They soon forgot his works  and would not wait for his counsel.  14 They were seized with craving in the wilderness  and tested God in the desert.  15 He gave them what they asked for,  but sent a wasting disease among them.  16 In the camp they were envious of Moses  and of Aaron, the Lord’s holy one.  17 The earth opened up and swallowed Dathan;  it covered the assembly of Abiram.  18 Fire blazed throughout their assembly;  flames consumed the wicked.  19 At Horeb they made a calf  and worshiped the cast metal image.  20 They exchanged their glory, for the image of a grass-eating ox.  21 They forgot God their Savior,  who did great things in Egypt,  22 wondrous works in the land of Ham,  awe-inspiring acts at the Red Sea.  23 So he said he would have destroyed them— if Moses his chosen one  had not stood before him in the breach  to turn his wrath away from destroying them.  24 They despised the pleasant land  and did not believe his promise.  25 They grumbled in their tents  and did not listen to the Lord.  26 So he raised his hand against them with an oath  that he would make them fall in the desert  27 and would disperse their descendants  among the nations,  scattering them throughout the lands.  28 They aligned themselves with Baal of Peor  and ate sacrifices offered to lifeless gods., 29 They angered the Lord with their deeds,  and a plague broke out against them.  30 But Phinehas stood up and intervened,  and the plague was stopped.  31 It was credited to him as righteousness  throughout all generations to come.  32 They angered the Lord at the Waters of Meribah,  and Moses suffered because of them,  33 for they embittered his spirit,  and he spoke rashly with his lips.  34 They did not destroy the peoples  as the Lord had commanded them  35 but mingled with the nations  and adopted their ways.  36 They served their idols,  which became a snare to them.  37 They sacrificed their sons and daughters to demons.  38 They shed innocent blood— the blood of their sons and daughters  whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan;  so the land became polluted with blood.  39 They defiled themselves by their actions  and prostituted themselves by their deeds.  40 Therefore the Lord’s anger burned against his people,  and he abhorred his own inheritance.  41 He handed them over to the nations;  those who hated them ruled over them.  42 Their enemies oppressed them,  and they were subdued under their power.  43 He rescued them many times,  but they continued to rebel deliberately  and were beaten down by their iniquity.  44 When he heard their cry,  he took note of their distress,  45 remembered his covenant with them,  and relented according to the abundance  of his faithful love.  46 He caused them to be pitied  before all their captors.  47 Save us, Lord our God,  and gather us from the nations,  so that we may give thanks to your holy name  and rejoice in your praise.  48 Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,  from everlasting to everlasting.  Let all the people say, “Amen!”  Hallelujah! Proverbs 19:11–18 (CSB) 11 A person’s insight gives him patience,  and his virtue is to overlook an offense.  12 A king’s rage is like the roaring of a lion,  but his favor is like dew on the grass.  13 A foolish son is his father’s ruin,  and a wife’s nagging is an endless dripping.  14 A house and wealth are inherited from fathers,  but a prudent wife is from the Lord.  15 Laziness induces deep sleep,  and a lazy person will go hungry.  16 The one who keeps commands preserves himself;  one who disregards his ways will die.  17 Kindness to the poor is a loan to the Lord,  and he will give a reward to the lender., 18 Discipline your son while there is hope;  don’t set your heart on being the cause of his death., John 9:1–41 (CSB) THE SIXTH SIGN: HEALING A MAN BORN BLIND 9 As he was passing by, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”  3 “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” Jesus answered. “This came about so that God’s works might be displayed in him. 4 We must do the works of him who sent me while it is day. Night is coming when no one can work. 5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” 6 After he said these things he spit on the ground, made some mud from the saliva, and spread the mud on his eyes. 7 “Go,” he told him, “wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means “Sent”). So he left, washed, and came back seeing.  8 His neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar said, “Isn’t this the one who used to sit begging?” 9 Some said, “He’s the one.” Others were saying, “No, but he looks like him.”  He kept saying, “I’m the one.”  10 So they asked him, “Then how were your eyes opened?”  11 He answered, “The man called Jesus made mud, spread it on my eyes, and told me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ So when I went and washed I received my sight.”  12 “Where is he?” they asked.  “I don’t know,” he said.  THE HEALED MAN’S TESTIMONY 13 They brought the man who used to be blind to the Pharisees. 14 The day that Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes was a Sabbath. 15 Then the Pharisees asked him again how he received his sight.  “He put mud on my eyes,” he told them. “I washed and I can see.”  16 Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, because he doesn’t keep the Sabbath.” But others were saying, “How can a sinful man perform such signs?” And there was a division among them.  17 Again they asked the blind man, “What do you say about him, since he opened your eyes?”  “He’s a prophet,” he said.  18 The Jews did not believe this about him—that he was blind and received sight—until they summoned the parents of the one who had received his sight.  19 They asked them, “Is this your son, the one you say was born blind? How then does he now see?”  20 “We know this is our son and that he was born blind,” his parents answered. 21 “But we don’t know how he now sees, and we don’t know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he’s of age. He will speak for himself.” 22 His parents said these things because they were afraid of the Jews, since the Jews had already agreed that if anyone confessed him as the Messiah, he would be banned from the synagogue. 23 This is why his parents said, “He’s of age; ask him.”  24 So a second time they summoned the man who had been blind and told him, “Give glory to God. We know that this man is a sinner.”  25 He answered, “Whether or not he’s a sinner, I don’t know. One thing I do know: I was blind, and now I can see!”  26 Then they asked him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?”  27 “I already told you,” he said, “and you didn’t listen. Why do you want to hear it again? You don’t want to become his disciples too, do you?”  28 They ridiculed him: “You’re that man’s disciple, but we’re Moses’s

Psalm 105 (CSB) Psalm 105 GOD’S FAITHFULNESS TO HIS PEOPLE 1 Give thanks to the Lord, call on his name;  proclaim his deeds among the peoples.  2 Sing to him, sing praise to him;  tell about all his wondrous works!  3 Boast in his holy name;  let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice.  4 Seek the Lord and his strength;  seek his face always.  5 Remember the wondrous works he has done,  his wonders, and the judgments he has pronounced,, 6 you offspring of Abraham his servant,  Jacob’s descendants—his chosen ones.  7 He is the Lord our God;  his judgments govern the whole earth.  8 He remembers his covenant forever,  the promise he ordained  for a thousand generations— 9 the covenant he made with Abraham,  swore to Isaac,  10 and confirmed to Jacob as a decree  and to Israel as a permanent covenant:  11 “I will give the land of Canaan to you  as your inherited portion.”  12 When they were few in number,  very few indeed,  and resident aliens in Canaan,  13 wandering from nation to nation  and from one kingdom to another,  14 he allowed no one to oppress them;  he rebuked kings on their behalf:  15 “Do not touch my anointed ones,  or harm my prophets.”  16 He called down famine against the land  and destroyed the entire food supply.  17 He had sent a man ahead of them— Joseph, who was sold as a slave.  18 They hurt his feet with shackles;  his neck was put in an iron collar.  19 Until the time his prediction came true,  the word of the Lord tested him.  20 The king sent for him and released him;  the ruler of peoples set him free.  21 He made him master of his household,  ruler over all his possessions— 22 binding his officials at will  and instructing his elders.  23 Then Israel went to Egypt;  Jacob lived as an alien in the land of Ham., 24 The Lord made his people very fruitful;  he made them more numerous than their foes,  25 whose hearts he turned to hate his people  and to deal deceptively with his servants.  26 He sent Moses his servant,  and Aaron, whom he had chosen.  27 They performed his miraculous signs among them  and wonders in the land of Ham.  28 He sent darkness, and it became dark— for did they not defy his commands?  29 He turned their water into blood  and caused their fish to die.  30 Their land was overrun with frogs,  even in their royal chambers.  31 He spoke, and insects came— gnats throughout their country.  32 He gave them hail for rain,  and lightning throughout their land.  33 He struck their vines and fig trees  and shattered the trees of their territory.  34 He spoke, and locusts came— young locusts without number.  35 They devoured all the vegetation in their land  and consumed the produce of their land.  36 He struck all the firstborn in their land,  all their first progeny.  37 Then he brought Israel out with silver and gold,  and no one among his tribes stumbled.  38 Egypt was glad when they left,  for the dread of Israel had fallen on them.  39 He spread a cloud as a covering  and gave a fire to light up the night.  40 They asked, and he brought quail  and satisfied them with bread from heaven.  41 He opened a rock, and water gushed out;  it flowed like a stream in the desert.  42 For he remembered his holy promise  to Abraham his servant.  43 He brought his people out with rejoicing,  his chosen ones with shouts of joy.  44 He gave them the lands of the nations,  and they inherited  what other peoples had worked for.  45 All this happened  so that they might keep his statutes  and obey his instructions.  Hallelujah! Proverbs 19:7–14 (CSB) 7 All the brothers of a poor person hate him;  how much more do his friends  keep their distance from him!  He may pursue them with words,  but they are not there.  8 The one who acquires good sense loves himself;  one who safeguards understanding finds success.  9 A false witness will not go unpunished,  and one who utters lies perishes.  10 Luxury is not appropriate for a fool— how much less for a slave to rule over princes! 11 A person’s insight gives him patience,  and his virtue is to overlook an offense.  12 A king’s rage is like the roaring of a lion,  but his favor is like dew on the grass.  13 A foolish son is his father’s ruin,  and a wife’s nagging is an endless dripping.  14 A house and wealth are inherited from fathers,  but a prudent wife is from the Lord. John 8:48–59 (CSB) JESUS AND ABRAHAM 48 The Jews responded to him, “Aren’t we right in saying that you’re a Samaritan and have a demon?”  49 “I do not have a demon,” Jesus answered. “On the contrary, I honor my Father and you dishonor me. 50 I do not seek my own glory; there is one who seeks it and judges. 51 Truly I tell you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death.”  52 Then the Jews said, “Now we know you have a demon. Abraham died and so did the prophets. You say, ‘If anyone keeps my word, he will never taste death.’ 53 Are you greater than our father Abraham who died? And the prophets died. Who do you claim to be?”  54 “If I glorify myself,” Jesus answered, “my glory is nothing. My Father—about whom you say, ‘He is our God’—he is the one who glorifies me. 55 You do not know him, but I know him. If I were to say I don’t know him, I would be a liar like you. But I do know him, and I keep his word. 56 Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day; he saw it and was glad.”  57 The Jews replied, “You aren’t fifty years old yet, and you’ve seen Abraham?”  58 Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, before Abraham was, I am.” 59 So they picked up stones to throw at him. But Jesus was hidden, and went out of the temple.,

Psalm 104 (CSB) Psalm 104 GOD THE CREATOR 1 My soul, bless the Lord!  Lord my God, you are very great;  you are clothed with majesty and splendor.  2 He wraps himself in light as if it were a robe,  spreading out the sky like a canopy,  3 laying the beams of his palace  on the waters above,  making the clouds his chariot,  walking on the wings of the wind,  4 and making the winds his messengers,  flames of fire his servants.  5 He established the earth on its foundations;  it will never be shaken.  6 You covered it with the deep  as if it were a garment;  the water stood above the mountains.  7 At your rebuke the water fled;  at the sound of your thunder they hurried away— 8 mountains rose and valleys sank— to the place you established for them.  9 You set a boundary they cannot cross;  they will never cover the earth again.  10 He causes the springs to gush into the valleys;  they flow between the mountains.  11 They supply water for every wild beast;  the wild donkeys quench their thirst.  12 The birds of the sky live beside the springs;  they make their voices heard among the foliage.  13 He waters the mountains from his palace;  the earth is satisfied by the fruit of your labor.  14 He causes grass to grow for the livestock  and provides crops for man to cultivate,  producing food from the earth,  15 wine that makes human hearts glad— making his face shine with oil— and bread that sustains human hearts.  16 The trees of the Lord flourish,  the cedars of Lebanon that he planted.  17 There the birds make their nests;  storks make their homes in the pine trees.  18 The high mountains are for the wild goats;  the cliffs are a refuge for hyraxes.  19 He made the moon to mark the festivals;  the sun knows when to set.  20 You bring darkness, and it becomes night,  when all the forest animals stir.  21 The young lions roar for their prey  and seek their food from God.  22 The sun rises; they go back  and lie down in their dens.  23 Man goes out to his work  and to his labor until evening.  24 How countless are your works, Lord!  In wisdom you have made them all;  the earth is full of your creatures., 25 Here is the sea, vast and wide,  teeming with creatures beyond number— living things both large and small.  26 There the ships move about,  and Leviathan, which you formed to play there.  27 All of them wait for you  to give them their food at the right time.  28 When you give it to them,  they gather it;  when you open your hand,  they are satisfied with good things.  29 When you hide your face,  they are terrified;  when you take away their breath,  they die and return to the dust.  30 When you send your breath,  they are created,  and you renew the surface of the ground.  31 May the glory of the Lord endure forever;  may the Lord rejoice in his works.  32 He looks at the earth, and it trembles;  he touches the mountains,  and they pour out smoke.  33 I will sing to the Lord all my life;  I will sing praise to my God while I live.  34 May my meditation be pleasing to him;  I will rejoice in the Lord.  35 May sinners vanish from the earth  and wicked people be no more.  My soul, bless the Lord!  Hallelujah! Proverbs 19:4–6 (CSB) 4 Wealth attracts many friends,  but a poor person is separated from his friend.  5 A false witness will not go unpunished,  and one who utters lies will not escape.  6 Many seek a ruler’s favor,  and everyone is a friend of one who gives gifts. John 8:39–47 (CSB) 39 “Our father is Abraham,” they replied.  “If you were Abraham’s children,” Jesus told them, “you would do what Abraham did. 40 But now you are trying to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. Abraham did not do this. 41 You’re doing what your father does.” “We weren’t born of sexual immorality,” they said. “We have one Father—God.”  42 Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, because I came from God and I am here. For I didn’t come on my own, but he sent me. 43 Why don’t you understand what I say? Because you cannot listen to my word.44 You are of your father the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he tells a lie, he speaks from his own nature, because he is a liar and the father of lies. 45 Yet because I tell the truth, you do not believe me. 46 Who among you can convict me of sin? If I am telling the truth, why don’t you believe me? 47 The one who is from God listens to God’s words. This is why you don’t listen, because you are not from God.”

Psalm 103 (CSB) Psalm 103 THE FORGIVING GOD Of David.  1 My soul, bless the Lord,  and all that is within me, bless his holy name.  2 My soul, bless the Lord,  and do not forget all his benefits.  3 He forgives all your iniquity;  he heals all your diseases.  4 He redeems your life from the Pit;  he crowns you with faithful love and compassion.  5 He satisfies you with good things;  your youth is renewed like the eagle.  6 The Lord executes acts of righteousness  and justice for all the oppressed.  7 He revealed his ways to Moses,  his deeds to the people of Israel.  8 The Lord is compassionate and gracious,  slow to anger and abounding in faithful love.  9 He will not always accuse us  or be angry forever.  10 He has not dealt with us as our sins deserve  or repaid us according to our iniquities.  11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth,  so great is his faithful love  toward those who fear him.  12 As far as the east is from the west,  so far has he removed  our transgressions from us.  13 As a father has compassion on his children,  so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him.  14 For he knows what we are made of,  remembering that we are dust.  15 As for man, his days are like grass— he blooms like a flower of the field;  16 when the wind passes over it, it vanishes,  and its place is no longer known., 17 But from eternity to eternity  the Lord’s faithful love is toward those who fear him,  and his righteousness toward the grandchildren  18 of those who keep his covenant,  who remember to observe his precepts.  19 The Lord has established his throne in heaven,  and his kingdom rules over all.  20 Bless the Lord,  all his angels of great strength,  who do his word,  obedient to his command.  21 Bless the Lord, all his armies,  his servants who do his will.  22 Bless the Lord, all his works  in all the places where he rules.  My soul, bless the Lord! Proverbs 19:1–3 (CSB) Better a poor person who lives with integrity  than someone who has deceitful lips and is a fool.  2 Even zeal is not good without knowledge,  and the one who acts hastily sins.  3 A person’s own foolishness leads him astray,  yet his heart rages against the Lord. John 8:31–38 (CSB) 31 Then Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you continue in my word,, you really are my disciples. 32 You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”  33 “We are descendants of Abraham,” they answered him, “and we have never been enslaved to anyone. How can you say, ‘You will become free’?”  34 Jesus responded, “Truly I tell you, everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin. 35 A slave does not remain in the household forever, but a son does remain forever. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you really will be free. 37 I know you are descendants of Abraham, but you are trying to kill me because my word has no place among you. 38 I speak what I have seen in the presence of the Father;, so then, you do what you have heard from your father.”

Psalm 102 (CSB) Psalm 102 AFFLICTION IN LIGHT OF ETERNITY A prayer of a suffering person who is weak and pours out his lament before the Lord.  1 Lord, hear my prayer;  let my cry for help come before you.  2 Do not hide your face from me in my day of trouble.  Listen closely to me;  answer me quickly when I call.  3 For my days vanish like smoke,  and my bones burn like a furnace.  4 My heart is suffering, withered like grass;  I even forget to eat my food.  5 Because of the sound of my groaning,  my flesh sticks to my bones.  6 I am like an eagle owl,  like a little owl among the ruins.  7 I stay awake;  I am like a solitary bird on a roof.  8 My enemies taunt me all day long;  they ridicule and use my name as a curse.  9 I eat ashes like bread  and mingle my drinks with tears  10 because of your indignation and wrath;  for you have picked me up and thrown me aside.  11 My days are like a lengthening shadow,  and I wither away like grass.  12 But you, Lord, are enthroned forever;  your fame endures to all generations.  13 You will rise up and have compassion on Zion,  for it is time to show favor to her— the appointed time has come.  14 For your servants take delight in its stones  and favor its dust.  15 Then the nations will fear the name of the Lord,  and all the kings of the earth your glory,  16 for the Lord will rebuild Zion;  he will appear in his glory.  17 He will pay attention to the prayer of the destitute  and will not despise their prayer.  18 This will be written for a later generation,  and a people who have not yet been created will praise the Lord:  19 He looked down from his holy heights— the Lord gazed out from heaven to earth— 20 to hear a prisoner’s groaning,  to set free those condemned to die,, 21 so that they might declare  the name of the Lord in Zion  and his praise in Jerusalem  22 when peoples and kingdoms are assembled  to serve the Lord.  23 He has broken my strength in midcourse;  he has shortened my days.  24 I say, “My God, do not take me  in the middle of my life!  Your years continue through all generations.  25 Long ago you established the earth,  and the heavens are the work of your hands.  26 They will perish, but you will endure;  all of them will wear out like clothing.  You will change them like a garment,  and they will pass away.  27 But you are the same,  and your years will never end.  28 Your servants’ children will dwell securely,  and their offspring will be established before you.” Proverbs 18:20–24 (CSB) 20 From the fruit of a person’s mouth his stomach is satisfied;  he is filled with the product of his lips.  21 Death and life are in the power of the tongue,  and those who love it will eat its fruit.  22 A man who finds a wife finds a good thing  and obtains favor from the Lord.  23 The poor person pleads,  but the rich one answers roughly.  24 One with many friends may be harmed,  but there is a friend who stays closer than a brother. John 8:12–30 (CSB) THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD 12 Jesus spoke to them again: “I am the light of the world. Anyone who follows me will never walk in the darkness but will have the light of life.” 13 So the Pharisees said to him, “You are testifying about yourself. Your testimony is not valid.”  14 “Even if I testify about myself,” Jesus replied, “My testimony is true, because I know where I came from and where I’m going. But you don’t know where I come from or where I’m going. 15 You judge by human standards., I judge no one.16 And if I do judge, my judgment is true, because it is not I alone who judge, but I and the Father who sent me. 17 Even in your law it is written that the testimony of two witnesses is true. 18 I am the one who testifies about myself, and the Father who sent me testifies about me.”  19 Then they asked him, “Where is your Father?”  “You know neither me nor my Father,” Jesus answered. “If you knew me, you would also know my Father.” 20 He spoke these words by the treasury, while teaching in the temple. But no one seized him, because his hour had not yet come.  JESUS PREDICTS HIS DEPARTURE 21 Then he said to them again, “I’m going away; you will look for me, and you will die in your sin. Where I’m going, you cannot come.” 22 So the Jews said again, “He won’t kill himself, will he, since he says, ‘Where I’m going, you cannot come’?”  23 “You are from below,” he told them, “I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. 24 Therefore I told you that you will die in your sins. For if you do not believe that I am he, you will die in your sins.”  25 “Who are you?” they questioned.  “Exactly what I’ve been telling you from the very beginning,” Jesus told them. 26 “I have many things to say and to judge about you, but the one who sent me is true, and what I have heard from him—these things I tell the world.” 27 They did not know he was speaking to them about the Father. 28 So Jesus said to them, “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he, and that I do nothing on my own. But just as the Father taught me, I say these things. 29 The one who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone, because I always do what pleases him.”  TRUTH AND FREEDOM 30 As he was saying these things, many believed in him.

Psalm 101 (CSB) Psalm 101 A VOW OF INTEGRITY A psalm of David.  1 I will sing of faithful love and justice;  I will sing praise to you, Lord.  2 I will pay attention to the way of integrity.  When will you come to me?  I will live with a heart of integrity in my house.  3 I will not let anything worthless guide me.  I hate the practice of transgression;  it will not cling to me.  4 A devious heart will be far from me;  I will not be involved with evil.  5 I will destroy anyone  who secretly slanders his neighbor;  I cannot tolerate anyone  with haughty eyes or an arrogant heart.  6 My eyes favor the faithful of the land  so that they may sit down with me.  The one who follows the way of integrity  may serve me.  7 No one who acts deceitfully  will live in my palace;  the one who tells lies  will not be retained here to guide me., 8 Every morning I will destroy  all the wicked of the land,  wiping out all evildoers from the Lord’s city. Proverbs 18:16–19 (CSB) 16 A person’s gift opens doors for him  and brings him before the great.  17 The first to state his case seems right  until another comes and cross-examines him.  18 Casting the lot ends quarrels  and separates powerful opponents.  19 An offended brother is harder to reach  than a fortified city,  and quarrels are like the bars of a fortress. John 7:40–8:11 (CSB) THE PEOPLE ARE DIVIDED OVER JESUS 40 When some from the crowd heard these words, they said, “This truly is the Prophet.” 41 Others said, “This is the Messiah.” But some said, “Surely the Messiah doesn’t come from Galilee, does he? 42 Doesn’t the Scripture say that the Messiah comes from David’s offspring and from the town of Bethlehem, where David lived?” 43 So the crowd was divided because of him. 44 Some of them wanted to seize him, but no one laid hands on him.  DEBATE OVER JESUS’S CLAIMS 45 Then the servants came to the chief priests and Pharisees, who asked them, “Why didn’t you bring him?”  46 The servants answered, “No man ever spoke like this!”, 47 Then the Pharisees responded to them, “Are you fooled too? 48 Have any of the rulers or Pharisees believed in him? 49 But this crowd, which doesn’t know the law, is accursed.”  50 Nicodemus—the one who came to him previously and who was one of them—said to them, 51 “Our law doesn’t judge a man before it hears from him and knows what he’s doing, does it?”  52 “You aren’t from Galilee too, are you?” they replied. “Investigate and you will see that no prophet arises from Galilee.”  [The earliest mss do not include 7:53–8:11.] [53 Then each one went to his house. 8 But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.  AN ADULTERESS FORGIVEN 2 At dawn he went to the temple again, and all the people were coming to him. He sat down and began to teach them.  3 Then the scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman caught in adultery, making her stand in the center. 4 “Teacher,” they said to him, “this woman was caught in the act of committing adultery. 5 In the law Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?” 6 They asked this to trap him, in order that they might have evidence to accuse him.  Jesus stooped down and started writing on the ground with his finger. 7 When they persisted in questioning him, he stood up and said to them, “The one without sin among you should be the first to throw a stone at her.” 8 Then he stooped down again and continued writing on the ground. 9 When they heard this, they left one by one, starting with the older men. Only he was left, with the woman in the center. 10 When Jesus stood up, he said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” 11 “No one, Lord,” she answered.  “Neither do I condemn you,” said Jesus. “Go, and from now on do not sin anymore.”]

Psalm 100:1–5 (CSB) 1 Let the whole earth shout triumphantly to the Lord!  2 Serve the Lord with gladness;  come before him with joyful songs.  3 Acknowledge that the Lord is God.  He made us, and we are his,— his people, the sheep of his pasture.  4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving  and his courts with praise.  Give thanks to him and bless his name.  5 For the Lord is good, and his faithful love endures forever;  his faithfulness, through all generations. Proverbs 18:8–15 (CSB) 8 A gossip’s words are like choice food  that goes down to one’s innermost being., 9 The one who is lazy in his work  is brother to a vandal., 10 The name of the Lord is a strong tower;  the righteous run to it and are protected., 11 The wealth of the rich is his fortified city;  in his imagination it is like a high wall.  12 Before his downfall a person’s heart is proud,  but humility comes before honor.  13 The one who gives an answer before he listens— this is foolishness and disgrace for him.  14 A person’s spirit can endure sickness,  but who can survive a broken spirit?  15 The mind of the discerning acquires knowledge,  and the ear of the wise seeks it. John 7:32–39 (CSB) 32 The Pharisees heard the crowd murmuring these things about him, and so the chief priests and the Pharisees sent servants to arrest him.  33 Then Jesus said, “I am only with you for a short time. Then I’m going to the one who sent me. 34 You will look for me, but you will not find me; and where I am, you cannot come.” 35 Then the Jews said to one another, “Where does he intend to go that we won’t find him? He doesn’t intend to go to the Jewish people dispersed, among the Greeks and teach the Greeks, does he? 36 What is this remark he made: ‘You will look for me, and you will not find me; and where I am, you cannot come’?”  THE PROMISE OF THE SPIRIT 37 On the last and most important day of the festival, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me, and drink. 38 The one who believes in me, as the Scripture has said, will have streams of living water flow from deep within him.” 39 He said this about the Spirit. Those who believed in Jesus were going to receive the Spirit, for the Spirit had not yet been given because Jesus had not yet been glorified.

Psalm 99 (CSB) Psalm 99 THE KING IS HOLY 1 The Lord reigns! Let the peoples tremble.  He is enthroned between the cherubim.  Let the earth quake.  2 The Lord is great in Zion;  he is exalted above all the peoples.  3 Let them praise your great  and awe-inspiring name.  He is holy.  4 The mighty King loves justice.  You have established fairness;  you have administered justice  and righteousness in Jacob.  5 Exalt the Lord our God;  bow in worship at his footstool.  He is holy.  6 Moses and Aaron were among his priests;  Samuel also was among those calling on his name.  They called to the Lord and he answered them.  7 He spoke to them in a pillar of cloud;  they kept his decrees and the statutes he gave them.  8 Lord our God, you answered them.  You were a forgiving God to them,  but an avenger of their sinful actions.  9 Exalt the Lord our God;  bow in worship at his holy mountain,  for the Lord our God is holy. Proverbs 18:1–7 (CSB) One who isolates himself pursues selfish desires;  he rebels against all sound wisdom.  2 A fool does not delight in understanding,  but only wants to show off his opinions., 3 When a wicked person comes, contempt also comes,  and along with dishonor, derision.  4 The words of a person’s mouth are deep waters,  a flowing river, a fountain of wisdom.  5 It is not good to show partiality to the guilty,  denying an innocent person justice.  6 A fool’s lips lead to strife,  and his mouth provokes a beating.  7 A fool’s mouth is his devastation,  and his lips are a trap for his life. John 7:1–31 (CSB) THE UNBELIEF OF JESUS’ BROTHERS 7 After this, Jesus traveled in Galilee, since he did not want to travel in Judea because the Jews were trying to kill him. 2 The Jewish Festival of Shelters, was near. 3 So his brothers said to him, “Leave here and go to Judea so that your disciples can see your works that you are doing. 4 For no one does anything in secret while he’s seeking public recognition. If you do these things, show yourself to the world.” 5 (For not even his brothers believed in him.)  6 Jesus told them, “My time has not yet arrived, but your time is always at hand. 7 The world cannot hate you, but it does hate me because I testify about it—that its works are evil. 8 Go up to the festival yourselves. I’m not going up to this festival, because my time has not yet fully come.” 9 After he had said these things, he stayed in Galilee.  JESUS AT THE FESTIVAL OF SHELTERS 10 After his brothers had gone up to the festival, then he also went up, not openly but secretly. 11 The Jews were looking for him at the festival and saying, “Where is he?” 12 And there was a lot of murmuring about him among the crowds. Some were saying, “He’s a good man.” Others were saying, “No, on the contrary, he’s deceiving the people.” 13 Still, nobody was talking publicly about him for fear of the Jews.  14 When the festival was already half over, Jesus went up into the temple and began to teach. 15 Then the Jews were amazed and said, “How is this man so learned, since he hasn’t been trained?”  16 Jesus answered them, “My teaching isn’t mine but is from the one who sent me. 17 If anyone wants to do his will, he will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own. 18 The one who speaks on his own seeks his own glory; but he who seeks the glory of the one who sent him is true, and there is no unrighteousness in him.19 Didn’t Moses give you the law? Yet none of you keeps the law. Why are you trying to kill me?”  20 “You have a demon!” the crowd responded. “Who is trying to kill you?”  21 “I performed one work, and you are all amazed,” Jesus answered. 22 “This is why Moses has given you circumcision—not that it comes from Moses but from the fathers—and you circumcise a man on the Sabbath. 23 If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath so that the law of Moses won’t be broken, are you angry at me because I made a man entirely well on the Sabbath? 24 Stop judging according to outward appearances; rather judge according to righteous judgment.”  THE IDENTITY OF THE MESSIAH 25 Some of the people of Jerusalem were saying, “Isn’t this the man they are trying to kill? 26 Yet, look, he’s speaking publicly and they’re saying nothing to him. Can it be true that the authorities know he is the Messiah? 27 But we know where this man is from. When the Messiah comes, nobody will know where he is from.”  28 As he was teaching in the temple, Jesus cried out, “You know me and you know where I am from. Yet I have not come on my own, but the one who sent me is true. You don’t know him; 29 I know him because I am from him, and he sent me.” 30 Then they tried to seize him. Yet no one laid a hand on him because his hour had not yet come. 31 However, many from the crowd believed in him and said, “When the Messiah comes, he won’t perform more signs than this man has done, will he?”

Psalm 98 (CSB) Psalm 98 PRAISE THE KING A psalm.  1 Sing a new song to the Lord,  for he has performed wonders;  his right hand and holy arm  have won him victory.  2 The Lord has made his victory known;  he has revealed his righteousness  in the sight of the nations.  3 He has remembered his love  and faithfulness to the house of Israel;  all the ends of the earth  have seen our God’s victory.  4 Let the whole earth shout to the Lord;  be jubilant, shout for joy, and sing.  5 Sing to the Lord with the lyre,  with the lyre and melodious song.  6 With trumpets and the blast of the ram’s horn  shout triumphantly  in the presence of the Lord, our King.  7 Let the sea and all that fills it,  the world and those who live in it, resound.  8 Let the rivers clap their hands;  let the mountains shout together for joy  9 before the Lord,  for he is coming to judge the earth.  He will judge the world righteously  and the peoples fairly. Proverbs 17:25–28 (CSB) 25 A foolish son is grief to his father  and bitterness to the one who bore him.  26 It is certainly not good to fine an innocent person  or to beat a noble for his honesty., 27 The one who has knowledge restrains his words,  and one who keeps a cool head  is a person of understanding.  28 Even a fool is considered wise when he keeps silent— discerning, when he seals his lips. John 6:60–71 (CSB) MANY DISCIPLES DESERT JESUS 60 Therefore, when many of his disciples heard this, they said, “This teaching is hard. Who can accept it?”  61 Jesus, knowing in himself that his disciples were grumbling about this, asked them, “Does this offend you? 62 Then what if you were to observe the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? 63 The Spirit is the one who gives life. The flesh doesn’t help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life. 64 But there are some among you who don’t believe.” (For Jesus knew from the beginning those who did not believe and the one who would betray him.) 65 He said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted to him by the Father.”  66 From that moment many of his disciples turned back and no longer accompanied him. 67 So Jesus said to the Twelve, “You don’t want to go away too, do you?”  68 Simon Peter answered, “Lord, to whom will we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69 We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.”, 70 Jesus replied to them, “Didn’t I choose you, the Twelve? Yet one of you is a devil.” 71 He was referring to Judas, Simon Iscariot’s son, one of the Twelve, because he was going to betray him.

Psalm 97 (CSB) Psalm 97 THE MAJESTIC KING 1 The Lord reigns! Let the earth rejoice;  let the many coasts and islands be glad.  2 Clouds and total darkness surround him;  righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.  3 Fire goes before him  and burns up his foes on every side.  4 His lightning lights up the world;  the earth sees and trembles.  5 The mountains melt like wax  at the presence of the Lord— at the presence of the Lord of the whole earth.  6 The heavens proclaim his righteousness;  all the peoples see his glory.  7 All who serve carved images,  those who boast in worthless idols, will be put to shame.  All the gods must worship him.  8 Zion hears and is glad,  Judah’s villages rejoice  because of your judgments, Lord.  9 For you, Lord,  are the Most High over the whole earth;  you are exalted above all the gods.  10 You who love the Lord, hate evil!  He protects the lives of his faithful ones;  he rescues them from the power of the wicked.  11 Light dawns, for the righteous,  gladness for the upright in heart.  12 Be glad in the Lord, you righteous ones,  and give thanks to his holy name., Proverbs 17:21–24 (CSB) 21 A man fathers a fool to his own sorrow;  the father of a fool has no joy.  22 A joyful heart is good medicine,  but a broken spirit dries up the bones.  23 A wicked person secretly takes a bribe  to subvert the course of justice.  24 Wisdom is the focus of the perceptive,  but a fool’s eyes roam to the ends of the earth. John 6:41–59 (CSB) 41 Therefore the Jews started grumbling about him because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” 42 They were saying, “Isn’t this Jesus the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?”  43 Jesus answered them, “Stop grumbling among yourselves. 44 No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up on the last day. 45 It is written in the Prophets: And they will all be taught by God.,Everyone who has listened to and learned from the Father comes to me—46 not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God. He has seen the Father. 47 “Truly I tell you, anyone who believes has eternal life. 48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. 50 This is the bread that comes down from heaven so that anyone may eat of it and not die.51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread he will live forever. The bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.” 52 At that, the Jews argued among themselves, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”  53 So Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life in yourselves. 54 The one who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day, 55 because my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink. 56 The one who eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him. 57 Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. 58 This is the bread that came down from heaven; it is not like the manna your ancestors ate—and they died. The one who eats this bread will live forever.” 59 He said these things while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.

Proverbs 17:18–20 (CSB) 18 One without sense enters an agreement  and puts up security for his friend.  19 One who loves to offend loves strife;  one who builds a high threshold invites injury.  20 One with a twisted mind will not succeed,  and one with deceitful speech will fall into ruin. John 6:16–40 (CSB) THE FIFTH SIGN: WALKING ON WATER 16 When evening came, his disciples went down to the sea, 17 got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum. Darkness had already set in, but Jesus had not yet come to them. 18 A high wind arose, and the sea began to churn. 19 After they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea. He was coming near the boat, and they were afraid. 20 But he said to them, “It is I., Don’t be afraid.” 21 Then they were willing to take him on board, and at once the boat was at the shore where they were heading.  THE BREAD OF LIFE 22 The next day, the crowd that had stayed on the other side of the sea saw there had been only one boat., They also saw that Jesus had not boarded the boat with his disciples, but that his disciples had gone off alone. 23 Some boats from Tiberias came near the place where they had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks. 24 When the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into the boats and went to Capernaum looking for Jesus. 25 When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you get here?”  26 Jesus answered, “Truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate the loaves and were filled. 27 Don’t work for the food that perishes but for the food that lasts for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set his seal of approval on him.”  28 “What can we do to perform the works of God?” they asked.  29 Jesus replied, “This is the work of God—that you believe in the one he has sent.” 30 “What sign, then, are you going to do so that we may see and believe you?” they asked. “What are you going to perform? 31 Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, just as it is written: He gave them bread from heaven to eat.”, 32 Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, Moses didn’t give you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is the one who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”  34 Then they said, “Sir, give us this bread always.”  35 “I am the bread of life,” Jesus told them. “No one who comes to me will ever be hungry, and no one who believes in me will ever be thirsty again. 36 But as I told you, you’ve seen me, and yet you do not believe. 37 Everyone the Father gives me will come to me, and the one who comes to me I will never cast out. 38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me. 39 This is the will of him who sent me: that I should lose none of those he has given me but should raise them up on the last day. 40 For this is the will of my Father: that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him will have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”

Psalm 93 (CSB) Psalm 93 GOD’S ETERNAL REIGN 1 The Lord reigns! He is robed in majesty;  the Lord is robed, enveloped in strength.  The world is firmly established;  it cannot be shaken.  2 Your throne has been established  from the beginning;  you are from eternity.  3 The floods have lifted up, Lord,  the floods have lifted up their voice;  the floods lift up their pounding waves.  4 Greater than the roar of a huge torrent— the mighty breakers of the sea— the Lord on high is majestic.  5 Lord, your testimonies are completely reliable;  holiness adorns your house  for all the days to come. Proverbs 17:7–10 (CSB) 7 Eloquent words are not appropriate on a fool’s lips;  how much worse are lies for a ruler.  8 A bribe seems like a magic stone to its owner;  wherever he turns, he succeeds.  9 Whoever conceals an offense promotes love,  but whoever gossips about it separates friends.  10 A rebuke cuts into a perceptive person  more than a hundred lashes into a fool. John 4:46–5:18 (CSB) THE SECOND SIGN: HEALING AN OFFICIAL’S SON 46 He went again to Cana of Galilee, where he had turned the water into wine. There was a certain royal official whose son was ill at Capernaum. 47 When this man heard that Jesus had come from Judea into Galilee, he went to him and pleaded with him to come down and heal his son, since he was about to die.  48 Jesus told him, “Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will not believe.” 49 “Sir,” the official said to him, “come down before my boy dies.”  50 “Go,” Jesus told him, “your son will live.” The man believed what Jesus said to him and departed.  51 While he was still going down, his servants met him saying that his boy was alive. 52 He asked them at what time he got better. “Yesterday at one in the afternoon the fever left him,” they answered. 53 The father realized this was the very hour at which Jesus had told him, “Your son will live.” So he himself believed, along with his whole household.  54 Now this was also the second sign Jesus performed after he came from Judea to Galilee.  THE THIRD SIGN: HEALING THE SICK 5 After this, a Jewish festival took place, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 2 By the Sheep Gate in Jerusalem there is a pool, called Bethesda in Aramaic, which has five colonnades. 3 Within these lay a large number of the disabled—blind, lame, and paralyzed.  5 One man was there who had been disabled for thirty-eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him lying there and realized he had already been there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to get well?”  7 “Sir,” the disabled man answered, “I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, but while I’m coming, someone goes down ahead of me.”  8 “Get up,” Jesus told him, “pick up your mat and walk.” 9 Instantly the man got well, picked up his mat, and started to walk.  Now that day was the Sabbath, 10 and so the Jews said to the man who had been healed, “This is the Sabbath. The law prohibits you from picking up your mat.”  11 He replied, “The man who made me well told me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’ ” 12 “Who is this man who told you, ‘Pick up your mat and walk’?” they asked. 13 But the man who was healed did not know who it was, because Jesus had slipped away into the crowd that was there.  14 After this, Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, “See, you are well. Do not sin anymore, so that something worse doesn’t happen to you.” 15 The man went and reported to the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well. 16 Therefore, the Jews began persecuting Jesus because he was doing these things on the Sabbath.  HONORING THE FATHER AND THE SON 17 Jesus responded to them, “My Father is still working, and I am working also.” 18 This is why the Jews began trying all the more to kill him: Not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal to God.

Psalm 92 (CSB) Psalm 92 GOD’S LOVE AND FAITHFULNESS A psalm. A song for the Sabbath day.  1 It is good to give thanks to the Lord,  to sing praise to your name, Most High,  2 to declare your faithful love in the morning  and your faithfulness at night,  3 with a ten-stringed harp  and the music of a lyre.  4 For you have made me rejoice, Lord,  by what you have done;  I will shout for joy  because of the works of your hands.  5 How magnificent are your works, Lord,  how profound your thoughts!  6 A stupid person does not know,  a fool does not understand this:  7 though the wicked sprout like grass  and all evildoers flourish,  they will be eternally destroyed.  8 But you, Lord, are exalted forever.  9 For indeed, Lord, your enemies— indeed, your enemies will perish;  all evildoers will be scattered.  10 You have lifted up my horn  like that of a wild ox;  I have been anointed with the finest oil.  11 My eyes look at my enemies;  when evildoers rise against me,  my ears hear them.  12 The righteous thrive like a palm tree  and grow like a cedar tree in Lebanon.  13 Planted in the house of the Lord,  they thrive in the courts of our God.  14 They will still bear fruit in old age,  healthy and green,  15 to declare, “The Lord is just;  he is my rock,  and there is no unrighteousness in him.” Proverbs 17:4–6 (CSB) 4 A wicked person listens to malicious talk;  a liar pays attention to a destructive tongue.  5 The one who mocks the poor insults his Maker,  and one who rejoices over calamity  will not go unpunished.  6 Grandchildren are the crown of the elderly,  and the pride of children is their fathers. John 4:1–45 (CSB) JESUS AND THE SAMARITAN WOMAN 4 When Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard he was making and baptizing more disciples than John 2 (though Jesus himself was not baptizing, but his disciples were), 3 he left Judea and went again to Galilee. 4 He had to travel through Samaria; 5 so he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar near the property that Jacob had given his son Joseph. 6 Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, worn out from his journey, sat down at the well. It was about noon.  7 A woman of Samaria came to draw water.  “Give me a drink,” Jesus said to her, 8 because his disciples had gone into town to buy food.  9 “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” she asked him. For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.  10 Jesus answered, “If you knew the gift of God, and who is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would ask him, and he would give you living water.” 11 “Sir,” said the woman, “you don’t even have a bucket, and the well is deep. So where do you get this ‘living water’? 12 You aren’t greater than our father Jacob, are you? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and livestock.”  13 Jesus said, “Everyone who drinks from this water will get thirsty again. 14 But whoever drinks from the water that I will give him will never get thirsty again. In fact, the water I will give him will become a well, of water springing up in him for eternal life.” 15 “Sir,” the woman said to him, “give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and come here to draw water.”  16 “Go call your husband,” he told her, “and come back here.”  17 “I don’t have a husband,” she answered.  “You have correctly said, ‘I don’t have a husband,’ ” Jesus said. 18 “For you’ve had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.”  19 “Sir,” the woman replied, “I see that you are a prophet. 20 Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews say that the place to worship is in Jerusalem.”  21 Jesus told her, “Believe me, woman, an hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22 You Samaritans worship what you do not know. We worship what we do know, because salvation is from the Jews. 23 But an hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in Spirit and in truth. Yes, the Father wants such people to worship him. 24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in Spirit and in truth.” 25 The woman said to him, “I know that the Messiah is coming” (who is called Christ). “When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”  26 Jesus told her, “I, the one speaking to you, am he.” THE RIPENED HARVEST 27 Just then his disciples arrived, and they were amazed that he was talking with a woman. Yet no one said, “What do you want?” or “Why are you talking with her?”  28 Then the woman left her water jar, went into town, and told the people, 29 “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?” 30 They left the town and made their way to him.  31 In the meantime the disciples kept urging him, “Rabbi, eat something.”  32 But he said, “I have food to eat that you don’t know about.”  33 The disciples said to one another, “Could someone have brought him something to eat?”  34 “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work,” Jesus told them. 35 “Don’t you say, ‘There are still four more months, and then comes the harvest’? Listen to what I’m telling you: Open your eyes and look at the fields, because they are ready for harvest. 36 The reaper is already receiving pay and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that the sower and reaper can rejoice together. 37 For in this case the saying is true: ‘One sows and another reaps.’ 38 I sent you to reap what you didn’t labor for; others have labored, and you have benefited from their labor.”  THE SAVIOR OF THE WORLD 39 Now many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of what the woman said when she testified, “He told me everything I ever did.” 40 So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them, and he stayed there two days. 41 Many more believed because of what he said. 42 And they told the woman, “We no longer believe because of what you said, since we have heard for ourselves and know that this really is the Savior of the world.”  A GALILEAN WELCOME 43 After two days he left there for Galilee. 44 (Jesus himself had testified that a prophet has no honor in his own country.) 45 When they entered Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him because they had seen everything he did in Jerusalem during the festival. For they also had gone to the festival.

Psalm 91 (CSB) Psalm 91 THE PROTECTION OF THE MOST HIGH 1 The one who lives under the protection of the Most High  dwells in the shadow of the Almighty.  2 I will say concerning the Lord, who is my refuge and my fortress,  my God in whom I trust:  3 He himself will rescue you from the bird trap,  from the destructive plague.  4 He will cover you with his feathers;  you will take refuge under his wings.  His faithfulness will be a protective shield.  5 You will not fear the terror of the night,  the arrow that flies by day,  6 the plague that stalks in darkness,  or the pestilence that ravages at noon.  7 Though a thousand fall at your side  and ten thousand at your right hand,  the pestilence will not reach you.  8 You will only see it with your eyes  and witness the punishment of the wicked.  9 Because you have made the Lord—my refuge,  the Most High—your dwelling place,  10 no harm will come to you;  no plague will come near your tent.  11 For he will give his angels orders concerning you,  to protect you in all your ways.  12 They will support you with their hands  so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.  13 You will tread on the lion and the cobra;  you will trample the young lion and the serpent.  14 Because he has his heart set on me,  I will deliver him;  I will protect him because he knows my name.  15 When he calls out to me, I will answer him;  I will be with him in trouble.  I will rescue him and give him honor.  16 I will satisfy him with a long life  and show him my salvation. Proverbs 17:1–3 (CSB) Better a dry crust with peace  than a house full of feasting with strife.  2 A prudent servant will rule over a disgraceful son  and share an inheritance among brothers.  3 A crucible for silver, and a smelter for gold,  and the Lord is the tester of hearts. John 3:22–36 (CSB) JESUS AND JOHN THE BAPTIST 22 After this, Jesus and his disciples went to the Judean countryside, where he spent time with them and baptized.  23 John also was baptizing in Aenon near Salim, because there was plenty of water there. People were coming and being baptized, 24 since John had not yet been thrown into prison.  25 Then a dispute arose between John’s disciples and a Jew about purification. 26 So they came to John and told him, “Rabbi, the one you testified about, and who was with you across the Jordan, is baptizing—and everyone is going to him.”  27 John responded, “No one can receive anything unless it has been given to him from heaven. 28 You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Messiah, but I’ve been sent ahead of him.’ 29 He who has the bride is the groom. But the groom’s friend, who stands by and listens for him, rejoices greatly at the groom’s voice. So this joy of mine is complete. 30 He must increase, but I must decrease.”  THE ONE FROM HEAVEN 31 The one who comes from above is above all. The one who is from the earth is earthly and speaks in earthly terms. The one who comes from heaven is above all. 32 He testifies to what he has seen and heard, and yet no one accepts his testimony. 33 The one who has accepted his testimony has affirmed that God is true. 34 For the one whom God sent speaks God’s words, since he gives the Spirit without measure. 35 The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hands. 36 The one who believes in the Son has eternal life, but the one who rejects the Son will not see life; instead, the wrath of God remains on him.

Psalm 90 (CSB) BOOK IV (Psalms 90–106) Psalm 90 ETERNAL GOD AND MORTAL MAN A prayer of Moses, the man of God.  1 Lord, you have been our refuge  in every generation.  2 Before the mountains were born,  before you gave birth to the earth and the world,  from eternity to eternity, you are God.  3 You return mankind to the dust,  saying, “Return, descendants of Adam.”  4 For in your sight a thousand years  are like yesterday that passes by,  like a few hours of the night.  5 You end their lives; they sleep.  They are like grass that grows in the morning— 6 in the morning it sprouts and grows;  by evening it withers and dries up.  7 For we are consumed by your anger;  we are terrified by your wrath.  8 You have set our iniquities before you,  our secret sins in the light of your presence.  9 For all our days ebb away under your wrath;  we end our years like a sigh.  10 Our lives last seventy years  or, if we are strong, eighty years.  Even the best of them are struggle and sorrow;  indeed, they pass quickly and we fly away.  11 Who understands the power of your anger?  Your wrath matches the fear that is due you.  12 Teach us to number our days carefully  so that we may develop wisdom in our hearts., 13 Lord—how long?  Turn and have compassion on your servants.  14 Satisfy us in the morning with your faithful love  so that we may shout with joy and be glad all our days.  15 Make us rejoice for as many days as you have humbled us,  for as many years as we have seen adversity.  16 Let your work be seen by your servants,  and your splendor by their children.  17 Let the favor of the Lord our God be on us;  establish for us the work of our hands— establish the work of our hands! Proverbs 16:30–33 (CSB) 30 The one who narrows his eyes is planning deceptions;  the one who compresses his lips brings about evil.  31 Gray hair is a glorious crown;  it is found in the ways of righteousness.  32 Patience is better than power,  and controlling one’s emotions, than capturing a city.  33 The lot is cast into the lap,  but its every decision is from the Lord. John 3:16–21 (CSB) 16 For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Anyone who believes in him is not condemned, but anyone who does not believe is already condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the one and only Son of God. 19 This is the judgment: The light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil. 20 For everyone who does evil hates the light and avoids it, so that his deeds may not be exposed. 21 But anyone who lives by the truth comes to the light, so that his works may be shown to be accomplished by God.”

Psalm 89:38–52 (CSB) 38 But you have spurned and rejected him;  you have become enraged with your anointed.  39 You have repudiated the covenant with your servant;  you have completely dishonored his crown., 40 You have broken down all his walls;  you have reduced his fortified cities to ruins.  41 All who pass by plunder him;  he has become an object of ridicule  to his neighbors.  42 You have lifted high the right hand of his foes;  you have made all his enemies rejoice.  43 You have also turned back his sharp sword  and have not let him stand in battle.  44 You have made his splendor cease  and have overturned his throne.  45 You have shortened the days of his youth;  you have covered him with shame.  Selah 46 How long, Lord? Will you hide forever?  Will your anger keep burning like fire?  47 Remember how short my life is.  Have you created everyone for nothing?  48 What courageous person can live and never see death?  Who can save himself from the power of Sheol?  Selah 49 Lord, where are the former acts of your faithful love  that you swore to David in your faithfulness?  50 Remember, Lord, the ridicule against your servants— in my heart I carry abuse from all the peoples— 51 how your enemies have ridiculed, Lord,  how they have ridiculed every step of your anointed.  52 Blessed be the Lord forever.  Amen and amen. Proverbs 16:26–29 (CSB) 26 A worker’s appetite works for him  because his hunger urges him on.  27 A worthless person digs up evil,  and his speech is like a scorching fire.  28 A contrary person spreads conflict,  and a gossip separates close friends.  29 A violent person lures his neighbor,  leading him on a path that is not good. John 3:1–15 (CSB) JESUS AND NICODEMUS 3 There was a man from the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 2 This man came to him at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God, for no one could perform these signs you do unless God were with him.”  3 Jesus replied, “Truly I tell you, unless someone is born again,, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” 4 “How can anyone be born when he is old?” Nicodemus asked him. “Can he enter his mother’s womb a second time and be born?”  5 Jesus answered, “Truly I tell you, unless someone is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 Whatever is born of the flesh is flesh, and whatever is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not be amazed that I told you that you must be born again. 8 The wind blows where it pleases, and you hear its sound, but you don’t know where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” 9 “How can these things be?” asked Nicodemus.  10 “Are you a teacher of Israel and don’t know these things?” Jesus replied. 11 “Truly I tell you, we speak what we know and we testify to what we have seen, but you do not accept our testimony. 12  If I have told you about earthly things and you don’t believe, how will you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? 13 No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven—the Son of Man., 14 “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15 so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.