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Psalm 128

1  Blessed are all those who fear the Lord, ♦︎
   and walk in his ways.
2  You shall eat the fruit of the toil of your hands; ♦︎
   it shall go well with you, and happy shall you be.
3  Your wife within your house
      shall be like a fruitful vine; ♦︎
   your children round your table,
      like fresh olive branches.
4  Thus shall the one be blest ♦︎
   who fears the Lord.
5  The Lord from out of Zion bless you, ♦︎
   that you may see Jerusalem in prosperity
      all the days of your life.
6  May you see your children’s children, ♦︎
   and may there be peace upon Israel.

Psalm 129

1  ‘Many a time have they fought against me from my youth,’ ♦︎
   may Israel now say;
2  ‘Many a time have they fought against me from my youth, ♦︎
   but they have not prevailed against me.’
3  The ploughers ploughed upon my back ♦︎
   and made their furrows long.
4  But the righteous Lord ♦︎
   has cut the cords of the wicked in pieces.
5  Let them be put to shame and turned backwards, ♦︎
   as many as are enemies of Zion.
6  Let them be like grass upon the housetops, ♦︎
   which withers before it can grow,
7  So that no reaper can fill his hand, ♦︎
   nor a binder of sheaves his bosom;
8  And none who go by may say,
      ‘The blessing of the Lord be upon you. ♦︎
   We bless you in the name of the Lord.’

Ezra

End of the Babylonian Captivity

1In the first year of King Cyrus of Persia, in order that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be accomplished, the Lord stirred up the spirit of King Cyrus of Persia so that he sent a herald throughout all his kingdom, and also in a written edict declared:

2 ‘Thus says King Cyrus of Persia: The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem in Judah. ³Any of those among you who are of his people—may their God be with them!—are now permitted to go up to Jerusalem in Judah, and rebuild the house of the Lord, the God of Israel—he is the God who is in Jerusalem; ⁴and let all survivors, in whatever place they reside, be assisted by the people of their place with silver and gold, with goods and with animals, besides freewill-offerings for the house of God in Jerusalem.’

5 The heads of the families of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and the Levites—everyone whose spirit God had stirred—got ready to go up and rebuild the house of the Lord in Jerusalem. ⁶All their neighbours aided them with silver vessels, with gold, with goods, with animals, and with valuable gifts, besides all that was freely offered. ⁷King Cyrus himself brought out the vessels of the house of the Lord that Nebuchadnezzar had carried away from Jerusalem and placed in the house of his gods. ⁸King Cyrus of Persia had them released into the charge of Mithredath the treasurer, who counted them out to Sheshbazzar the prince of Judah. ⁹And this was the inventory: gold basins, thirty; silver basins, one thousand; knives,^* twenty-nine; ¹⁰gold bowls, thirty; other silver bowls, four hundred and ten; other vessels, one thousand; ¹¹the total of the gold and silver vessels was five thousand four hundred. All these Sheshbazzar brought up, when the exiles were brought up from Babylonia to Jerusalem.

14 About the middle of the festival Jesus went up into the temple and began to teach. ¹⁵The Jews were astonished at it, saying, ‘How does this man have such learning,^* when he has never been taught?’ ¹⁶Then Jesus answered them, ‘My teaching is not mine but his who sent me. ¹⁷Anyone who resolves to do the will of God will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own. ¹⁸Those who speak on their own seek their own glory; but the one who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, and there is nothing false in him.

19 ‘Did not Moses give you the law? Yet none of you keeps the law. Why are you looking for an opportunity to kill me?’ ²⁰The crowd answered, ‘You have a demon! Who is trying to kill you?’ ²¹Jesus answered them, ‘I performed one work, and all of you are astonished. ²²Moses gave you circumcision (it is, of course, not from Moses, but from the patriarchs), and you circumcise a man on the sabbath. ²³If a man receives circumcision on the sabbath in order that the law of Moses may not be broken, are you angry with me because I healed a man’s whole body on the sabbath? ²⁴Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgement.’

Is This the Christ?

25 Now some of the people of Jerusalem were saying, ‘Is not this the man whom they are trying to kill? ²⁶And here he is, speaking openly, but they say nothing to him! Can it be that the authorities really know that this is the Messiah?^{* 27}Yet we know where this man is from; but when the Messiah^* comes, no one will know where he is from.’ ²⁸Then Jesus cried out as he was teaching in the temple, ‘You know me, and you know where I am from. I have not come on my own. But the one who sent me is true, and you do not know him. ²⁹I know him, because I am from him, and he sent me.’ ³⁰Then they tried to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him, because his hour had not yet come. ³¹Yet many in the crowd believed in him and were saying, ‘When the Messiah^* comes, will he do more signs than this man has done?’^*

Officers Are Sent to Arrest Jesus

32 The Pharisees heard the crowd muttering such things about him, and the chief priests and Pharisees sent temple police to arrest him. ³³Jesus then said, ‘I will be with you a little while longer, and then I am going to him who sent me. ³⁴You will search for me, but you will not find me; and where I am, you cannot come.’ ³⁵The Jews said to one another, ‘Where does this man intend to go that we will not find him? Does he intend to go to the Dispersion among the Greeks and teach the Greeks? ³⁶What does he mean by saying, “You will search for me and you will not find me” and, “Where I am, you cannot come”?’