Isaiah 43:14–44:5; Hebrews 6:17–7:10; John 4:27–42

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Isaiah 43:14–44:5

14  Thus says the Lord,

your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel:

eFor your sake I send to Babylon

and fbring them all down as fugitives,

geven the Chaldeans, in the ships in which they rejoice.

15  I am the Lord, your Holy One,

the Creator of Israel, your King.

16  Thus says the Lord,

hwho makes a way in the sea,

a path in the mighty waters,

17  who ibrings forth chariot and horse,

army and warrior;

they lie down, they cannot rise,

jthey are extinguished, kquenched like a wick:

18  lRemember not the former things,

nor consider the things of old.

19  mBehold, I am doing a new thing;

now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?

nI will make a way in the wilderness

oand rivers in the desert.

20  The wild beasts will honor me,

pthe jackals and the ostriches,

qfor I give water in the wilderness,

rivers in the desert,

to give drink to my chosen people,

21  the people whom I formed for myself

rthat they might declare my praise.

22  Yet you did not call upon me, O Jacob;

but syou have been weary of me, O Israel!

23  tYou have not brought me your sheep for burnt offerings,

or honored me with your sacrifices.

I have not burdened you with offerings,

sor wearied you with frankincense.

24  You have not bought me sweet cane with money,

or satisfied me with the fat of your sacrifices.

But you have burdened me with your sins;

you have wearied me with your iniquities.

25  I, I am he

uwho blots out vyour transgressions for my own sake,

and I will not remember your sins.

26  Put me in remembrance; wlet us argue together;

set forth your case, that you may be proved right.

27  xYour first father sinned,

and yyour mediators transgressed against me.

28  Therefore zI will profane the princes of the sanctuary,

and adeliver Jacob to utter destruction

and Israel to reviling.

Israel the Lord’s Chosen

But now hear, bO Jacob my servant,

Israel whom I have chosen!

Thus says the Lord who made you,

cwho formed you from the womb and will help you:

dFear not, O Jacob my servant,

eJeshurun whom I have chosen.

fFor I will pour water on the thirsty land,

and streams on the dry ground;

I will pour my Spirit upon your offspring,

and my blessing on your descendants.

They shall spring up among the grass

glike willows by flowing streams.

hThis one will say, I am the Lord’s,

another will call on the name of Jacob,

and another will write on his hand, The Lord’s,

and name himself by the name of Israel.


Hebrews 6:17–7:10

17 So when God desired to show more convincingly to ithe heirs of the promise jthe unchangeable character of his purpose, khe guaranteed it with an oath, 18 so that by two unchangeable things, in which lit is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope mset before us. 19 We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into nthe inner place behind the curtain, 20 where Jesus has gone oas a forerunner on our behalf, phaving become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.

The Priestly Order of Melchizedek

For this qMelchizedek, king of rSalem, priest of sthe Most High God, met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, and to him Abraham apportioned a tenth part of everything. He is first, by translation of his name, king of righteousness, and then he is also king of Salem, that is, king of peace. He is without father or mother tor genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but resembling the Son of God he continues a priest forever.

See how great this man was to whom Abraham uthe patriarch gave a tenth of the spoils! And vthose descendants of Levi who receive the priestly office have a commandment in the law to take tithes from the people, that is, from their brothers,1 though these also are descended from Abraham. But this man wwho does not have his descent from them received tithes from Abraham and blessed xhim who had the promises. It is beyond dispute that the inferior is blessed by the superior. In the one case tithes are received by mortal men, but in the other case, by one yof whom it is testified that zhe lives. One might even say that Levi himself, who receives tithes, paid tithes through Abraham, 10 for he was still in the loins of his ancestor when Melchizedek met him.


John 4:27–42

27 Just then ihis disciples came back. They marveled that he was talking with a woman, but no one said, What do you seek? or, Why are you talking with her? 28 So the woman left her water jar and went away into town and said to the people, 29 Come, see a man jwho told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ? 30 They went out of the town and were coming to him.

31 Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, saying, kRabbi, eat. 32 But he said to them, I have food to eat that you do not know about. 33 So the disciples said to one another, lHas anyone brought him something to eat? 34 Jesus said to them, mMy food is nto do the will of him who sent me and oto accomplish his work. 35 Do you not say, There are yet four months, then comes the harvest? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that pthe fields are white for harvest. 36 Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that qsower and rreaper smay rejoice together. 37 For here the saying holds true, tOne sows and another reaps. 38 I sent you to reap uthat for which you did not labor. Others have labored, vand you have entered into their labor.

39 Many Samaritans wfrom that town believed in him xbecause of ythe woman’s testimony, He told me all that 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 And many more believed zbecause of his word. 42 They said to the woman, It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, aand we know that this is indeed bthe Savior cof the world.