Exodus 33, John 12, Proverbs 9, Ephesians 2

Exodus 33,

1 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Leave this place, you and the people you brought up out of Egypt, and go up to the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, saying, 'I will give it to your descendants.'
 
2 I will send an angel before you and drive out the Canaanites, Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites.
 
3 Go up to the land flowing with milk and honey. But I will not go with you, because you are a stiff-necked people and I might destroy you on the way."
 
4 When the people heard these distressing words, they began to mourn and no one put on any ornaments.
 
5 For the LORD had said to Moses, "Tell the Israelites, 'You are a stiff-necked people. If I were to go with you even for a moment, I might destroy you. Now take off your ornaments and I will decide what to do with you.' "
 
6 So the Israelites stripped off their ornaments at Mount Horeb.
 
7 Now Moses used to take a tent and pitch it outside the camp some distance away, calling it the "tent of meeting." Anyone inquiring of the LORD would go to the tent of meeting outside the camp.
 
8 And whenever Moses went out to the tent, all the people rose and stood at the entrances to their tents, watching Moses until he entered the tent.
 
9 As Moses went into the tent, the pillar of cloud would come down and stay at the entrance, while the LORD spoke with Moses.
 
10 Whenever the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance to the tent, they all stood and worshiped, each at the entrance to his tent.
 
11 The LORD would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks with his friend. Then Moses would return to the camp, but his young aide Joshua son of Nun did not leave the tent.
 
12 Moses said to the LORD, "You have been telling me, 'Lead these people,' but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. You have said, 'I know you by name and you have found favor with me.'
 
13 If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favor with you. Remember that this nation is your people."
 
14 The LORD replied, "My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest."
 
15 Then Moses said to him, "If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here.
 
16 How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us? What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?"
 
17 And the LORD said to Moses, "I will do the very thing you have asked, because I am pleased with you and I know you by name."
 
18 Then Moses said, "Now show me your glory."
 
19 And the LORD said, "I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the LORD, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.
 
20 But," he said, "you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live."
 
21 Then the LORD said, "There is a place near me where you may stand on a rock.
 
22 When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by.
 
23 Then I will remove my hand and you will see my back; but my face must not be seen."

John 12,

1 Six days before the Passover, Jesus arrived at Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom Jesus had raised from the dead.
 
2 Here a dinner was given in Jesus' honor. Martha served, while Lazarus was among those reclining at the table with him.
 
3 Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus' feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.
 
4 But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected,
 
5 "Why wasn't this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year's wages."
 
6 He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it.
 
7 "Leave her alone," Jesus replied. "It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial.
 
8 You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me."
 
9 Meanwhile a large crowd of Jews found out that Jesus was there and came, not only because of him but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead.
 
10 So the chief priests made plans to kill Lazarus as well,
 
11 for on account of him many of the Jews were going over to Jesus and putting their faith in him.
 
12 The next day the great crowd that had come for the Feast heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem.
 
13 They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting, "Hosanna!" "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!" "Blessed is the King of Israel!"
 
14 Jesus found a young donkey and sat upon it, as it is written,
 
15 "Do not be afraid, O Daughter of Zion; see, your king is coming, seated on a donkey's colt."
 
16 At first his disciples did not understand all this. Only after Jesus was glorified did they realize that these things had been written about him and that they had done these things to him.
 
17 Now the crowd that was with him when he called Lazarus from the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to spread the word.
 
18 Many people, because they had heard that he had given this miraculous sign, went out to meet him.
 
19 So the Pharisees said to one another, "See, this is getting us nowhere. Look how the whole world has gone after him!"
 
20 Now there were some Greeks among those who went up to worship at the Feast.
 
21 They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, with a request. "Sir," they said, "we would like to see Jesus."
 
22 Philip went to tell Andrew; Andrew and Philip in turn told Jesus.
 
23 Jesus replied, "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.
 
24 I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.
 
25 The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.
 
26 Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.
 
27 "Now my heart is troubled, and what shall I say? 'Father, save me from this hour'? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour.
 
28 Father, glorify your name!" Then a voice came from heaven, "I have glorified it, and will glorify it again."
 
29 The crowd that was there and heard it said it had thundered; others said an angel had spoken to him.
 
30 Jesus said, "This voice was for your benefit, not mine.
 
31 Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out.
 
32 But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself."
 
33 He said this to show the kind of death he was going to die.
 
34 The crowd spoke up, "We have heard from the Law that the Christ will remain forever, so how can you say, 'The Son of Man must be lifted up'? Who is this 'Son of Man'?"
 
35 Then Jesus told them, "You are going to have the light just a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, before darkness overtakes you. The man who walks in the dark does not know where he is going.
 
36 Put your trust in the light while you have it, so that you may become sons of light." When he had finished speaking, Jesus left and hid himself from them.
 
37 Even after Jesus had done all these miraculous signs in their presence, they still would not believe in him.
 
38 This was to fulfill the word of Isaiah the prophet: "Lord, who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?"
 
39 For this reason they could not believe, because, as Isaiah says elsewhere:
 
40 "He has blinded their eyes and deadened their hearts, so they can neither see with their eyes, nor understand with their hearts, nor turn-and I would heal them."
 
41 Isaiah said this because he saw Jesus' glory and spoke about him.
 
42 Yet at the same time many even among the leaders believed in him. But because of the Pharisees they would not confess their faith for fear they would be put out of the synagogue;
 
43 for they loved praise from men more than praise from God.
 
44 Then Jesus cried out, "When a man believes in me, he does not believe in me only, but in the one who sent me.
 
45 When he looks at me, he sees the one who sent me.
 
46 I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness.
 
47 "As for the person who hears my words but does not keep them, I do not judge him. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save it.
 
48 There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words; that very word which I spoke will condemn him at the last day.
 
49 For I did not speak of my own accord, but the Father who sent me commanded me what to say and how to say it.
 
50 I know that his command leads to eternal life. So whatever I say is just what the Father has told me to say."

Proverbs 9,

1 Wisdom has built her house; she has hewn out its seven pillars.
 
2 She has prepared her meat and mixed her wine; she has also set her table.
 
3 She has sent out her maids, and she calls from the highest point of the city.
 
4 "Let all who are simple come in here!" she says to those who lack judgment.
 
5 "Come, eat my food and drink the wine I have mixed.
 
6 Leave your simple ways and you will live; walk in the way of understanding.
 
7 "Whoever corrects a mocker invites insult; whoever rebukes a wicked man incurs abuse.
 
8 Do not rebuke a mocker or he will hate you; rebuke a wise man and he will love you.
 
9 Instruct a wise man and he will be wiser still; teach a righteous man and he will add to his learning.
 
10 "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.
 
11 For through me your days will be many, and years will be added to your life.
 
12 If you are wise, your wisdom will reward you; if you are a mocker, you alone will suffer."
 
13 The woman Folly is loud; she is undisciplined and without knowledge.
 
14 She sits at the door of her house, on a seat at the highest point of the city,
 
15 calling out to those who pass by, who go straight on their way.
 
16 "Let all who are simple come in here!" she says to those who lack judgment.
 
17 "Stolen water is sweet; food eaten in secret is delicious!"
 
18 But little do they know that the dead are there, that her guests are in the depths of the grave.

Ephesians 2

1 As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins,
 
2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.
 
3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath.
 
4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy,
 
5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions-it is by grace you have been saved.
 
6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus,
 
7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.
 
8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-
 
9 not by works, so that no one can boast.
 
10 For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
 
11 Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called "uncircumcised" by those who call themselves "the circumcision" (that done in the body by the hands of men)-
 
12 remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world.
 
13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.
 
14 For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility,
 
15 by abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace,
 
16 and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility.
 
17 He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near.
 
18 For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.
 
19 Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household,
 
20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone.
 
21 In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord.
 
22 And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.