Andre Zunino

The angel brought me, Ezekiel,
back to the entrance of the temple of the LORD,
and I saw water flowing out
from beneath the threshold of the temple toward the east,
for the façade of the temple was toward the east;
the water flowed down from the right side of the temple,
south of the altar.
He led me outside by the north gate,
and around to the outer gate facing the east,
where I saw water trickling from the right side.
Then when he had walked off to the east
with a measuring cord in his hand,
he measured off a thousand cubits
and had me wade through the water,
which was ankle-deep.
He measured off another thousand
and once more had me wade through the water,
which was now knee-deep.
Again he measured off a thousand and had me wade;
the water was up to my waist.
Once more he measured off a thousand,
but there was now a river through which I could not wade;
for the water had risen so high it had become a river
that could not be crossed except by swimming.
He asked me, “Have you seen this, son of man?”
Then he brought me to the bank of the river, where he had me sit.
Along the bank of the river I saw very many trees on both sides.
He said to me,
“This water flows into the eastern district down upon the Arabah,
and empties into the sea, the salt waters, which it makes fresh.
Wherever the river flows,
every sort of living creature that can multiply shall live,
and there shall be abundant fish,
for wherever this water comes the sea shall be made fresh.
Along both banks of the river, fruit trees of every kind shall grow;
their leaves shall not fade, nor their fruit fail.
Every month they shall bear fresh fruit,
for they shall be watered by the flow from the sanctuary.
Their fruit shall serve for food, and their leaves for medicine.”

R.        (8)  The Lord of hosts is with us; our stronghold is the God of Jacob.
God is our refuge and our strength,
            an ever-present help in distress.
Therefore we fear not, though the earth be shaken
            and mountains plunge into the depths of the sea.
R.        The Lord of hosts is with us; our stronghold is the God of Jacob.
There is a stream whose runlets gladden the city of God,
            the holy dwelling of the Most High.
God is in its midst; it shall not be disturbed;
            God will help it at the break of dawn.
R.        The Lord of hosts is with us; our stronghold is the God of Jacob.
The LORD of hosts is with us;
            our stronghold is the God of Jacob.
Come! behold the deeds of the LORD,
            the astounding things he has wrought on earth.
R.        The Lord of hosts is with us; our stronghold is the God of Jacob.

A clean heart create for me, O God;
give me back the joy of your salvation.

There was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
Now there is in Jerusalem at the Sheep Gate
a pool called in Hebrew Bethesda, with five porticoes.
In these lay a large number of ill, blind, lame, and crippled.
One man was there who had been ill for thirty-eight years.
When Jesus saw him lying there
and knew that he had been ill for a long time, he said to him,
“Do you want to be well?”
The sick man answered him,
“Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool
when the water is stirred up;
while I am on my way, someone else gets down there before me.”
Jesus said to him, “Rise, take up your mat, and walk.”
Immediately the man became well, took up his mat, and walked.

Now that day was a sabbath.
So the Jews said to the man who was cured,
“It is the sabbath, and it is not lawful for you to carry your mat.”
He answered them, “The man who made me well told me,
‘Take up your mat and walk.’“
They asked him,
“Who is the man who told you, ‘Take it up and walk’?”
The man who was healed did not know who it was,
for Jesus had slipped away, since there was a crowd there.
After this Jesus found him in the temple area and said to him,
“Look, you are well; do not sin any more,
so that nothing worse may happen to you.”
The man went and told the Jews
that Jesus was the one who had made him well.
Therefore, the Jews began to persecute Jesus
because he did this on a sabbath.

Thus says the LORD:
Lo, I am about to create new heavens
            and a new earth;
The things of the past shall not be remembered
            or come to mind.
Instead, there shall always be rejoicing and happiness
            in what I create;
For I create Jerusalem to be a joy
            and its people to be a delight;
I will rejoice in Jerusalem
            and exult in my people.
No longer shall the sound of weeping be heard there,
            or the sound of crying;
No longer shall there be in it
            an infant who lives but a few days,
            or an old man who does not round out his full lifetime;
He dies a mere youth who reaches but a hundred years,
            and he who fails of a hundred shall be thought accursed.
They shall live in the houses they build,
            and eat the fruit of the vineyards they plant.

R.        (2a)  I will praise you, Lord, for you have rescued me.
I will extol you, O LORD, for you drew me clear
            and did not let my enemies rejoice over me.
O LORD, you brought me up from the nether world;
            you preserved me from among those going down into the pit.
R.        I will praise you, Lord, for you have rescued me.
Sing praise to the LORD, you his faithful ones,
            and give thanks to his holy name.
For his anger lasts but a moment;
            a lifetime, his good will.
At nightfall, weeping enters in,
            but with the dawn, rejoicing.
R.        I will praise you, Lord, for you have rescued me.
“Hear, O LORD, and have pity on me;
            O LORD, be my helper.”
You changed my mourning into dancing;
            O LORD, my God, forever will I give you thanks.
R.        I will praise you, Lord, for you have rescued me.

Seek good and not evil so that you may live,
and the LORD will be with you.

At that time Jesus left [Samaria] for Galilee.
For Jesus himself testified
that a prophet has no honor in his native place.
When he came into Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him,
since they had seen all he had done in Jerusalem at the feast;
for they themselves had gone to the feast.

Then he returned to Cana in Galilee,
where he had made the water wine.
Now there was a royal official whose son was ill in Capernaum.
When he heard that Jesus had arrived in Galilee from Judea,
he went to him and asked him to come down
and heal his son, who was near death.
Jesus said to him,
“Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will not believe.”
The royal official said to him,
“Sir, come down before my child dies.”
Jesus said to him, “You may go; your son will live.”
The man believed what Jesus said to him and left.
While the man was on his way back,
his slaves met him and told him that his boy would live.
He asked them when he began to recover.
They told him,
“The fever left him yesterday, about one in the afternoon.”
The father realized that just at that time Jesus had said to him,
“Your son will live,”
and he and his whole household came to believe.
Now this was the second sign Jesus did
when he came to Galilee from Judea.