Psalm 77:5–11, 14–15

⁵I consider the days of old,
the years long ago.
⁶I said, “Let me remember my song in the night;
let me meditate in my heart.”
Then my spirit made a diligent search:
⁷“Will the Lord spurn forever,
and never again be favorable?
⁸Has his steadfast love forever ceased?
Are his promises at an end for all time?
⁹Has God forgotten to be gracious?
Has he in anger shut up his compassion?”
¹⁰Then I said, “I will appeal to this,
to the years of the right hand of the Most High.”
¹¹I will remember the deeds of the Lord;
yes, I will remember your wonders of old.

¹⁴You are the God who works wonders;
you have made known your might among the peoples.
¹⁵You with your arm redeemed your people,
the children of Jacob and Joseph.

Old Testament Reading Ecclesiastes 11

¹Cast your bread upon the waters,
for you will find it after many days.
²Give a portion to seven, or even to eight,
for you know not what disaster may happen on earth.
³If the clouds are full of rain,
they empty themselves on the earth,
and if a tree falls to the south or to the north,
in the place where the tree falls, there it will lie.
⁴He who observes the wind will not sow,
and he who regards the clouds will not reap.

⁵As you do not know the way the spirit comes to the bones in the womb of a woman with child, so you do not know the work of God who makes everything.

⁶In the morning sow your seed, and at evening withhold not your hand, for you do not know which will prosper, this or that, or whether both alike will be good.

⁷Light is sweet, and it is pleasant for the eyes to see the sun.

⁸So if a person lives many years, let him rejoice in them all; but let him remember that the days of darkness will be many. All that comes is vanity.

⁹Rejoice, O young man, in your youth, and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth. Walk in the ways of your heart and the sight of your eyes. But know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment.

¹⁰Remove vexation from your heart, and put away pain from your body, for youth and the dawn of life are vanity.

New Testament Reading John 10:22–42

²²At that time the Feast of Dedication took place at Jerusalem. It was winter, ²³and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the colonnade of Solomon. ²⁴So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.” ²⁵Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name bear witness about me, ²⁶but you do not believe because you are not part of my flock. ²⁷My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. ²⁸I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. ²⁹My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. ³⁰I and the Father are one.”

³¹The Jews picked up stones again to stone him. ³²Jesus answered them, “I have shown you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you going to stone me?” ³³The Jews answered him, “It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you but for blasphemy, because you, being a man, make yourself God.” ³⁴Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your Law, ‘I said, you are gods’? ³⁵If he called them gods to whom the word of God came—and Scripture cannot be broken— ³⁶do you say of him whom the Father consecrated and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’? ³⁷If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me; ³⁸but if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.” ³⁹Again they sought to arrest him, but he escaped from their hands.

⁴⁰He went away again across the Jordan to the place where John had been baptizing at first, and there he remained. ⁴¹And many came to him. And they said, “John did no sign, but everything that John said about this man was true.” ⁴²And many believed in him there.