Psalm 36:7–12

⁷How precious is your steadfast love, O God!
The children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of your wings.
⁸They feast on the abundance of your house,
and you give them drink from the river of your delights.
⁹For with you is the fountain of life;
in your light do we see light.

¹⁰Oh, continue your steadfast love to those who know you,
and your righteousness to the upright of heart!
¹¹Let not the foot of arrogance come upon me,
nor the hand of the wicked drive me away.
¹²There the evildoers lie fallen;
they are thrust down, unable to rise.

Old Testament Reading Proverbs 5

¹My son, be attentive to my wisdom;
incline your ear to my understanding,
²that you may keep discretion,
and your lips may guard knowledge.
³For the lips of a forbidden woman drip honey,
and her speech is smoother than oil,
⁴but in the end she is bitter as wormwood,
sharp as a two-edged sword.
⁵Her feet go down to death;
her steps follow the path to Sheol;
⁶she does not ponder the path of life;
her ways wander, and she does not know it.
⁷And now, O sons, listen to me,
and do not depart from the words of my mouth.
⁸Keep your way far from her,
and do not go near the door of her house,
⁹lest you give your honor to others
and your years to the merciless,
¹⁰lest strangers take their fill of your strength,
and your labors go to the house of a foreigner,
¹¹and at the end of your life you groan,
when your flesh and body are consumed,
¹²and you say, “How I hated discipline,
and my heart despised reproof!
¹³I did not listen to the voice of my teachers
or incline my ear to my instructors.
¹⁴I am at the brink of utter ruin
in the assembled congregation.”
¹⁵Drink water from your own cistern,
flowing water from your own well.
¹⁶Should your springs be scattered abroad,
streams of water in the streets?
¹⁷Let them be for yourself alone,
and not for strangers with you.
¹⁸Let your fountain be blessed,
and rejoice in the wife of your youth,
¹⁹a lovely deer, a graceful doe.
Let her breasts fill you at all times with delight;
be intoxicated always in her love.
²⁰Why should you be intoxicated, my son, with a forbidden woman
and embrace the bosom of an adulteress?
²¹For a man’s ways are before the eyes of the Lord,
and he ponders all his paths.
²²The iniquities of the wicked ensnare him,
and he is held fast in the cords of his sin.
²³He dies for lack of discipline,
and because of his great folly he is led astray.

New Testament Reading John 12:20–36a

²⁰Now among those who went up to worship at the feast were some Greeks. ²¹So these came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” ²²Philip went and told Andrew; Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. ²³And Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. ²⁴Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. ²⁵Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. ²⁶If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.

²⁷“Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But for this purpose I have come to this hour. ²⁸Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven: “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” ²⁹The crowd that stood there and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.” ³⁰Jesus answered, “This voice has come for your sake, not mine. ³¹Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out. ³²And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” ³³He said this to show by what kind of death he was going to die. ³⁴So the crowd answered him, “We have heard from the Law that the Christ remains forever. How can you say that the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man?” ³⁵So Jesus said to them, “The light is among you for a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you. The one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going. ³⁶While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light.”