Psalm 23:1–5

¹The Lord is my shepherd;
I shall not want.
²He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters.
³He restores my soul.
He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.

⁴Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil, for you are with me;
your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

⁵You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.

Old Testament Reading Job 6:1–13

¹Then Job answered and said:

²“Oh that my vexation were weighed,
and all my calamity laid in the balances!
³For then it would be heavier than the sand of the sea;
therefore my words have been rash.
⁴For the arrows of the Almighty are in me;
my spirit drinks their poison;
the terrors of God are arrayed against me.
⁵Does the wild donkey bray when he has grass,
or the ox low over his fodder?
⁶Can that which is tasteless be eaten without salt,
or is there any taste in the juice of the mallow?
⁷My appetite refuses to touch them;
they are as food that is loathsome to me.
⁸“Oh that I might have my request,
and that God would fulfill my hope,
⁹that it would please God to crush me,
that he would let loose his hand and cut me off!
¹⁰This would be my comfort;
I would even exult in pain unsparing,
for I have not denied the words of the Holy One.
¹¹What is my strength, that I should wait?
And what is my end, that I should be patient?
¹²Is my strength the strength of stones, or is my flesh bronze?
¹³Have I any help in me,
when resource is driven from me?

New Testament Reading John 3:1–21

¹Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. ²This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” ³Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” ⁴Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” ⁵Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. ⁶That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. ⁷Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ ⁸The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

⁹Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” ¹⁰Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things? ¹¹Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony. ¹²If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? ¹³No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. ¹⁴And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, ¹⁵that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

¹⁶“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. ¹⁷For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. ¹⁸Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. ¹⁹And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil. ²⁰For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. ²¹But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his deeds have been carried out in God.”