This translation is from the New American Bible. The bolded hyperlinks will take you to additional translations. The entire chapter is included to provide context.
Other bolded hyperlinks will take to collections of or meditations on other scriptures related to the principles underlying today’s readings.
Information about the meaning the original Hebrew or Greek of what seem to be key words is provided in blue. They are provided beneath the reading they relate to.
Excerpts collected in yellow at the end of this post tell us something about God’s nature or our relationship to Him.
Excerpts collected in green at the end of this post tell us about something God wants us to do.
Reading I
The days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their fathers the day I took them by the hand to lead them forth from the land of Egypt; for they broke my covenant, and I had to show myself their master, says the LORD.
But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD. I will place my law within them and write it upon their hearts; I will be their God, and they shall be my people. No longer will they have need to teach their friends and relatives how to know the LORD. All, from least to greatest, shall know me, says the LORD, for I will forgive their evildoing and remember their sin no more.
put = נָתַן= nāṯan
to give, bestow, grant; consecrate, dedicate; entrust, give over, deliver up; yield produce; be (healed); pour; print; teach; to apply the heart to; to constitute, to make a thing like or similar to
within= קֶרֶב= qereḇ
midst, among, inner part, middle; inward part; as seat of thought and emotion; entrails (of sacrificial animals); the nearest part, i.e. the center, whether literal, figurative or adverbial (especially with preposition); heart; the interior; the inside of the body, the bowels; the heart or mind
write =כָּתַב = kāṯaḇ
inscribe, engrave, write in, write on; to register, enroll, record; prescribe, direct in writing; describe, to decree
hearts= לֵב = lēḇ
inner man, mind, will, understanding; midst; soul; mind, knowledge, thinking, reflection, memory; inclination, resolution, determination (of will); conscience; seat of appetites, emotions, passions, courage;feelings, the will and even the intellect; the centre of anything
know =יָדַע= yāḏaʿ
to perceive and see, find out and discern; to discriminate, distinguish; to know by experience; to recognize; be acquainted with;to know (a person carnally);to know how, be skillful in; to have knowledge, be wise; to be made known, be or become known, be revealed; to be instructed; privy to; seeing; observe with the eyes; be aware of; to get to know, discover; to turn the mind to anything, to care about, to see about
Responsorial Psalm
R. (12a) Create a clean heart in me, O God.
Have mercy on me, O God, in your goodness; in the greatness of your compassion wipe out my offense.
Thoroughly wash me from my guilt and of my sin cleanse me.
R. Create a clean heart in me, O God.
A clean heart create for me, O God, and a steadfast spirit renew within me.
Cast me not out from your presence, and your Holy Spirit take not from me.
R. Create a clean heart in me, O God.
Give me back the joy of your salvation, and a willing spirit sustain in me.
I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners shall return to you.
R. Create a clean heart in me, O God.
Create = בָּרָא= bārā'
To shape, form, fashion; to feed, make fat; to cut, carve, form by cutting; produce
clean = טָהוֹר= ṭâôr
Pure, fair; clear; unmixed, unalloyed, unpolluted
heart= לֵב = lēḇ
inner man, mind, will, understanding; midst; soul; mind, knowledge, thinking, reflection, memory; inclination, resolution, determination (of will); conscience; seat of appetites, emotions, passions, courage;feelings, the will and even the intellect; the center of anything
Reading II
In the days when Christ Jesus was in the flesh, he offered prayers and supplications with loud cries and tears to the one who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence. Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered; and when he was made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him.
obey = ὑπακούω = hypakouō
"to listen, attend" ... and so, "to submit”; to listen, to harken; to harken to a command; to hear under (as a subordinate), i.e. to listen attentively; by implication, to heed or conform to a command or authority: —hearken, be obedient to, obey.
Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon
hearken, give ear; answer (by voice or act) when called; heed, regard; give way, submit, comply; answer one's expectations, succeed; yield, give way to
Verse Before the Gospel
Whoever serves me must follow me, says the Lord; and where I am, there also will my servant be.
Serves = διακονέω = diakoneō
to be a servant, attendant, domestic, to serve, wait upon; to wait at a table and offer food and drink to the guests; to attend to anything, that may serve another's interests; wait upon (menially or as a host, friend, or (figuratively) teacher);supply food and the necessaries of life, to relieve one's necessities
Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon
minister, do service; render a service
Servant= διάκονος = diakonos
one who executes the commands of another; one who, by virtue of the office assigned to him by the church, cares for the poor and has charge of and distributes the money collected for their use; a waiter, one who serves food and drink; one who performs menial duties; those who advance others' interests even at the sacrifice of their own.; generally speaking, to be distinguished from doulos, "a bondservant, slave;" diakonos views a servant in relationship to his work; doulos views him in relationship to his master.
Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon
messenger, attendant, or official; servile
Gospel
Some Greeks who had come to worship at the Passover Feast came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, “Sir, we would like to see Jesus.” Philip went and told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus.
Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Amen, amen, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will preserve it for eternal life.
Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there also will my servant be. The Father will honor whoever serves me.
“I am troubled now. Yet what should I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But it was for this purpose that I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name.”
Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it and will glorify it again.” The crowd there heard it and said it was thunder; but others said, “An angel has spoken to him.”
Jesus answered and said, “This voice did not come for my sake but for yours. Now is the time of judgment on this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out. And when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to myself.” He said this indicating the kind of death he would die.
Serves = διακονέω = diakoneō
to be a servant, attendant, domestic, to serve, wait upon; to wait at a table and offer food and drink to the guests; to attend to anything, that may serve another's interests; wait upon (menially or as a host, friend, or (figuratively) teacher);supply food and the necessaries of life, to relieve one's necessities
Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon
minister, do service; render a service
Servant= διάκονος = diakonos
one who executes the commands of another; one who, by virtue of the office assigned to him by the church, cares for the poor and has charge of and distributes the money collected for their use; a waiter, one who serves food and drink; one who performs menial duties; those who advance others' interests even at the sacrifice of their own.; generally speaking, to be distinguished from doulos, "a bondservant, slave;" diakonos views a servant in relationship to his work; doulos views him in relationship to his master.
Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon
messenger, attendant, or official; servile
What these readings tell us about God/His ways:
I will make a new covenant
I took them by the hand to lead them forth from the land of EgyptI had to show myself their master, says the LORD.
I will place my law within them and write it upon their hearts
I will be their God, and they shall be my people
All, from least to greatest, shall know me, says the LORD
I will forgive their evildoing and remember their sin no more.
the greatness of your compassion
the joy of your salvation
Christ Jesus was in the flesh
he offered prayers and supplications with loud cries and tears
his reverence.
he learned obedience from what he suffered
he was made perfect
he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him.
Whoever servesme must follow me, says the Lord
where I am, there also will my servant be
Whoever servesme must followme
where I am, there also will my servant be
The Father will honor whoever serves me.
This voice did not come for my sake but for yours
I will draw everyone to myself
What these readings tell us to do:
they shall be my people
know the LORD
know me, says the LORD
offered prayers and supplications
learned obedience
obey him.
Serves
follow me
serves
follow
serves
