Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Whom Will You Worship?
24 Then Joshua assembled all the tribes of Israel to Shechem, and summoned Israel’s elders, heads, judges and officials. So they presented themselves before God. 2 Then Joshua said to all the people: “Thus says Adonai, God of Israel: ‘From ancient times your fathers—Terah, the father of Abraham and the father of Nahor—lived beyond the River and worshipped other gods.
14 “Now therefore, fear Adonai and worship Him in sincerity and in truth. Get rid of the gods that your fathers had worshipped beyond the River and in Egypt, and worship Adonai. 15 If it seems bad to you to worship Adonai, then choose for yourselves today whom you will serve—whether the gods that your fathers worshipped that were beyond the River or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will worship Adonai!”
16 Then the people answered and said: “Far be it from us that we should forsake Adonai to worship other gods! 17 For it was Adonai our God who brought us and our fathers up from the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, and who did those great signs in our sight and preserved us all along the way that we travelled and among all the peoples through whose midst we passed. 18 It was Adonai who drove out from before us all the peoples, the Amorites that lived in the land. Therefore we also will worship Adonai, for He is our God.”
15 Depart from evil and do good.
Seek shalom and pursue it.[a]
16 The eyes of Adonai are on the righteous,
and His ears are attentive to their cry.
17 The face of Adonai is against evildoers,
to cut off the memory of them from the earth.
18 The righteous cry out and Adonai hears,
and delivers them from all their troubles.
19 Adonai is close to the brokenhearted,
and saves those crushed in spirit.
20 Many are the distresses of the righteous,
but Adonai delivers him out of them all.
21 He keeps all his bones—
not one of them is broken.[b]
22 Evil kills the wicked—
those who hate the righteous will be held guilty.
Put on the Armor of God
10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you are able to stand against the schemes of the devil. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the worldly forces of this darkness, and against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you may be able to resist when the times are evil, and after you have done everything, to stand firm. 14 Stand firm then! Buckle the belt of truth around your waist, and put on the breastplate of righteousness. [a] 15 Strap up your feet in readiness with the Good News of shalom. [b] 16 Above all, take up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. [c] 17 And take the helmet of salvation[d] and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. [e] 18 Pray in the Ruach on every occasion, with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, keep alert with perseverance and supplication for all the kedoshim. 19 And pray for me when I open my mouth to make known with boldness the mystery of the Good News, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may speak boldly, the way I should.
56 He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. 57 Just as the living Father sent Me and I live because of the Father, so the one who eats of Me will also live because of Me. 58 This is the bread that came down from heaven—not like the bread your fathers ate and then died. He who eats this bread will live forever.”
59 He said these things while teaching at the synagogue in Capernaum.
Fallout from a Hard Teaching
60 So when many of His disciples heard this, they said, “This is a hard teaching. Who can listen to it?”
61 But Yeshua knew His disciples were murmuring, so He said to them, “Does this offend you? 62 Then what if you see the Son of Man going back up to the place where He was before? 63 It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is of no benefit. The words I have spoken to you are Spirit and are life! 64 Yet some of you do not trust.” Yeshua knew from the beginning who were the ones who did not trust, as well as which one would betray Him.
65 Then He told them, “For this reason I’ve told you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted to him by the Father.”
66 From this time, many of His disciples left and quit walking with Him. 67 So Yeshua said to the Twelve, “You don’t want to leave also, do you?”
68 Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life! 69 We have trusted and have come to know that you are the Holy One of God.”
Tree of Life (TLV) Translation of the Bible. Copyright © 2015 by The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society.