Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

¹⁵ ¶ See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil;

¹⁶ for I command thee this day to love the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his rights, that thou may live and be multiplied; and may the LORD thy God bless thee in the land into which thou dost enter to inherit it.

¹⁷ But if thine heart turns away so that thou wilt not hear, but shalt be drawn away and worship other gods and serve them,

¹⁸ I declare unto you this day that ye shall surely perish and that ye shall not prolong your days upon the land, to go unto which thou passest the Jordan to inherit it.

¹⁹ I call the heavens and the earth to witness today against you that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore, choose life that both thou and thy seed may live,

²⁰ that thou may love the LORD thy God and that thou may hear his voice and that thou may cleave unto him; for he is thy life and the length of thy days that thou may dwell in the land which the LORD swore unto thy fathers, to Abraham to Isaac and to Jacob, to give them.

¹ ¶ Blessed is the man that does not walk in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stand in the way of sinners, nor sit in the seat of the scornful.

² But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and in his law he meditates day and night.

³ And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper.

⁴ ¶ The ungodly are not so but are like the chaff which the wind drives away.

⁵ Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.

⁶ For the LORD knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly shall perish.

¹ ¶ Paul, a prisoner of Jesus Christ, and Timothy, our brother, unto Philemon, our dearly beloved and fellowlabourer,

² And to our beloved sister, Apphia, and Archippus, our fellowsoldier and to the congregation {Gr. ekklesia – called out ones} in thy house:

³ Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

⁴ I thank my God, making mention of thee always in my prayers,

⁵ hearing of thy charity and faith, which thou hast in the Lord Jesus and toward all saints;

⁶ that the communication of thy faith may become effectual for the knowledge of all the good that is in you by Christ Jesus.

⁷ For we have great joy and consolation in thy charity because the bowels of the saints have been refreshed by thee, brother.

⁸ ¶ Therefore, though I might be very bold in Christ to command thee that which is expedient,

⁹ yet for the sake of charity I rather beseech thee, being such a one as Paul the aged and now also a prisoner of Jesus Christ.

¹⁰ I beseech thee for my son Onesimus, whom I have begotten in my bonds,

¹¹ who in time past was to thee unprofitable, but now is profitable to thee and to me,

¹² whom I send again unto thee; therefore, receive him, as you would receive me.

¹³ I desired to retain him with me, that in thy stead he might have ministered unto me in the bonds of the gospel,

¹⁴ but I did not want to do anything without thy counsel, that thy benefit should not be as it were of necessity, but willingly.

¹⁵ Perhaps for this, he departed from you for a season, that thou should have him again forever,

¹⁶ not now as a slave, but above a slave, a brother beloved, especially to me, but how much more unto thee, both in the flesh, and in the Lord.

¹⁷ If thou count me therefore a partner, receive him as myself.

¹⁸ If he has wronged thee or owes thee anything, put that on my account;

¹⁹ I Paul have written it with my own hand, I will repay it; albeit I do not say to thee how thou owest unto me even thine own self besides.

²⁰ Therefore, brother, let me have joy of thee in the Lord, that thou might refresh my heart in the Lord.

²¹ Having confidence in thy obedience, I have written unto thee, knowing that thou wilt also do more than I say.

²⁵ ¶ And great multitudes went with him, and he turned and said unto them,

²⁶ If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother and wife and children and brethren and sisters, and even his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.

²⁷ And whosoever does not bear his cross {Gr. stauros – stake} and come after me cannot be my disciple.

²⁸ For which of you intending to build a tower does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has sufficient to finish it?

²⁹ Lest perhaps after he has laid the foundation and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him,

³⁰ saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish.

³¹ Or what king going to make war against another king does not sit down first and consult whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him that comes against him with twenty thousand?

³² Or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends an embassy and desires conditions of peace.

³³ So likewise, any one of you that does not forsake all that he has cannot be my disciple.