Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

God chooses Ezekiel to be his messenger

2 The voice said to me, ‘Son of man, you must stand up on your feet. Then I will speak to you.’ ² A spirit came into me while he spoke.^[a] He made me stand up and I heard him speak to me.

³ He said, ‘Son of man, I am sending you to Israel's people. They are a nation of people who have turned against me. They and their ancestors have refused to obey me, even until today. ⁴ I am sending you to speak to these people. They do not accept my authority and they refuse to change. But you must say to them, “This is what the Almighty Lord says.”

⁵ The Israelites may listen to what you say, or they may not listen. They do not want to obey me. But they will know that I have sent a prophet to them.

A song to sing as we climb.

Servants of the Lord

² I know a certain man who belongs to Christ. 14 years ago, God quickly took this man up to the third heaven. Perhaps this man was still in his body. Perhaps he had gone away from his body. I do not know. Only God knows. ^3-4 I know that God took this man up to paradise. I do not know whether this man was still in his body or not. Only God knows. When this man was in heaven, he heard about secret things. Those are things that no words can describe. God will not let any person speak about those things. They are too special.^[a]

⁵ I will say proud things about a man like that. But I will not be proud of anything good about myself. I will only be proud of things that show my weakness. ⁶ If I did want to praise myself, that would not make me a fool. No, because I would be saying true things. But I will not say good things about myself. I want everyone to think properly about me. People should look at how I live. They should think about what I say. That is enough for them to decide about me.

⁷ Yes, God did show me many things that were very special. But he did not want me to be proud because of that. So he gave me a pain in my body, like a sharp thorn. Satan uses that pain to give me much trouble. It is like Satan's angel that he sends to hurt me. That certainly stops me from being proud of myself! ⁸ I asked the Lord three times to take this pain away from me. ⁹ But he said to me, ‘I will be kind to you and I will help you. That will be enough for you. When you are weak, I will show that I am completely powerful to help you.’

So I am happy to be proud about my weakness. Then I know that Christ's power will be with me. ¹⁰ That is why I am happy even when I am weak. People may insult me. They may bring me trouble. They may want to hurt me. I may have many kinds of trouble. But I am still happy because I am serving Christ. Yes, whenever I am weak, then I am strong.

Jesus goes to Nazareth

6 Jesus left that place. He went to his own town. His disciples went with him.^[a]

² When it was the Jewish day of rest, Jesus went to their meeting place. He began to teach the people who were there. Many of them were surprised about the things that he was saying to them. They said to each other, ‘How did this man learn all these things? How did he become so wise? How does he do all these powerful things? ³ We know he is an ordinary man. He is the carpenter.^[b] He is the son of Mary and the brother of James, Joses, Simon and Judas. His sisters live here in the town among us. Isn't that true?’ So the people there turned against Jesus.

⁴ Then Jesus said to them, ‘If a man is a prophet from God, people everywhere will respect him. But the people in his own town will not accept him. Even his own people and his own family will not respect him.’

⁵ Jesus could not do any powerful miracles in his own town. But he did put his hands on a few sick people and he made them well. ⁶ Jesus was very surprised because the people there would not believe in him.

Then he went to visit the other villages that were near there. He was teaching the people who lived in those villages.

Jesus sends the 12 apostles to tell God's message

⁷ Jesus asked his 12 apostles to come to him. He started to send them out to tell God's message to people. He sent them out two by two and he gave them authority over bad spirits.

⁸ Jesus told the disciples, ‘Only take a stick for the journey, nothing else. Do not take any bread or a bag. Do not take any money in your pockets. ⁹ Wear shoes but do not take extra clothes. ¹⁰ In each town, stay at the first house that you go into. Continue to stay there until you leave that town. ¹¹ Perhaps you might go to a town where the people do not accept you. They will not listen to you. So you should leave that town. Clean that town's dirt off your feet. Then it will be clear that they have done something wrong.’

¹² So the 12 apostles went out. They told people that they must change the way that they live. They must stop doing wrong things. ¹³ The disciples caused many bad spirits to come out of people. They also put olive oil on many sick people, and the sick people became well.