Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Elisha Feeds One Hundred Men

⁴² A man came from Baal-shalishah. He brought the man of God a gift of the first-fruits. There were twenty loaves of barley bread and new-grown grain in his bag. Elisha said, “Give them to the people, that they may eat.” ⁴³ But his servant said, “What? Should I put this in front of 100 men?” But Elisha said, “Give them to the people to eat. For the Lord says, ‘They will eat and have some left.’” ⁴⁴ So he put it in front of them. And they ate and had some left, as the word of the Lord had said.

¹⁰ All Your works will give thanks to You, O Lord. And all those who belong to You will honor You. ¹¹ They will speak of the shining-greatness of Your holy nation, and talk of Your power. ¹² They will make Your powerful acts and the great power of Your holy nation known to the sons of men. ¹³ Your holy nation is a nation that lasts forever. And Your rule lasts for all time.

¹⁴ The Lord holds up all who fall. He raises up all who are brought down. ¹⁵ The eyes of all look to You. And You give them their food at the right time. ¹⁶ You open Your hand and fill the desire of every living thing.

¹⁷ The Lord is right and good in all His ways, and kind in all His works. ¹⁸ The Lord is near to all who call on Him, to all who call on Him in truth.

Paul’s Prayer for the Church

¹⁴ For this reason, I bow my knees and pray to the Father. ¹⁵ It is from Him that every family in heaven and on earth has its name. ¹⁶ I pray that because of the riches of His shining-greatness, He will make you strong with power in your hearts through the Holy Spirit. ¹⁷ I pray that Christ may live in your hearts by faith. I pray that you will be filled with love. ¹⁸ I pray that you will be able to understand how wide and how long and how high and how deep His love is. ¹⁹ I pray that you will know the love of Christ. His love goes beyond anything we can understand. I pray that you will be filled with God Himself.

²⁰ God is able to do much more than we ask or think through His power working in us. ²¹ May we see His shining-greatness in the church. May all people in all time honor Christ Jesus. Let it be so.

The Feeding of the Five Thousand ^(A)

6 After this Jesus went over to the other side of the Sea of Galilee. It is sometimes called Tiberias. ² Many people followed Him. They saw the powerful works He did on those who were sick. ³ Jesus went up on a mountain and sat down with His followers. ⁴ The special religious supper to remember how the Jews left Egypt was soon.

⁵ Jesus looked up and saw many people coming to Him. He said to Philip, “Where can we buy bread to feed these people?” ⁶ He said this to see what Philip would say. Jesus knew what He would do. ⁷ Philip said to Him, “The money we have is not enough to buy bread to give each one a little.”

⁸ One of His followers was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He said to Jesus, ⁹ “There is a boy here who has five loaves of barley bread and two small fish. What is that for so many people?” ¹⁰ Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” There was much grass in that place. About five thousand men sat down.

¹¹ Jesus took the loaves and gave thanks. Then He gave the bread to those who were sitting down. The fish were given out the same way. The people had as much as they wanted. ¹² When they were filled, Jesus said to His followers, “Gather up the pieces that are left. None will be wasted.” ¹³ The followers gathered the pieces together. Twelve baskets were filled with pieces of barley bread. These were left after all the people had eaten.

¹⁴ The people saw the powerful work Jesus had done. They said, “It is true! This is the One Who speaks for God Who is to come into the world.”

Jesus Walks on the Water ^(B)

¹⁵ Jesus knew they were about to come and take Him to make Him king, so He went to the mountain by Himself. ¹⁶ When evening had come, His followers went down to the lake. ¹⁷ They got into a boat and started to cross the lake to go to the city of Capernaum. By this time it was dark. Jesus had not come back to them yet. ¹⁸ A strong wind was making high waves on the lake. ¹⁹ They were about half way across the lake when they saw Jesus walking on the water. As He got near the boat, they were afraid. ²⁰ But Jesus called to them, “It is I. Do not be afraid.” ²¹ They were glad to take Him into the boat. At once they got to the other side where they wanted to go.