Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

² There in the desert the whole community of the people of Isra’el grumbled against Moshe and Aharon. ³ The people of Isra’el said to them, “We wish Adonai had used his own hand to kill us off in Egypt! There we used to sit around the pots with the meat boiling, and we had as much food as we wanted. But you have taken us out into this desert to let this whole assembly starve to death!”

⁴ Adonai said to Moshe, “Here, I will cause bread to rain down from heaven for you. The people are to go out and gather a day’s ration every day. By this I will test whether they will observe my Torah or not.

⁹ Moshe said to Aharon, “Say to the whole community of Isra’el, ‘Come close, into the presence of Adonai, for he has heard your grumblings.’” ¹⁰ As Aharon spoke to the whole community of the people of Isra’el, they looked toward the desert; and there before them the glory of Adonai appeared in the cloud; (A: vi, S: v) ¹¹ and Adonai said to Moshe, ¹² “I have heard the grumblings of the people of Isra’el. Say to them: ‘At dusk you will be eating meat, and in the morning you will have your fill of bread. Then you will realize that I am Adonai your God.’”

¹³ That evening, quails came up and covered the camp; while in the morning there was a layer of dew all around the camp. ¹⁴ When the dew had evaporated, there on the surface of the desert was a fine flaky substance, as fine as frost on the ground. ¹⁵ When the people of Isra’el saw it, they asked each other, “Man hu? [What is it?]” because they didn’t know what it was. Moshe answered them, “It is the bread which Adonai has given you to eat.

4 Therefore I, the prisoner united with the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called.

² Always be humble, gentle and patient, bearing with one another in love, ³ and making every effort to preserve the unity the Spirit gives through the binding power of shalom. ⁴ There is one body and one Spirit, just as when you were called you were called to one hope. ⁵ And there is one Lord, one trust, one immersion, ⁶ and one God, the Father of all, who rules over all, works through all and is in all.

⁷ Each one of us, however, has been given grace to be measured by the Messiah’s bounty. ⁸ This is why it says,

⁹ Now this phrase, “he went up,” what can it mean if not that he first went down into the lower parts, that is, the earth? ¹⁰ The one who went down is himself the one who also went up, far above all of heaven, in order to fill all things. ¹¹ Furthermore, he gave some people as emissaries, some as prophets, some as proclaimers of the Good News, and some as shepherds and teachers. ¹² Their task is to equip God’s people for the work of service that builds the body of the Messiah, ¹³ until we all arrive at the unity implied by trusting and knowing the Son of God, at full manhood, at the standard of maturity set by the Messiah’s perfection.

¹⁴ We will then no longer be infants tossed about by the waves and blown along by every wind of teaching, at the mercy of people clever in devising ways to deceive. ¹⁵ Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in every respect grow up into him who is the head, the Messiah. ¹⁶ Under his control, the whole body is being fitted and held together by the support of every joint, with each part working to fulfill its function; this is how the body grows and builds itself up in love.

²⁴ Accordingly, when the crowd saw that neither Yeshua nor his talmidim were there, they themselves boarded the boats and made for K’far-Nachum in search of Yeshua.

²⁵ When they found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, “Rabbi, when did you get here?” ²⁶ Yeshua answered, “Yes, indeed! I tell you, you’re not looking for me because you saw miraculous signs, but because you ate the bread and had all you wanted! ²⁷ Don’t work for the food which passes away but for the food that stays on into eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For this is the one on whom God the Father has put his seal.”

²⁸ So they said to him, “What should we do in order to perform the works of God?” ²⁹ Yeshua answered, “Here’s what the work of God is: to trust in the one he sent!”

³⁰ They said to him, “Nu, what miracle will you do for us, so that we may see it and trust you? What work can you perform? ³¹ Our fathers ate man in the desert — as it says in the Tanakh, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’^{[a] 32} Yeshua said to them, “Yes, indeed! I tell you it wasn’t Moshe who gave you the bread from heaven. But my Father is giving you the genuine bread from heaven; ³³ for God’s bread is the one who comes down out of heaven and gives life to the world.”

³⁴ They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread from now on.” ³⁵ Yeshua answered, “I am the bread which is life! Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever trusts in me will never be thirsty.