Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

⁴ and walked for a whole day into the desert. Then he sat down under a bush and asked to die. He said, “I have had enough, Lord! Take my life. I am no better than my ancestors.”

⁵ Then Elijah lay down under the bush and went to sleep. An angel came to him and touched him. The angel said, “Get up and eat!” ⁶ Elijah looked around, and by his head there was a cake that had been baked over coals and a jar of water. He ate and drank and then went back to sleep.

⁷ Later the Lord’s angel came to him again, touched him, and said, “Get up and eat! If you don’t, you will not be strong enough to make the long trip.” ⁸ So Elijah got up. He ate and drank and felt strong. Then Elijah walked for 40 days and nights to Mount Horeb, the mountain of God.

^[a] A song of David when he pretended to be crazy so that Abimelech would send him away, which he did.

²⁵ So you must stop telling lies. “You must always speak the truth to each other,”^[a] because we all belong to each other in the same body. ²⁶ “When you are angry, don’t let that anger make you sin,”^[b] and don’t stay angry all day. ²⁷ Don’t give the devil a way to defeat you. ²⁸ Whoever has been stealing must stop it and start working. They must use their hands for doing something good. Then they will have something to share with those who are poor.

²⁹ When you talk, don’t say anything bad. But say the good things that people need—whatever will help them grow stronger. Then what you say will be a blessing to those who hear you. ³⁰ And don’t make the Holy Spirit sad. God gave you his Spirit as proof that you belong to him and that he will keep you safe until the day he makes you free. ³¹ Never be bitter, angry, or mad. Never shout angrily or say things to hurt others. Never do anything evil. ³² Be kind and loving to each other. Forgive each other the same as God forgave you through Christ.

5 You are God’s dear children, so try to be like him. ² Live a life of love. Love others just as Christ loved us. He gave himself for us—a sweet-smelling offering and sacrifice to God.

³⁵ Then Jesus said, “I am the bread that gives life. No one who comes to me will ever be hungry. No one who believes in me will ever be thirsty.

⁴¹ Some Jews began to complain about Jesus because he said, “I am the bread that comes down from heaven.” ⁴² They said, “This is Jesus. We know his father and mother. He is only Joseph’s son. How can he say, ‘I came down from heaven’?”

⁴³ But Jesus said, “Stop complaining to each other. ⁴⁴ The Father is the one who sent me, and he is the one who brings people to me. I will raise them up on the last day. Anyone the Father does not bring to me cannot come to me. ⁴⁵ It is written in the prophets: ‘God will teach them all.’^[a] People listen to the Father and learn from him. They are the ones who come to me. ⁴⁶ I don’t mean that there is anyone who has seen the Father. The only one who has ever seen the Father is the one who came from God. He has seen the Father.

⁴⁷ “I can assure you that anyone who believes has eternal life. ⁴⁸ I am the bread that gives life. ⁴⁹ Your ancestors ate the manna God gave them in the desert, but it didn’t keep them from dying. ⁵⁰ Here is the bread that comes down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will never die. ⁵¹ I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my body. I will give my body so that the people in the world can have life.”