Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

⁴ But he himself traveled for a day into the desert. He came and sat down under a juniper tree. There he asked that he might die, saying, “It is enough now, O Lord. Take my life. For I am not better than my fathers.” ⁵ When he lay down and slept under the juniper tree, an angel touched him. The angel said to him, “Get up and eat.” ⁶ Then Elijah looked and saw by his head a loaf of bread made ready on hot stones, and a jar of water. So he ate and drank and lay down again. ⁷ The angel of the Lord came again a second time and touched him, and said, “Get up and eat. Because this traveling is too hard for you.” ⁸ So he got up and ate and drank. And he went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the mountain of God.

Those Who Trust in God Are Happy

34 I will honor the Lord at all times. His praise will always be in my mouth. ² My soul will be proud to tell about the Lord. Let those who suffer hear it and be filled with joy. ³ Give great honor to the Lord with me. Let us praise His name together.

⁴ I looked for the Lord, and He answered me. And He took away all my fears. ⁵ They looked to Him and their faces shined with joy. Their faces will never be ashamed. ⁶ This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him. And He saved him out of all his troubles. ⁷ The angel of the Lord stays close around those who fear Him, and He takes them out of trouble.

⁸ O taste and see that the Lord is good. How happy is the man who trusts in Him!

²⁵ So stop lying to each other. Tell the truth to your neighbor. We all belong to the same body. ²⁶ If you are angry, do not let it become sin. Get over your anger before the day is finished. ²⁷ Do not let the devil start working in your life. ²⁸ Anyone who steals must stop it! He must work with his hands so he will have what he needs and can give to those who need help. ²⁹ Watch your talk! No bad words should be coming from your mouth. Say what is good. Your words should help others grow as Christians. ³⁰ Do not make God’s Holy Spirit have sorrow for the way you live. The Holy Spirit has put a mark on you for the day you will be set free. ³¹ Put out of your life all these things: bad feelings about other people, anger, temper, loud talk, bad talk which hurts other people, and bad feelings which hurt other people. ³² You must be kind to each other. Think of the other person. Forgive other people just as God forgave you because of Christ’s death on the cross.

5 Do as God would do. Much-loved children want to do as their fathers do. ² Live with love as Christ loved you. He gave Himself for us, a gift on the altar to God which was as a sweet smell to God.

³⁵ Jesus said to them, “I am the Bread of Life. He who comes to Me will never be hungry. He who puts his trust in Me will never be thirsty.

⁴¹ The Jews talked among themselves against Him. They did not like it because He said, “I am the Bread that came down from heaven.” ⁴² They asked each other, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph? We know His father and mother. How can He say, ‘I came down from heaven’?”

⁴³ Jesus said to them, “Do not talk among yourselves against Me. ⁴⁴ The Father sent Me. No man can come to Me unless the Father gives him the desire to come to Me. Then I will raise him to life on the last day. ⁴⁵ The early preachers wrote, ‘They will all be taught of God.’ ^(A) Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from Him comes to Me. ⁴⁶ No one has seen the Father. I am the only One Who has seen Him. ⁴⁷ For sure, I tell you, he who puts his trust in Me has life that lasts forever. ⁴⁸ I am the Bread of Life. ⁴⁹ Your early fathers ate bread that came from heaven in the desert. They died. ⁵⁰ But this is the Bread that comes down from heaven. The one who eats it never dies. ⁵¹ I am the Living Bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats this Bread, he will live forever. The Bread which I will give is My flesh. I will give this for the life of the world.”