Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Seventy Elders Help Moses

⁴ Some ·troublemakers [rabble; foreign elements] among them wanted better food, and soon all the ·Israelites [^Lsons/^Tchildren of Israel] began ·complaining [^Lweeping]. They said, “We want meat! ⁵ We remember the fish we ate for free in Egypt. We also had cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, and garlic. ⁶ But now we have lost our ·appetite [or vitality; strength]; we never see anything but this manna [Ex. 16:1–36]!”

¹⁰ Moses heard every ·family [clan] ·crying [weeping] as they stood in the entrances of their tents. Then the Lord became very angry, and ·Moses got upset [^Lit was bad in the eyes of Moses]. ¹¹ He asked the Lord, “Why have you brought me, your servant, this trouble? ·What have I done wrong [^LWhy have I not found favor in your eyes] that you ·made me responsible [^Lset the burden on me] for all these people? ¹² ·I am not the father of [^LDid I conceive/Am I the mother of] all these people, and ·I didn’t [^Ldid I…?] give birth to them. So why do you make me carry them to the land you promised to our ancestors? Must I carry them in my ·arms [^Lbosom] as a nurse carries a baby? ¹³ Where can I get meat for all these people? They keep crying to me, ‘We want meat!’ ¹⁴ I can’t take care of all these people alone. It is too ·much [difficult; ^Lheavy] for me. ¹⁵ If you are going to continue doing this to me, then kill me now. If ·you care about me [^LI have found favor in your eyes], put me to death, and ·then I won’t have [^Ldo not let me see] any more troubles.”

¹⁶ The Lord said to Moses, “·Bring [^LGather for] me seventy of Israel’s elders, men that you know are leaders among the people. Bring them to the Meeting Tent, and have them stand there with you.

²⁴ So Moses went out to the people and told them ·what the Lord had said [^Lthe words of the Lord]. He gathered seventy of the elders together and had them stand around the Tent. ²⁵ Then the Lord came down in the cloud [^Crepresenting God’s presence] and spoke to Moses. The Lord took some of the Spirit Moses had, and he ·gave it to [or put it on] the seventy leaders. ·With the Spirit in [^LWhen the Spirit rested on] them, they prophesied, but just that one time [^Cas evidence that they had the Spirit; 1 Sam. 10:6–13; 19:18–24].

²⁶ Two men named Eldad and Medad were also ·listed as leaders [^Lregistered; enrolled], but they did not go to the Tent. They stayed in the camp, but the Spirit was also ·given to [or rested on] them, and they prophesied in the camp. ²⁷ A young man ran to Moses and said, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.”

²⁸ Joshua son of Nun said, “Moses, my ·master [lord], stop them!” (·Ever since he was a young boy [or One of his chosen men], Joshua ·had been [or was] Moses’ assistant [Ex. 17:8; 24:13; 32:17; 33:7–11].)

²⁹ But Moses answered, “Are you jealous for me? I wish all the Lord’s people could prophesy. I wish the Lord would give his Spirit to all of them [Joel 2:28–29; Acts 2:16–21; 1 Cor. 12:27–31; 14:1–5]!”

The Power of Prayer

¹³ Anyone who is ·having troubles [suffering] should pray. Anyone who is ·happy [joyful] should ·sing praises [sing psalms]. ¹⁴ Anyone who is sick should call the church’s elders. They should pray for and ·pour oil on the person [^Lanoint that person with olive oil; ^Canointing probably indicates dedicating or setting aside the person to God’s care; Mark 6:13] in the name of the Lord. ¹⁵ And the prayer that is said with faith will ·make the sick person well [save the sick; ^Cthe same Greek word is commonly used for both physical healing and spiritual salvation]; the Lord will ·heal [^Lraise up] that person [1 Cor. 12:9, 28]. And if the person has sinned, the sins will be forgiven. ¹⁶ [^LTherefore,] Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so God can heal you. ·When a believing person prays, great things happen [^LThe prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective]. ¹⁷ Elijah was a human being just like us. He prayed [earnestly; ^Lwith prayer] that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years! ¹⁸ Then Elijah prayed again, and ·the rain came down from the sky [or heaven gave rain], and the land produced crops again [1 Kin. 17—18].

Saving a Soul

¹⁹ My brothers and sisters [^Cfellow believers], if one of you ·wanders away [strays] from the truth, and someone helps that person come back, ²⁰ ·remember [^Lknow] this: Anyone who brings a sinner back from the ·wrong way [^Lerror/wandering of his ways] will save that sinner’s soul from death and will ·cause many sins to be forgiven [^Lcover a multitude of sins].

Anyone Not Against Us Is for Us^(A)

³⁸ Then John said, “Teacher, we saw someone using your name [^Cinvoking your authority] to ·force [drive; cast] demons out of a person. We told him to stop, because he does not belong to our group.”

³⁹ But Jesus said, “Don’t stop him, because anyone who uses my name to do powerful things will not ·easily [quickly] say evil things about me. ⁴⁰ Whoever is not against us is ·with [for] us. ⁴¹ I tell you the truth, whoever gives you a drink of water because you belong to the ·Christ [Messiah] will ·truly get [^Lcertainly not lose] his reward.

⁴² “If someone causes one of these little children who believes in me to ·sin [lose faith; stumble], it would be better for that person to have a ·large stone [large millstone; ^Lmillstone of a donkey] tied around his neck and be ·drowned [^Lthrown] in the sea. ⁴³ If your hand causes you ·to sin [lose faith; stumble], cut it off. It is better for you ·to lose part of your body and live forever [^Lto enter life maimed] than to have two hands and go to ·hell [^LGehenna; ^Ca valley outside of Jerusalem where in the OT period children were sacrificed to a pagan god; later used as a burning trash heap; a metaphor for hell], where the fire never goes out. |⁴⁴ In hell the worm does not die; the fire is never put out.|^{[a] 45} If your foot causes you to ·sin [lose faith; stumble], cut it off. It is better for you ·to lose part of your body and to live forever [^Lto enter life crippled] than to have two feet and be thrown into ·hell [Gehenna; v. 43]. |⁴⁶ In hell the worm does not die; the fire is never put out.|^{[b] 47} If your eye causes you to ·sin [lose faith; stumble], take it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with only one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into ·hell [Gehenna; v. 43]. ⁴⁸ In hell the worm does not die; the fire is never put out. ⁴⁹ Every person will be salted with fire. [^CThe meaning of this proverb is uncertain; it may mean that the testing of believers purifies (fire) and preserves (salt); or it may refer to believers as God’s covenant people, since salt and fire were part of the OT sacrificial system; see Lev. 2:3; Num. 18:9.]

⁵⁰ “Salt is good, but if the salt loses its salty taste, you cannot make it salty again. So, ·be full of salt [^Lhave salt in/among yourselves; ^Csalt here may symbolize fellowship within the covenant], and have peace with each other.”