Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
9 The Lord your God will make you successful in everything you do. You will have many children. Your cattle will have many calves. Your fields will produce good crops. He will again be happy with you, just as he was with your ancestors. 10 But you must obey the Lord your God. You must obey his commands and rules that are written in this Book of the Teachings. You must follow the Lord your God with your whole being.
Life or Death
11 This command I give you today is not too hard for you. It is not beyond what you can do. 12 It is not up in heaven. You do not have to ask, “Who will go up to heaven and get it for us? Then we can obey it and keep it.” 13 It is not on the other side of the sea. You do not have to ask, “Who will go across the sea and get it? Who will tell it to us? Then we can keep it.” 14 No, the word is very near you. It is in your mouth and in your heart. So, you may obey it.
A Prayer for God to Guide
Of David.
25 Lord, I give myself to you.
2 My God, I trust you.
Do not let me be disgraced.
Do not let my enemies laugh at me.
3 No one who trusts you will be disgraced.
But those who sin without excuse will be disgraced.
4 Lord, tell me your ways.
Show me how to live.
5 Guide me in your truth.
Teach me, my God, my Savior.
I trust you all day long.
6 Lord, remember your mercy and love.
You have shown them since long ago.
7 Do not remember the sins
and wrong things I did when I was young.
But remember to love me always
because you are good, Lord.
8 The Lord is good and right.
He points sinners to the right way.
9 He shows those who are not proud how to do right.
He teaches them his ways.
10 All the Lord’s ways are loving and true
for those who follow the demands of his agreement.
Only Christ Can Save People
1 From Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus. I am an apostle because that is what God wanted.
Also from Timothy, our brother.
2 To the holy and faithful brothers in Christ that live in Colosse. Grace and peace from God our Father.[a]
3 In our prayers for you we always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 4 We thank God because we have heard about the faith you have in Christ Jesus and the love you have for all of God’s people. 5 You have this faith and love because of your hope, and what you hope for is saved for you in heaven. You learned about this hope when you heard the true teaching, the Good News 6 that was told to you. Everywhere in the world that Good News is bringing blessings and is growing. This has happened with you, too, since you heard the Good News and understood the truth about the grace of God. 7 You learned about God’s grace from Epaphras, whom we love. Epaphras works together with us and is a faithful servant of Christ for us.[b] 8 He also told us about the love you have from the Holy Spirit.
9 Since the day we heard this about you, we have continued praying for you. We ask God that you will know fully what God wants. We pray that you will also have great wisdom and understanding in spiritual things. 10 Then you will live the kind of life that honors and pleases the Lord in every way. You will produce fruit in every good work and grow in the knowledge of God. 11 Then God will strengthen you with his own great power. And you will not give up when troubles come, but you will be patient. 12 Then you will joyfully give thanks to the Father. He has made you[c] able to have all that he has prepared for his people who live in the light. 13 God made us free from the power of darkness, and he brought us into the kingdom of his dear Son. 14 The Son paid for our sins,[d] and in him we have forgiveness.
The Good Samaritan
25 Then a teacher of the law stood up. He was trying to test Jesus. He said, “Teacher, what must I do to get life forever?”
26 Jesus said to him, “What is written in the law? What do you read there?”
27 The man answered, “Love the Lord your God. Love him with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind.”[a] Also, “You must love your neighbor as you love yourself.”[b]
28 Jesus said to him, “Your answer is right. Do this and you will have life forever.”
29 But the man wanted to show that the way he was living was right. So he said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
30 To answer this question, Jesus said, “A man was going down the road from Jerusalem to Jericho. Some robbers attacked him. They tore off his clothes and beat him. Then they left him lying there, almost dead. 31 It happened that a Jewish priest was going down that road. When the priest saw the man, he walked by on the other side of the road. 32 Next, a Levite[c] came there. He went over and looked at the man. Then he walked by on the other side of the road. 33 Then a Samaritan[d] traveling down the road came to where the hurt man was lying. He saw the man and felt very sorry for him. 34 The Samaritan went to him and poured olive oil and wine[e] on his wounds and bandaged them. He put the hurt man on his own donkey and took him to an inn. At the inn, the Samaritan took care of him. 35 The next day, the Samaritan brought out two silver coins[f] and gave them to the innkeeper. The Samaritan said, ‘Take care of this man. If you spend more money on him, I will pay it back to you when I come again.’”
36 Then Jesus said, “Which one of these three men do you think was a neighbor to the man who was attacked by the robbers?”
37 The teacher of the law answered, “The one who helped him.”
Jesus said to him, “Then go and do the same thing he did!”
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.