Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

⁶ When you stand in front of the king, do not be proud. Do not stand where the important people stand. ⁷ Then it will be good if the king says to you, ‘Come and sit up here, near me.’ That would be better than if he sends you away while his officers watch.

God makes his people strong^[a]

How we can live for God

13 Continue to love each other like brothers and sisters. ² Always remember to be kind to strangers. Let them stay in your homes. In this way, some people have received angels as visitors, and they did not know that they were angels.^[a]

³ Remember to help those believers who are in prison. Think about what that would be like, if you were there with them. Remember those believers who are receiving trouble from people. Think about them as if you were receiving the same pain in your own body.^[b]

⁴ When a man and a woman have married each other, they must each respect the marriage. Husbands and wives must only have sex with each other. God will punish anyone who has sex with another person's husband or wife. He will punish anyone who has sex in a wrong way.

⁵ In the way that you live, do not want lots of money. Be happy with the things that you have. Be happy, because God has said this:

⁶ Because of that, we can bravely say this:^[c]

⁷ Remember your leaders, who taught God's message to you. Think about the way in which they have lived and the good things that they have done. They have trusted God, so you should have faith like they have.

⁸ Jesus Christ is always the same, yesterday, today and for ever.

¹⁵ So we should always praise God, because of what Jesus has done for us. We should say clearly that we trust Jesus. That is like our sacrifice which we offer to God all the time. ¹⁶ Remember to be kind to other people. Share with them the things that you have. God is happy with sacrifices like that.

Jesus goes to the house of a Pharisee

14 One Jewish day of rest, Jesus went into the house of a leader of the Pharisees. This man had asked him to come and to eat a meal with him. The people there were all watching him carefully.

⁷ Jesus watched how people chose the best places to sit at the meal.^[a] So he told this story to those who were sitting there:

⁸ ‘When someone asks you to come to a special meal, do not sit in the best place. A man that is more important than you may come later. ⁹ Then the man that asked you to the meal might say to you, “Give the best place to this man.” Then you will feel ashamed that you sat there. You will have to move to the lowest place and sit there. ¹⁰ Instead, when someone asks you to a meal, you should do this. Go and sit in the least important place. Then the man that asked you to the meal will see you there. And he may say to you, “My friend, move up here to a better place.” Everyone who is there at the meal will see this. So they will know that you are an important person. ¹¹ It will be the same in the kingdom of God. Some people lift themselves up to be important. God will bring all of them down low. Other people are humble. God will lift up those people to a good place.’

¹² Then Jesus said to the man who had asked him to the meal, ‘When you give a meal at midday or in the evening, do not ask your friends to come. Do not ask your brothers or your family. And do not ask the rich people that live near you to come. If you do, they will later ask you to eat at their house. This will pay you for the meal that you gave to them. ¹³ Instead, when you prepare a big meal, you should ask the poor people to come. Ask people that have lost an arm or a leg. Ask people that cannot walk very well, and people that cannot see. ¹⁴ Then God will make you happy. Those people cannot pay you for the meal you have given to them. Instead, God will pay you, on the day when he makes good people become alive again.’