Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
15 Look! You must choose between the things that I am offering you today. You may choose to have life and many good things. Or you may choose to have death and many troubles. 16 I am commanding you today to love the Lord your God. Live in a way that pleases him. Obey his commands, his rules and his laws. If you do that, you will live. You will become a nation of many people. The Lord your God will bless you in the land that you are going into as your new home.
17 But you will have trouble if you turn away from God and you do not obey him. If you decide to serve other gods and to worship them, 18 you will certainly come to an end. After you go across the Jordan River, you will not live very long in that land. That is what I am telling you today.
19 Today, I want the sky and the earth to hear what I have said to you. I have told you what you may choose. You may choose life or death. You may choose the Lord to bless you or to curse you. Choose life today, so that you and your descendants will live! 20 Yes, love the Lord your God. Obey him and serve him faithfully. He is the one who gives you life. He will let you live for a long time in the land that he is giving to you. That is the land that he promised to your ancestors, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
The two paths[a]
1 If someone does not do what wicked people tell him to do,
if he does not join with sinners,
if he does not meet with those who laugh at God,
God has blessed that person!
2 He is happy when he obeys the Law of the Lord.[b]
He thinks about God's Law during the day and at night.
3 He will become like a tree that grows beside streams of water.
It gives its fruit at the right season.
Its leaves do not fall off.
Everything that person does will have a good result.
4 But wicked people are as empty as chaff.
The wind blows them away.[c]
5 So they will not go free when God judges them.
Sinners cannot join with God's people,
the people who are right with God.[d]
6 The Lord takes care of people who respect him.
But wicked people are living in a way that will take them to a bad end.
Paul says ‘Hello’ to Philemon
1 This letter is from me, Paul. I am in prison because I serve Christ Jesus. Our Christian friend Timothy is here with me.
We are writing to you, Philemon. You are our friend, and we love you. You work on behalf of Christ, as we do. 2 We say ‘hello’ also to Apphia, who is like a sister to us. And we say ‘hello’ to Archippus, who serves Christ like a soldier, as we do. We also say ‘hello’ to the group of Christians who meet in your home.
3 I pray that God, our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ will continue to help you. I pray that they will give you peace in your minds.
Paul thanks God because of Philemon
4 When I pray for you, I always thank my God when I think about you. 5 I thank God because people tell me good things about you. You love all God's people and you trust in the Lord Jesus. 6 We each have the same faith in Christ as we serve him. So I pray that, as a result, you will become strong. I pray that you will understand more about every good thing that is ours because of Christ. 7 My friend, you have helped God's people to feel stronger. Your love for them has made me very happy. It makes me feel stronger too.
Paul asks Philemon to help Onesimus
8 I want to ask you to do something. I am sure that Christ has given me authority. So I could tell you strongly what you should do. 9 But instead, because of love, I will ask you, ‘Please do it.’ I, Paul, am an old man. Also, I am in prison now because I serve Christ Jesus. 10 So I am asking you to help Onesimus, who is like my own child. I taught him about Jesus while I was in prison. Because of that, he now has life with God. I am like his father. 11 Before he trusted Jesus, Onesimus did not really help you. But now he can help both you and me.[a]
12 So I am now sending him back to you. Because I love him, it is like I am sending you my own heart. 13 I wanted to keep him here with me, to help me on your behalf. I am in prison here because I taught people the good news about Jesus. 14 But I did not want to do anything unless you agreed. I wanted you to help me because you really want to help. I did not want to make you do it.
15 When Onesimus ran away from you, perhaps God let that happen. Onesimus left you for a short time so that you could now have him back for ever. 16 You can have him back again not only as your slave. He will be something much better than a slave for you. He will be like a brother that you love. I love him very much. But now you will love him even more. He will serve you as a slave, but he will also serve the Lord, as you do.
17 I am your friend. Together we serve God. If you agree with that, please be kind to Onesimus. Accept him in the same way that you would accept me. 18 If Onesimus has done anything wrong to you, I will make it right again. If he took money from you, I will pay it back. 19 I, Paul, am writing this myself: ‘I will pay the money back to you.’ But you should remember what I have given to you already. You have life with God because I told you the good news about Jesus.
20 Yes, my friend, please help me now, because we both belong to the Lord. As a Christian friend, help me to feel happier. 21 I am sure that you will do what I ask. That is why I have written this letter to you. I know that you will do even more than this to help me.
What it will be like to obey Jesus
25 Crowds of many people were travelling with Jesus on his journey. So he turned and said to them, 26 ‘If someone wants to obey me, he must live like this: He must love me more than he loves his own father and mother. He must love me more than he loves his wife and his children. He must love me more than he loves his brothers and his sisters. He must even love me more than he loves himself. If he does not do that, he cannot be one of my disciples. 27 He must live like a person that carries his own cross to go and die. If he is not ready to die for me, he cannot be one of my disciples.[a]
28 Here is an example. Perhaps one of you wants to build a tall building. Before you start to build, you will sit down. You will decide how much it will cost. Then you need to know if you have enough money to finish the work. 29 If you do not do this, you may not have enough money. You may put the first stones in the ground, but then you cannot finish the building. If you have to stop, other people will laugh at you. They will say to each other, 30 “That man is a fool. He started to build, but he could not finish the work.” ’
31 Then Jesus gave them another example. ‘Perhaps a king wants to fight a war against another king. But before he goes to fight, he sits down. He thinks to himself. “Can I win this war? My army is large, with 10,000 men. But the other king has twice as many soldiers in his army. 32 No, I cannot do it. I know I cannot beat the other king.” So, while the stronger king is far away, he will send a man to him with a message. He will tell the other king that he does not want to fight. He will ask him what he can do so that they become friends together.’
33 Jesus then said, ‘It is like that for all of you, if you want to be my disciples. You must leave everything that you have behind you.
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