Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Choose between Life and Death
15 Today I offer you life and prosperity or death and destruction. 16 This is what I’m commanding you today: Love the Lord your God, follow his directions, and obey his commands, laws, and rules. Then you will live, your population will increase, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land that you’re about to enter and take possession of.
17 But your hearts might turn away, and you might not listen. You might be tempted to bow down to other gods and worship them. 18 If you do, I tell you today that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live for a long time in the land that you’re going to take possession of when you cross the Jordan River.
19 I call on heaven and earth as witnesses today that I have offered you life or death, blessings or curses. Choose life so that you and your descendants will live. 20 Love the Lord your God, obey him, and be loyal to him. This will be your way of life, and it will mean a long life for you [a] in the land that the Lord swore to give to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
BOOK ONE
(Psalms 1–41)
1 Blessed is the person who does not
follow the advice of wicked people,
take the path of sinners,
or join the company of mockers.
2 Rather, he delights in the teachings of the Lord
and reflects on his teachings day and night.
3 He is like a tree planted beside streams—
a tree that produces fruit in season
and whose leaves do not wither.
He succeeds in everything he does.[a]
4 Wicked people are not like that.
Instead, they are like husks that the wind blows away.
5 That is why wicked people will not be able to stand in the judgment
and sinners will not be able to stand where righteous people gather.
6 The Lord knows the way of righteous people,
but the way of wicked people will end.
Greeting
1 From Paul, who is a prisoner for Christ Jesus, and our brother Timothy.
To our dear coworker Philemon, 2 our sister Apphia, our fellow soldier Archippus, and the church that meets in your house.
3 Good will [a] and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ are yours!
Paul’s Prayer for Philemon
4 ⌞Philemon,⌟ I always thank my God when I mention you in my prayers because 5 I hear about your faithfulness to the Lord Jesus and your love for all of God’s people. 6 As you share the faith you have in common with others, I pray that you may come to have a complete knowledge of every blessing we have in Christ. 7 Your love ⌞for God’s people⌟ gives me a lot of joy and encouragement. You, brother, have comforted God’s people.
Paul’s Advice about Onesimus
8 Christ makes me bold enough to order you to do the right thing. 9 However, I would prefer to make an appeal on the basis of love. I, Paul, as an old man and now a prisoner for Christ Jesus, 10 appeal to you for my child Onesimus [Useful]. I became his spiritual father here in prison. 11 Once he was useless to you, but now he is very useful to both of us.
12 I am sending him back to you. This is like sending you a part of myself. 13 I wanted to keep him here with me. Then he could have served me in your place while I am in prison for spreading the Good News. 14 Yet, I didn’t want to do anything without your consent. I want you to do this favor for me out of your own free will without feeling forced to do it.
15 Maybe Onesimus was gone for a while so that you could have him back forever— 16 no longer as a slave but better than a slave—as a dear brother. He is especially dear to me, but even more so to you, both as a person and as a Christian.
17 If you think of me as your partner, welcome him as you would welcome me. 18 If he wronged you in any way or owes you anything, charge it to me. 19 I, Paul, promise to pay it back. I’m writing this with my own hand. I won’t even mention that you owe me your life. 20 So, because we’re brothers in the Lord, do something for me. Give me some comfort because of Christ. 21 I am confident as I write to you that you will do this. And I know that you will do even more than I ask.
The Cost of Being a Disciple
25 Large crowds were traveling with Jesus. He turned to them and said, 26 “If people come to me and are not ready to abandon their fathers, mothers, wives, children, brothers, and sisters, as well as their own lives, they cannot be my disciples. 27 So those who do not carry their crosses and follow me cannot be my disciples.
28 “Suppose you want to build a tower. You would first sit down and figure out what it costs. Then you would see if you have enough money to finish it. 29 Otherwise, if you lay a foundation and can’t finish the building, everyone who watches will make fun of you. 30 They’ll say, ‘This person started to build but couldn’t finish the job.’
31 “Or suppose a king is going to war against another king. He would first sit down and think things through. Can he and his 10,000 soldiers fight against a king with 20,000 soldiers? 32 If he can’t, he’ll send ambassadors to ask for terms of peace while the other king is still far away. 33 In the same way, none of you can be my disciples unless you give up everything.
Copyright © 1995, 2003, 2013, 2014, 2019, 2020 by God’s Word to the Nations Mission Society. All rights reserved.