Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
The Israelites arrive at Sinai mountain
19 1-2 After the Israelites left Rephidim, they went into the Sinai desert. The Israelites put up their tents in the desert, at the side of Sinai mountain. That happened on the first day of the third month since they came out of Egypt.
3 Moses went up the mountain to speak with God. The Lord spoke to him from the mountain. He said, ‘This is what you must say to the Israelites, Jacob's descendants: 4 “You yourselves have seen what I did against the Egyptians. You know how I took care of you. I carried you carefully, like an eagle carries her babies on her wings. I brought you here to come to me. 5 Now you must be careful to obey me and my covenant with you. Then you will belong to me as my special people. The whole earth belongs to me, and I have chosen you from among all the nations. 6 You will be my priests who serve in my kingdom. You will be a nation that is special to me.” These are the words that you must speak to the Israelites.’
7 So Moses came back down from the mountain. He brought together all the leaders of the Israelites. He told them all the words that the Lord had commanded him. 8 The people all replied together. They said, ‘We will do everything that the Lord has said.’ Then Moses repeated their answer to the Lord.
This is a psalm to say ‘thank you’.
Thank you, God![a]
100 Everyone on earth,
shout and praise the Lord!
2 Worship the Lord and be happy!
Come near to him with songs of joy.
3 Understand that the Lord is God.
He made us and we are his people.
He takes care of us,
like a shepherd with his sheep.
4 Thank him as you go through the gates into his temple.
Praise him as you stand in his temple yards.[b]
Thank him and praise him
as he deserves!
5 Yes, the Lord is good.
He always loves us as his people.
He always does what he has promised
to us and to our descendants for ever.
God's friends
5 So we see that God has accepted us as right because we believe in him. As a result, we are friends with God, because of what our Lord Jesus Christ has done for us. 2 Also, because we trust Jesus Christ, he has caused us to know that God is very kind. That makes us strong in our lives here. We also are sure that we will live with God in heaven. So we are very happy.[a]
3 We are happy even when we have troubles and pain. That is because we know that those troubles help us to become patient and strong. 4 And when we remain strong, we show that we trust God. When we trust God like that, it causes us to hope for God's help. 5 And when we hope like that, it will not disappoint us. That is because we know that God loves us very much. God has given his Holy Spirit to be with us. The Holy Spirit causes us to know God's love very well.
6 At one time we were weak and we could not help ourselves. Then, at the right time, Christ died to save us. He died on behalf of people who have turned away from God. 7 Nobody will agree to die on behalf of another person, even if that person has done what is right. Maybe someone might be brave enough to die on behalf of a person who is very good. 8 But God has shown us how much he loves us. Even when we still did not obey God, Christ died on our behalf.
Jesus wants God to send out more disciples
35 Jesus went to visit all the towns and villages near there. He taught the people in the Jewish meeting places. He told them the good news about God's kingdom. He also caused sick people to become well again from all their different pains and illnesses.
36 When Jesus saw the crowds of people, he felt sorry for them. They had trouble in their minds. They had nobody to help them. Jesus thought, ‘These people are like sheep that have nobody to take care of them.’ 37 Then Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Many people are ready to believe God's message. They are like crops in the fields at harvest time. But there are very few workers to bring in the crops. 38 So pray to God to send out workers. The field and the crops belong to him.’[a]
Jesus chooses 12 men to be his apostles[b]
10 One day, Jesus asked his 12 disciples to come to him. He gave them authority over bad spirits so that they could send the spirits out of people. They could also make sick people well again from every kind of illness.
2 These are the names of the 12 apostles:
The first apostle is Simon, who was also called Peter.
Then Simon's brother, who was called Andrew.
Also James and his brother John, who were Zebedee's sons.
3 There were Philip and Bartholomew.[c]
There were Thomas and Matthew.[d] (Matthew's job was to take taxes from people.)
And James who was the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus.[e]
4 There was also Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot, who later gave Jesus to his enemies.[f]
Jesus sends out his 12 apostles
5 Jesus sent out these 12 disciples. Before they left, he said to them, ‘Do not go to any place where the people are Gentiles. And do not go to towns where only Samaritans live.[g] 6 Instead, you must go to the people of Israel. They are like lost sheep with nobody to take care of them. 7 While you travel, you must tell people about the kingdom of heaven. You must tell them that it has now become near. 8 Make sick people well again. Cause dead people to become alive again. If people have a bad disease of the skin, make them well again. Send bad spirits out of people to leave them. God has been very kind to you, so you should be kind to other people. When you help people, do not ask them for money.
9 Do not take any money in your purses. 10 Do not take a bag with you, or extra clothes. Do not take extra shoes or a stick. You are working to help people. So people should give you what you need to live.
11 When you arrive in a town or a village, look for a good person there. Continue to stay in that person's house until you leave there. 12 When you go into the house, say to the people there, “We pray that you will be well.” 13 If the people of that house accept you, then everyone in the house will be well. But if they do not accept you, then take back your kind words. 14 Sometimes you will go to some house or town and the people will not accept you there. They will not listen to your message. Then you should leave. Clean the dirt of that place off your feet. 15 I tell you this: One day God will punish people like that. God will punish them even more than the people who lived in Sodom and Gomorrah long ago.’[a]
16 Jesus then said to his disciples, ‘Listen well. I am sending you to people who will want to kill you. You will be like sheep among wild animals. You must watch carefully, like snakes do. But you must also be good and kind like doves.
17 Be careful! People will be against you. They will take you to stand in front of their leaders. They will punish you with whips in their meeting places. 18 They will take you to stand in front of kings and rulers. All this will happen because you are my disciples. You will tell all these important people and also the Gentiles the good news about me. 19 When they take you to stand in front of their leaders, do not be afraid. Do not worry about what you should say or how you should say it. At that time, God will give you the right words to speak. 20 You will not be speaking your own words. The Holy Spirit of your Father God will give you his own words to say.
21 At that time, a man will let people kill his own brother. A father will let people kill his own child. Children will be against their parents. They will even ask people to kill their parents. 22 All people will hate you because you are my disciples. But God will save the person who remains strong until the end. 23 If people in any town hurt you because of me, you should leave that town immediately. Go to another town. I tell you this: You will not have enough time to speak your message in all the towns of Israel. I, the Son of Man, will return before that can happen.
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