Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

The Privileges of Citizenship in Zion.

A Psalm of the sons of Korah. A Song.

Naaman Is Healed

5 Now ^(A)Naaman, captain of the army of the king of Aram, was a great man ^[a]with his master, and highly respected, because by him the Lord had given victory to Aram. The man was also a valiant warrior, but he was a leper. ² Now the Arameans had gone out ^(B)in bands and had taken captive a little girl from the land of Israel; and she ^[b]waited on Naaman’s wife. ³ She said to her mistress, “I wish that my master were ^[c]with the prophet who is in Samaria! Then he would cure him of his leprosy.” ^4 [d]Naaman went in and told his master, saying, “Thus and thus spoke the girl who is from the land of Israel.” ⁵ Then the king of Aram said, “Go ^[e]now, and I will send a letter to the king of Israel.” He departed and ^(C)took with him ten talents of silver and six thousand shekels of gold and ten ^(D)changes of clothes.

⁶ He brought the letter to the king of Israel, saying, “And now as this letter comes to you, behold, I have sent Naaman my servant to you, that you may cure him of his leprosy.” ⁷ When the king of Israel read the letter, ^(E)he tore his clothes and said, “^(F)Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man is sending word to me to cure a man of his leprosy? But ^(G)consider now, and see how he is seeking ^[f]a quarrel against me.”

⁸ It happened when Elisha ^(H)the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, that he sent word to the king, saying, “Why have you torn your clothes? Now let him come to me, and he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel.” ⁹ So Naaman came with his horses and his chariots and stood at the doorway of the house of Elisha. ¹⁰ Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, “^(I)Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh will be restored to you and you will be clean.” ¹¹ But Naaman was furious and went away and said, “Behold, I ^[g]thought, ‘He will surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, and wave his hand over the place and cure the leper.’ ¹² Are not ^[h]Abanah and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them and be clean?” So he turned and ^(J)went away in a rage. ^13 (K)Then his servants came near and spoke to him and said, “^(L)My father, had the prophet told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more then, when he says to you, ‘Wash, and be clean’?” ¹⁴ So he went down and dipped himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God; and ^(M)his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child and ^(N)he was clean.

The Council at Jerusalem

15 ^(A)Some men came down from Judea and began teaching ^(B)the brethren, “Unless you are ^(C)circumcised according to ^(D)the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.” ² And when Paul and Barnabas had ^[a]great dissension and ^(E)debate with them, ^(F)the brethren determined that Paul and Barnabas and some others of them should go up to Jerusalem to the ^(G)apostles and elders concerning this issue. ³ Therefore, being ^(H)sent on their way by the church, they were passing through both ^(I)Phoenicia and Samaria, ^(J)describing in detail the conversion of the Gentiles, and were bringing great joy to all ^(K)the brethren. ⁴ When they arrived at Jerusalem, they were received by the church and ^(L)the apostles and the elders, and they ^(M)reported all that God had done with them. ⁵ But some of ^(N)the sect of the ^(O)Pharisees who had believed stood up, saying, “It is necessary to ^(P)circumcise them and to direct them to observe the Law of Moses.”

^6 (Q)The apostles and the elders came together to ^[b]look into this ^[c]matter. ⁷ After there had been much ^(R)debate, Peter stood up and said to them, “Brethren, you know that ^[d]in the early days ^(S)God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles would hear the word of ^(T)the gospel and believe. ⁸ And God, ^(U)who knows the heart, testified to them ^(V)giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He also did to us; ⁹ and ^(W)He made no distinction between us and them, ^(X)cleansing their hearts by faith. ¹⁰ Now therefore why do you ^(Y)put God to the test by placing upon the neck of the disciples a yoke which ^(Z)neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? ¹¹ But we believe that we are saved through ^(AA)the grace of the Lord Jesus, in the same way as they also are.”

¹² All the people kept silent, and they were listening to Barnabas and Paul as they were ^(AB)relating what ^(AC)signs and wonders God had done through them among the Gentiles.

James’s Judgment

¹³ After they had stopped speaking, ^[e](AD)James answered, saying, “Brethren, listen to me. ^14 (AE)Simeon has related how God first concerned Himself about taking from among the Gentiles a people for His name. ¹⁵ With this the words of ^(AF)the Prophets agree, just as it is written,

¹⁹ Therefore it is ^(AM)my judgment that we do not trouble those who are turning to God from among the Gentiles, ²⁰ but that we write to them that they abstain from ^[j](AN)things contaminated by idols and from ^(AO)fornication and from ^(AP)what is strangled and from blood. ²¹ For ^(AQ)Moses from ancient generations has in every city those who preach him, since ^[k]he is read in the synagogues every Sabbath.”