Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

⁴ Then he went on alone into the wilderness, traveling all day, and sat down under a broom bush and prayed that he might die.

“I’ve had enough,” he told the Lord. “Take away my life. I’ve got to die sometime, and it might as well be now.”^[a]

⁵ Then he lay down and slept beneath the broom bush. But as he was sleeping, an Angel touched him and told him to get up and eat! ⁶ He looked around and saw some bread baking on hot stones and a jar of water! So he ate and drank and lay down again.

⁷ Then the Angel of the Lord came again and touched him and said, “Get up and eat some more, for there is a long journey ahead of you.”

⁸ So he got up and ate and drank, and the food gave him enough strength to travel forty days and forty nights to Mount Horeb, the mountain of God,

34 I will praise the Lord no matter what happens. I will constantly speak of his glories and grace.^{[a] 2} I will boast of all his kindness to me. Let all who are discouraged take heart. ³ Let us praise the Lord together and exalt his name.

⁴ For I cried to him and he answered me! He freed me from all my fears. ⁵ Others too were radiant at what he did for them. Theirs was no downcast look of rejection! ⁶ This poor man cried to the Lord—and the Lord heard him and saved him out of his troubles. ⁷ For the Angel of the Lord guards and rescues all who reverence him.

⁸ Oh, put God to the test and see how kind he is! See for yourself the way his mercies shower down on all who trust in him.

²⁵ Stop lying to each other; tell the truth, for we are parts of each other and when we lie to each other we are hurting ourselves. ²⁶ If you are angry, don’t sin by nursing your grudge. Don’t let the sun go down with you still angry—get over it quickly; ²⁷ for when you are angry, you give a mighty foothold to the devil.

²⁸ If anyone is stealing he must stop it and begin using those hands of his for honest work so he can give to others in need. ²⁹ Don’t use bad language. Say only what is good and helpful to those you are talking to, and what will give them a blessing.

³⁰ Don’t cause the Holy Spirit sorrow by the way you live. Remember, he is the one who marks you to be present on that day when salvation from sin will be complete.^[a]

³¹ Stop being mean, bad-tempered, and angry. Quarreling, harsh words, and dislike of others should have no place in your lives. ³² Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God has forgiven you because you belong to Christ.

5 Follow God’s example in everything you do just as a much loved child imitates his father. ² Be full of love for others, following the example of Christ who loved you and gave himself to God as a sacrifice to take away your sins. And God was pleased, for Christ’s love for you was like sweet perfume to him.

³⁵ Jesus replied, “I am the Bread of Life. No one coming to me will ever be hungry again. Those believing in me will never thirst.

⁴¹ Then the Jews began to murmur against him because he claimed to be the Bread from heaven.

⁴² “What?” they exclaimed. “Why, he is merely Jesus the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know. What is this he is saying, that he came down from heaven?”

⁴³ But Jesus replied, “Don’t murmur among yourselves about my saying that. ⁴⁴ For no one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him to me, and at the Last Day I will cause all such to rise again from the dead. ⁴⁵ As it is written in the Scriptures, ‘They shall all be taught of God.’ Those the Father speaks to, who learn the truth from him, will be attracted to me. ⁴⁶ (Not that anyone actually sees the Father, for only I have seen him.)

⁴⁷ “How earnestly I tell you this—anyone who believes in me already has eternal life! ^48-51 Yes, I am the Bread of Life! When your fathers in the wilderness ate bread from the skies, they all died. But the Bread from heaven gives eternal life to everyone who eats it. I am that Living Bread that came down out of heaven. Anyone eating this Bread shall live forever; this Bread is my flesh given to redeem humanity.”