Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

⁴ But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness and came and sat down under a lone broom or juniper tree and asked that he might die. He said, It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life; for I am no better than my fathers.

⁵ As he lay asleep under the broom or juniper tree, behold, an angel touched him and said to him, Arise and eat.

⁶ He looked, and behold, there was a cake baked on the coals, and a bottle of water at his head. And he ate and drank and lay down again.

⁷ The angel of the Lord came the second time and touched him and said, Arise and eat, for the journey is too great for you.

⁸ So he arose and ate and drank, and went in the strength of that food forty days and nights to Horeb, the mount of God.

Psalm 34

[A Psalm] of David; when he pretended to be insane before Abimelech, who drove him out, and he went away.

¹ I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth.

² My life makes its boast in the Lord; let the humble and afflicted hear and be glad.

³ O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together.

⁴ I sought (inquired of) the Lord and required Him [of necessity and on the authority of His Word], and He heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.^(A)

⁵ They looked to Him and were radiant; their faces shall never blush for shame or be confused.

⁶ This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles.

^7 [a]The Angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him [who revere and worship Him with awe] and each of them He delivers.^(B)

⁸ O taste and see that the Lord [our God] is good! Blessed (happy, fortunate, to be envied) is the man who trusts and takes refuge in Him.^(C)

²⁵ Therefore, rejecting all falsity and being done now with it, let everyone express the truth with his neighbor, for we are all parts of one body and members one of another.^(A)

²⁶ When angry, do not sin; do not ever let your wrath (your exasperation, your fury or indignation) last until the sun goes down.

²⁷ Leave no [such] room or foothold for the devil [give no opportunity to him].

²⁸ Let the thief steal no more, but rather let him be industrious, making an honest living with his own hands, so that he may be able to give to those in need.

²⁹ Let no foul or polluting language, nor evil word nor unwholesome or worthless talk [ever] come out of your mouth, but only such [speech] as is good and beneficial to the spiritual progress of others, as is fitting to the need and the occasion, that it may be a blessing and give grace (God’s favor) to those who hear it.

³⁰ And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God [do not offend or vex or sadden Him], by Whom you were sealed (marked, branded as God’s own, secured) for the day of redemption (of final deliverance through Christ from evil and the consequences of sin).

³¹ Let all bitterness and indignation and wrath (passion, rage, bad temper) and resentment (anger, animosity) and quarreling (brawling, clamor, contention) and slander (evil-speaking, abusive or blasphemous language) be banished from you, with all malice (spite, ill will, or baseness of any kind).

³² And become useful and helpful and kind to one another, tenderhearted (compassionate, understanding, loving-hearted), forgiving one another [readily and freely], as God in Christ forgave you.

5 Therefore be imitators of God [copy Him and follow His example], as well-beloved children [imitate their father].

² And walk in love, [esteeming and delighting in one another] as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us, a ^[a]slain offering and sacrifice to God [for you, so that it became] a sweet fragrance.^(B)

³⁵ Jesus replied, I am the Bread of Life. He who comes to Me will never be hungry, and he who believes in and cleaves to and trusts in and relies on Me will never thirst any more (at any time).

⁴¹ Now the Jews murmured and found fault with and grumbled about Jesus because He said, I am [Myself] the Bread that came down from heaven.

⁴² They kept asking, Is not this Jesus, the ^[a]Son of Joseph, Whose father and mother we know? How then can He say, I have come down from heaven?

⁴³ So Jesus answered them, Stop grumbling and saying things against Me to one another.

⁴⁴ No one is able to come to Me unless the Father Who sent Me attracts and draws him and gives him the desire to come to Me, and [then] I will raise him up [from the dead] at the last day.

⁴⁵ It is written in [the book of] the Prophets, And they shall all be taught of God [have Him in person for their Teacher]. Everyone who has listened to and learned from the Father comes to Me—^(A)

⁴⁶ Which does not imply that anyone has seen the Father [not that anyone has ever seen Him] except He [Who was with the Father] Who comes from God; He [alone] has seen the Father.

⁴⁷ I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, he who believes in Me [who adheres to, trusts in, relies on, and has faith in Me] has (now possesses) eternal life.

⁴⁸ I am the Bread of Life [that gives life—the Living Bread].

⁴⁹ Your forefathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and [yet] they died.

⁵⁰ [But] this is the Bread that comes down from heaven, so that [any]one may eat of it and never die.

⁵¹ I [Myself] am this Living Bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this Bread, he will live forever; and also the Bread that I shall give for the life of the world is My flesh (body).