Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
15 Today I’m giving you a choice. You can have life and success. Or you can have death and harm. 16 I’m commanding you today to love the Lord your God. I’m commanding you to live exactly as he wants you to live. You must obey his commands, rules and laws. Then you will live. There will be many of you. The Lord your God will bless you in the land you are entering to take as your own.
17 Don’t let your hearts turn away from the Lord. Instead, obey him. Don’t let yourselves be drawn away to other gods. And don’t bow down to them and worship them. 18 If you do, I announce to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed. You are about to go across the Jordan River and take over the land. But you won’t live there very long.
19 I’m calling for the heavens and the earth to be witnesses against you this very day. I’m offering you the choice of life or death. You can choose either blessings or curses. But I want you to choose life. Then you and your children will live. 20 And you will love the Lord your God. You will obey him. You will remain true to him. The Lord is your very life. He will give you many years in the land. He promised to give that land to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
Book I
Psalms 1–41
1 Blessed is the person who obeys the law of the Lord.
They don’t follow the advice of evil people.
They don’t make a habit of doing what sinners do.
They don’t join those who make fun of the Lord and his law.
2 Instead, the law of the Lord gives them joy.
They think about his law day and night.
3 That kind of person is like a tree that is planted near a stream of water.
It always bears its fruit at the right time.
Its leaves don’t dry up.
Everything godly people do turns out well.
4 Sinful people are not like that at all.
They are like straw
that the wind blows away.
5 When the Lord judges them, their life will come to an end.
Sinners won’t have any place among those who are godly.
6 The Lord watches over the lives of godly people.
But the lives of sinful people will lead to their death.
1 I, Paul, am writing this letter. I am a prisoner because of Christ Jesus. Our brother Timothy joins me in writing.
Philemon, we are sending you this letter. You are our dear friend. You work together with us. 2 We are also sending it to our sister Apphia and to Archippus. He is a soldier of Christ together with us. And we are sending it to the church that meets in your home.
3 May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace.
Paul Prays and Gives Thanks
4 I always thank my God when I remember you in my prayers. 5 That’s because I hear about your love for all God’s people. I also hear about your faith in the Lord Jesus. 6 I pray that what we share by believing will help you understand even more. Then you will completely understand every good thing we share by believing in Christ. 7 Your love has given me great joy. It has encouraged me. My brother, you have renewed the hearts of the Lord’s people.
Paul Makes an Appeal for Onesimus
8 Because of the authority Christ has given me, I could be bold. I could order you to do what you should do anyway. 9 But we love each other. And I would rather appeal to you on the basis of that love. I, Paul, am an old man. I am now also a prisoner because of Christ Jesus. 10 I am an old man, and I’m in prison. This is how I make my appeal to you for my son Onesimus. He became a son to me while I was being held in chains. 11 Before that, he was useless to you. But now he has become useful to you and to me.
12 I’m sending Onesimus back to you. All my love for him goes with him. 13 I’m being held in chains because of the good news. So I would have liked to keep Onesimus with me. And he could take your place in helping me. 14 But I didn’t want to do anything unless you agreed. Any favor you do must be done because you want to do it, not because you have to. 15 Onesimus was separated from you for a little while. Maybe that was so you could have him back forever. 16 You could have him back not as a slave. Instead, he would be better than a slave. He would be a dear brother. He is very dear to me but even more dear to you. He is dear to you not only as another human being. He is also dear to you as a brother in the Lord.
17 Do you think of me as a believer who works together with you? Then welcome Onesimus as you would welcome me. 18 Has he done anything wrong to you? Does he owe you anything? Then charge it to me. 19 I’ll pay it back. I, Paul, am writing this with my own hand. I won’t even mention that you owe me your life. 20 My brother, we both belong to the Lord. So I wish I could receive some benefit from you. Renew my heart. We know that Christ is the one who really renews it. 21 I’m sure you will obey. So I’m writing to you. I know you will do even more than I ask.
The Cost of Being a Disciple
25 Large crowds were traveling with Jesus. He turned and spoke to them. He said, 26 “Anyone who comes to me must hate their father and mother. They must hate their wife and children. They must hate their brothers and sisters. And they must hate even their own life. Unless they do this, they can’t be my disciple. 27 Whoever doesn’t carry their cross and follow me can’t be my disciple.
28 “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you sit down first and figure out how much it will cost? Then you will see whether you have enough money to finish it. 29 Suppose you start building and are not able to finish. Then everyone who sees what you have done will laugh at you. 30 They will say, ‘This person started to build but wasn’t able to finish.’
31 “Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. And suppose he has 10,000 men, while the other has 20,000 coming against him. Won’t he first sit down and think about whether he can win? 32 And suppose he decides he can’t win. Then he will send some men to ask how peace can be made. He will do this while the other king is still far away. 33 In the same way, you must give up everything you have. Those of you who don’t cannot be my disciple.
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