Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

The Eastern Tribes Return Home

22 At that time Joshua summoned the Reubenites and the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh, ² and said to them, “You have kept ^(A)all that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you ^(B)and have obeyed my voice in all that I have commanded you. ³ You have not forsaken your brothers these many days, down to this day, but have been careful to keep the charge of the Lord your God. ^4 (C)And now the Lord your God has given rest to your brothers, as he promised them. Therefore turn and go to your tents in the land where your possession lies, ^(D)which Moses the servant of the Lord gave you on the other side of the Jordan. ^5 (E)Only be very careful to observe the commandment and the law that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you, ^(F)to love the Lord your God, and to walk in all his ways and to keep his commandments and to cling to him and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul.” ⁶ So Joshua ^(G)blessed them and sent them away, and they went to their tents.

⁷ Now to one half of the tribe of Manasseh Moses had given a possession in Bashan, ^(H)but to the other half Joshua had given a possession beside their brothers in the land west of the Jordan. And when Joshua sent them away to their homes and blessed them, ⁸ he said to them, “Go back to your tents with much wealth and with very much livestock, with silver, gold, bronze, and iron, and with much clothing. ^(I)Divide the spoil of your enemies with your brothers.” ⁹ So the people of Reuben and the people of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh returned home, parting from the people of Israel at Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan, to go ^(J)to the land of Gilead, their own land of which they had possessed themselves by command of the Lord through Moses.

The Day of the Lord

5 Now concerning ^(A)the times and the seasons, brothers,^{[a] (B)}you have no need to have anything written to you. ² For you yourselves are fully aware that ^(C)the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. ³ While people are saying, “There is peace and security”, then ^(D)sudden destruction will come upon them ^(E)as labour pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. ⁴ But you ^(F)are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. ⁵ For you are all ^(G)children^[b] of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness. ⁶ So then ^(H)let us not sleep, as others do, but let us ^(I)keep awake and ^(J)be sober. ⁷ For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, ^(K)are drunk at night. ⁸ But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, ^(L)having put on the breastplate of ^(M)faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation. ⁹ For God has not destined us for ^(N)wrath, but ^(O)to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, ^10 (P)who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him. ¹¹ Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.