Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Joshua Reviews Israel’s History
24 Then (A)Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel at Shechem, and called for the elders of Israel, their heads, their judges, and their officers; and they presented themselves before God. 2 Joshua said to all the people, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel says: ‘From ancient times your fathers lived beyond the Euphrates River, namely, (B)Terah, the father of Abraham and the father of Nahor, and they served other gods.
“We Will Serve the Lord”
14 “Now, therefore, [a](A)fear the Lord and serve Him in sincerity and [b]truth; and do away with the gods which your fathers served beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. 15 But if it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served, which were beyond the Euphrates River, or (B)the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
16 The people answered and said, “Far be it from us that we would abandon the Lord to serve other gods; 17 for the Lord our God is He who brought us and our fathers up out of the land of Egypt, from the house of slaves, and did these great signs in our sight and watched over us through all the way in which we went and among all the peoples through whose midst we passed. 18 The Lord drove out from before us all the peoples, even the Amorites who lived in the land. We also will serve the Lord, for He is our God.”
15 The (A)eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous,
And His ears are toward their cry for help.
16 The (B)face of the Lord is against evildoers,
To (C)eliminate the memory of them from the earth.
17 The righteous (D)cry out, and the Lord hears
And rescues them from all their troubles.
18 The Lord (E)is near to the (F)brokenhearted
And saves those who are [a](G)crushed in spirit.
19 (H)The (I)afflictions of the righteous are many,
But the Lord (J)rescues him from them all.
20 He protects all his bones,
(K)Not one of them is broken.
21 (L)Evil will bring death to the wicked,
And those who hate the righteous will suffer for their guilt.
22 The Lord (M)redeems the souls of His servants,
And none of those who (N)take refuge in Him will suffer for their guilt.
The Armor of God
10 Finally, (A)be strong in the Lord and in (B)the strength of His might. 11 (C)Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the (D)schemes of the devil. 12 For our (E)struggle is not against [a](F)flesh and blood, but (G)against the rulers, against the powers, against the (H)world forces of this (I)darkness, against the (J)spiritual forces of wickedness in (K)the heavenly places. 13 Therefore, take up (L)the full armor of God, so that you will be able to (M)resist on (N)the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. 14 Stand firm therefore, (O)having belted your waist with truth, and having (P)put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and having (Q)strapped on your feet the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16 [b]in addition to all, taking up the (R)shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the (S)flaming arrows of (T)the evil one. 17 And take (U)the helmet of salvation and the (V)sword of the Spirit, which is (W)the word of God.
18 [c]With every (X)prayer and request, [d](Y)pray at all times (Z)in the Spirit, and with this in view, [e](AA)be alert with all (AB)perseverance and every (AC)request for all the [f]saints, 19 and (AD)pray in my behalf, that speech may be given to me (AE)in the opening of my mouth, to make known with (AF)boldness (AG)the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an (AH)ambassador (AI)in [g]chains; that [h]in proclaiming it I may speak (AJ)boldly, (AK)as I ought to speak.
56 The one who eats My flesh and drinks My blood (A)remains in Me, and I in him. 57 Just as the (B)living Father (C)sent Me, and I live because of the Father, the one who eats Me, he also will live because of Me. 58 This is the bread that (D)came down out of heaven, not as (E)the fathers ate and died; the one who eats this bread (F)will live forever.”
Words to the Disciples
59 These things He said (G)in the synagogue as He taught (H)in Capernaum.
60 So then many of His (I)disciples, when they heard this, said, “(J)This statement is very [a]unpleasant; who can listen to it?” 61 But Jesus, (K)aware that His disciples were complaining about this, said to them, “Is this [b](L)offensive to you? 62 What then if you see (M)the Son of Man (N)ascending to where He was before? 63 (O)It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh provides no benefit; (P)the words that I have spoken to you are spirit, and are life. 64 But there are (Q)some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus (R)knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and (S)who it was who would [c]betray Him. 65 And He was saying, “For this reason I have (T)told you that no one can come to Me unless (U)it has been granted him from the Father.”
Peter’s Confession of Faith
66 As a result of this many of His (V)disciples (W)left, and would no longer walk with Him. 67 So Jesus said to (X)the twelve, “You do not want to leave also, do you?” 68 (Y)Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have (Z)words of eternal life. 69 And we have already believed and have come to know that You are (AA)the Holy One of God.”
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.