Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Elisha Feeds 100 People

⁴² A man came from Baal Shalishah. He brought the man of God 20 loaves of barley bread. They had been baked from the first grain that had ripened. The man also brought some heads of new grain. “Give this food to the people to eat,” Elisha said.

⁴³ “How can I put this in front of 100 men?” his servant asked.

But Elisha answered, “Give it to the people to eat. Do it because the Lord says, ‘They will eat and have some left over.’ ” ⁴⁴ Then the servant put the food in front of them. They ate it and had some left over. It happened just as the Lord had said it would.

Paul Prays for the Ephesians

¹⁴ I bow in prayer to the Father because of my work among you. ¹⁵ From the Father every family in heaven and on earth gets its name. ¹⁶ I pray that he will use his glorious riches to make you strong. May his Holy Spirit give you his power deep down inside you. ¹⁷ Then Christ will live in your hearts because you believe in him. And I pray that your love will have deep roots. I pray that it will have a strong foundation. ¹⁸ May you have power together with all the Lord’s holy people to understand Christ’s love. May you know how wide and long and high and deep it is. ¹⁹ And may you know his love, even though it can’t be known completely. Then you will be filled with everything God has for you.

²⁰ God is able to do far more than we could ever ask for or imagine. He does everything by his power that is working in us. ²¹ Give him glory in the church and in Christ Jesus. Give him glory through all time and for ever and ever. Amen.

Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand

6 Some time after this, Jesus crossed over to the other side of the Sea of Galilee. It is also called the Sea of Tiberias. ² A large crowd of people followed him. They had seen the signs he had done by healing sick people. ³ Then Jesus went up on a mountainside. There he sat down with his disciples. ⁴ The Jewish Passover Feast was near.

⁵ Jesus looked up and saw a large crowd coming toward him. So he said to Philip, “Where can we buy bread for these people to eat?” ⁶ He asked this only to test Philip. He already knew what he was going to do.

⁷ Philip answered him, “Suppose we were able to buy enough bread for each person to have just a bite. That would take more than half a year’s pay!”

⁸ Another of his disciples spoke up. It was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He said, ⁹ “Here is a boy with five small loaves of barley bread. He also has two small fish. But how far will that go in such a large crowd?”

¹⁰ Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” There was plenty of grass in that place, and they sat down. About 5,000 men were there. ¹¹ Then Jesus took the loaves and gave thanks. He handed out the bread to those who were seated. He gave them as much as they wanted. And he did the same with the fish.

¹² When all of them had enough to eat, Jesus spoke to his disciples. “Gather the leftover pieces,” he said. “Don’t waste anything.” ¹³ So they gathered what was left over from the five barley loaves. They filled 12 baskets with the pieces left by those who had eaten.

¹⁴ The people saw the sign that Jesus did. Then they began to say, “This must be the Prophet who is supposed to come into the world.” ¹⁵ But Jesus knew that they planned to come and force him to be their king. So he went away again to a mountain by himself.

Jesus Walks on the Water

¹⁶ When evening came, Jesus’ disciples went down to the Sea of Galilee. ¹⁷ There they got into a boat and headed across the lake toward Capernaum. By now it was dark. Jesus had not yet joined them. ¹⁸ A strong wind was blowing, and the water became rough. ¹⁹ They rowed about three or four miles. Then they saw Jesus coming toward the boat. He was walking on the water. They were frightened. ²⁰ But he said to them, “It is I. Don’t be afraid.” ²¹ Then they agreed to take him into the boat. Right away the boat reached the shore where they were heading.