Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

⁴ Then Elijah went into the desert by himself. He travelled for about a day. He found a small tree there and he sat down under it. He prayed that he might die. He said, ‘Lord, I have had enough trouble! Take my life from me. It is no better for me here than to be with my dead ancestors.’ ⁵ Then he lay down under the tree and he slept. Suddenly, an angel came and touched him. The angel said, ‘Get up and eat something.’ ⁶ When Elijah looked, he saw some bread near his head. Someone had baked it on a fire. There was also a jar of water. So he ate the bread and he drank the water. Then he lay down again to sleep. ⁷ The angel of the Lord came back a second time. He touched Elijah and he said, ‘Get up and eat more food. Then you will be strong enough to go on a long journey.’ ⁸ So Elijah got up. He ate the food and he drank the water. The meal made him strong enough to travel for 40 days and 40 nights. He travelled to Sinai, the mountain of God.^[a]

David wrote this song when he made the Philistine king think that he was crazy. He wanted the king to send him away.^[a]

God is great!^[b]

²⁵ So you must stop telling lies. Each of you must say only true things to one another. Remember that all of us belong to one another, like parts of the same body. ²⁶ When you are angry, do not do anything bad as a result. Once the day comes to an end, do not continue to be angry. ²⁷ Do not give the Devil a chance to hurt you like that.

²⁸ Any of you who robbed people before must now stop taking things. Instead, you should work hard with your own hands. Then you will be able to share what you have with people who are poor.

²⁹ Do not say bad things that hurt or insult people. Instead, say only good things that will help people. Your words should help people to become strong when they hear them.

³⁰ Do not do anything that will make God's Holy Spirit sad. God gave his Holy Spirit to you to show that you belong to him. As a result you know that God will make you completely free one day.

³¹ Do not be jealous of other people. Do not become angry or shout at them. Do not quarrel with other people or insult them. Do not do anything or say anything that will hurt other people. ³² Instead, help one another and be kind to each other. Forgive one another. Remember that God has forgiven you because of what Christ has done.

Be very careful how you live

5 You are God's children and he loves you very much. So you must try to be like him. ² Show that you love other people. Remember how much Christ loved us. He gave himself as a sacrifice on our behalf. He offered himself in a way that pleased God, like a sacrifice with a lovely smell.

³⁵ Then Jesus said to them, ‘I am the bread that gives life to people. Anyone who comes to me will never be hungry. Anyone who believes in me will never be thirsty.

⁴¹ Jesus had said, ‘I am the bread that came down from heaven.’ When he said this, the Jewish leaders there did not like it. So they started to say bad things about Jesus. ⁴² They said, ‘This is Jesus, the son of Joseph. We know his father and his mother. He should not say that he came down from heaven.’

⁴³ Jesus answered, ‘Stop saying these bad things about me to each other. ⁴⁴ The Father has sent me. Nobody can come to me unless the Father brings them to me. I will raise those people up on the last day, so that they have life for ever. ⁴⁵ The prophets wrote in the Bible, “God will teach all the people.” Everyone who hears the Father's message and learns from him will come to me.^{[a] 46} I came from God and I am the only one who has seen the Father. Nobody else has seen him. ⁴⁷ I tell you this: The person who believes my message has life for ever. ⁴⁸ I am the bread that causes you to live. ⁴⁹ Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, but they died. ⁵⁰ This bread that comes down from heaven is different. Anyone who eats this bread will not die. ⁵¹ I am the bread that gives life to people. This bread came down from heaven. If anyone eats this bread, he will live for ever. The bread that I will give is my own body. I will give it so that all people in the world may have life with God.’