Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Joshua Reviews Israel’s History
24 Then (A)Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem, and called for the elders of Israel and for their heads and their judges and their officers; and they presented themselves before God. 2 Joshua said to all the people, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘From ancient times your fathers lived beyond the [a]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 put away the gods which your fathers served beyond the [c]River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. 15 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 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 should forsake 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 [d]bondage, and who did these great signs in our sight and preserved 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 open to their cry.
16 The (B)face of the Lord is against evildoers,
To (C)cut off the memory of them from the earth.
17 The righteous (D)cry, and the Lord hears
And delivers them out of 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)Many are the (I)afflictions of the righteous,
But the Lord (J)delivers him out of them all.
20 He keeps all his bones,
(K)Not one of them is broken.
21 (L)Evil shall slay the wicked,
And those who hate the righteous will be [b]condemned.
22 The Lord (M)redeems the soul of His servants,
And none of those who (N)take refuge in Him will be [c]condemned.
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 in (N)the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. 14 Stand firm therefore, (O)having girded your loins with truth, and having (P)put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and having (Q)shod your feet with 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 all (X)prayer and petition [d](Y)pray at all times (Z)in the Spirit, and with this in view, [e](AA)be on the alert with all (AB)perseverance and (AC)petition for all the saints, 19 and (AD)pray on my behalf, that utterance 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 [f]chains; that [g]in proclaiming it I may speak (AJ)boldly, (AK)as I ought to speak.
56 He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood (A)abides in Me, and I in him. 57 As the (B)living Father (C)sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats Me, he also will live because of Me. 58 This is the bread which (D)came down out of heaven; not as (E)the fathers ate and died; he 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 Therefore many of His (I)disciples, when they heard this said, “(J)This is a difficult statement; who can listen to it?” 61 But Jesus, (K)conscious that His disciples grumbled at this, said to them, “Does this (L)cause you to stumble? 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 profits nothing; (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 that would [a]betray Him. 65 And He was saying, “For this reason I have (T)said to 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)withdrew and were not walking with Him anymore. 67 So Jesus said to (X)the twelve, “You do not want to go away also, do you?” 68 (Y)Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have (Z)words of eternal life. 69 We have believed and have come to know that You are (AA)the Holy One of God.”
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.