Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
The Covenant Is Renewed at Shechem
24 Joshua gathered all Israel’s tribes together at Shechem. He sent for the elders, leaders, judges and officials of Israel. They came and stood there in the sight of God.
2 Joshua spoke to all the people. He said, “The Lord is the God of Israel. He says, ‘Long ago your people lived east of the Euphrates River. They worshiped other gods there. Your people included Terah. He was the father of Abraham and Nahor.
14 “So have respect for the Lord. Serve him. Be completely faithful to him. Throw away the gods your people worshiped east of the Euphrates River and in Egypt. Serve the Lord. 15 But suppose you don’t want to serve him. Then choose for yourselves right now whom you will serve. You can choose the gods your people served east of the Euphrates River. Or you can serve the gods of the Amorites. After all, you are living in their land. But as for me and my family, we will serve the Lord.”
16 Then the people answered Joshua, “We would never desert the Lord! We would never serve other gods! 17 The Lord our God himself brought us and our parents up out of Egypt. He brought us out of that land where we were slaves. With our own eyes, we saw those great signs he did. He kept us safe on our entire journey. He kept us safe as we traveled through all the nations. 18 He drove them out to make room for us. That included the Amorites. They also lived in the land. We too will serve the Lord. That’s because he is our God.”
15 The Lord looks with favor on those who are godly.
His ears are open to their cry.
16 But the Lord doesn’t look with favor on those who do evil.
He removes all memory of them from the earth.
17 Godly people cry out, and the Lord hears them.
He saves them from all their troubles.
18 The Lord is close to those whose hearts have been broken.
He saves those whose spirits have been crushed.
19 The person who does what is right may have many troubles.
But the Lord saves him from all of them.
20 The Lord watches over all his bones.
Not one of them will be broken.
21 Sinners will be killed by their own evil.
The enemies of godly people will be judged.
22 The Lord will save those who serve him.
No one who goes to him for safety will be found guilty.
God’s Armor for Believers
10 Finally, let the Lord make you strong. Depend on his mighty power. 11 Put on all of God’s armor. Then you can remain strong against the devil’s evil plans. 12 Our fight is not against human beings. It is against the rulers, the authorities and the powers of this dark world. It is against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly world. 13 So put on all of God’s armor. Evil days will come. But you will be able to stand up to anything. And after you have done everything you can, you will still be standing. 14 So remain strong in the faith. Put the belt of truth around your waist. Put the armor of godliness on your chest. 15 Wear on your feet what will prepare you to tell the good news of peace. 16 Also, pick up the shield of faith. With it you can put out all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Put on the helmet of salvation. And take the sword of the Holy Spirit. The sword is God’s word.
18 At all times, pray by the power of the Spirit. Pray all kinds of prayers. Be watchful, so that you can pray. Always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. 19 Pray also for me. Pray that whenever I speak, the right words will be given to me. Then I can be bold as I tell the mystery of the good news. 20 Because of the good news, I am being held by chains as the Lord’s messenger. So pray that I will be bold as I preach the good news. That’s what I should do.
56 Anyone who eats my body and drinks my blood remains in me. And I remain in them. 57 The living Father sent me, and I live because of him. In the same way, those who feed on me will live because of me. 58 This is the bread that came down from heaven. Long ago your people ate manna and died. But whoever eats this bread will live forever.” 59 He said this while he was teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.
Many Disciples Leave Jesus
60 Jesus’ disciples heard this. Many of them said, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?”
61 Jesus was aware that his disciples were complaining about his teaching. So he said to them, “Does this upset you? 62 Then what if you see the Son of Man go up to where he was before? 63 The Holy Spirit gives life. The body means nothing at all. The words I have spoken to you are full of the Spirit. They give life. 64 But there are some of you who do not believe.” Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe. And he had known who was going to hand him over to his enemies. 65 So he continued speaking. He said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father helps them.”
66 From this time on, many of his disciples turned back. They no longer followed him.
67 “You don’t want to leave also, do you?” Jesus asked the 12 disciples.
68 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, who can we go to? You have the words of eternal life. 69 We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.”
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