Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
The Covenant at Shechem(A)
24 Then Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to (B)Shechem and (C)called for the elders of Israel, for their heads, for their judges, and for their officers; and they (D)presented themselves before God. 2 And Joshua said to all the people, “Thus says the Lord God of Israel: (E)‘Your fathers, including Terah, the father of Abraham and the father of Nahor, dwelt on the other side of [a]the River in old times; and (F)they served other gods.
14 (A)“Now therefore, fear the Lord, serve Him in (B)sincerity and in truth, and (C)put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of [a]the River and (D)in Egypt. Serve the Lord! 15 And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, (E)choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether (F)the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of [b]the River, or (G)the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. (H)But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
16 So 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 bondage, who did those great signs in our sight, and preserved us in all the way that we went and among all the people through whom we passed. 18 And the Lord drove out from before us all the people, including the Amorites who dwelt in the land. (I)We also will serve the Lord, for He is our God.”
15 (A)The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous,
And His ears are open to their cry.
16 (B)The face of the Lord is against those who do evil,
(C)To [a]cut off the remembrance of them from the earth.
17 The righteous cry out, and (D)the Lord hears,
And delivers them out of all their troubles.
18 (E)The Lord is near (F)to those who have a broken heart,
And saves such as [b]have a contrite spirit.
19 (G)Many are the afflictions of the righteous,
(H)But the Lord delivers him out of them all.
20 He guards all his bones;
(I)Not one of them is broken.
21 (J)Evil shall slay the wicked,
And those who hate the righteous shall be [c]condemned.
22 The Lord (K)redeems the soul of His servants,
And none of those who trust in Him shall be condemned.
The Whole Armor of God
10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. 11 (A)Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the [a]wiles of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against (B)principalities, against powers, against (C)the rulers of [b]the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. 13 (D)Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand (E)in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
14 Stand therefore, (F)having girded your waist with truth, (G)having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 (H)and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16 above all, taking (I)the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. 17 And (J)take the helmet of salvation, and (K)the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; 18 (L)praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, (M)being watchful to this end with all perseverance and (N)supplication for all the saints— 19 and for me, that utterance may be given to me, (O)that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which (P)I am an ambassador in chains; that in it I may speak boldly, 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 living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me. 58 (B)This is the bread which came down from heaven—not (C)as your fathers ate the manna, and are dead. He who eats this bread will live forever.”
59 These things He said in the synagogue as He taught in Capernaum.
Many Disciples Turn Away
60 (D)Therefore many of His disciples, when they heard this, said, “This is a [a]hard saying; who can understand it?”
61 When Jesus knew in Himself that His disciples [b]complained about this, He said to them, “Does this [c]offend you? 62 (E)What then if you should see the Son of Man ascend where He was before? 63 (F)It is the Spirit who gives life; the (G)flesh profits nothing. The (H)words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life. 64 But (I)there are some of you who do not believe.” For (J)Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who would betray Him. 65 And He said, “Therefore (K)I have said to you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted to him by My Father.”
66 (L)From that time many of His disciples went [d]back and walked with Him no more. 67 Then Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you also want to go away?”
68 But Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have (M)the words of eternal life. 69 (N)Also we have come to believe and know that You are the [e]Christ, the Son of the living God.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.