Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

TAW

An old prophet in Bethel

¹¹ An old prophet lived in Bethel. His sons came home. They told him about everything that God's servant had done in Bethel that day. They told their father what God's servant had said to the king. ¹² Their father asked them, ‘Which road did he go home on?’ So his sons showed him the road that God's servant from Judah was on.

¹³ Then the old prophet said to his sons, ‘Prepare my donkey for me to ride.’ When they had prepared the donkey, the old prophet got onto it. ¹⁴ Then he rode along the road to find God's servant. He found him as he was sitting under an oak tree. The old prophet asked him, ‘Are you the servant of God from Judah?’ He answered, ‘I am.’ ¹⁵ The old prophet said to him, ‘Come to my home with me and eat some food.’ ¹⁶ God's servant said, ‘I cannot go back with you. I cannot eat or drink anything with you in this place. ¹⁷ The Lord commanded me, “You must not eat or drink anything there. You must not return home on the same road that you came on.” ’ ¹⁸ The old prophet then said, ‘I am also a prophet, as you are. An angel gave me a message from the Lord. He said, “Bring the man back with you to your house. There, he can eat some food and drink some water.” ’ But what the old prophet said was a lie. ¹⁹ So God's servant went back with him and he ate and drank in his house.

²⁰ While they were sitting together to eat, the Lord gave a message to the old prophet. ²¹ He spoke this message to the servant of God who had come from Judah:

‘This is what the Lord says: You have not obeyed the Lord. You have not done what the Lord your God commanded you to do. ²² He had told you, “You must not eat or drink anything in that place.” But you came back here to eat and to drink. As a result, they will not bury your body in the same place as your ancestors' grave.’

²³ God's servant from Judah finished his meal. Then the old prophet prepared his donkey for him to ride. ²⁴ But as God's servant from Judah was travelling along the road, a lion attacked him. The lion killed him and it left his body on the road. The donkey and the lion stood beside the dead body. ²⁵ When some people came along the road, they saw the dead body as it lay there. The lion was standing beside the body. The people went back to Bethel, the city where the old prophet lived. They reported what they had seen on the road.

The old life and the new life

3 God has raised you with Christ to a new life. So you should want more and more the things that belong to heaven. That is where Christ is now. He sits there at God's right side. ² So think about the good things that are there in heaven above. Do not think only about things that are on the earth. ³ Remember that your old nature has died. God is keeping your new life safe with Christ. ⁴ You have that new life because you belong to Christ. One day, Christ will show himself clearly to everyone. Then everyone will see that you are with him. They will see that you also are great, like he is.

⁵ Your old nature likes to do bad things that belong to this earth. But your old nature is dead, so do not do these bad things any more. Do not have sex with someone that you are not married to. Do not think bad, disgusting thoughts. Do not want to have sex in a wrong way. Do not want to do any kinds of bad things. Do not want to have many things for yourselves. That shows that you worship those things as your idol. ⁶ God will certainly punish people who do those kinds of bad things.

⁷ At one time, you lived like that. You did those kinds of bad things. ⁸ But now you must refuse to do all kinds of things like that. Do not become angry with people or shout at them. Do not do anything or say anything that will hurt other people. Do not speak any bad or disgusting words. ⁹ Do not deceive each other with lies. Remember that you have taken off your old nature, like an old coat. As a result, you can stop doing all the bad things that you liked to do before.

¹⁰ Now you have received a new nature. It is God who made it for you so that you can become more and more like him. You will learn to know him better and better. ¹¹ People have this new nature only because they belong to Christ. That is the important thing. Jews are not different from Gentiles. It does not matter whether someone has circumcised you or not. It does not matter which country you come from or how clever you are. It does not matter whether you are a slave or a free person. Christ is all that matters. He lives in every believer.