Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Tav: Seek Your Servant

The Prophets’ Sins

¹¹ Another prophet, an old man, was living in Bethel. His sons^[a] came and told him everything that the man of God had done that day in Bethel. They also reported to their father the words he had spoken to the king.

¹² Then their father said to them, “Which road did he take?” So his sons showed him the road^[b] which the man of God from Judah had taken.

¹³ He told his sons, “Saddle my donkey.” So they saddled his donkey, and he got on it. ¹⁴ He went after the man of God and found him sitting under a terebinth tree.

He said to him, “Are you the man of God who came from Judah?”

He answered, “I am.”

¹⁵ The old prophet said to him, “Come with me to my house and have something to eat.”

¹⁶ But he said, “No, I cannot return with you, or go with you, or eat bread and drink water with you in this place. ¹⁷ For I was told by the word of the Lord, ‘Do not eat bread and do not drink water there, and do not return by the same road you came on.’”

¹⁸ But the old prophet said to him, “I also am a prophet, just like you, and an angel told me by the word of the Lord, ‘Bring him back with you to your house so that he may eat bread and drink water.’” But he was lying to him. ¹⁹ Then the man of God returned with him and ate bread in his house and drank water.

²⁰ While they were sitting at the table, the word of the Lord came to the prophet who had brought the man of God back. ²¹ He cried out to the man of God who had come from Judah, saying, “This is what the Lord says. Because you have rebelled against the mouth of the Lord and have not obeyed the command which the Lord your God gave you, ²² but instead you came back and ate bread and drank water in the place about which he had told you, ‘Do not eat bread or drink water there,’ your corpse will not enter the tomb of your fathers.”

²³ Then after he ate and drank, the old prophet saddled the donkey for the prophet whom he had brought back. ²⁴ As the man of God went on his way, a lion attacked him and killed him. His corpse was left lying on the road, and his donkey remained standing next to it. The lion was also standing next to the corpse. ²⁵ Then some men who were passing by saw the corpse lying on the road, and the lion was standing next to the corpse. They came and told the story in the city where the old prophet lived.

3 Therefore, because you were raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. ² Set your mind on things above, not on earthly things. ³ For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. ⁴ When Christ, who is your^[a] life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

The New Creation

⁵ So put to death whatever is worldly in you: sexual immorality, uncleanness, lust, evil desire, and greed, which is idolatry. ⁶ It is because of these things that the wrath of God is coming on the sons of disobedience.^{[b] 7} You too once walked in these things, when you were living in them.

⁸ But now, you too are to rid yourselves of all of these: wrath, anger, malice, slander, and filthy language from your mouth. ⁹ Do not lie to each other since you have put off the old self with its practices, ¹⁰ and put on the new self, which is continually being renewed in knowledge, according to the image of its Creator. ¹¹ Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcision or uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but rather Christ is all and is in all.