Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Tav.

The Disobedient Prophet

¹¹ Now ^(A)an old prophet was living in Bethel; and his ^[a]sons came and told him all the deeds which the man of God had done that day in Bethel; the words which he had spoken to the king, these also they related to their father. ¹² Their father said to them, “^[b]Which way did he go?” Now his sons ^[c]had seen the way which the man of God who came from Judah had gone. ¹³ Then he said to his sons, “Saddle the donkey for me.” So they saddled the donkey for him and he rode away on it. ¹⁴ So he went after the man of God and found him sitting under ^[d]an oak; and he said to him, “Are you the man of God who came from Judah?” And he said, “I am.” ¹⁵ Then he said to him, “Come home with me and eat bread.” ¹⁶ He said, “^(B)I cannot return with you, nor go with you, nor will I eat bread or drink water with you in this place. ¹⁷ For a command came to me ^(C)by the word of the Lord, ‘You shall eat no bread, nor drink water there; do not return by going the way which you came.’” ¹⁸ He said to him, “^(D)I also am a prophet like you, and ^(E)an angel spoke to me by the word of the Lord, saying, ‘Bring him back with you to your house, that he may eat bread and drink water.’” But ^(F)he lied to him. ¹⁹ So he went back with him, and ate bread in his house and drank water.

²⁰ Now it came about, as they were sitting down at the table, that the word of the Lord came to the prophet who had brought him back; ²¹ and he cried to the man of God who came from Judah, saying, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Because you have ^[e]disobeyed the ^[f]command of the Lord, and have not observed the commandment which the Lord your God commanded you, ²² but have returned and eaten bread and drunk water in the place of which He said to you, “Eat no bread and drink no water”; your body shall not come to the grave of your fathers.’” ²³ It came about after he had eaten bread and after he had drunk, that he saddled the donkey for him, for the prophet whom he had brought back. ²⁴ Now when he had gone, ^(G)a lion met him on the way and killed him, and his body was thrown on the road, with the donkey standing beside it; the lion also was standing beside the body. ²⁵ And behold, men passed by and saw the body thrown on the road, and the lion standing beside the body; so they came and told it in the city where ^(H)the old prophet lived.

Put On the New Self

3 Therefore if you have been ^(A)raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, ^(B)seated at the right hand of God. ^2 [a](C)Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. ³ For you have ^(D)died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. ⁴ When Christ, ^(E)who is our life, is revealed, ^(F)then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.

^5 (G)Therefore ^[b]consider ^(H)the members of your earthly body as dead to ^[c](I)immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which ^[d]amounts to idolatry. ⁶ For it is because of these things that ^(J)the wrath of God will come ^[e]upon the sons of disobedience, ⁷ and ^(K)in them you also once walked, when you were living ^[f]in them. ⁸ But now you also, ^(L)put them all aside: ^(M)anger, wrath, malice, slander, and ^(N)abusive speech from your mouth. ^9 [g](O)Do not lie to one another, since you ^(P)laid aside the old ^[h]self with its evil practices, ¹⁰ and have ^(Q)put on the new self who is being ^[i](R)renewed to a true knowledge ^(S)according to the image of the One who ^(T)created him— ¹¹ a renewal in which ^(U)there is no distinction between Greek and Jew, ^(V)circumcised and uncircumcised, ^[j](W)barbarian, Scythian, ^(X)slave and freeman, but ^(Y)Christ is all, and in all.