Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
9 Then the Lord your God will give you great success in everything you do. You will have many children. Your livestock will have many little ones. Your crops will do very well. The Lord will take delight in you again. He’ll give you success. That’s what he did for your people of long ago. 10 But you must obey the Lord your God. You must keep his commands and rules. They are written in this Book of the Law. You must turn to the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
Choose Life, Not Death
11 What I’m commanding you today is not too hard for you. It isn’t beyond your reach. 12 It isn’t up in heaven. So you don’t have to ask, “Who will go up into heaven to get it? Who will announce it to us so we can obey it?” 13 And it isn’t beyond the ocean. So you don’t have to ask, “Who will go across the ocean to get it? Who will announce it to us so we can obey it?” 14 No, the message isn’t far away at all. In fact, it’s really near you. It’s in your mouth and in your heart so that you can obey it.
A psalm of David.
25 In you, Lord my God, I put my trust.
2 I trust in you.
Don’t let me be put to shame.
Don’t let my enemies win the battle over me.
3 Those who put their hope in you
will never be put to shame.
But those who lie to other people for no reason
will be put to shame.
4 Lord, show me your ways.
Teach me how to follow you.
5 Guide me in your truth. Teach me.
You are God my Savior.
I put my hope in you all day long.
6 Lord, remember your great mercy and love.
You have shown them to your people for a long time.
7 Don’t remember the sins I committed when I was young.
Don’t remember how often I refused to obey you.
Remember me because you love me.
Lord, you are good.
8 The Lord is honest and good.
He teaches sinners to walk in his ways.
9 He shows those who aren’t proud how to do what is right.
He teaches them his ways.
10 All the Lord’s ways are loving and faithful
toward those who obey what his covenant commands.
1 I, Paul, am writing this letter. I am an apostle of Christ Jesus just as God planned. Our brother Timothy joins me in writing.
2 We are sending this letter to you, our brothers and sisters in Colossae. You belong to Christ. You are holy and faithful.
May God our Father give you grace and peace.
Paul Prays and Gives Thanks
3 We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you. 4 We thank him because we have heard about your faith in Christ Jesus. We have also heard that you love all God’s people. 5 Your faith and love are based on the hope you have. What you hope for is stored up for you in heaven. You have already heard about it. You were told about it when the true message was given to you. I’m talking about the good news 6 that has come to you. In the same way, the good news is bearing fruit. It is bearing fruit and growing all over the world. It has been doing that among you since the day you heard it. That is when you really understood God’s grace. 7 You learned the good news from Epaphras. He is dear to us. He serves Christ together with us. He faithfully works for Christ and for us among you. 8 He also told us about your love that comes from the Holy Spirit.
9 That’s why we have not stopped praying for you. We have been praying for you since the day we heard about you. We keep asking God to fill you with the knowledge of what he wants. We pray he will give you the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives. 10 Then you will be able to lead a life that is worthy of the Lord. We pray that you will please him in every way. So we want you to bear fruit in every good thing you do. We pray that you will grow to know God better. 11 We want you to be very strong, in keeping with his glorious power. We want you to be patient. We pray that you will never give up. 12 We want you to give thanks with joy to the Father. He has made you fit to have what he will give to all his holy people. You will all receive a share in the kingdom of light. 13 He has saved us from the kingdom of darkness. He has brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves. 14 Because of what the Son has done, we have been set free. Because of him, all our sins have been forgiven.
The Story of the Good Samaritan
25 One day an authority on the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to receive eternal life?”
26 “What is written in the Law?” Jesus replied. “How do you understand it?”
27 He answered, “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. Love him with all your strength and with all your mind.’ (Deuteronomy 6:5) And, ‘Love your neighbor as you love yourself.’ ” (Leviticus 19:18)
28 “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do that, and you will live.”
29 But the man wanted to make himself look good. So he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
30 Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho. Robbers attacked him. They stripped off his clothes and beat him. Then they went away, leaving him almost dead. 31 A priest happened to be going down that same road. When he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. 32 A Levite also came by. When he saw the man, he passed by on the other side too. 33 But a Samaritan came to the place where the man was. When he saw the man, he felt sorry for him. 34 He went to him, poured olive oil and wine on his wounds and bandaged them. Then he put the man on his own donkey. He brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two silver coins. He gave them to the owner of the inn. ‘Take care of him,’ he said. ‘When I return, I will pay you back for any extra expense you may have.’
36 “Which of the three do you think was a neighbor to the man who was attacked by robbers?”
37 The authority on the law replied, “The one who felt sorry for him.”
Jesus told him, “Go and do as he did.”
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