Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

¹¹ So remember that you were not born Jews. (They call you `The Uncircumcised').

¹² Remember you did not know Christ at that time. You were far away from the people of Israel. You had no part in the agreements which God promised to them. You had no hope and you were without God in this world.

¹³ At one time you were far away, but now you have been brought near to God by the blood [death] of Jesus Christ.

¹⁴ Christ has made peace between us. He has brought both Jews and non-Jews together into one people. He has broken down the wall that divided us.

¹⁵ In his own body Christ made an end of the law and its rules. He did this so that in him two peoples could become one. In this way, he made peace between us.

¹⁶ He did this so that by the cross he might bring both kinds of people back to God in one body. And by the cross he has stopped our hating each other.

¹⁷ He came and said that there is now peace. There is peace for you who were far away from God and for those who were near.

¹⁸ Because of what Christ has done, we can come to the Father by one Spirit.

¹⁹ So then you are no longer strangers or people far away. But you live with God's people and belong to God's family.

²⁰ God's family is like a house and you are part of the building. The apostles and prophets are like the lower walls of the house and you are the building on this foundation. Jesus Christ is the big stone at the corner.

²¹ He is the one who holds the whole house together, and it becomes a holy house belonging to the Lord.

²² You too are a part of this house. God himself lives in this house by his Spirit.