Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Joshua Gathers Israel

24 Then ^(A)Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem and called for the elders of Israel and for their heads and their judges and their officers; and they presented themselves before God. ² And Joshua said to all the people, “Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, ‘From ancient times your fathers lived beyond the ^[a]River, namely, ^(B)Terah, the father of Abraham and the father of Nahor, and they served other gods.

We Will Serve Yahweh Our God

¹⁴ “So now, ^[a](A)fear Yahweh and serve Him in integrity and ^[b]truth; and put away the gods which your fathers served beyond the ^[c]River and in Egypt, and serve Yahweh. ¹⁵ If it is evil in your sight to serve Yahweh, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served which were beyond the River or ^(B)the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my house, we will serve Yahweh.”

¹⁶ And the people answered and said, “Far be it from us that we should forsake Yahweh to serve other gods; ¹⁷ for Yahweh our God is He who brought us and our fathers up out of the land of Egypt, from the house of slavery, and who did these great signs in our sight and kept us through all the way in which we went and among all the peoples through whose midst we passed. ¹⁸ And Yahweh drove out from before us all the peoples, even the Amorites who lived in the land. We also will serve Yahweh, for He is our God.”

Ayin

Pe

Tsadhe

Qoph

Resh

Shin

Tav

The Armor of God

¹⁰ Finally, ^(A)be strong in the Lord and in ^(B)the might of His strength. ^11 (C)Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the ^(D)schemes of the devil. ¹² For our ^(E)struggle is not against ^[a](F)flesh and blood, but ^(G)against the rulers, against the authorities, against the ^(H)world forces of this ^(I)darkness, against the ^(J)spiritual forces of wickedness in ^(K)the heavenly places. ¹³ Therefore, take up ^(L)the full armor of God, so that you will be able to ^(M)resist in ^(N)the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. ¹⁴ Stand firm therefore, ^(O)having girded your loins with truth, and having ^(P)put on the breastplate of righteousness, ¹⁵ and having ^(Q)shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace. ^16 [b]In addition to all, having taken up the ^(R)shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the ^(S)flaming arrows of ^(T)the evil one, ¹⁷ also receive ^(U)the helmet of salvation, and the ^(V)sword of the Spirit, which is ^(W)the word of God,

^18 (X)praying at all times ^[c]with all ^(Y)prayer and petition ^(Z)in the Spirit, and to this end, ^(AA)being on the alert with all ^(AB)perseverance and ^(AC)petition for all the saints, ¹⁹ as well as ^(AD)on my behalf, that ^[d]words may be given to me ^(AE)in the opening of my mouth, to make known with ^(AF)boldness ^(AG)the mystery of the gospel— ²⁰ for which I am an ^(AH)ambassador ^(AI)in ^[e]chains—so that ^[f]in proclaiming it I may speak ^(AJ)boldly, ^(AK)as I ought to speak.

⁵⁶ He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood ^(A)abides in Me, and I in him. ⁵⁷ As the ^(B)living Father ^(C)sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats Me, he also will live because of Me. ⁵⁸ This is the bread which ^(D)came down out of heaven, not as ^(E)the fathers ate and died. He who eats this bread ^(F)will live forever.”

Words to the Disciples

⁵⁹ These things He said ^(G)in the synagogue as He taught ^(H)in Capernaum.

⁶⁰ Therefore many of His ^(I)disciples, when they heard this said, “^(J)This is a difficult statement; who can listen to it?” ⁶¹ But Jesus, ^(K)knowing in Himself that His disciples were grumbling at this, said to them, “Does this ^(L)cause you to stumble? ⁶² What then if you see ^(M)the Son of Man ^(N)ascending to where He was before? ^63 (O)The Spirit is the One who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; ^(P)the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life. ⁶⁴ But there are ^(Q)some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus ^(R)knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and ^(S)who it was that would ^[a]betray Him. ⁶⁵ And He was saying, “For this reason I have ^(T)said to you, that no one can come to Me unless ^(U)it has been granted him from the Father.”

Peter Confesses Jesus Is the Christ

⁶⁶ As a result of this many of His ^(V)disciples ^[b](W)went away and were not walking with Him anymore. ⁶⁷ So Jesus said to ^(X)the twelve, “Do you also want to go?” ^68 (Y)Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have ^(Z)words of eternal life. ⁶⁹ And we have believed and have come to know that You are ^(AA)the Holy One of God.”