Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Covenant Renewed at Shechem
24 Joshua called for all the Israelite tribes at Shechem and summoned the elders, clan heads, judges, and officials of Israel. They presented themselves before God.
2 Joshua said to all the people, “Thus says the Lord God of Israel: Long ago your fathers—Terah father of Abraham and Nahor—lived beyond the Euphrates[a] and served other gods.
14 “Now fear the Lord, and serve Him with sincerity and faithfulness. Put away the gods your fathers served beyond the River[a] and in Egypt. Serve the Lord. 15 If it is displeasing to you to serve the Lord, then choose today whom you will serve, if it should be the gods your fathers served beyond the River[b] or the gods of the Amorites’ land where you are now living. Yet as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
16 The people answered and said, “God forbid that we forsake the Lord and serve other gods! 17 For it is the Lord our God who brought us and our fathers out from slavery in the land of Egypt and performed these great signs in our sight and guarded us all the way that we went and among all the peoples through whom we passed. 18 The Lord drove out before us all the people, even the Amorites, who lived in the land. So we will indeed serve the Lord, for He is our God.”
15 The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous,
and His ears are open to their cry.
16 The face of the Lord is against the ones doing evil,
to cut off the memory of them from the earth.
17 The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears,
and delivers them out of all their troubles.
18 The Lord is near to the broken-hearted,
and saves the contrite of spirit.
19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous,
but the Lord delivers him out of them all.
20 A righteous one keeps all his bones;
not one of them is broken.
21 Evil will slay the wicked,
and those who hate the righteous will be condemned.
22 The Lord redeems the life of His servants,
and all who take refuge in Him will not be punished.
The Battle Against Evil
10 Finally, my brothers, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. 12 For our fight is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, and against spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. 14 Stand therefore, having your waist girded with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 having your feet fitted with the readiness of the gospel of peace, 16 and above all, taking the shield of faith, with which you will be able to extinguish all the fiery arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
18 Pray in the Spirit always with all kinds of prayer and supplication. To that end be alert with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints. 19 Pray for me, that the power to speak may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may speak boldly as I ought to speak.
56 Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood remains in Me, and I in him. 57 As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on Me also will live because of Me. 58 This is the bread which came down from heaven, not as your fathers ate manna and died. He who eats this bread will live forever.” 59 He said these things in the synagogue, as He taught in Capernaum.
The Words of Eternal Life
60 When they heard this, many of His disciples said, “This is a hard saying. Who can listen to it?”
61 Knowing in Himself that His disciples murmured about it, Jesus said to them, “Does this offend you? 62 Then what if you see the Son of Man ascend to where He was before? 63 It is the Spirit who gives life. The flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit and are life. 64 But there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray Him. 65 Then He said, “For this reason I have said to you that no one can come to Me unless it were given him by My Father.”
66 From that time many of His disciples went back and walked no more with Him.
67 So Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you also want to go away?”
68 Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69 We have believed and have come to know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.