Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Philip Teaches a Man From Ethiopia
26 An angel of the Lord spoke to Philip. The angel said, “Get ready and go south on the road that leads down to Gaza from Jerusalem—the road that goes through the desert.”
27 So Philip got ready and went. On the road he saw a man from Ethiopia. He was a eunuch and an important official in the service of Candace, the queen of the Ethiopians. He was responsible for taking care of all her money. This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship. 28 Now he was on his way home. He was sitting in his chariot reading from the book of Isaiah the prophet.
29 The Spirit said to Philip, “Go to that chariot and stay near it.” 30 So he went toward the chariot, and he heard the man reading from Isaiah the prophet. Philip asked him, “Do you understand what you are reading?”
31 The man answered, “How can I understand? I need someone to explain it to me.” Then he invited Philip to climb in and sit with him. 32 The part of the Scriptures that he was reading was this:
“He was like a sheep being led to the butcher.
He was like a lamb that makes no sound as its wool is being cut off.
He said nothing.
33 He was shamed, and all his rights were taken away.
His life on earth has ended.
So there will be no story about his descendants.” (A)
34 The official[a] said to Philip, “Please, tell me, who is the prophet talking about? Is he talking about himself or about someone else?” 35 Philip began to speak. He started with this same Scripture and told the man the Good News about Jesus.
36 While they were traveling down the road, they came to some water. The official said, “Look, here is water! What is stopping me from being baptized?” 37 [b] 38 Then the official ordered the chariot to stop. Both Philip and the official went down into the water, and Philip baptized him. 39 When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord took Philip away; the official never saw him again. The official continued on his way home. He was very happy. 40 But Philip appeared in a city called Azotus. He was going to the city of Caesarea. He told people the Good News in all the towns on the way from Azotus to Caesarea.
25 Lord, because of you I offer praise in the great assembly.
In front of all these worshipers I will do all that I promised.
26 Poor people, come eat and be satisfied.[a]
You who have come looking for the Lord, praise him!
May your hearts be happy[b] forever.
27 May those in faraway countries remember the Lord and come back to him.
May those in distant lands worship him,
28 because the Lord is the King.
He rules all nations.
29 The people have eaten all they wanted
and bowed down to worship him.
Yes, everyone will bow down to him—
all who are on the way to the grave, unable to hold on to life.
30 Our descendants will serve him.
Those who are not yet born will be told about him.
31 Each generation will tell their children
about the good things the Lord has done.
Love Comes From God
7 Dear friends, we should love each other, because love comes from God. Everyone who loves has become God’s child. And so everyone who loves knows God. 8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 This is how God showed his love to us: He sent his only Son into the world to give us life through him. 10 True love is God’s love for us, not our love for God. He sent his Son as the way to take away our sins.
11 That is how much God loved us, dear friends! So we also must love each other. 12 No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us. If we love each other, God’s love has reached its goal—it is made perfect in us.
13 We know that we live in God and God lives in us. We know this because he gave us his Spirit. 14 We have seen that the Father sent his Son to be the Savior of the world, and this is what we tell people now. 15 Anyone who says, “I believe that Jesus is the Son of God,” is a person who lives in God, and God lives in that person. 16 So we know the love that God has for us, and we trust that love.
God is love. Everyone who lives in love lives in God, and God lives in them. 17 If God’s love is made perfect in us, we can be without fear on the day when God judges the world. We will be without fear, because in this world we are like Jesus.[a] 18 Where God’s love is, there is no fear, because God’s perfect love takes away fear. It is his punishment that makes a person fear. So his love is not made perfect in the one who has fear.
19 We love because God first loved us. 20 If we say we love God but hate any of our brothers or sisters in his family, we are liars. If we don’t love someone we have seen, how can we love God? We have never even seen him. 21 God gave us this command: If we love God, we must also love each other as brothers and sisters.
Jesus Is Like a Vine
15 Jesus said, “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch[a] of mine that does not produce fruit.[b] He also trims every branch that produces fruit to prepare it to produce even more. 3 You have already been prepared to produce more fruit by the teaching I have given you. 4 Stay joined to me and I will stay joined to you. No branch can produce fruit alone. It must stay connected to the vine. It is the same with you. You cannot produce fruit alone. You must stay joined to me.
5 “I am the vine, and you are the branches. If you stay joined to me, and I to you, you will produce plenty of fruit. But separated from me you won’t be able to do anything. 6 If you don’t stay joined to me, you will be like a branch that has been thrown out and has dried up. All the dead branches like that are gathered up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7 Stay joined together with me, and follow my teachings. If you do this, you can ask for anything you want, and it will be given to you. 8 Show that you are my followers by producing much fruit. This will bring honor[c] to my Father.
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International