Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

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.

³⁰ The apostles came back to Jesus. They told him all they had done and taught.

³¹ Jesus said to them, `Come away with me. Let us go alone to a quiet place and rest for a while.' Many people were coming and going. They could not even eat.

³² So they went away in a boat to a lonely place by themselves.

³³ The people saw them going. Many people knew them. The people ran from all the towns and got there ahead of them.

³⁴ When the boat got there, Jesus saw the many people. He was very sorry for them because they were like sheep with no one to care for them. He began to teach them many things.

⁵³ They crossed over the sea and came to the land at Gennesaret. They came to shore.

⁵⁴ As soon as he got out of the boat, the people knew him.

⁵⁵ They went quickly to all the country around. They brought sick people in their beds to the place where they heard Jesus was.

⁵⁶ They laid sick people by the road in villages, towns, and farms and every place he went. They begged him to let them touch his clothes. And all the people who touched him were healed.