Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

The Lord is King

The Idolatry of the Northern Kingdom

⁷ This happened because the Israelis had sinned against the Lord their God, who had brought them up from the land of Egypt and from the domination^[a] of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, because^[b] they were fearing other gods, ⁸ and because they were following^[c] the rules of the nations whom the Lord had expelled before the Israelis and that the kings of Israel had practiced.

⁹ The Israelis practiced secret things that were not right, offending the Lord their God. In addition, they built high places for use by all their towns, watchtowers, and fortified cities. ¹⁰ They set up pillars and Asherim on every high hill and in the shade of every green tree, ¹¹ where they made offerings on all the high places, as did the nations whom the Lord had expelled before them. They also practiced other^[d] wickedness, provoking the Lord to become angry, ¹² and they served idols, a practice that the Lord had warned them, “You are not to do this.”

¹³ Nevertheless, the Lord had warned both Israel and Judah by means^[e] of every prophet and seer: “Turn away from your evil practices^[f] and keep my commandments and statutes according to the entire Law that I gave your ancestors and that I sent to you through my servants, the prophets.” ¹⁴ But they would not listen. Instead, they were stubborn,^[g] just like their ancestors had been, who did not believe in the Lord their God. ¹⁵ They rejected the Lord’s^[h] statutes, the covenant that he had made with their ancestors, and his warnings that he gave them. They pursued meaninglessness—and became meaningless themselves—as they followed the lifestyles of the nations that surrounded them, a practice that the Lord had warned them not to do.

¹⁶ They abandoned all of the commands given by^[i] the Lord their God, crafted for themselves cast images of two calves, constructed an Asherah, worshipped all of the stars in heaven, and served Baal. ¹⁷ They passed their sons and daughters through fire, practiced divination, cast spells, and sold themselves to practice what the Lord considered to be evil, thereby^[j] provoking him. ¹⁸ As a result, the Lord was angry with Israel and removed them from his presence. No one was left except for the tribe of Judah.

¹⁹ But Judah, too, did not keep the commands of the Lord their God. Instead, they lived the lifestyle^[k] that Israel had chosen, ²⁰ so the Lord rejected all of the descendants^[l] of Israel, afflicted them, and handed them over to the control of plunderers until he had thrown them away from his presence.^[m]

²⁵ When they had found him on the other side of the sea, they asked him, “Rabbi,^[a] when did you get here?”

²⁶ Jesus replied to them, “Truly, I tell all of you^[b] emphatically, you are looking for me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate the loaves and were completely satisfied. ²⁷ Do not work for food that perishes but for food that lasts for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set his seal on him.”

²⁸ Then they asked him, “What must we do to perform God’s works?”

²⁹ Jesus answered them, “This is God’s work: to believe in the one whom he has sent.”

³⁰ So they asked him, “What sign are you going to do so that we may see it and believe in you? What actions are you performing? ³¹ Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, just as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’”^[c]

³² Jesus told them, “Truly, I tell all of you^[d] emphatically, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. ³³ The bread of God is the one who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”

³⁴ Then they told him, “Sir, give us this bread all the time.”

³⁵ Jesus told them, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never become hungry, and whoever believes in me will never become thirsty.