Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Thankful for God’s grace

1 Paul, called by God’s will to be an apostle of Messiah Jesus, and Sosthenes our brother; ² to God’s assembly at Corinth, made holy in Messiah Jesus, called to be holy, with everyone who calls on the name of our Lord, Messiah Jesus, in every place—their Lord, indeed, as well as ours! ³ Grace to you and peace from God our father and Messiah Jesus the Lord.

⁴ I always thank my God for you, for the grace of God that was given to you in Messiah Jesus. ⁵ You were enriched in him in everything, in every kind of speech and knowledge, ⁶ just as the messianic message was established among you, ⁷ so that you aren’t missing out on any spiritual gift as you wait eagerly for our Lord, Messiah Jesus, to be revealed. ⁸ He will establish you right through to the end, so that you are blameless on the day of our Lord, Messiah Jesus. ⁹ God is faithful! And it is through God that you have been called into the fellowship of his son, Messiah Jesus, our Lord.

The lamb and the spirit

²⁹ The next day, John saw Jesus coming towards him.

“Look!” he said. “There’s God’s lamb! He’s the one who takes away the world’s sin! ³⁰ He’s the one I was speaking about when I said, ‘There’s a man coming after me who ranks ahead of me, because he was before me!’ ³¹ I didn’t know who it would be, but this was the reason I came to baptize with water—so that he could be revealed to Israel.”

³² So John gave this evidence: “I saw the spirit coming down like a dove out of heaven and remaining on him. ³³ I didn’t know who it would be; but the one who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘When you see the spirit coming down and resting on someone, that’s the person who will baptize with the holy spirit.’ ³⁴ Well, that’s what I saw, and I’ve given you my evidence: he is the son of God.”

The first disciples

³⁵ The following day John was again standing there, with two of his disciples. ³⁶ He saw Jesus walking by, and said, “Look! There goes God’s lamb!”

³⁷ The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus.

³⁸ Jesus turned and saw them following him.

“What do you want?” he asked.

“Rabbi,” they said (the word means “Teacher”), “where are you staying?”

³⁹ “Come and see,” he replied.

So they came, and saw where he was staying, and stayed with him that day. It was late in the afternoon.

⁴⁰ One of the two who heard what John said and followed Jesus was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. ⁴¹ The first person he found was his own brother Simon.

“We’ve found the Messiah!” he said (that means “the anointed one,” like our word “Christ”). ⁴² He brought him to Jesus.

Jesus looked at him.

“So,” he said, “you’re Simon, John’s son, are you? We’d better call you Cephas!” (That means “the Rock,” like our word “Peter.”)