Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

9 What I say is true and Christ knows it is. I do not tell a lie. My heart tells me it is true. And the Holy Spirit knows this.

² I am very sad. I am always troubled. 3I could almost wish I were taken away from Christ for the sake of my brothers, the people of my own nation.

³ They are Jews. God gave them the right to be his sons. He showed them how great he is. He made agreements with them. He gave them the law. He told them how to worship him. He gave them the promises.

⁴ The great men were their fathers. Christ was born a Jew. He is God over all. Praise him for ever! Yes, he is!

⁵ God will do what he said he would do. Not all who are Jews belong to the real Israel.

¹³ When Jesus heard this, he went away from there in a boat. He went to a lonely place by himself. The people heard that he went away and they followed him. They walked from the towns around there.

¹⁴ When Jesus got out of the boat, he saw many people. He was sorry for them and he healed those who were sick.

¹⁵ In the evening the disciples came to him. They said, `This is a lonely place. And the time is late. Send these people away so they can go to the farms and villages to buy food for themselves.'

¹⁶ Jesus said to them, `They need not go away. You give them food to eat.'

¹⁷ They said, `We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish.'

¹⁸ Jesus said, `Bring them here to me.'

¹⁹ Then Jesus told the people to sit down on the grass. He took the five loaves of bread and the two fish. He looked up to heaven and thanked God for them. Then he broke the bread and gave it to the disciples. The disciples gave it to the people.

²⁰ They all ate and had enough. They gathered twelve baskets full of pieces that were left.

²¹ The number of men who ate was about five thousand, besides some women and children.