Book of Common Prayer

The Majesty of God

Praise for God’s Glory

Praise God Who Judges and Saves

David’s song from the time he acted crazy so Abimelech would send him away. And David did leave.

The Shunammite Woman

⁸ One day Elisha went to Shunem. An important woman lived there. She begged Elisha to stay and eat. So every time Elisha passed by, he stopped there to eat. ⁹ The woman said to her husband, “I know that Elisha is a holy man of God. He passes by our house all the time. ¹⁰ Let’s make a small room on the roof.^[a] Let’s put a bed in the room for Elisha. And we can put a table, a chair and a lampstand there. Then when he comes by, he can stay there.”

¹¹ One day Elisha came to the woman’s house. He went to his room and rested. ¹² He said to his servant Gehazi, “Call the Shunammite.”

When the servant called her, she stood in front of him. ¹³ Elisha told his servant, “Now say to her, ‘You have gone to all this trouble for us. What can I do for you? Do you want me to speak to the king or the commander of the army for you?’”

The woman answered, “I live among my own people.”

¹⁴ Elisha said, “But what can we do for her?”

Gehazi answered, “She has no son, and her husband is old.”

¹⁵ Then Elisha said, “Call her.” So he called her, and she stood in the doorway. ¹⁶ Then Elisha said, “About this time next year, you will hold a son in your arms.”

The woman said, “No, master, man of God. Don’t lie to me!”

¹⁷ But the woman became pregnant. And she gave birth to a son at that time the next year as Elisha had told her.

¹⁸ The child grew. One day he went out to his father, who was with the men harvesting grain. ¹⁹ The boy said to his father, “My head! My head!”

The father said to his servant, “Carry him to his mother!” ²⁰ The servant took him to his mother. He lay on his mother’s lap until noon. Then he died. ²¹ She took him up and laid him on Elisha’s bed. Then she shut the door and went out.

²² She called to her husband. She said, “Send me one of the servants and one of the donkeys. Then I can go quickly to the man of God and come back.”

²³ The woman’s husband said, “Why do you want to go to him today? It isn’t the New Moon or the Sabbath day.”

She said, “It will be all right.”

²⁴ Then she saddled the donkey and said to her servant, “Lead on. Don’t slow down for me unless I tell you.” ²⁵ So she went to Elisha at Mount Carmel.

He saw her coming from far away. So he said to his servant Gehazi, “Look, there’s the Shunammite woman! ²⁶ Run to meet her! Say to her, ‘Are you all right? Is your husband all right? Is the child all right?’”

She answered, “Everything is all right.”

²⁷ Then she came to Elisha at the hill. She caught hold of his feet. Gehazi came near to pull her away. But Elisha said to him, “Let her alone. She’s very upset, and the Lord has not told me about it. He has hidden it from me.”

²⁸ She said, “Master, I didn’t tell you I wanted a son. I told you, ‘Don’t fool me.’”

²⁹ Then Elisha said to Gehazi, “Get ready. Take my walking stick in your hand and go quickly. If you meet anyone, don’t greet him. If anyone greets you, don’t answer him. Lay my walking stick on the face of the boy.”

³⁰ But the child’s mother said, “As surely as the Lord lives and as you live, I won’t leave you!” So he got up and followed her.

³¹ Gehazi went on ahead. He laid the walking stick on the child’s face. But the child did not talk or move. Then Gehazi went back to meet Elisha. He told Elisha, “The child has not awakened.”

³² Elisha came into the house. There was the child, lying dead on his bed. ³³ When Elisha entered the room, he shut the door. Only he and the child were in the room. Then Elisha prayed to the Lord. ³⁴ He went to the bed and lay on the child. He put his mouth on the child’s mouth. He put his eyes on the child’s eyes and his hands on the child’s hands. He stretched himself out on top of the child. Then the child’s skin became warm. ³⁵ Elisha turned away and walked around the room. Then he went back and put himself on the child again. Then the child sneezed seven times and opened his eyes.

³⁶ Elisha called Gehazi and said, “Call the Shunammite!” And he did. When she came, Elisha said, “Pick up your son.” ³⁷ She came in and fell at Elisha’s feet. She bowed facedown to the floor. Then she picked up her son and went out.

¹⁰ There was a follower of Jesus in Damascus named Ananias. The Lord spoke to Ananias in a vision, “Ananias!”

Ananias answered, “Here I am, Lord.”

¹¹ The Lord said to him, “Get up and go to the street called Straight Street. Find the house of Judas.^[a] Ask for a man named Saul from the city of Tarsus. He is there now, praying. ¹² Saul has seen a vision. In it a man named Ananias comes to him and lays his hands on him. Then he sees again.”

¹³ But Ananias answered, “Lord, many people have told me about this man and the terrible things he did to your people in Jerusalem. ¹⁴ Now he has come here to Damascus. The leading priests have given him the power to arrest everyone who worships you.”

¹⁵ But the Lord said to Ananias, “Go! I have chosen Saul for an important work. He must tell about me to non-Jews, to kings, and to the people of Israel. ¹⁶ I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.”

¹⁷ So Ananias went to the house of Judas. He laid his hands on Saul and said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus sent me. He is the one you saw on the road on your way here. He sent me so that you can see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” ¹⁸ Immediately, something that looked like fish scales fell from Saul’s eyes. He was able to see again! Then Saul got up and was baptized. ¹⁹ After eating some food, his strength returned.

Saul Preaches in Damascus

Saul stayed with the followers of Jesus in Damascus for a few days. ²⁰ Soon he began to preach about Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “Jesus is the Son of God!”

²¹ All the people who heard him were amazed. They said, “This is the man who was in Jerusalem. He was trying to destroy those who trust in this name! He came here to do the same thing. He came here to arrest the followers of Jesus and take them back to the leading priests.”

²² But Saul became more and more powerful. His proofs that Jesus is the Christ were so strong that the Jews in Damascus could not argue with him.

Saul Escapes from Damascus

²³ After many days, the Jews made plans to kill Saul. ²⁴ They were watching the city gates day and night. They wanted to kill him, but Saul learned about their plan. ²⁵ One night some followers of Saul helped him leave the city. They lowered him in a basket through an opening in the city wall.

Saul in Jerusalem

²⁶ Then Saul went to Jerusalem. He tried to join the group of followers, but they were all afraid of him. They did not believe that he was really a follower. ²⁷ But Barnabas accepted Saul and took him to the apostles. Barnabas told them that Saul had seen the Lord on the road. He explained how the Lord had spoken to Saul. Then he told them how boldly Saul had preached in the name of Jesus in Damascus.

²⁸ And so Saul stayed with the followers. He went everywhere in Jerusalem, preaching boldly in the name of Jesus. ²⁹ He would often talk and argue with the Jews who spoke Greek. But they were trying to kill him. ³⁰ When the brothers learned about this, they took Saul to Caesarea. From there they sent him to Tarsus.

³¹ The church everywhere in Judea, Galilee, and Samaria had a time of peace. With the help of the Holy Spirit, the group became stronger. The believers showed that they respected the Lord by the way they lived. Because of this, the group of believers grew larger and larger.

⁷ Crowds of people came to be baptized by John. He said to them, “You poisonous snakes! Who warned you to run away from God’s anger that is coming? ⁸ You must do the things that will show that you really have changed your hearts. Don’t say, ‘Abraham is our father.’ I tell you that God can make children for Abraham from these rocks here. ⁹ The ax is now ready to cut down the trees. Every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.”^[a]

¹⁰ The people asked John, “What should we do?”

¹¹ John answered, “If you have two shirts, share with the person who does not have one. If you have food, share that too.”

¹² Even tax collectors came to John to be baptized. They said to John, “Teacher, what should we do?”

¹³ John said to them, “Don’t take more taxes from people than you have been ordered to take.”

¹⁴ The soldiers asked John, “What about us? What should we do?”

John said to them, “Don’t force people to give you money. Don’t lie about them. Be satisfied with the pay you get.”

¹⁵ All the people were hoping for the Christ to come, and they wondered about John. They thought, “Maybe he is the Christ.”

¹⁶ John answered everyone, “I baptize you with water, but there is one coming later who can do more than I can. I am not good enough to untie his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. ¹⁷ He will come ready to clean the grain. He will separate the good grain from the chaff. He will put the good part of the grain into his barn. Then he will burn the chaff with a fire that cannot be put out.”^{[b] 18} And John continued to preach the Good News, saying many other things to encourage the people.