Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

The Lord—Our Safe Place in Life and Covering in Death

16 Keep me, O God, for I am safe in You. ² I said to the Lord, “You are my Lord. All the good things I have come from You.” ³ As for those in the land who belong to You, they are the great ones in whom is all my joy. ⁴ Those who have traded for another god bring many troubles on themselves. I will not take part in their altar gifts of blood. And I will not take their names upon my lips.

⁵ The Lord is all that I am to receive, and my cup. My future is in Your hands. ⁶ The land given to me is good. Yes, my share is beautiful to me.

⁷ I will give honor and thanks to the Lord, Who has told me what to do. Yes, even at night my mind teaches me. ⁸ I have placed the Lord always in front of me. Because He is at my right hand, I will not be moved. ⁹ And so my heart is glad. My soul is full of joy. My body also will rest without fear. ¹⁰ For You will not give me over to the grave. And You will not allow Your Holy One to return to dust. ¹¹ You will show me the way of life. Being with You is to be full of joy. In Your right hand there is happiness forever.

The Lord Speaks to Ahaziah

1 Now Moab turned against Israel after the death of Ahab. ² Ahaziah fell through the window of his second-floor room in Samaria, and lay sick. So he sent men with news, saying to them, “Go and ask Baalzebub the god of Ekron if I will get well again from this sickness.” ³ But the angel of the Lord said to Elijah the Tishbite, “Get up and go meet the men sent from the king of Samaria. Say to them, ‘Are you going to ask Baal-zebub the god of Ekron because there is no God in Israel?’ ⁴ This is what the Lord says. ‘You will not leave the bed on which you lie. You will die for sure.’” Then Elijah left.

⁵ When the men returned to Ahaziah, he said to them, “Why have you returned?” ⁶ They said, “A man came up to meet us. He said to us, ‘Go and return to the king who sent you. Tell him, “This is what the Lord says. ‘Are you asking Baal-zebub the god of Ekron because there is no God in Israel? So you will not leave the bed on which you lie. You will die for sure.’”’” ⁷ Ahaziah said to them, “What kind of man was he who came to meet you and said this to you?” ⁸ They answered, “He was a man with much hair. He wore a piece of leather around his body.” Ahaziah said, “It is Elijah the Tishbite.”

⁹ Then the king sent a captain with fifty of his men to take Elijah. The captain went up to him and saw Elijah sitting on the top of the hill. He said to him, “O man of God, the king says, ‘Come down.’” ¹⁰ Elijah said to the captain of fifty men, “If I am a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and destroy you and your fifty men.” Then fire came down from heaven and destroyed him and his fifty men. ¹¹ So Ahaziah sent to him another captain with fifty men. The captain said to Elijah, “O man of God, the king says, ‘Be quick to come down.’” ¹² Elijah answered them, “If I am a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and destroy you and your fifty men.” Then the fire of God came down from heaven and destroyed him and his fifty men. ¹³ So Ahaziah sent to him a third captain with fifty men. When the third captain of fifty men went up, he came and put his face to the ground in front of Elijah. He begged him and said, “O man of God, I beg you. Let my life and the lives of these fifty servants of yours be of great worth in your eyes. ¹⁴ Fire came down from heaven and destroyed the first two captains with their armies of fifty. But now let my life be of great worth in your eyes.” ¹⁵ The angel of the Lord said to Elijah, “Go down with him. Do not be afraid of him.” So Elijah got up and went with him to the king. ¹⁶ Then Elijah said to Ahaziah, “This is what the Lord says. ‘You have sent men to ask of Baal-zebub the god of Ekron. Is it because there is no God in Israel to ask of His Word? So now you will not leave the bed on which you lie. You will die for sure.’”

⁸ During the time when you did not know God, you worshiped false gods. ⁹ But now that you know God, or should I say that you are known by God, why do you turn back again to the weak old Law? Why do you want to do those religious acts of worship that will keep you from being free? Why do you want to be held under the power of the Law again? ¹⁰ You do special things on certain days and months and years and times of the year. ¹¹ I am afraid my work with you was wasted.

Living by the Law or Being Free

¹² I ask you, Christian brothers, stay free from the Law as I am. Even if I am a Jew, I became free from the Law, just as you who are not Jews. You did no wrong to me. ¹³ You know I preached the Good News to you the first time because of my sickness. ¹⁴ Even though I was hard to look at because of my sickness, you did not turn away from me. You took me in as an angel from God. You took me in as you would have taken in Christ Jesus Himself. ¹⁵ What has become of the happiness you once had? You would have taken out your own eyes if you could have and given them to me. ¹⁶ Do you hate me because I have told you the truth? ¹⁷ Those false teachers are trying to turn your eyes toward them. They do not want you to follow my teaching. What they are doing is not good. ¹⁸ It is good when people help you if they do not hope to get something from it. They should help you all the time, not only when I am with you. ¹⁹ My children, I am suffering birth pain for you again. I will suffer until Christ’s life is in your life. ²⁰ I wish I could be with you now. I wish I could speak to you in a more gentle voice, but I am troubled about you.