Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
161 Leaders ·attack [pursue] me for no reason,
but ·I fear your law in my heart [L my heart fears your words].
162 I ·am as happy over [delight in] your promises
as if I had found ·a great treasure [much plunder].
163 I hate and ·despise [loathe] lies,
but I love your ·teachings [instructions; laws].
164 Seven times a day I praise you
for your ·fair laws [righteous judgments].
165 Those who love your ·teachings [instructions; laws] will find ·true peace [or much prosperity],
and nothing will ·defeat them [make them stumble].
166 I am ·waiting [hoping] for ·you to save me [L your salvation/victory], Lord.
I will ·obey [L do] your commands.
167 I ·obey [keep; guard] your ·rules [decrees; testimonies],
and I love them very much.
168 I ·obey [keep; guard] your ·orders [precepts] and ·rules [decrees; testimonies],
because ·you know everything I do [L all my ways are before you].
17 At this time the ·Lord spoke his word [L word of the Lord came] to the prophet Elijah the Tishbite. The Lord said, 18 “Go to Ahab king of Israel in Samaria. He is at Naboth’s vineyard, where he has gone to take ·it as his own [possession of it]. 19 Tell Ahab that I, the Lord, say to him, ‘·You have [L Have you not…?] murdered Naboth and taken his land. So I tell you this: In the same place the dogs licked up Naboth’s blood, they will also lick up your blood [1 Kin. 22:37–38]!’”
20 When Ahab saw Elijah, he said, “So you have found me, my enemy!”
Elijah answered, “Yes, I have found you. You ·have always chosen to do what the Lord says is wrong [L sold yourself to do evil in the eyes/sight of the Lord]. 21 So the Lord says to you, ‘I will ·soon destroy you [bring evil/disaster on you]. I will ·kill you [sweep you away] and ·every [L cut off every] ·male [L one who urinates against the wall] in your ·family [L house], both slave and free. 22 Your ·family [L house] will be like the ·family [L house] of King Jeroboam son of Nebat and like the ·family [L house] of King Baasha son of Ahijah. I will destroy you, because you have ·made me angry [provoked/aroused me to anger] and have led the people of Israel to sin.’
23 “And the Lord also says, ‘Dogs will eat the body of Jezebel in the ·city [fields; boundaries] of Jezreel [2 Kin. 9:30–37].’
24 “Anyone in Ahab’s ·family [L house] who dies in the city will be eaten by dogs, and anyone who dies in the ·fields [country] will be eaten by ·birds [vultures; L birds of the air/sky; 16:4].”
25 There was no one like Ahab who ·had chosen so often [L sold himself] to do ·what the Lord said was wrong [L evil in the eyes/sight of the Lord], ·because his wife Jezebel influenced him to do evil [urged on by his wife Jezebel]. 26 Ahab ·sinned terribly [acted most detestably/abominably] by ·worshiping [following; going after] idols, just as the Amorites did. And the Lord had ·taken away their land and given it to [driven them out before] the people of Israel.
27 After Elijah finished speaking, Ahab tore his clothes. He put on ·rough cloth [sackcloth; burlap; C indicating sorrow and contrition] and fasted, and even slept in ·the rough cloth [sackcloth; burlap] and walked about ·dejectedly [despondently; with slow steps].
28 The ·Lord spoke his word [L word of the Lord came] to Elijah the Tishbite: 29 “·I see that [L Have you seen how…?] Ahab ·is now sorry for what he has done [has now humbled himself before me]. So I will not ·cause the trouble to come to him during his life [L bring this evil/disaster on him during his days], but I will wait until his son is king. Then I will bring this ·trouble [evil; disaster] to Ahab’s ·family [L house].”
Warning Against False Teachers
4 ·My dear friends [L Beloved], many false prophets [Deut. 13:1–5; 18:14–22; Mark 13:22] have gone out into the world. So do not ·believe [trust] every spirit, but test the spirits to see if they are from God [C the false teachers evidently claimed that their teaching was from the Spirit; 1 Cor. 12:1–3; 14:29; 1 Thess. 5:19–21]. 2 This is how you can ·know [recognize] God’s Spirit: Every spirit [C a teacher/prophet claiming inspiration from the Spirit] who ·confesses [acknowledges] that Jesus Christ came ·to earth as a human [L in the flesh] is from God. 3 And every spirit who ·refuses to say this about Jesus [L does not confess/acknowledge Jesus] is not from God [2 John 7]. It is the spirit of the ·enemy of Christ [L antichrist; 2:18, 22], which you have heard is coming, and now he is already in the world.
4 ·My dear children [2:1], you ·belong to [L are from] God and have ·defeated [conquered; overcome] them [C the antichrists/false teachers]; because ·God’s Spirit, who is in you, is greater than the devil, who is in the world [L that which is in you is greater than that which is in the world]. 5 And they ·belong to [L are from] the world, so what they say is from the world, and the world ·listens to [hears; obeys] them. 6 But we ·belong to [are from] God, and those who know God ·listen to [hear; obey] us. But those who are not from God do not ·listen to [hear; obey] us. That is how we ·know [recognize] the Spirit that is true and the spirit that ·is false [deceives; errs].
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