Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
161 Leaders attack me for no reason,
but I fear your law in my heart.
162 I am as happy over your promises
as if I had found a great treasure.
163 I hate and despise lies,
but I love your teachings.
164 Seven times a day I praise you
for your fair laws.
165 Those who love your teachings will find true peace,
and nothing will defeat them.
166 I am waiting for you to save me, Lord.
I will obey your commands.
167 I obey your rules,
and I love them very much.
168 I obey your orders and rules,
because you know everything I do.
17 At this time the Lord spoke his word 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. 19 Tell Ahab that I, the Lord, say to him, ‘You have 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!’”
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. 21 So the Lord says to you, ‘I will soon destroy you. I will kill you and every male in your family, both slave and free. 22 Your family will be like the family of King Jeroboam son of Nebat and like the family of King Baasha son of Ahijah. I will destroy you, because you have made me angry 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 of Jezreel.’
24 “Anyone in your family who dies in the city will be eaten by dogs, and anyone who dies in the fields will be eaten by birds.”
25 There was no one like Ahab who had chosen so often to do what the Lord said was wrong, because his wife Jezebel influenced him to do evil. 26 Ahab sinned terribly by worshiping idols, just as the Amorite people did. And the Lord had taken away their land and given it to the people of Israel.
27 After Elijah finished speaking, Ahab tore his clothes. He put on rough cloth, fasted, and even slept in the rough cloth to show how sad and upset he was.
28 The Lord spoke his word to Elijah the Tishbite: 29 “I see that Ahab is now sorry for what he has done. So I will not cause the trouble to come to him during his life, but I will wait until his son is king. Then I will bring this trouble to Ahab’s family.”
Warning Against False Teachers
4 My dear friends, many false prophets have gone out into the world. So do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see if they are from God. 2 This is how you can know God’s Spirit: Every spirit who confesses that Jesus Christ came to earth as a human is from God. 3 And every spirit who refuses to say this about Jesus is not from God. It is the spirit of the enemy of Christ, which you have heard is coming, and now he is already in the world.
4 My dear children, you belong to God and have defeated them; because God’s Spirit, who is in you, is greater than the devil, who is in the world. 5 And they belong to the world, so what they say is from the world, and the world listens to them. 6 But we belong to God, and those who know God listen to us. But those who are not from God do not listen to us. That is how we know the Spirit that is true and the spirit that is false.
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.