Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
8 I will listen to what God will say;
surely the Lord will declare peace
to his people, his faithful ones,
and not let them go back to foolish ways.(A)
9 His salvation is very near those who fear him,
so that glory may dwell in our land.(B)
10 Faithful love and truth will join together;
righteousness and peace will embrace.(C)
11 Truth will spring up from the earth,
and righteousness will look down from heaven.(D)
12 Also, the Lord will provide what is good,
and our land will yield its crops.(E)
13 Righteousness will go before him
to prepare the way for his steps.(F)
Elijah’s Message to Ahab
18 After a long time, the word of the Lord(A) came to Elijah in the third year:(B) “Go and present yourself to Ahab.(C) I will send rain on the surface of the land.” 2 So Elijah went to present himself to Ahab.
The famine was severe in Samaria.(D) 3 Ahab called for Obadiah, who was in charge of the palace.(E) Obadiah was a man who greatly feared the Lord(F) 4 and took a hundred prophets and hid them, fifty men to a cave, and provided them with food and water when Jezebel(G) slaughtered the Lord’s prophets.(H) 5 Ahab said to Obadiah, “Go throughout the land to every spring and to every wadi. Perhaps we’ll find grass so we can keep the horses and mules alive and not have to destroy any cattle.”(I) 6 They divided the land between them in order to cover it. Ahab went one way by himself, and Obadiah went the other way by himself.
7 While Obadiah was walking along the road, Elijah suddenly met him.(J) When Obadiah recognized him, he fell facedown and said, “Is it you, my lord Elijah?”
8 “It is I,” he replied. “Go tell your lord, ‘Elijah is here!’” [a]
9 But Obadiah said, “What sin have I committed,(K) that you are handing your servant over to Ahab to put me to death? 10 As the Lord your God lives, there is no nation or kingdom where my lord has not sent someone to search for you. When they said, ‘He is not here,’ he made that kingdom or nation swear they had not found you.
11 “Now you say, ‘Go tell your lord, “Elijah is here!”’ 12 But when I leave you, the Spirit of the Lord may carry you off(L) to some place I don’t know. Then when I go report to Ahab and he doesn’t find you, he will kill me. But I, your servant, have feared the Lord from my youth. 13 Wasn’t it reported to my lord what I did when Jezebel slaughtered the Lord’s prophets? I hid a hundred of the prophets of the Lord, fifty men to a cave, and I provided them with food and water. 14 Now you say, ‘Go tell your lord, “Elijah is here!”’ He will kill me!”
15 Then Elijah said, “As the Lord of Armies lives,(M) in whose presence I stand, today I will present myself to Ahab.”
16 Obadiah went to meet Ahab and told him. Then Ahab went to meet Elijah.
The Bereans Search the Scriptures
10 As soon as it was night, the brothers and sisters sent Paul and Silas away to Berea.(A) Upon arrival, they went into the synagogue of the Jews. 11 The people here were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, since they received the word with eagerness and examined[a] the Scriptures(B) daily to see if these things were so. 12 Consequently, many of them believed, including a number of the prominent Greek women as well as men. 13 But when the Jews from Thessalonica found out that the word of God had been proclaimed by Paul at Berea, they came there too, agitating and upsetting[b] the crowds. 14 Then the brothers and sisters immediately sent Paul away to go to the coast, but Silas and Timothy(C) stayed on there. 15 Those who escorted Paul brought him as far as Athens, and after receiving instructions for Silas and Timothy to come to him as quickly as possible, they departed.(D)
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