Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
God Protects Those Who Trust Him
A song for going up to worship.
125 Those who trust the Lord are like Mount Zion.
It sits unmoved forever.
2 The mountains surround Jerusalem.
And the Lord surrounds his people
now and forever.
3 The wicked will not rule
over those who do right.
If they did, the people who do right
might use their power to do evil.
4 Lord, be good to those who are good,
whose hearts are honest.
5 But, Lord, when you punish those who do evil,
also punish those who stop following you.
Let there be peace in Israel.
9 After they had crossed over, Elijah said to Elisha, “What can I do for you before I am taken from you?”
Elisha said, “Leave me a double share of your spirit.”[a]
10 Elijah said, “You have asked a hard thing. But if you see me when I am taken from you, it will be yours. If you don’t, it won’t happen.”
11 Elijah and Elisha were still walking and talking. Then a chariot and horses of fire appeared. The chariot and horses of fire separated Elijah from Elisha. Then Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind. 12 Elisha saw it and shouted, “My father! My father! The chariots of Israel and their horsemen!” Elisha did not see him anymore. Elisha grabbed his own clothes and tore them to show how sad he was.
13 He picked up Elijah’s coat that had fallen from him. Then Elisha returned and stood on the bank of the Jordan. 14 Elisha hit the water with Elijah’s coat. He said, “Where is the Lord, the God of Elijah?” When he hit the water, it divided to the right and to the left. Then Elisha crossed over.
15 A group of the prophets at Jericho were watching. They said, “Elisha now has the spirit Elijah had.” They came to meet him. And they bowed down to the ground before him. 16 They said to him, “There are 50 strong men with us! Please let them go and look for your master. Maybe the Spirit of the Lord has taken Elijah up and set him down. He may be on some mountain or in some valley.”
But Elisha answered, “No. Don’t send them.”
17 The group of prophets begged Elisha until he hated to refuse them anymore. Then he said, “Send them.” So they sent 50 men who looked for three days. But they could not find Elijah. 18 Then they came back to Elisha at Jericho where he was staying. He said to them, “I told you not to go, didn’t I?”
Elisha Makes the Water Pure
19 The men of the city said to Elisha, “Look, master, this city is a nice place to live. You can see that. But the water is bad. That’s why the land cannot grow crops.”
20 Elisha said, “Bring me a new bowl and put salt in it.” So they brought it to him.
21 Then Elisha went out to the spring of water and threw the salt in it. He said, “This is what the Lord says: ‘I have healed this water. From now on it won’t cause death. And it won’t keep the land from growing crops.’” 22 The water was healed. It is still good today. It happened just as Elisha had said.
17 “Brothers, I know you did those things to Jesus because you did not understand what you were doing. Your leaders did not understand either. 18 God said this would happen. He said through the prophets that his Christ would suffer and die. And now God has made these things come true in this way. 19 So you must change your hearts and lives! Come back to God, and he will forgive your sins. 20 Then the Lord will give you times of spiritual rest. He will give you Jesus, the One he chose to be the Christ. 21 But Jesus must stay in heaven until the time comes when all things will be made right again. God told about this time long ago when he spoke through his holy prophets. 22 Moses said, ‘The Lord your God will give you a prophet like me. He will be one of your own people. You must obey everything he tells you. 23 Anyone who does not obey him will die, separated from God’s people.’[a] 24 Samuel, and all the other prophets who spoke for God after Samuel, told about this time now. 25 You have received what the prophets talked about. You have received the agreement God made with your ancestors. He said to your father Abraham, ‘Through your descendants all the nations on the earth will be blessed.’[b] 26 God has raised up his servant and sent him to you first. He sent Jesus to bless you by turning each of you away from doing evil things.”
Peter and John at the Council
4 While Peter and John were speaking to the people, a group of men came up to them. There were Jewish priests, the captain of the soldiers that guarded the Temple, and some Sadducees. 2 They were upset because the two apostles were teaching the people. Peter and John were preaching that people will rise from death through the power of Jesus. 3 The Jewish leaders grabbed Peter and John and put them in jail. It was already night, so they kept them in jail until the next day. 4 But many of those who heard Peter and John preach believed the things they said. There were now about 5,000 men in the group of believers.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.