Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

A Song of degrees.

¹ ¶ Those that trust in the LORD are as Mount Zion, which cannot be removed but abides for ever.

² As the mountains are round about Jerusalem, so the LORD is round about his people from now on even for ever.

³ For the rod of wickedness shall not rest upon the lot of the righteous because the righteous shall not put forth their hands unto iniquity.

⁴ ¶ Do good, O LORD, unto those that are good and to those that are upright in their hearts.

⁵ As for such as turn aside unto their crooked ways, the LORD shall take them away with the workers of iniquity; and peace shall be upon Israel.

⁹ ¶ And when they had gone over, Elijah said unto Elisha, Ask what I shall do for thee before I am taken away from thee. And Elisha said, I pray thee, let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me.

¹⁰ And he said, Thou hast asked a difficult thing. If thou shalt see me when I am taken from thee, it shall be so unto thee, but if not, it shall not be so.

¹¹ And it came to pass, as they still went on and talked, that, behold, a chariot of fire with horses of fire separated the two, and Elijah went up into heaven in a whirlwind.

¹² And as Elisha saw it, he cried, My father, my father, the chariot of Israel and the horsemen thereof. And he saw him no more, and he took hold of his own clothes and rent them in two pieces.

¹³ ¶ And lifting up the mantle of Elijah that had fallen from him, he went back and stood by the bank of the Jordan.

¹⁴ And taking up the mantle of Elijah that had fallen from him, he smote the waters, and said, Where is the LORD God of Elijah? And when he smote the waters, they separated to one side and the other, and Elisha went over.

¹⁵ And seeing him, the sons of the prophets who were at Jericho said, The spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha. And they came to meet him and bowed themselves to the ground before him.

¹⁶ And they said unto him, Behold now, there are fifty strong men with thy slaves; let them go and seek thy master; peradventure the Spirit of the LORD has taken him up and cast him upon some mountain or into some valley. And he said, Do not send them.

¹⁷ But when they urged him until he was ashamed, he said, Send. They sent therefore fifty men, and they sought him three days, but did not find him.

¹⁸ And when they came again to him (for he tarried at Jericho), he said unto them, Did I not tell you to not go?

¹⁹ ¶ And the men of the city said unto Elisha, Behold, the seat of this city is good, as my lord sees, but the water is evil, and the ground barren.

²⁰ Then he said, Bring me a new cruse and put salt in it. And they brought it to him.

²¹ And he went forth unto the springs of the waters and cast the salt in there and said, Thus hath the LORD said, I have healed these waters; there shall be no more death or barrenness in them.

²² So the waters were healed unto this day, according to the word which Elisha spoke.

¹⁷ And now, brethren, I know that through ignorance ye did it as did also your princes.

¹⁸ But God has thus fulfilled those things which he had showed in advance by the mouth of all his prophets, that his Christ should suffer.

¹⁹ Repent ye therefore and be converted that your sins may be blotted out, for the times of refreshing of the presence of the Lord are come;

²⁰ who has sent Jesus Christ, who before was preached unto you,

²¹ whom it is certainly necessary that the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the age began.

²² For Moses truly said unto the fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things doing whatever he shall say unto you.

²³ And it shall come to pass that every soul which will not hear that prophet shall be destroyed from among the people.

²⁴ And all the prophets from Samuel and those that follow after, as many as have spoken, have likewise foretold of these days.

²⁵ Ye are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying unto Abraham, And in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed.

²⁶ Unto you first, God, having raised up his Son Jesus, sent him to bless you, that each one of you might turn from his iniquities.

4 ¶ And as they spoke unto the people, the priests and the captain of the temple and the Sadducees came upon them,

² resentful that they taught the people and preached through Jesus the resurrection from the dead.

³ And they laid hands on them and put them in jail unto the next day, for it was now evening.

⁴ But many of those who heard the word believed, and the number of the men was about five thousand.