Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

74 Unto the end, corrupt not, a psalm of a canticle for Asaph.

² We will praise thee, O God: we will praise, and we will call upon thy name. We will relate thy wondrous works:

³ When I shall take a time, I will judge justices.

⁴ The earth is melted, and all that dwell therein: I have established the pillars thereof.

⁵ I said to the wicked: Do not act wickedly: and to the sinners: Lift not up the horn.

⁶ Lift not up your horn on high: speak not iniquity against God.

⁷ For neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the desert hills:

⁸ For God is the judge. One he putteth down, and another he lifteth up:

⁹ For in the hand of the Lord there is a cup of strong wine full of mixture. And he hath poured it out from this to that: but the dregs thereof are not emptied: all the sinners of the earth shall drink.

¹⁰ But I will declare for ever: I will sing to the God of Jacob.

¹¹ And I will break all the horns of sinners: but the horns of the just shall be exalted.

¹⁷ And when he had seen him, he said: Art thou he that troublest Israel?

¹⁸ And he said: I have not troubled Israel, but thou and thy father's house, who have forsaken the commandments of the Lord, and have followed Baalim.

¹⁹ Nevertheless send now, and gather unto me all Israel, unto mount Carmel, and the prophets of Baal four hundred and fifty, and the prophets of the groves four hundred, who eat at Jezabel's table.

²⁰ Achab sent to all the children of Israel, and gathered together the prophets unto mount Carmel.

²¹ And Elias coming to all the people, said: How long do you halt between two sides? if the Lord be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him. And the people did not answer him a word.

²² And Elias said again to the people: I only remain a prophet of the Lord: but the prophets of Baal are four hundred and fifty men.

²³ Let two bullocks be given us, and let them choose one bullock for themselves, and cut it in pieces and lay it upon wood, but put no fire under: and I will dress the other bullock, and lay it on wood, and put no fire under it.

²⁴ Call ye on the names of your gods, and I will call on the name of my Lord: and the God that shall answer by fire, let him be God. And all the people answering said: A very good proposal.

²⁵ Then Elias said to the prophets of Baal: Choose you one bullock and dress it first, because you are many: and call on the names of your gods, but put no fire under.

²⁶ And they took the bullock which he gave them, and dressed it: and they called on the name of Baal from morning even till noon, saying: O Baal, hear us. But there was no voice, nor any that answered: and they leaped over the altar that they had made.

²⁷ And when it was now noon, Elias jested at them, saying: Cry with a louder voice: for he is a God, and perhaps he is talking, or is in an inn, or on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep, and must be awaked.

²⁸ So they cried with a loud voice, and cut themselves after their manner with knives and lancets, till they were all covered with blood.

²⁹ And after midday was past, and while they were prophesying, the time was come of offering sacrifice, and there was no voice heard, nor did any one answer, nor regard them as they prayed:

³⁰ Elias said to all the people: Come ye unto me. And the people coming near unto him, he repaired the altar of the Lord, that was broken down:

³¹ And he took twelve stones according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord came, saying: Israel shall be thy name.

³² And he built with the stones an altar to the name of the Lord: and he made a trench for water, of the breadth of two furrows round about the altar.

³³ And he laid the wood in order, and cut the bullock in pieces, and laid it upon the wood.

³⁴ And he said: Fill four buckets with water, and pour it upon the burnt offering, and upon the wood. And again he said: Do the same the second time. And when they had done it the second time, he said: Do the same also the third time. And they did so the third time.

³⁵ And the water run round about the altar, and the trench was filled with water.

³⁶ And when it was now time to offer the holocaust, Elias the prophet came near and said: O Lord God of Abraham, and Isaac, and Israel, shew this day that thou art the God of Israel, and I thy servant, and that according to thy commandment I have done all these things.

³⁷ Hear me, O Lord, hear me: that this people may learn, that thou art the Lord God, and that thou hast turned their heart again.

³⁸ Then the fire of the Lord fell, and consumed the holocaust, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench.

³⁹ And when all the people saw this, they fell on their faces, and they said: The Lord he is God, the Lord he is God.

⁴⁰ And Elias said to them: Take the prophets of Baal, and let not one of them escape. And when they had taken them, Elias brought them down to the torrent Cison, and killed them there.

⁷ And when the thousand years shall be finished, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, and shall go forth, and seduce the nations, which are over the four quarters of the earth, Gog, and Magog, and shall gather them together to battle, the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.

⁸ And they came upon the breadth of the earth, and encompassed the camp of the saints, and the beloved city.

⁹ And there came down fire from God out of heaven, and devoured them; and the devil, who seduced them, was cast into the pool of fire and brimstone, where both the beast

¹⁰ And the false prophet shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.

¹¹ And I saw a great white throne, and one sitting upon it, from whose face the earth and heaven fled away, and there was no place found for them.

¹² And I saw the dead, great and small, standing in the presence of the throne, and the books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged by those things which were written in the books, according to their works.

¹³ And the sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and hell gave up their dead that were in them; and they were judged every one according to their works.

¹⁴ And hell and death were cast into the pool of fire. This is the second death.

¹⁵ And whosoever was not found written in the book of life, was cast into the pool of fire.