Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Maschil of Asaph.
1 ¶ O God, why hast thou cast us off for ever? Why does thine anger smoke against the sheep of thy pasture?
2 Remember thy congregation, which thou hast purchased of old; the rod of thine inheritance, which thou hast redeemed, this Mount Zion, in which thou hast dwelt.
3 Lift up thy feet unto the eternal desolations, unto every enemy who has done wickedly in the sanctuary.
4 Thine enemies have roared in the midst of thy assemblies; they set up their own banners for signs.
5 Renowned, as one on the way to heaven, he who lifted up axes upon the thick trees for the work of the sanctuary.
6 But now they break down all the carved work thereof with axes and hammers.
7 They have set fire to thy sanctuaries; they have defiled the tabernacle of thy name in the earth.
8 They said in their hearts, Let us destroy them at once; they have burned up all the meeting places of the people of God in the earth.
9 We no longer see our own banners; there is no longer any prophet: neither is there among us any that knows. How long shall this be?
10 O God, how long shall the adversary reproach? Shall the enemy blaspheme thy name for ever?
11 Why dost thou withdraw thy hand, even thy right hand? Why dost thou hide it in thy bosom.
12 ¶ For God is my King from of old, he who works saving health in the midst of the earth.
13 Thou didst divide the sea by thy strength; thou didst break the heads of the dragons in the waters.
14 Thou didst break the heads of leviathan in pieces and didst give him to be food to the people inhabiting the wilderness.
15 Thou didst cleave the fountain and the river; thou didst dry up mighty rivers.
16 The day is thine, the night also is thine; thou hast prepared the light and the sun.
17 Thou hast set all the borders of the earth; thou hast made summer and winter.
18 ¶ Remember this, that the enemy has spoken against the LORD and that the foolish people have blasphemed thy name.
19 O deliver not the soul of thy turtledove unto the beasts; forget not the congregation of thy poor for ever.
20 Have respect unto the covenant; for the dark places of the earth are full of the habitations of violence.
21 O let not the oppressed return ashamed; the poor and destitute shall praise thy name.
22 Arise, O God, plead thine own cause; remember how the foolish man reproaches thee daily.
23 Forget not the voices of thine enemies; the tumult of those that rise up against thee increases continually.
17 ¶ And it came to pass when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said unto him, Art thou he that troubles Israel?
18 And he answered, I have not troubled Israel; but thou and thy father’s house, in that ye have forsaken the commandments of the LORD, and thou hast followed Baalim.
19 Now therefore send and gather to me all Israel unto Mount Carmel, and the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal, and the four hundred prophets of the groves, who eat at Jezebel’s table.
20 Then Ahab sent unto all the sons of Israel and gathered the prophets together unto Mount Carmel.
21 ¶ And Elijah came near unto all the people and said, How long shall ye halt between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him. And the people did not answer him a word.
22 Then Elijah spoke again unto the people, I, even I only, remain a prophet of the LORD; but Baal’s prophets are four hundred and fifty men.
23 Give us, therefore, two bullocks, and let them choose one bullock for themselves and cut it in pieces and lay it on wood and put no fire under it; and I will dress the other bullock and lay it on wood and put no fire under it.
24 And invoke ye in the name of your gods, and I will invoke in the name of the LORD; and it shall be that the God that answers by fire is God. And all the people answered and said, It is well spoken.
25 So Elijah said unto the prophets of Baal, Choose you one bullock for yourselves and dress it first, for ye are many, and invoke in the name of your gods, but put no fire under it.
26 And they took the bullock which was given them, and they dressed it and invoked in the name of Baal from morning even until noon, saying, O Baal, answer us. But there was no voice nor anyone that answered. And they jumped up and down near the altar which they had made.
27 And it came to pass at noon that Elijah mocked them and said, Cry aloud, for he is a god; peradventure he is talking or he had to go to the latrine, or he is on a journey, or he sleeps and will awake.
28 And they cried aloud and cut themselves after their manner with knives and lancets until the blood gushed out upon them.
29 And when midday was past, even so they prophesied until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, and there was neither voice nor anyone that answered nor anyone that heard.
30 Then Elijah said unto all the people, Come near unto me. And all the people came near unto him. And he repaired the altar of the LORD that was broken down.
31 And Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, unto whom the word of the LORD came, saying, Israel shall be thy name;
32 and with the stones he built an altar in the name of the LORD; then he made a trench round about the altar, as great as would contain two measures of seed.
33 And he put the wood in order and cut the bullock in pieces and laid it on the wood and said, Fill four pitchers with water and pour it on the burnt sacrifice and on the wood.
34 And he said, Do it the second time, and they did it the second time. And he said, Do it the third time, and they did it the third time.
35 So that the water ran round about the altar, and he had filled the trench also with water.
36 And it came to pass at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near and said, LORD God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Israel, let it be known this day that thou art God in Israel and that I am thy slave and that I have done all these things at thy word.
37 Answer me, O LORD, answer me, that this people may know that thou art the LORD God and that thou shalt convert their heart back again to thee.
38 Then fire of the LORD fell, which consumed the burnt sacrifice and the wood and the stones and the dust and licked up the water that was in the trench.
39 And seeing it, all the people fell on their faces, and they said, The LORD, he is the God; the LORD, he is the God.
40 And Elijah said unto them, Seize the prophets of Baal; let not one of them escape. And they seized them; and Elijah took them down to the brook Kishon and slew them there.
7 And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison
8 and shall go out to deceive the Gentiles which are upon the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle; the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.
9 And they went up on the breadth of the earth and compassed the camp of the saints about and the beloved city; and fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them.
10 And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and they shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.
11 ¶ And I saw a great white throne and him that was seated upon it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and their place was not found.
12 And I saw the dead, great and small, stand before God; 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 which were in it; and death and Hades delivered up the dead which were in them; and the judgment of each one was according to their works.
14 And Hades and death were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.
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