Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Elisha and the Poisoned Soup

³⁸ Elisha went to Gilgal again. There was a famine in the land. The group of prophets was sitting in front of Elisha. Elisha said to his servant, “Put the large pot on the fire, and make some soup for the group of prophets.”

³⁹ One man went out into the field to gather herbs. He found a wild vine and picked the fruit from it. He put that fruit in his robe and brought it back. He cut up the wild fruit and put it into the pot. But the group of prophets did not know what kind of fruit it was.

⁴⁰ Then they poured some of the soup for the men to eat. But when they began to eat the soup, they shouted out, “Man of God! There’s poison in the pot!” The food tasted like poison, so they could not eat that food.

⁴¹ But Elisha said, “Bring some flour.” He threw the flour into the pot. Then he said, “Pour the soup for the people so that they can eat.”

And there was nothing wrong with the soup.

³¹ While the woman was in town, Jesus’ followers were begging him, “Teacher, eat something!”

³² But Jesus answered, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about.”

³³ So the followers asked themselves, “Did someone already bring him some food?”

³⁴ Jesus said, “My food is to do what the one who sent me wants me to do. My food is to finish the work that he gave me to do. ³⁵ When you plant, you always say, ‘Four more months to wait before we gather the grain.’ But I tell you, open your eyes, and look at the fields. They are ready for harvesting now. ³⁶ Even now, the people who harvest the crop are being paid. They are gathering crops for eternal life. So now the people who plant can be happy together with those who harvest. ³⁷ It is true when we say, ‘One person plants, but another person harvests the crop.’ ³⁸ I sent you to harvest a crop that you did not work for. Others did the work, and you get the profit from their work.”