Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Oh That My People Would Listen to Me
For the choir director. According to the Gittith. Of Asaph.
81 (A)Sing for joy to God our (B)strength;
Make a loud (C)shout to the (D)God of Jacob.
2 Lift up a song of praise, strike (E)the tambourine,
The sweet sounding (F)lyre with the (G)harp.
3 Blow the trumpet at the (H)new moon,
At the full moon, on our (I)feast day.
4 For it is a statute for Israel,
(J)A judgment of the God of Jacob.
5 He established it for a testimony in Joseph
When he (K)went forth over the land of Egypt.
I heard a (L)language that I did not know:
6 “I [a](M)relieved his shoulder of the burden,
His hands were freed from the [b]basket.
7 You (N)called in distress and I rescued you;
I (O)answered you in the hiding place of thunder;
I tested you at the (P)waters of Meribah. [c]Selah.
8 (Q)Hear, O My people, and I will testify against you;
O Israel, if you (R)would listen to Me!
9 Let there be no (S)strange god among you;
And you shall not worship a foreign god.
10 (T)I am Yahweh your God,
Who brought you up from the land of Egypt;
(U)Open your mouth wide and I will (V)fill it.
11 “But My people (W)did not listen to My voice,
And Israel was not willing to obey Me.
12 So I (X)released [d]them over to the stubbornness of their heart,
That they would walk in their own devices.
13 Oh that My people (Y)would listen to Me,
That Israel would (Z)walk in My ways!
14 I would quickly (AA)subdue their enemies
And I would (AB)turn My hand against their adversaries.
15 (AC)Those who hate Yahweh would (AD)cower before Him,
And their time of punishment would be forever.
16 [e]But I would feed you with the [f](AE)finest of the wheat,
And with (AF)honey from the rock I would satisfy you.”
A Widow Sustains Elijah
17 Now Elijah the Tishbite, who was of [a](A)the settlers of Gilead, said to Ahab, “(B)As Yahweh, the God of Israel, lives, before whom I stand, surely (C)there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word.” 2 Then the word of Yahweh came to him, saying, 3 “Go away from here and turn eastward, and hide yourself by the brook Cherith, which is [b]east of the Jordan. 4 And it will be that you will drink of the brook, and (D)I have commanded the ravens to sustain you there.” 5 So he went and did according to the word of Yahweh, for he went and lived by the brook Cherith, which is [c]east of the Jordan. 6 And the ravens were bringing him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening, and he would drink from the brook. 7 Now it happened after a while that the brook dried up, because there was no rain in the land.
8 Then the word of Yahweh came to him, saying, 9 “Arise, go to (E)Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and remain there; behold, (F)I have commanded a widow there to sustain you.” 10 So he arose and went to Zarephath, and when he came to the gate of the city, behold, a widow was there gathering sticks; and (G)he called to her and said, “Please get me a little water in a [d]jar, that I may drink.” 11 So she went to get it, and he called to her and said, “Please get me a piece of bread in your hand.” 12 But she said, “(H)As Yahweh your God lives, (I)I have no [e]bread, only a handful of flour in the [f]bowl and a little oil in the jar; and behold, I am gathering [g]a few sticks that I may go in and prepare for me and my son, that we may eat it and (J)die.” 13 Then Elijah said to her, “Do not fear; go, do as you have said, but make me a little bread cake from [h]it first and bring it out to me, and afterward you may make one for yourself and for your son. 14 For thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, ‘The [i]bowl of flour shall not be exhausted, nor shall the jar of oil [j]be empty, until the day that Yahweh sends rain on the face of the earth.’” 15 So she went and did according to the word of Elijah, and she and he and her household ate for many days. 16 The [k]bowl of flour was not exhausted nor did the jar of oil [l]become empty, according to the word of Yahweh which He spoke by the hand of Elijah.
Be Imitators of God
5 (A)Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children, 2 and (B)walk in love, just as Christ also (C)loved [a]us and (D)gave Himself up for us, an (E)offering and a sacrifice to God [b]as a (F)fragrant aroma.
3 But (G)sexual immorality [c]or any impurity or greed must not even be named among you, as is proper among [d]saints; 4 nor (H)filthiness and foolish talk, or coarse jesting, which (I)are not fitting, but rather (J)giving of thanks. 5 For this you know with certainty, that (K)no one sexually immoral or impure or greedy, who is an idolater, has an inheritance in the kingdom (L)of Christ and God.
6 (M)Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things (N)the wrath of God comes upon (O)the sons of disobedience. 7 Therefore do not be (P)partakers with them, 8 for (Q)you were formerly (R)darkness, but now you are light in the Lord; walk as (S)children of light 9 (for (T)the fruit of that light consists in all (U)goodness and righteousness and truth), 10 [e](V)trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord. 11 (W)And do not participate in the unfruitful (X)works of (Y)darkness, but instead even [f](Z)expose them. 12 For it is disgraceful even to speak of the things which are done by them in secret. 13 But all things become visible (AA)when they are [g]exposed by the light, for everything that becomes visible is light. 14 For this reason [h]it says,
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