Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Psalm 81[a]
An Admonition to Fidelity
1 For the leader; “upon the gittith.”[b] Of Asaph.
I
2 Sing joyfully to God our strength;(A)
raise loud shouts to the God of Jacob!
3 Take up a melody, sound the timbrel,
the pleasant lyre with a harp.
4 [c]Blow the shofar at the new moon,
at the full moon, on our solemn feast.(B)
5 For this is a law for Israel,
an edict of the God of Jacob,(C)
6 He made it a decree for Joseph
when he came out of the land of Egypt.
II
7 [d]I heard a tongue I did not know:
“I removed his shoulder from the burden;[e]
his hands moved away from the basket.(D)
8 In distress you called and I rescued you;
I answered you in secret with thunder;
At the waters of Meribah[f] I tested you:(E) 9 ‘Listen, my people, I will testify against you
Selah
If only you will listen to me, Israel!(F)
10 There shall be no foreign god among you;[g](G)
you shall not bow down to an alien god.
11 ‘I am the Lord your God,
who brought you up from the land of Egypt.
Open wide your mouth that I may fill it.’
12 But my people did not listen to my words;
Israel would not submit to me.
13 So I thrust them away to the hardness of their heart;
‘Let them walk in their own machinations.’(H)
14 O that my people would listen to me,
that Israel would walk in my ways,(I)
15 In a moment I would humble their foes,
and turn back my hand against their oppressors.(J)
16 Those who hate the Lord will try flattering him,
but their fate is fixed forever.
17 But Israel I will feed with the finest wheat,
I will satisfy them with honey from the rock.”(K)
IV. The Story of Elijah[a]
Chapter 17
Elijah Proclaims a Drought.[b] 1 Elijah the Tishbite,[c](A) from Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab: “As the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, during these years there shall be no dew or rain except at my word.” 2 The word of the Lord came to Elijah: 3 Leave here, go east and hide in the Wadi Cherith, east of the Jordan. 4 You shall drink of the wadi, and I have commanded ravens to feed you there. 5 So he left and did as the Lord had commanded. He left and remained by the Wadi Cherith, east of the Jordan. 6 (B)Ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the wadi.
7 After some time, however, the wadi ran dry, because no rain had fallen in the land. 8 (C)So the word of the Lord came to him: 9 Arise, go to Zarephath of Sidon and stay there. I have commanded a widow there to feed you. 10 He arose and went to Zarephath. When he arrived at the entrance of the city, a widow was there gathering sticks; he called out to her, “Please bring me a small cupful of water to drink.” 11 She left to get it, and he called out after her, “Please bring along a crust of bread.” 12 She said, “As the Lord, your God, lives, I have nothing baked; there is only a handful of flour in my jar and a little oil in my jug. Just now I was collecting a few sticks, to go in and prepare something for myself and my son; when we have eaten it, we shall die.” 13 Elijah said to her, “Do not be afraid. Go and do as you have said. But first make me a little cake and bring it to me. Afterwards you can prepare something for yourself and your son. 14 For the Lord, the God of Israel, says: The jar of flour shall not go empty, nor the jug of oil run dry, until the day when the Lord sends rain upon the earth.” 15 She left and did as Elijah had said. She had enough to eat for a long time—he and she and her household. 16 The jar of flour did not go empty, nor the jug of oil run dry, according to the word of the Lord spoken through Elijah.
Chapter 5
1 So be imitators of God,[a] as beloved children,(A) 2 and live in love, as Christ loved us and handed himself over for us as a sacrificial offering to God for a fragrant aroma.(B) 3 Immorality or any impurity or greed must not even be mentioned among you, as is fitting among holy ones,(C) 4 no obscenity or silly or suggestive talk, which is out of place, but instead, thanksgiving.(D) 5 Be sure of this, that no immoral or impure or greedy person, that is, an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.(E)
Duty to Live in the Light. 6 (F)Let no one deceive you with empty arguments, for because of these things the wrath of God is coming upon the disobedient.[b] 7 So do not be associated with them. 8 For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light,(G) 9 for light produces every kind of goodness and righteousness and truth.(H) 10 Try to learn what is pleasing to the Lord.(I) 11 Take no part in the fruitless works of darkness; rather expose them,(J) 12 for it is shameful even to mention the things done by them in secret; 13 but everything exposed by the light becomes visible,(K) 14 for everything that becomes visible is light. Therefore, it says:(L)
“Awake, O sleeper,
and arise from the dead,
and Christ will give you light.”[c]
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.