Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

⁸ Then the word of Yahweh came to him, saying, ⁹ “Get up and go to Zarephath which belongs to Sidon and stay there. Look, I have commanded a woman there, a widow, to sustain you.” ¹⁰ So he arose and went to Zarephath and came to the gate of the city. There was a widow woman gathering wood, so he called to her, and he said, “Please bring a little water for me in a vessel so that I can drink.” ¹¹ She went to fetch it, and he called to her and said, “Please bring me a morsel of bread in your hand.” ¹² She said, “As Yahweh your God lives,^[a] surely I do not have a cake, but only a handful of flour^[b] in the jar and a little olive oil in the jug. Here I am gathering a few pieces of wood, and I will go and prepare it for me and my son, that we might eat it and die.” ¹³ Elijah said to her, “Don’t be afraid. Go and do according to your word; only make for me a small bread cake from it first, and bring it out to me. Make it for yourself and for your son afterward. ¹⁴ For thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel: ‘The jar of flour will not be emptied and the jug of olive oil will not run out until the day Yahweh gives rain on the surface of the earth.’” ¹⁵ So she went and did according to the word of Elijah; then both she and he ate with her household for many days. ¹⁶ The jar of flour was not emptied and the jug of olive oil did not run out, according to the word of Yahweh which he spoke by the hand of Elijah.

Praise to Yahweh for His Help

²⁴ For Christ did not enter into a sanctuary made by hands, a mere copy of the true one, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf, ²⁵ and not in order that he can offer himself many times, as the high priest enters into the sanctuary year by year^[a] with blood not his own, ²⁶ since it would have been necessary for him to suffer many times from the foundation of the world, but now he has appeared once at the end of the ages for the removal of sin by the sacrifice of himself. ²⁷ And just as^[b] it is destined for people to die once, and after this, judgment, ²⁸ thus also Christ, having been offered once in order to bear the sins of many, will appear for the second time without reference to sin to those who eagerly await him for salvation.

Warning to Beware of the Scribes

³⁸ And in his teaching he said, “Beware of the scribes, who like walking around in long robes and greetings in the marketplaces ³⁹ and the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets, ⁴⁰ who devour the houses of widows and pray lengthy prayers for the sake of appearance. These will receive more severe condemnation!”

A Poor Widow’s Offering

⁴¹ And he sat down opposite the contribution box and^[a] was observing how the crowd was putting coins into the contribution box. And many rich people were putting in many coins.^{[b] 42} And one poor widow came and^[c] put in two small copper coins^[d] (that is, a penny).^{[e] 43} And summoning his disciples, he said to them, “Truly I say to you that this poor widow put in more than all those who put offerings^[f] into the contribution box. ⁴⁴ For they all contributed^[g] out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in everything she had, her whole means of subsistence.”