Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Elijah’s Message to Ahab

18 And it came to pass after ^(A)many days that the word of the Lord came to Elijah, in the third year, saying, “Go, present yourself to Ahab, and ^(B)I will send rain on the earth.”

² So Elijah went to present himself to Ahab; and there was a severe famine in Samaria. ³ And Ahab had called Obadiah, who was ^[a]in charge of his house. (Now Obadiah feared the Lord greatly. ⁴ For so it was, while Jezebel ^[b]massacred the prophets of the Lord, that Obadiah had taken one hundred prophets and hidden them, fifty to a cave, and had fed them with bread and water.) ⁵ And Ahab had said to Obadiah, “Go into the land to all the springs of water and to all the brooks; perhaps we may find grass to keep the horses and mules alive, so that we will not have to kill any livestock.” ⁶ So they divided the land between them to explore it; Ahab went one way by himself, and Obadiah went another way by himself.

⁷ Now as Obadiah was on his way, suddenly Elijah met him; and he ^(C)recognized him, and fell on his face, and said, “Is that you, my lord Elijah?”

⁸ And he answered him, “It is I. Go, tell your master, ‘Elijah is here.’ ”

⁹ So he said, “How have I sinned, that you are delivering your servant into the hand of Ahab, to kill me? ¹⁰ As the Lord your God lives, there is no nation or kingdom where my master has not sent someone to hunt for you; and when they said, ‘He is not here,’ he took an oath from the kingdom or nation that they could not find you. ¹¹ And now you say, ‘Go, tell your master, “Elijah is here” ’! ¹² And it shall come to pass, as soon as I am gone from you, that ^(D)the Spirit of the Lord will carry you to a place I do not know; so when I go and tell Ahab, and he cannot find you, he will kill me. But I your servant have feared the Lord from my youth. ¹³ Was it not reported to my lord what I did when Jezebel killed the prophets of the Lord, how I hid one hundred men of the Lord’s prophets, fifty to a cave, and fed them with bread and water? ¹⁴ And now you say, ‘Go, tell your master, “Elijah is here.” ’ He will kill me!”

¹⁵ Then Elijah said, “As the Lord of hosts lives, before whom I stand, I will surely present myself to him today.”

¹⁶ So Obadiah went to meet Ahab, and told him; and Ahab went to meet Elijah.

Ministering at Berea

¹⁰ Then ^(A)the brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea. When they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews. ¹¹ These were more ^[a]fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and ^(B)searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so. ¹² Therefore many of them believed, and also not a few of the Greeks, prominent women as well as men. ¹³ But when the Jews from Thessalonica learned that the word of God was preached by Paul at Berea, they came there also and stirred up the crowds. ^14 (C)Then immediately the brethren sent Paul away, to go to the sea; but both Silas and Timothy remained there. ¹⁵ So those who conducted Paul brought him to Athens; and ^(D)receiving a command for Silas and Timothy to come to him with all speed, they departed.