Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

⁹ And there he went into a cave, and spent the night in that place; and behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and He said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

¹⁰ So he said, ^(A)“I have been very ^(B)zealous for the Lord God of hosts; for the children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and ^(C)killed Your prophets with the sword. ^(D)I alone am left; and they seek to take my life.”

God’s Revelation to Elijah

¹¹ Then He said, “Go out, and stand ^(E)on the mountain before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord ^(F)passed by, and ^(G)a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; ¹² and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire ^[a]a still small voice.

¹³ So it was, when Elijah heard it, that ^(H)he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave. ^(I)Suddenly a voice came to him, and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

^14 (J)And he said, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God of hosts; because the children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I alone am left; and they seek to take my life.”

¹⁵ Then the Lord said to him: “Go, return on your way to the Wilderness of Damascus; ^(K)and when you arrive, anoint Hazael as king over Syria. ¹⁶ Also you shall anoint ^(L)Jehu the son of Nimshi as king over Israel. And ^(M)Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel Meholah you shall anoint as prophet in your place. ^17 (N)It shall be that whoever escapes the sword of Hazael, Jehu will ^(O)kill; and whoever escapes the sword of Jehu, ^(P)Elisha will kill. ^18 (Q)Yet I have reserved seven thousand in Israel, all whose knees have not bowed to Baal, ^(R)and every mouth that has not kissed him.”

⁵ For Moses writes about the righteousness which is of the law, ^(A)“The man who does those things shall live by them.” ⁶ But the righteousness of faith speaks in this way, ^(B)“Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’ ” (that is, to bring Christ down from above) ⁷ or, ^(C)“ ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’ ” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). ⁸ But what does it say? ^(D)“The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith which we preach): ⁹ that ^(E)if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. ¹⁰ For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. ¹¹ For the Scripture says, ^(F)“Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.” ¹² For ^(G)there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for ^(H)the same Lord over all ^(I)is rich to all who call upon Him. ¹³ For ^(J)“whoever calls ^(K)on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

Israel Rejects the Gospel

¹⁴ How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear ^(L)without a preacher? ¹⁵ And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written:

Jesus Walks on the Sea^(A)

²² Immediately Jesus ^[a]made His disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side, while He sent the multitudes away. ^23 (B)And when He had sent the multitudes away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray. ^(C)Now when evening came, He was alone there. ²⁴ But the boat was now ^[b]in the middle of the sea, tossed by the waves, for the wind was contrary.

²⁵ Now in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went to them, walking on the sea. ²⁶ And when the disciples saw Him ^(D)walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out for fear.

²⁷ But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, ^[c]“Be of good ^(E)cheer! ^[d]It is I; do not be afraid.”

²⁸ And Peter answered Him and said, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.”

²⁹ So He said, “Come.” And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. ³⁰ But when he saw ^[e]that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, “Lord, save me!”

³¹ And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, “O you of ^(F)little faith, why did you doubt?” ³² And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased.

³³ Then those who were in the boat ^[f]came and worshiped Him, saying, “Truly ^(G)You are the Son of God.”