Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

A song for going up to the Temple.

⁹ After they crossed the river, Elijah said to Elisha, “What do you want me to do for you before God takes me away from you?”

Elisha said, “I ask you for a double share of your spirit on me.”

¹⁰ Elijah said, “You have asked a hard thing. If you see me when I am taken from you, it will happen. But if you don’t see me when I am taken from you, it will not happen.”

The Lord Takes Elijah Into Heaven

¹¹ Elijah and Elisha were walking and talking together. Suddenly, some horses and a chariot came and separated Elijah from Elisha. The horses and the chariot were like fire. Then Elijah was carried up into heaven in a whirlwind.

¹² Elisha saw it, and shouted, “My father! My father! The chariot of Israel and his horses!^[a]”

Elisha never saw Elijah again. Elisha grabbed his own clothes and tore them in two to show his sadness. ¹³ Elijah’s coat had fallen to the ground, so Elisha picked it up. He went back and stood at the edge of the Jordan River. ¹⁴ He hit the water and said, “Where is the Lord, the God of Elijah?” Just as Elisha hit the water, the water separated to the right and to the left! Then Elisha crossed the river.

The Prophets Ask for Elijah

¹⁵ When the group of prophets at Jericho saw Elisha, they said, “Elijah’s spirit is now on Elisha!” They came to meet Elisha. They bowed very low to the ground before him. ¹⁶ They said, “Look, we have 50 good men. Please let them go and look for your master. Maybe the Lord’s Spirit has taken Elijah up and dropped him on some mountain or in some valley.”

But Elisha answered, “No, don’t send men to look for Elijah!”

¹⁷ The group of prophets begged Elisha until he was embarrassed. Then Elisha said, “Send the men to look for Elijah.”

The group of prophets sent the 50 men to look for Elijah. They looked three days, but they could not find him. ¹⁸ So the men went to Jericho where Elisha was staying and told him. Elisha said to them, “I told you not to go.”

Elisha Makes the Water Good

¹⁹ The men of the city said to Elisha, “Sir, you can see this city is in a nice place, but the water is bad. That is why the land cannot grow crops.”

²⁰ Elisha said, “Bring me a new bowl and put salt in it.”

They brought the bowl to Elisha. ²¹ Then he went out to the place where the water began flowing from the ground. Elisha threw the salt into the water and said, “The Lord said, ‘I am making this water pure! From now on this water will not cause any more death or keep the land from growing crops.’”

²² The water became pure and is still good today. It happened just as Elisha had said.

¹⁷ “My brothers, I know that what you did to Jesus was done because you did not understand what you were doing. And your leaders did not understand any more than you did. ¹⁸ But God said these things would happen. Through the prophets he said that his Messiah would suffer and die. I have told you how God made this happen. ¹⁹ So you must change your hearts and lives. Come back to God, and he will forgive your sins. ²⁰ Then the Lord will give you times of spiritual rest. He will send you Jesus, the one he chose to be the Messiah.

²¹ “But Jesus must stay in heaven until the time when all things will be made right again. God told about this time when he spoke long ago through his holy prophets. ²² Moses said, ‘The Lord your God will give you a prophet. That prophet will come from among your own people. He will be like me. You must obey everything he tells you. ²³ And anyone who refuses to obey that prophet will die, separated from God’s people.’^[a]

²⁴ “Samuel, and all the other prophets who spoke for God after Samuel, said that this time would come. ²⁵ And what those prophets talked about is for you, their descendants. You have received the agreement that God made with your fathers. God said to your father Abraham, ‘Every nation on earth will be blessed through your descendants.’^{[b] 26} God has sent his special servant Jesus. He sent him to you first. He sent him to bless you by causing each of you to turn away from your evil ways.”

The Apostles and the Jewish High Council

4 While Peter and John were speaking to the people, some Jewish leaders came up to them. There were some priests, the captain of the soldiers that guarded the Temple, and some Sadducees. ² They were upset because of what Peter and John were teaching the people. By telling people about Jesus, the apostles were teaching that people will rise from death. ³ The Jewish leaders arrested Peter and John and put them in jail. It was already night, so they kept them in jail until the next day. ⁴ But many of the people who heard the apostles believed what they said. There were now about 5000 men in the group of believers.