Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
125 Those who trust in the Lord are steady as Mount Zion, unmoved by any circumstance.
2 Just as the mountains surround and protect Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds and protects his people. 3 For the wicked shall not rule the godly, lest the godly be forced to do wrong. 4 O Lord, do good to those who are good, whose hearts are right with the Lord; 5 but lead evil men to execution. And let Israel have quietness and peace.
9 When they arrived on the other side Elijah said to Elisha, “What wish shall I grant you before I am taken away?”
And Elisha replied, “Please grant me twice as much prophetic power as you have had.”
10 “You have asked a hard thing,” Elijah replied. “If you see me when I am taken from you, then you will get your request. But if not, then you won’t.”
11 As they were walking along, talking, suddenly a chariot of fire, drawn by horses of fire, appeared and drove between them, separating them, and Elijah was carried by a whirlwind into heaven.
12 Elisha saw it and cried out, “My father! My father! The chariot of Israel and the charioteers!”
As they disappeared from sight he tore his robe. 13-14 Then he picked up Elijah’s cloak and returned to the bank of the Jordan River, and struck the water with it.
“Where is the Lord God of Elijah?” he cried out. And the water parted and Elisha went across!
15 When the young prophets of Jericho saw what had happened, they exclaimed, “The spirit of Elijah rests upon Elisha!” And they went to meet him and greeted him respectfully.
16 “Sir,” they said, “just say the word and fifty of our best athletes will search the wilderness for your master; perhaps the Spirit of the Lord has left him on some mountain or in some ravine.”
“No,” Elisha said, “don’t bother.”
17 But they kept urging until he was embarrassed and finally said, “All right, go ahead.” Then fifty men searched for three days, but didn’t find him.
18 Elisha was still at Jericho when they returned. “Didn’t I tell you not to go?” he growled.
19 Now a delegation of the city officials of Jericho visited Elisha. “We have a problem,” they told him. “This city is located in beautiful natural surroundings, as you can see; but the water is bad and causes our women to have miscarriages.”[a]
20 “Well,” he said, “bring me a new bowl filled with salt.” So they brought it to him.
21 Then he went out to the city well and threw the salt in and declared, “The Lord has healed these waters. They shall no longer cause death or miscarriage.”
22 And sure enough! The water was purified, just as Elisha had said.
17 “Dear brothers, I realize that what you did to Jesus was done in ignorance; and the same can be said of your leaders. 18 But God was fulfilling the prophecies that the Messiah must suffer all these things. 19 Now change your mind and attitude to God and turn to him so he can cleanse away your sins and send you wonderful times of refreshment from the presence of the Lord 20 and send Jesus your Messiah back to you again. 21-22 For he must remain in heaven until the final recovery of all things from sin, as prophesied from ancient times. Moses, for instance, said long ago, ‘The Lord God will raise up a Prophet among you, who will resemble me![a] Listen carefully to everything he tells you. 23 Anyone who will not listen to him shall be utterly destroyed.’[b]
24 “Samuel and every prophet since have all spoken about what is going on today. 25 You are the children of those prophets; and you are included in God’s promise to your ancestors to bless the entire world through the Jewish race—that is the promise God gave to Abraham. 26 And as soon as God had brought his servant to life again, he sent him first of all to you men of Israel, to bless you by turning you back from your sins.”
4 While they were talking to the people, the chief priests, the captain of the Temple police, and some of the Sadducees[c] came over to them, 2 very disturbed that Peter and John were claiming that Jesus had risen from the dead. 3 They arrested them and since it was already evening, jailed them overnight. 4 But many of the people who heard their message believed it, so that the number of believers now reached a new high of about five thousand men!
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.