Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Elijah and the Woman’s Son

¹⁷ After this the son of the woman who owned the house became sick. His sickness was so bad that there was no breath left in him. ¹⁸ So the woman said to Elijah, “What do I have to do with you, O man of God? You have come to me to have my sin be remembered, and to kill my son!” ¹⁹ He said to her, “Give me your son.” Then he took him from her arms and carried him up to the room on the second floor where he stayed. And he laid him on his own bed. ²⁰ He called to the Lord and said, “O Lord my God, have You brought trouble to the woman I am staying with, by making her son die?” ²¹ Then he lay upon the child three times and called to the Lord, saying, “O Lord my God, I pray to You. Let this child’s life return to him.” ²² The Lord heard the voice of Elijah. And the life of the child returned to him and he became strong again. ²³ Elijah took the child and brought him down from the second floor into the house and gave him to his mother. He said, “See, your son is alive.” ²⁴ Then the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God. Now I know that the word of the Lord in your mouth is truth.”

Prayer of Thanks

30 I will lift You up, O Lord, for You have lifted me up. You have not let those who hate me stand over me in joy. ² O Lord my God, I cried to You for help and You healed me. ³ O Lord, You have brought me up from the grave. You have kept me alive, so that I will not go down into the deep. ⁴ Sing praise to the Lord, all you who belong to Him. Give thanks to His holy name. ⁵ For His anger lasts only a short time. But His favor is for life. Crying may last for a night, but joy comes with the new day.

⁶ As for me, when all was going well, I said, “I will never be moved.” ⁷ O Lord, by Your favor You have made my mountain stand strong. But when You hid Your face, I was troubled. ⁸ I cried to You, O Lord. I begged the Lord for loving-kindness. ⁹ What good will come from my blood, if I go down to the grave? Will the dust thank You? Will it tell how You are faithful?

¹⁰ Hear, O Lord. And show me loving-kindness. O Lord, be my Helper. ¹¹ You have turned my crying into dancing.You have taken off my clothes made from hair, and dressed me with joy. ¹² So my soul may sing praise to You, and not be quiet. O Lord my God, I will give thanks to You forever.

¹¹ Christian brothers, I want you to know the Good News I preached to you was not made by man. ¹² I did not receive it from man. No one taught it to me. I received it from Jesus Christ as He showed it to me.

¹³ You have heard of my old life when I followed the Jewish religion. I made it as hard as I could for the Christians and did everything I could to destroy the Christian church. ¹⁴ I had learned more about the Jewish religion than many of the Jews my age. I had a much stronger desire than they to follow the ways of our early fathers. ¹⁵ But God chose me before I was born. By His loving-favor He called me to work for Him. ¹⁶ His Son was to be seen in me. He did this so I could preach about Christ to the people who are not Jews. When this happened, I did not talk to men. ¹⁷ I did not even go to Jerusalem to talk to those who were missionaries before me. Instead, I went to the country of Arabia. Later I returned to the city of Damascus.

¹⁸ Three years later I went to Jerusalem to meet Peter. I stayed with him fifteen days. ¹⁹ I did not see any of the other missionaries except James, the Lord’s brother. ²⁰ I am writing the truth. God knows I am not lying.

²¹ I went from Jerusalem to the countries of Syria and Cilicia. ²² None of the Christians in the churches in the country of Judea had ever seen me. ²³ The only thing they heard was, “The one who tried to destroy the Christian church is now preaching the Good News!” ²⁴ And they gave thanks to God because of me.

The Son of a Woman Whose Husband Had Died Was Raised from the Dead

¹¹ The next day Jesus went to a city called Nain. His followers and many other people went with Him. ¹² When they came near the city gate, a dead man was being carried out. He was the only son of a woman whose husband had died. Many people of the city were with her. ¹³ When the Lord saw her, He had loving-pity for her and said, “Do not cry.” ¹⁴ He went and put His hand on the box in which the dead man was carried. The men who were carrying it, stopped. Jesus said, “Young man, I say to you, get up!” ¹⁵ The man who was dead sat up and began to talk. Then Jesus gave him to his mother. ¹⁶ Everyone was afraid and they gave thanks to God. They said, “A great Man Who speaks for God has come among us! God has cared for His people!” ¹⁷ The news about Jesus went through all the country of Judea and over all the land.