Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

The Lord Surrounds His People.

A Song of Ascents.

Obadiah Meets Elijah

18 Now it happened ^(A)after 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 provide rain on the face of the earth.” ² So Elijah went to present himself to Ahab. Now the famine was severe in Samaria. ³ Ahab summoned Obadiah, ^(C)who was in charge of the household. (Now Obadiah ^[a](D)feared the Lord greatly; ⁴ for ^(E)when Jezebel killed the prophets of the Lord, Obadiah took a hundred prophets and hid them by fifties in a cave, and ^(F)provided them with bread and water.) ⁵ Then Ahab said to Obadiah, “Go through the land to all the springs of water and to all the river valleys; perhaps we will find grass and keep the horses and mules alive, and not have to kill some of the cattle.” ⁶ So they divided the land between them to ^[b]survey it; Ahab went one way by himself, and Obadiah went another way by himself.

⁷ Now as Obadiah was on the way, behold, Elijah met him, ^(G)and he recognized him and fell on his face and said, “Is it you, Elijah my master?” ⁸ And he said to him, “It is I. Go, say to your master, ‘Behold, Elijah is here.’” ⁹ But he said, “What ^[c]sin have I committed, that you are handing your servant over to Ahab, to put me to death? ^10 (H)As surely as the Lord your God lives, there is no nation or kingdom to which my master has not sent word to search for you; and whenever they say, ‘He is not here,’ he makes the kingdom or nation swear that they could not find you. ¹¹ Yet now you are saying, ‘Go, say to your master, “Behold, Elijah is here!”’ ¹² And it will come about when I leave you ^(I)that the Spirit of the Lord will carry you to where I do not know; so when I come and inform Ahab and he cannot find you, he will kill me, though I, your servant, have ^[d]feared the Lord from my youth. ^13 (J)Has it not been reported to my master what I did when Jezebel killed the prophets of the Lord, that I hid a hundred ^[e]prophets of the Lord by fifties in a cave, and provided them with bread and water? ¹⁴ Yet now you are saying, ‘Go, say to your master, “Behold, Elijah is here”’; he will then kill me!” ¹⁵ Then Elijah said, “^(K)As surely as the Lord of armies lives, before whom I stand, I will certainly present myself to him today.” ¹⁶ So Obadiah went to meet Ahab and informed him; then Ahab went to meet Elijah.

¹⁷ When Ahab saw Elijah, ^(L)Ahab said to him, “Is this you, the cause of disaster to Israel?” ¹⁸ He said, “I have not brought disaster to Israel, but you and your father’s house have, because ^(M)you have abandoned the commandments of the Lord and ^(N)you have followed the Baals.

The Armor of God

¹⁰ Finally, ^(A)be strong in the Lord and in ^(B)the strength of His might. ^11 (C)Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the ^(D)schemes of the devil. ¹² For our ^(E)struggle is not against ^[a](F)flesh and blood, but ^(G)against the rulers, against the powers, against the ^(H)world forces of this ^(I)darkness, against the ^(J)spiritual forces of wickedness in ^(K)the heavenly places. ¹³ Therefore, take up ^(L)the full armor of God, so that you will be able to ^(M)resist on ^(N)the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. ¹⁴ Stand firm therefore, ^(O)having belted your waist with truth, and having ^(P)put on the breastplate of righteousness, ¹⁵ and having ^(Q)strapped on your feet the preparation of the gospel of peace; ^16 [b]in addition to all, taking up the ^(R)shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the ^(S)flaming arrows of ^(T)the evil one. ¹⁷ And take ^(U)the helmet of salvation and the ^(V)sword of the Spirit, which is ^(W)the word of God.