Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
God’s Goodness and Israel’s Waywardness.
For the music director; [a]on the Gittith. A Psalm of Asaph.
81 (A)Sing for joy to God our (B)strength;
Shout (C)joyfully to the (D)God of Jacob.
2 Raise a song, strike (E)the tambourine,
The sweet sounding (F)lyre with the (G)harp.
3 Blow the trumpet at the (H)new moon,
At the full moon, on our (I)feast day.
4 For it is a statute for Israel,
An ordinance of the God of Jacob.
5 He established it as a testimony in Joseph
When he [b](J)went throughout the land of Egypt.
I heard a (K)language I did not know:
6 “I [c](L)relieved his shoulder of the burden,
His hands were freed from the [d]basket.
7 You (M)called in trouble and I rescued you;
I (N)answered you in the hiding place of thunder;
I put you to the test at the (O)waters of Meribah. Selah
8 (P)Hear, My people, and I will admonish you;
Israel, if you (Q)would listen to Me!
9 There shall be no (R)strange god among you;
Nor shall you worship a foreign god.
10 (S)I, the Lord, am your God,
Who brought you up from the land of Egypt;
(T)Open your mouth wide and I will (U)fill it.
11 “But My people (V)did not listen to My voice,
And Israel did not [e]obey Me.
12 So I (W)gave [f]them over to the stubbornness of their heart,
To walk by their own plans.
13 Oh that My people (X)would listen to Me,
That Israel would (Y)walk in My ways!
14 I would quickly (Z)subdue their enemies
And (AA)turn My hand against their adversaries.
15 (AB)Those who hate the Lord would (AC)pretend to obey Him,
And their time of punishment would be forever.
16 [g]But I would feed you with the [h](AD)finest of the wheat,
And with (AE)honey from the rock I would satisfy you.”
Elijah Predicts Drought
17 Now Elijah the Tishbite, who was of [a](A)the settlers of Gilead, said to Ahab, “(B)As the Lord, the God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, (C)there shall certainly be neither dew nor rain during these years, except by my word.” 2 Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, 3 “Go away from here and turn eastward, and hide yourself by the brook Cherith, which is [b]east of the Jordan. 4 And it shall be that you will drink from the brook, and (D)I have commanded the ravens to provide food for you there.” 5 So he went and did everything according to the word of the Lord, for he went and lived by the brook Cherith, which is [c]east of the Jordan. 6 And the ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening, and he would drink from the brook. 7 But it happened after a while that the brook dried up, because there was no rain in the land.
8 Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, 9 “Arise, go to (E)Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and stay there; behold, (F)I have commanded a widow there to provide food for you.” 10 So he arose and went to Zarephath, and when he came to the entrance of the city, behold, a widow was there gathering sticks; and (G)he called to her and said, “Please get me a little water in a [d]cup, so that I may drink.” 11 As she was going to get it, he called to her and said, “Please bring me a piece of bread in your hand.” 12 But she said, “(H)As the Lord your God lives, (I)I have no food, only a handful of flour in the [e]bowl and a little oil in the jar; and behold, I am gathering [f]a few sticks so that I may go in and prepare it for me and my son, so that we may [g]eat it and (J)die.” 13 However, Elijah said to her, “Do not fear; go, do as you have said. Just make me a little bread loaf from [h]it first and bring it out to me, and afterward you may make one for yourself and for your son. 14 For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel says: ‘The [i]bowl of flour shall not be used up, nor shall the jar of oil become empty, until the day that the Lord provides rain on the face of the earth.’” 15 So she went and did everything in accordance with the word of Elijah, and she and he and her household ate for many days. 16 The [j]bowl of flour was not used up, nor did the jar of oil become empty, in accordance with the word of the Lord which He spoke through Elijah.
Be Imitators of God
5 (A)Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; 2 and (B)walk in love, just as Christ also (C)loved [a]you and (D)gave Himself up for us, an (E)offering and a sacrifice to God [b]as a (F)fragrant aroma.
3 But (G)sexual immorality [c]or any impurity or greed must not even be mentioned among you, as is proper among [d]saints; 4 and there must be no (H)filthiness [e]or foolish talk, or vulgar joking, which (I)are not fitting, but rather (J)giving of thanks. 5 For this you know with certainty, that (K)no sexually immoral or [f]impure or greedy person, which [g]amounts to an idolater, has an inheritance in the kingdom (L)of Christ and God.
6 (M)See that no one deceives you with empty words, for because of these things (N)the wrath of God comes upon (O)the [h]sons of disobedience. 7 Therefore do not become (P)partners with them; 8 for (Q)you were once (R)darkness, but now you are light in the Lord; walk as (S)children of light 9 (for (T)the fruit of the light consists in all (U)goodness, righteousness, and truth), 10 [i](V)as you try to learn what is pleasing to the Lord. 11 (W)Do not participate in the useless (X)deeds of (Y)darkness, but instead even (Z)expose them; 12 for it is disgraceful even to speak of the things which are done by them in secret. 13 But all things become visible (AA)when they are exposed by the light, for everything that becomes visible is light. 14 For this reason [j]it says,
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.