Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

The Lord the Strength of His People

A Song of Ascents.

⁹ And so it was, when they had crossed over, that Elijah said to Elisha, “Ask! What may I do for you, before I am taken away from you?”

Elisha said, “Please let a double portion of your spirit be upon me.”

¹⁰ So he said, “You have asked a hard thing. Nevertheless, if you see me when I am taken from you, it shall be so for you; but if not, it shall not be so.” ¹¹ Then it happened, as they continued on and talked, that suddenly ^(A)a chariot of fire appeared with horses of fire, and separated the two of them; and Elijah ^(B)went up by a whirlwind into heaven.

¹² And Elisha saw it, and he cried out, ^(C)“My father, my father, the chariot of Israel and its horsemen!” So he saw him no more. And he took hold of his own clothes and tore them into two pieces. ¹³ He also took up the mantle of Elijah that had fallen from him, and went back and stood by the bank of the Jordan. ¹⁴ Then he took the mantle of Elijah that had fallen from him, and struck the water, and said, “Where is the Lord God of Elijah?” And when he also had struck the water, ^(D)it was divided this way and that; and Elisha crossed over.

¹⁵ Now when the sons of the prophets who were ^(E)from^[a] Jericho saw him, they said, “The spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha.” And they came to meet him, and bowed to the ground before him. ¹⁶ Then they said to him, “Look now, there are fifty strong men with your servants. Please let them go and search for your master, ^(F)lest perhaps the Spirit of the Lord has taken him up and cast him upon some mountain or into some valley.”

And he said, “You shall not send anyone.”

¹⁷ But when they urged him till he was ^(G)ashamed, he said, “Send them!” Therefore they sent fifty men, and they searched for three days but did not find him. ¹⁸ And when they came back to him, for he had stayed in Jericho, he said to them, “Did I not say to you, ‘Do not go’?”

Elisha Performs Miracles

¹⁹ Then the men of the city said to Elisha, “Please notice, the situation of this city is pleasant, as my lord sees; but the water is bad, and the ground barren.”

²⁰ And he said, “Bring me a new bowl, and put salt in it.” So they brought it to him. ²¹ Then he went out to the source of the water, and ^(H)cast in the salt there, and said, “Thus says the Lord: ‘I have ^[b]healed this water; from it there shall be no more death or barrenness.’ ” ²² So the water remains ^(I)healed to this day, according to the word of Elisha which he spoke.

¹⁷ “Yet now, brethren, I know that ^(A)you did it in ignorance, as did also your rulers. ¹⁸ But ^(B)those things which God foretold ^(C)by the mouth of all His prophets, that the Christ would suffer, He has thus fulfilled. ^19 (D)Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, ²⁰ and that He may send ^[a]Jesus Christ, who was ^[b]preached to you before, ^21 (E)whom heaven must receive until the times of ^(F)restoration of all things, ^(G)which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since ^[c]the world began. ²² For Moses truly said to the fathers, ^(H)‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your brethren. Him you shall hear in all things, whatever He says to you. ²³ And it shall be that every soul who will not hear that Prophet shall be utterly destroyed from among the people.’ ²⁴ Yes, and ^(I)all the prophets, from Samuel and those who follow, as many as have spoken, have also ^[d]foretold these days. ^25 (J)You are sons of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying to Abraham, ^(K)‘And in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’ ²⁶ To you ^(L)first, God, having raised up His Servant Jesus, sent Him to bless you, ^(M)in turning away every one of you from your iniquities.”

Peter and John Arrested

4 Now as they spoke to the people, the priests, the captain of the temple, and the ^(N)Sadducees came upon them, ² being greatly disturbed that they taught the people and preached in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. ³ And they laid hands on them, and put them in custody until the next day, for it was already evening. ⁴ However, many of those who heard the word believed; and the number of the men came to be about five thousand.