Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
A Plea for Relief from Oppressors
A [a]Contemplation of Asaph.
74 O God, why have You cast us off forever?
Why does Your anger smoke against the sheep of Your pasture?
2 Remember Your congregation, which You have purchased of old,
The tribe of Your inheritance, which You have redeemed—
This Mount Zion where You have dwelt.
3 Lift up Your feet to the perpetual desolations.
The enemy has damaged everything in the sanctuary.
4 (A)Your enemies roar in the midst of Your meeting place;
(B)They set up their banners for signs.
5 They seem like men who lift up
Axes among the thick trees.
6 And now they break down its carved work, all at once,
With axes and hammers.
7 They have set fire to Your sanctuary;
They have defiled the dwelling place of Your name to the ground.
8 (C)They said in their hearts,
“Let us [b]destroy them altogether.”
They have burned up all the meeting places of God in the land.
9 We do not see our signs;
(D)There is no longer any prophet;
Nor is there any among us who knows how long.
10 O God, how long will the adversary [c]reproach?
Will the enemy blaspheme Your name forever?
11 (E)Why do You withdraw Your hand, even Your right hand?
Take it out of Your bosom and destroy them.
12 For (F)God is my King from of old,
Working salvation in the midst of the earth.
13 (G)You divided the sea by Your strength;
You broke the heads of the [d]sea serpents in the waters.
14 You broke the heads of [e]Leviathan in pieces,
And gave him as food to the people inhabiting the wilderness.
15 (H)You broke open the fountain and the flood;
(I)You dried up mighty rivers.
16 The day is Yours, the night also is (J)Yours;
(K)You have prepared the light and the sun.
17 You have (L)set all the borders of the earth;
(M)You have made summer and winter.
18 Remember this, that the enemy has reproached, O Lord,
And that a foolish people has blasphemed Your name.
19 Oh, do not deliver the life of Your turtledove to the wild beast!
Do not forget the life of Your poor forever.
20 (N)Have respect to the covenant;
For the [f]dark places of the earth are full of the [g]haunts of [h]cruelty.
21 Oh, do not let the oppressed return ashamed!
Let the poor and needy praise Your name.
22 Arise, O God, plead Your own cause;
Remember how the foolish man [i]reproaches You daily.
23 Do not forget the voice of Your enemies;
The tumult of those who rise up against You increases continually.
17 Then it happened, when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said to him, (A)“Is that you, O (B)troubler of Israel?”
18 And he answered, “I have not troubled Israel, but you and your father’s house have, (C)in that you have forsaken the commandments of the Lord and have followed the Baals. 19 Now therefore, send and gather all Israel to me on (D)Mount Carmel, the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal, (E)and the four hundred prophets of [a]Asherah, who [b]eat at Jezebel’s table.”
Elijah’s Mount Carmel Victory
20 So Ahab sent for all the children of Israel, and (F)gathered the prophets together on Mount Carmel. 21 And Elijah came to all the people, and said, (G)“How long will you falter between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal, (H)follow him.” But the people answered him not a word. 22 Then Elijah said to the people, (I)“I alone am left a prophet of the Lord; (J)but Baal’s prophets are four hundred and fifty men. 23 Therefore let them give us two bulls; and let them choose one bull for themselves, cut it in pieces, and lay it on the wood, but put no fire under it; and I will prepare the other bull, and lay it on the wood, but put no fire under it. 24 Then you call on the name of your gods, and I will call on the name of the Lord; and the God who (K)answers by fire, He is God.”
So all the people answered and said, [c]“It is well spoken.”
25 Now Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose one bull for yourselves and prepare it first, for you are many; and call on the name of your god, but put no fire under it.”
26 So they took the bull which was given them, and they prepared it, and called on the name of Baal from morning even till noon, saying, “O Baal, [d]hear us!” But there was (L)no voice; no one answered. Then they [e]leaped about the altar which they had made.
27 And so it was, at noon, that Elijah mocked them and said, “Cry [f]aloud, for he is a god; either he is meditating, or he is busy, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is sleeping and must be awakened.” 28 So they cried aloud, and (M)cut themselves, as was their custom, with [g]knives and lances, until the blood gushed out on them. 29 And when midday was past, (N)they prophesied until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice. But there was (O)no voice; no one answered, no one paid attention.
30 Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come near to me.” So all the people came near to him. (P)And he repaired the altar of the Lord that was broken down. 31 And Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord had come, saying, (Q)“Israel shall be your name.” 32 Then with the stones he built an altar (R)in the name of the Lord; and he made a trench around the altar large enough to hold two seahs of seed. 33 And he (S)put the wood in order, cut the bull in pieces, and laid it on the wood, and said, “Fill four waterpots with water, and (T)pour it on the burnt sacrifice and on the wood.” 34 Then he said, “Do it a second time,” and they did it a second time; and he said, “Do it a third time,” and they did it a third time. 35 So the water ran all around the altar; and he also filled (U)the trench with water.
36 And it came to pass, at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near and said, “Lord (V)God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, (W)let it be known this day that You are God in Israel and I am Your servant, and that (X)I have done all these things at Your word. 37 Hear me, O Lord, hear me, that this people may know that You are the Lord God, and that You have turned their hearts back to You again.”
38 Then (Y)the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood and the stones and the dust, and it licked up the water that was in the trench. 39 Now when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces; and they said, (Z)“The Lord, He is God! The Lord, He is God!”
40 And Elijah said to them, (AA)“Seize the prophets of Baal! Do not let one of them escape!” So they seized them; and Elijah brought them down to the Brook (AB)Kishon and (AC)executed them there.
Satanic Rebellion Crushed(A)
7 Now when the thousand years have expired, Satan will be released from his prison 8 and will go out (B)to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, (C)Gog and Magog, (D)to gather them together to battle, whose number is as the sand of the sea. 9 (E)They went up on the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city. And fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them. 10 The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone (F)where[a] the beast and the false prophet are. And they (G)will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
The Great White Throne Judgment
11 Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face (H)the earth and the heaven fled away. (I)And there was found no place for them. 12 And I saw the dead, (J)small and great, standing before [b]God, (K)and books were opened. And another (L)book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged (M)according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. 13 The sea gave up the dead who were in it, (N)and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. (O)And they were judged, each one according to his works. 14 Then (P)Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. (Q)This is the second [c]death. 15 And anyone not found written in the Book of Life (R)was cast into the lake of fire.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.