Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
A Song for a Holiday
For the director of music. By the gittith. A song of Asaph.
81 Sing for joy to God, our strength.
Shout out loud to the God of Jacob.
2 Begin the music. Play the tambourines.
Play pleasant music on the harps and lyres.
3 Blow the sheep’s horn at the time of the New Moon.
Blow it when the moon is full, when our feast begins.
4 This is the law for Israel.
It is God’s command to the people of Jacob.
5 He made this agreement with the people of Joseph
when they went out of the land of Egypt.
I heard a language I did not know, saying:
6 “I took the load off your shoulders.
I let you put down your baskets.
7 When you were in trouble, you called, and I saved you.
I answered you with thunder.
I tested you at the waters of Meribah. Selah
8 My people, listen. I am warning you.
Israel, please listen to me!
9 You must not have foreign gods among you.
You must not worship any false god.
10 I, the Lord, am your God.
I brought you out of Egypt.
Open your mouth, and I will feed you.
11 “But my people did not listen to me.
Israel did not want me.
12 So I let them go their stubborn way.
They followed their own advice.
13 I wish my people would listen to me.
I wish Israel would live my way.
14 Then I would quickly defeat their enemies.
I would turn my hand against those who are against them.
15 Those who hate the Lord would bow before him.
Their punishment would continue forever.
16 But I would give you the finest wheat.
I would fill you with honey from the rocks.”
Elijah Stops the Rain
17 Now Elijah was a prophet from the town of Tishbe in Gilead. Elijah said to King Ahab, “I serve the Lord, the God of Israel. As surely as the Lord lives, I tell you the truth. No rain or dew will fall during the next few years unless I command it.”
2 Then the Lord spoke his word to Elijah: 3 “Leave this place. Go east and hide near Kerith Ravine. It is east of the Jordan River. 4 You may drink from the brook. And I have commanded ravens to bring you food there.” 5 So Elijah did what the Lord told him to do. He went to Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan, and lived there. 6 The birds brought Elijah bread and meat every morning and every evening. And he drank water from the brook.
7 After a while the brook dried up because there was no rain. 8 Then the Lord spoke his word to Elijah, 9 “Go to Zarephath in Sidon. Live there. I have commanded a widow there to take care of you.”
10 So Elijah went to Zarephath. When he reached the town gate, he saw a widow there. She was gathering wood for a fire. Elijah asked her, “Would you bring me a little water in a cup? I would like to have a drink.” 11 As she was going to get his water, Elijah said, “Please bring me a piece of bread, too.”
12 The woman answered, “As surely as the Lord your God lives, I tell you the truth. I have no bread. I have only a handful of flour in a jar. And I have only a little olive oil in a jug. I came here to gather some wood. I will take it home and cook our last meal. My son and I will eat it and then die from hunger.”
13 Elijah said to her, “Don’t worry. Go home and cook your food as you have said. But first make a small loaf of bread from the flour you have. Bring it to me. Then cook something for yourself and your son. 14 The Lord, the God of Israel, says, ‘That jar of flour will never become empty. The jug will always have oil in it. This will continue until the day the Lord sends rain to the land.’”
15 So the woman went home. And she did what Elijah told her to do. So Elijah, the woman and her son had enough food every day. 16 The jar of flour and the jug of oil were never empty. This happened just as the Lord, through Elijah, said it would.
Living in the Light
5 You are God’s children whom he loves. So try to be like God. 2 Live a life of love. Love other people just as Christ loved us. Christ gave himself for us—he was a sweet-smelling offering and sacrifice to God.
3 But there must be no sexual immorality among you. There must not be any kind of evil or greed. Those things are not right for God’s holy people. 4 Also, there must be no evil talk among you. You must not speak foolishly or tell evil jokes. These things are not right for you. But you should be giving thanks to God. 5 You can be sure of this: No one will have a place in the kingdom of Christ and of God who engages in sexual sin, or does evil things, or is greedy. Anyone who is greedy is serving a false god.
6 Do not let anyone fool you by telling you things that are not true. These things will bring God’s anger on those who do not obey him. 7 So have no part with them. 8 In the past you were full of darkness, but now you are full of light in the Lord. So live like children who belong to the light. 9 Light brings every kind of goodness, right living, and truth. 10 Try to learn what pleases the Lord. 11 Do not do the things that people in darkness do. That brings nothing good. But do good things to show that the things done in darkness are wrong. 12 It is shameful even to talk about what those people do in secret. 13 But the light makes all things easy to see. 14 And everything that is made easy to see can become light. This is why it is said:
“Wake up, sleeper!
Rise from death,
and Christ will shine on you.”
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.