Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

⁸ Then the word of the Lord came to him: ⁹ “Get up! Go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and live there. I have commanded a woman there, a widow, to provide for you.”

¹⁰ So he got up and went to Zarephath. He came to the city gate, and there he saw a widow gathering sticks. He called to her and said, “Please give me a little water in a jar, so that I can have something to drink.”

¹¹ When she went to get it, he called to her, “Please bring me a piece of bread.”

¹² She said, “As surely as the Lord your God lives, I have no food except a handful of flour in a jar and a little olive oil in a pitcher. See, I am gathering a couple of sticks so that I can go and prepare it for myself and my son, so that we can eat it and then die.”

¹³ Elijah said to her, “Do not be afraid. Go and do just as you said. But first make a small loaf of bread for me from the flour and bring it out to me. Then go and make another for you and your son. ¹⁴ For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says. The jar of flour will not run out and the pitcher of oil will not become empty until the day the Lord sends rain to water the surface of the ground.”

¹⁵ So she went and did exactly as Elijah said. He and she, as well as her household, were able to eat for many days. ¹⁶ The jar of flour did not run out, and the pitcher of oil did not become empty, just as the Lord had said through Elijah.

Psalm 146

Praise Him for Protection

Praise for Protection

A Lifetime of Praise

No Help in Humans

Help in the Lord

An Eternity for Praise

²⁴ For Christ did not enter a handmade sanctuary, a representation of the true sanctuary. Instead, he entered into heaven itself, now to appear before God on our behalf. ²⁵ And he did not enter to offer himself many times, as the high priest enters the Most Holy Place year after year with blood that is not his own. ²⁶ Otherwise he would have needed to suffer many times since the creation of the world. But now he has appeared once and for all, at the climax of the ages, in order to take away sin by the sacrifice of himself. ²⁷ And, just as it is appointed for people to die only once and after this comes the judgment, ²⁸ so also Christ was offered only once to take away the sins of many, and he will appear a second time—without sin—to bring salvation to those who are eagerly waiting for him.

Do Not Do What They Do

³⁸ He also said to them in his teaching, “Beware of the experts in the law who like to walk around in long robes and receive greetings in the marketplaces. ³⁹ They love the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets. ⁴⁰ They devour widows’ houses and offer long prayers to look good. These men will receive greater condemnation.”

The Poor Widow’s Offering

⁴¹ Jesus sat down opposite the offering box and was watching how the crowd put money into it. Many rich people put in large amounts. ⁴² One poor widow came and put in two small bronze coins,^[a] worth less than a penny.^{[b] 43} He called his disciples together and said to them, “Amen I tell you: This poor widow put more into the offering box than all the others. ⁴⁴ For they all gave out of their surplus, but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all that she had to live on.”