Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

You Will Not Abandon My Soul

A ^(A)Miktam^[a] of David.

Elijah Denounces Ahaziah

1 ^(A)After the death of Ahab, Moab ^(B)rebelled against Israel.

² Now Ahaziah fell through the lattice in his upper chamber in Samaria, and lay sick; so he sent messengers, telling them, “Go, inquire of ^(C)Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, ^(D)whether I shall recover from this sickness.” ³ But the angel of the Lord said to Elijah ^(E)the Tishbite, “Arise, go up to meet the messengers of the king of Samaria, and say to them, ‘Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are going to inquire of ^(F)Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron? ⁴ Now therefore thus says the Lord, ^(G)You shall not come down from the bed to which you have gone up, but you shall surely die.’” So Elijah went.

⁵ The messengers returned to the king, and he said to them, “Why have you returned?” ⁶ And they said to him, “There came a man to meet us, and said to us, ‘Go back to the king who sent you, and say to him, Thus says the Lord, Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are sending to inquire of ^(H)Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron? Therefore you shall not come down from the bed to which you have gone up, but you shall surely die.’” ⁷ He said to them, “What kind of man was he who came to meet you and told you these things?” ⁸ They answered him, ^(I)“He wore a garment of hair, with a belt of leather about his waist.” And he said, “It is Elijah the Tishbite.”

⁹ Then the king sent to him a captain of fifty men with his fifty. He went up to Elijah, who was sitting on the top of a hill, and said to him, ^(J)“O man of God, the king says, ‘Come down.’” ¹⁰ But Elijah answered the captain of fifty, “If I am a man of God, ^(K)let fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty.” Then fire came down from heaven and consumed him and his fifty.

¹¹ Again the king sent to him another captain of fifty men with his fifty. And he answered and said to him, “O man of God, this is the king's order, ‘Come down quickly!’” ¹² But Elijah answered them, “If I am a man of God, ^(L)let fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty.” Then the fire of God came down from heaven and consumed him and his fifty.

¹³ Again the king sent the captain of a third fifty with his fifty. And the third captain of fifty went up and came and fell on his knees before Elijah and entreated him, “O man of God, please let my life, and the life of these fifty servants of yours, ^(M)be precious in your sight. ¹⁴ Behold, fire came down from heaven and consumed the two former captains of fifty men with their fifties, but now let my life be precious in your sight.” ¹⁵ Then the angel of the Lord said to Elijah, “Go down with him; do not be afraid of him.” So he arose and went down with him to the king ¹⁶ and said to him, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Because you have sent messengers to inquire of ^(N)Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron—is it because there is no God in Israel to inquire of his word?—therefore you shall not come down from the bed to which you have gone up, but you shall surely die.’”

Paul's Concern for the Galatians

⁸ Formerly, when you ^(A)did not know God, you ^(B)were enslaved to those that by nature ^(C)are not gods. ⁹ But now that you have come to know God, or rather ^(D)to be known by God, ^(E)how can you turn back again to ^(F)the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world, whose slaves you want to be once more? ^10 (G)You observe days and months and seasons and years! ¹¹ I am afraid ^(H)I may have labored over you in vain.

¹² Brothers,^{[a] (I)}I entreat you, become as I am, for I also have become as you are. ^(J)You did me no wrong. ¹³ You know it was ^(K)because of a bodily ailment that I preached the gospel to you ^(L)at first, ¹⁴ and though my condition was a trial to you, you did not scorn or despise me, but received me ^(M)as an angel of God, ^(N)as Christ Jesus. ¹⁵ What then has become of your blessedness? For I testify to you that, if possible, you would have gouged out your eyes and given them to me. ¹⁶ Have I then become your enemy by ^(O)telling you the truth?^{[b] 17} They make much of you, but for no good purpose. They want to shut you out, that you may make much of them. ¹⁸ It is always good to be made much of for a good purpose, and ^(P)not only when I am present with you, ^19 (Q)my little children, ^(R)for whom I am again in the anguish of childbirth until Christ ^(S)is formed in you! ²⁰ I wish I could be present with you now and change my tone, for I am perplexed about you.