Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

ש Sin and Shin

¹⁷ Then a message from the Lord came to Elijah, who was from Tishbe. The Lord said, ¹⁸ “Go down to see Ahab, the king of Israel. He rules in Samaria. You will find him in Naboth’s vineyard. Ahab has gone there to take it over. ¹⁹ Tell him, ‘The Lord says, “Haven’t you murdered a man? Haven’t you taken over his property?” ’ Then tell Ahab, ‘The Lord says, “Dogs licked up Naboth’s blood. In that same place dogs will lick up your blood. Yes, I said your blood!” ’ ”

²⁰ Ahab said to Elijah, “My enemy! You have found me!”

“I have found you,” he answered. “That’s because you gave yourself over to do evil things. You did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. ²¹ So the Lord says, ‘I am going to bring horrible trouble on you. I will destroy your children after you. I will destroy every male in Israel who is related to you. It does not matter whether they are slaves or free. ²² I will make your royal house like the house of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat. I will make it like the house of Baasha, the son of Ahijah. You have made me very angry. You have caused Israel to sin.’

²³ “The Lord also says, ‘Dogs will eat up Jezebel near the wall of Jezreel.’

²⁴ “Some of the people who belong to Ahab will die in the city. Dogs will eat them up. Others will die in the country. The birds will eat them.”

²⁵ There was never anyone like Ahab. He gave himself over to do what was evil in the sight of the Lord. His wife Jezebel talked him into it. ²⁶ He acted in the most evil way. He worshiped statues of gods. He was like the Amorites. The Lord drove them out to make room for Israel.

²⁷ When Ahab heard what Elijah had said, he tore his clothes. He put on the rough clothing people wear when they’re sad. He went without eating. He even slept in his clothes. He went around looking sad.

²⁸ Then a message from the Lord came to Elijah, who was from Tishbe. The Lord said, ²⁹ “Have you seen how Ahab has made himself humble in my sight? Because he has done that, I will not bring trouble on him while he lives. But I will bring it on his royal house when his son is king.”

Jesus Came as a Human Being

4 Dear friends, do not believe every spirit. Test the spirits to see if they belong to God. Many false prophets have gone out into the world. ² Here is how you can recognize the Spirit of God. Every spirit agreeing that Jesus Christ came in a human body belongs to God. ³ But every spirit that doesn’t agree with this does not belong to God. You have heard that the spirit of the great enemy of Christ is coming. Even now it is already in the world.

⁴ Dear children, you belong to God. You have not accepted the teachings of the false prophets. That’s because the one who is in you is powerful. He is more powerful than the one who is in the world. ⁵ False prophets belong to the world. So they speak from the world’s point of view. And the world listens to them. ⁶ We belong to God. And those who know God listen to us. But those who don’t belong to God don’t listen to us. That’s how we can tell the difference between the Spirit of truth and the spirit of lies.