Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
8 I will listen to what God the Lord says.
He has ·ordered [spoken; promised] ·peace [prosperity] for ·those who worship him [L his people, his saints/loyal ones].
Don’t let them go back to foolishness.
9 ·God will soon save those who respect him [L His salvation/victory is near to those who fear him; Prov. 1:7],
and his glory will ·be seen [L dwell] in our land.
10 ·Love [Loyalty] and ·truth [faithfulness] ·belong to God’s people [L meet];
·goodness [righteousness] and ·peace [prosperity] ·will be theirs [L kiss].
11 ·On earth people will be loyal to God [Faithfulness sprouts/blooms from the earth/land],
and ·God’s goodness [righteousness] will ·shine [look] down from heaven.
12 The Lord will give his ·goodness [or good gifts],
and the land will give its crops.
13 ·Goodness [Righteousness] will go before ·God [L him]
and prepare the way for ·him [L his steps].
Elijah Kills the Prophets of Baal
18 During the third year without rain, the ·Lord spoke his word [L word of the Lord came] to Elijah: “Go and ·meet [present/show yourself to] King Ahab, and I will soon send rain.” 2 So Elijah went to ·meet [present/show himself to] Ahab.
By this time ·there was no food [the famine was severe] in Samaria. 3 King Ahab sent for Obadiah, who was in charge of the ·king’s palace [household]. (Obadiah ·was a true follower of [L greatly revered/feared] the Lord. 4 When Jezebel was killing the Lord’s prophets, Obadiah hid a hundred of them in two caves, fifty in one cave and fifty in another. He also ·brought [provided] them food and water.) 5 Ahab said to Obadiah, “·Let’s [Go] check every spring and valley in the land. Maybe we can find enough grass to keep our horses and mules alive and not have to kill our animals.” 6 So ·each one chose a part of the country to search [they divided the land between them]; Ahab ·went in one direction [L walked one way by himself] and Obadiah ·in another [L walked one way by himself].
7 While Obadiah was on his way, Elijah met him. Obadiah recognized Elijah, so he ·bowed down to the ground [L fell on his face] and said, “Elijah? Is it really you, ·master [my lord]?”
8 “Yes,” Elijah answered. “Go tell your master that I am here.”
9 Then Obadiah said, “What ·wrong [sin] have I done for you to hand me over to Ahab like this? He will put me to death. 10 As surely as the Lord your God lives, the king has sent people to every ·country [nation and kingdom] to search for you. If the ruler said you were not there, Ahab ·forced the ruler to swear [required an oath that] you could not be found in his country. 11 Now you want me to go to my master and tell him, ‘Elijah is here’? 12 The Spirit of the Lord may carry you to some ·other [unknown] place after I leave. If I go tell King Ahab you are here, and he comes and doesn’t find you, he will kill me! ·I [Even though/Yet I] have ·followed [L revered; feared] the Lord since I was a boy. 13 Haven’t you been told what I did? When Jezebel was killing the Lord’s prophets, I hid a hundred of them, fifty in one cave and fifty in another. I ·brought [provided] them food and water. 14 Now you want me to go and tell my master, ‘Elijah is here’? He will kill me!”
15 Elijah answered, “As surely as the Lord ·All-Powerful [of Heaven’s Armies; of hosts] lives, whom I serve, I will ·be seen by [present/show myself to] Ahab today.”
16 So Obadiah went to Ahab and told him. Then Ahab went to meet Elijah.
Paul and Silas Go to Berea
10 That same night the ·believers [L brothers] sent Paul and Silas to ·Berea [C a Macedonian city to the south] where [L upon arriving] they went to the synagogue [L of the Jews]. 11 These people were more ·willing to listen [open-minded; fair-minded; noble in character] than the people in Thessalonica. The Bereans ·were eager to hear what Paul and Silas said [L eagerly received the word/message] and ·studied [examined] the Scriptures every day to find out if these things were true [C to confirm Paul’s teaching was in line with Scripture]. 12 So, many of them believed, as well as ·many [L not a few] ·important [prominent; socially high-standing] Greek women and men [17:4]. 13 But the Jews [C who had opposed Paul earlier] in Thessalonica learned that Paul was preaching the word of God in Berea, too. So they came there, ·upsetting [stirring up] the ·people [crowd] and ·making trouble [causing a disturbance]. 14 The ·believers [L brothers (and sisters)] ·quickly [immediately] sent Paul away to the ·coast [L sea], but Silas and Timothy stayed ·in Berea [behind; L there]. 15 The people ·leading [escorting; accompanying] Paul went with him to Athens [C the leading city in Greece]. Then they carried ·a message [instructions; an order] from Paul back to Silas and Timothy for them to ·come to [rejoin] him as soon as they could.
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