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].
The Rain Comes Again
41 Then Elijah said to Ahab, “Now, go, eat, and drink, ·because a heavy rain is coming [L for there is the sound of rushing rain].” 42 So King Ahab went to eat and drink. At the same time Elijah climbed to the top of Mount Carmel, where he bent down to the ground with his ·head [L face] between his knees.
43 Then Elijah said to his servant, “Go and look toward the sea.”
The servant went and looked. “I see nothing,” he said.
Elijah told him to go and look again. This happened seven times. 44 The seventh time, the servant said, “I see a small cloud, the size of a ·human fist [man’s hand], ·coming [rising] from the sea.”
Elijah told the servant, “Go to Ahab and tell him to get his chariot ready and go ·home [L down] now. Otherwise, the rain will stop him.”
45 After a short time the sky ·was covered with dark [grew black with] clouds. The wind began to blow, and soon a ·heavy [torrential] rain began to fall [C showing that it was the Lord, not Baal, that supplied the rain]. Ahab got in his chariot and started back to Jezreel. 46 ·The Lord gave his power to [L The hand of the Lord was on] Elijah, who ·tightened his clothes around him [T girded up his loins] and ·ran ahead of King [outran] Ahab all the way to Jezreel.
The Leaders Ask for a Miracle(A)
16 The Pharisees and Sadducees came to Jesus, wanting to ·trick [test] him. So they asked him to show them a ·miracle [sign] from ·God [L heaven; C possibly a sign in the sky, but more likely a Jewish way of saying “from God”].
2 Jesus answered,[a] “·At sunset [In the evening] you say we will have good weather, because the sky is red. 3 And in the morning you say that it will be ·a rainy day [stormy; bad weather], because the sky is red and ·dark [threatening; overcast]. You see ·these signs in [the appearance of] the sky and know ·what they mean [how to interpret them]. ·In the same way [or However; On the other hand], you ·see the things that I am doing now, but you don’t know their meaning [L cannot interpret the signs of the times]. 4 ·Evil and sinful people [L An evil/wicked and adulterous generation] ·ask for [seek; demand] a miracle as a sign, but they will not be given any sign, except the sign of Jonah [see 12:40; Jon. 1:17].” Then Jesus left them and went away.
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