Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

This is a song that David wrote.

Please help me, Lord!^[a]

¹⁸ One day, when the child was older, he went out to see his father. His father was working in a field with his men at harvest time. ¹⁹ He said to his father, ‘My head is hurting! Yes, it hurts!’ His father said to a servant, ‘Carry the boy to his mother.’ ²⁰ So the servant lifted him up and he carried him to his mother. The boy sat on his mother's knees until midday. Then he died. ²¹ She took the boy upstairs and she put him on the bed of the man of God. Then she went out of the room and she shut the door. ²² She sent a message to her husband. She said, ‘Send to me one of the servants with one of the donkeys. I must go quickly to see the man of God and then I will return.’ ²³ Her husband asked, ‘Why do you want to go and see him today? It is not a special day with a new moon. It is not a Sabbath day.’ She said, ‘All is well.’ ²⁴ Then she prepared the donkey. She said to her servant, ‘You go ahead and lead! Go as fast as you can unless I say, “Go more slowly.” ’

²⁵ So the woman went to see Elisha, the man of God, at Mount Carmel. Elisha saw her when she was a long way away. He said to his servant Gehazi, ‘Look! There is the woman from Shunem! ²⁶ Run to meet her. Ask her, “Are you well? Is your husband well? Is your son well?” ’ The woman replied, ‘All is well.’ ²⁷ But when she reached the man of God at Mount Carmel, she took hold of his feet. Gehazi came to push her away. But the man of God said, ‘Leave her alone. She is very upset. But the Lord has hidden the reason from me. He did not tell me about her problem.’

²⁸ The woman said, ‘My master, I did not ask you for a son, did I? I told you not to tell me lies. ’

²⁹ Elisha said to Gehazi, ‘Tie your belt around you. Prepare to travel! Take my stick with you and run there quickly. If you meet anyone, do not stop to speak. If anyone speaks to you, do not stop to answer them. When you get there, put my stick on the boy's face.’ ³⁰ But the child's mother said, ‘I promise you, as surely as the Lord lives and you live, I will not leave you.’ So Elisha got up and he went back to Shunem with her.

³¹ Gehazi ran ahead and he arrived before they did. He put Elisha's stick on the boy's face. But the boy did not move or make any sound. So Gehazi went back to meet Elisha. He said to him, ‘The boy did not wake up.’

³² When Elisha arrived at the house, the boy was lying on the bed. He saw that the boy was dead. ³³ Elisha went into the room by himself. He shut the door. Elisha prayed to the Lord. ³⁴ Then he got onto the bed and he lay across the boy. He put his mouth on the boy's mouth. He put his eyes over the boy's eyes. He put his hands on the boy's hands. When he lay across the boy's body, it became warm.

³⁵ Elisha went away from the bed. He walked round the room a few times. Then he got onto the bed again. He lay down across the boy. The boy sneezed seven times and then he opened his eyes.^{[a] 36} Then Elisha called Gehazi to come to him. He said, ‘Tell the boy's mother to come here.’ Gehazi did that. When the woman came, Elisha said to her, ‘Take your son.’ ³⁷ She came in to the room. She bent down low near Elisha's feet with her face towards the ground. Then she took her son and she left the room.

God has made us alive with Christ

2 Remember how you lived before. You did wrong things and bad things. As a result, you were dead in your spirits. ² You lived in a bad way, like the people who belong to this world. You were obeying Satan, who rules the powerful spirits in the air. Those spirits are working now in everyone who refuses to obey God. ³ At one time, all of us lived like those people. We did whatever bad things our bodies wanted to do. If our thoughts made us want to do something, we did it. Because we were like that, God was angry with us. He should have punished us, just like everyone else.

⁴ But God is very good and kind! He loved us very much. ⁵ Because of our sins, we were dead in our spirits. But God gave us a new life, because we are united with Christ. Yes, God has saved you because he is so kind. ⁶ Also, God raised us up with Christ, so that we now sit with Christ in heaven. God has done this for us because we are united with Christ Jesus. ⁷ He wanted to show, for all future time, how very kind he is. He has helped us so much because of what Christ Jesus has done. ⁸ When you believed in Jesus, God saved you because he is very kind. You could not save yourselves, but that is God's gift to you. ⁹ He has not saved you as a result of any good things that you have done. So nobody has any reason to be proud about it. ¹⁰ It is God who has worked in us to make us what we are. He has given us a new life because we are united with Christ Jesus. He saved us so that now we can do good things in our lives. Those are good things that he has already prepared for us to do.