Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

God or Baal on Mount Carmel

²⁰ So Ahab sent word to all the Israelites and assembled the [pagan] prophets together at Mount Carmel. ²¹ Elijah approached all the people and said, “How long will you ^[a]hesitate between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him.” But the people [of Israel] did not answer him [so much as] a word.

²² Then Elijah said to the people, “I alone remain a prophet of the Lord, while Baal’s prophets are 450 men. ²³ Now let them give us two oxen, and let them choose one ox for themselves and cut it in pieces, and lay it on the wood, but put no fire under it. I will prepare the other ox and lay it on the wood, and I will not put a fire under it. ²⁴ Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the Lord; and the god who answers by fire, He is God.” And all the people answered, “It is well spoken.”

²⁵ Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose one bull for yourselves and prepare it first, since there are many of you; and call on the name of your god, but put no fire under it.” ²⁶ So they took the bull that was given to them and prepared it, and called on the name of Baal from morning until noon, saying, “O Baal, hear and answer us.” But there was no voice and no one answered. And they leaped about the altar which they had made. ²⁷ At noon Elijah mocked them, saying, “Cry out with a loud voice, for he is a god; either he is occupied, or he is out [at the moment], or he is on a journey. Perhaps he is asleep and must be awakened!” ²⁸ So they cried out with a loud voice [to get Baal’s attention] and cut themselves with swords and lances in accordance with their custom, until the blood flowed out on them. ²⁹ As midday passed, they played the part of prophets and raved dramatically until the time for offering the evening sacrifice; but there was no voice, no one answered, and no one paid attention.

³⁰ Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come near to me.” So all the people approached him. And he repaired and rebuilt the [old] altar of the Lord that had been torn down [by Jezebel].^{(A) 31} Then Elijah took twelve stones in accordance with the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord had come, saying, “Israel shall be your name.”^{(B) 32} So with the stones Elijah built an altar in the name of the Lord. He made a trench around the altar large enough to hold ^[a]two measures of seed. ³³ Then he laid out the wood and cut the ox in pieces and laid it on the wood. ³⁴ And he said, “Fill four pitchers with water and pour it on the burnt offering and the wood.” And he said, “Do it the second time.” And they did it the second time. And he said, “Do it the third time.” And they did it a third time. ³⁵ The water flowed around the altar, and he also filled the trench with water.

Elijah’s Prayer

³⁶ At the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, Elijah the prophet approached [the altar] and said, “O Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel (Jacob), let it be known today that You are God in Israel and that I am Your servant and that I have done all these things at Your word. ³⁷ Answer me, O Lord, answer me, so that this people may know that You, O Lord, are God, and that You have turned their hearts back [to You].” ³⁸ Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt offering and the wood, and even the stones and the dust; it also licked up the water in the trench. ³⁹ When all the people saw it, they fell face downward; and they said, “The Lord, He is God! The Lord, He is God!”

A Call to Worship the Lord the Righteous Judge.

Introduction

1 Paul, an apostle (not commissioned and sent from men nor through the agency of man, but through Jesus Christ—the Messiah—and God the Father, who raised Him from the dead), ² and all the brothers who are with me,

To the churches of Galatia:

³ Grace to you and peace [inner calm and spiritual well-being] from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, ⁴ who gave Himself [as a sacrifice to atone] for our sins [to save and sanctify us] so that He might rescue us from this present evil ^[a]age, in accordance with the will and purpose and plan of our God and Father— ⁵ to Him be [ascribed all] the glory through the ages of the ages. Amen.

Perversion of the Gospel

⁶ I am astonished and extremely irritated that you are so quickly shifting your allegiance and deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different [even contrary] gospel; ⁷ which is really not another [gospel]; but there are [obviously] ^[b]some [people masquerading as teachers] who are disturbing and confusing you [with a misleading, counterfeit teaching] and want to distort the gospel of Christ [twisting it into something which it absolutely is not]. ⁸ But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to that which we [originally] preached to you, let him be condemned to destruction! ⁹ As we have said before, so I now say again, if anyone is preaching to you a gospel different from that which you received [from us], let him be condemned to destruction!

¹⁰ Am I now ^[c]trying to win the favor and approval of men, or of God? Or am I seeking to please someone? If I were still trying to be popular with men, I would not be a bond-servant of Christ.

Paul Defends His Ministry

¹¹ For I want you to know, ^[d]believers, that the gospel which was preached by me is not man’s gospel [it is not a human invention, patterned after any human concept]. ¹² For indeed I did not receive it from man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a [direct] revelation of Jesus Christ.

Jesus Heals a Centurion’s Slave

7 After He had finished all that He had to say in the hearing of the people, He went to Capernaum.^(A)

² Now a [Roman] ^[a]centurion’s slave, who was highly regarded by him, was sick and on the verge of death. ³ When the centurion heard about Jesus, he sent some Jewish elders to Him, asking Him to come and save the life of his slave. ⁴ When they reached Jesus, they pleaded with Him earnestly [to come], saying, “He is worthy for You to do this for him, ⁵ because he loves our nation and he built us our synagogue [at his own expense].” ⁶ And Jesus went with them. But when He was near the house, the centurion sent friends to Him, saying, “Lord, do not trouble Yourself further, for I am not worthy for You to come under my roof. ⁷ Therefore I did not even consider myself worthy to come to You. But just speak a word, and my slave will be healed. ⁸ For I also am a man subject to authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” ⁹ Now when Jesus heard this, He was amazed at him, and turned and said to the crowd that was following Him, “I say to you, not even in Israel have I found such great faith [as this man’s].” ¹⁰ When the messengers who had been sent returned to the house, they found the slave in good health.