Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Elijah and the Widow at Zarephath

⁸ Then the Lord spoke his word to Elijah: ⁹ “Get up, go to Zarephath (which belongs to Sidon), and stay there. I’ve commanded a widow there to feed you.”

¹⁰ He got up and went to Zarephath. As he came to the town’s entrance, a widow was gathering wood. He called to her, “Please bring me a drink of water.” ¹¹ As she was going to get it, he called to her again, “Please bring me a piece of bread too.”

¹² She said, “I solemnly swear, as the Lord your God lives, I didn’t bake any bread. I have one handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. I’m gathering wood. I’m going to prepare something for myself and my son so that we can eat it and then die.”

¹³ Then Elijah told her, “Don’t be afraid. Go home, and do as you’ve said. But first make a small loaf and bring it to me. Then prepare something for yourself and your son. ¹⁴ This is what the Lord God of Israel says: Until the Lord sends rain on the land, the jar of flour will never be empty and the jug will always contain oil.”

¹⁵ She did what Elijah had told her. So she, Elijah, and her family had food for a long time. ¹⁶ The jar of flour never became empty, and the jug always contained olive oil, as the Lord had promised through Elijah.

¹⁷ Afterwards, the son of the woman who owned the house got sick. He got so sick that finally no life was left in him. ¹⁸ The woman asked Elijah, “What do you and I have in common, man of God? Did you come here to remind me of my sin and kill my son?”

¹⁹ He said to her, “Give me your son.” Elijah took him from her arms, carried him to the upstairs room where he was staying, and laid him on his own bed. ²⁰ Then he called to the Lord, “Lord my God, have you brought misery on the widow I’m staying with by killing her son?” ²¹ Then Elijah stretched himself over the boy three times and called to the Lord, “Lord my God, please make this child’s life return to him.” ²² The Lord heard Elijah’s request, and the child’s life returned to him. He was alive again.

²³ Elijah took the child, brought him down from the upstairs room of the house, and gave him to his mother. He said, “Look! Your son is alive.”

²⁴ The woman said to Elijah, “Now I’m convinced that you are a man of God and that the Lord’s word from your mouth is true.”

Jesus Alone Gave Paul the Good News He Spreads

¹¹ I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that the Good News I have spread is not a human message. ¹² I didn’t receive it from any person. I wasn’t taught it, but Jesus Christ revealed it to me.

¹³ You heard about the way I once lived when I followed the Jewish religion. You heard how I violently persecuted God’s church and tried to destroy it. ¹⁴ You also heard how I was far ahead of other Jews in my age group in following the Jewish religion. I had become that fanatical for the traditions of my ancestors.

¹⁵ But God, who appointed me before I was born and who called me by his kindness, was pleased ¹⁶ to show me his Son. He did this so that I would tell people who are not Jewish that his Son is the Good News. When this happened, I didn’t talk it over with any other person. ¹⁷ I didn’t even go to Jerusalem to see those who were apostles before I was. Instead, I went to Arabia and then came back to Damascus.

¹⁸ Then, three years later I went to Jerusalem to become personally acquainted with Cephas.^[a] I stayed with him for fifteen days. ¹⁹ I didn’t see any other apostle. I only saw James, the Lord’s brother. ²⁰ (God is my witness that what I’m writing is not a lie.) ²¹ Then I went to the regions of Syria and Cilicia. ²² The churches of Christ in Judea didn’t know me personally. ²³ The only thing they had heard was this: “The man who persecuted us is now spreading the faith that he once tried to destroy.” ²⁴ So they praised God for what had happened to me.

Jesus Brings a Widow’s Son Back to Life

¹¹ Soon afterward, Jesus went to a city called Nain. His disciples and a large crowd went with him. ¹² As he came near the entrance to the city, he met a funeral procession. The dead man was a widow’s only child. A large crowd from the city was with her.

¹³ When the Lord saw her, he felt sorry for her. He said to her, “Don’t cry.”

¹⁴ He went up to the open coffin, took hold of it, and the men who were carrying it stopped. He said, “Young man, I’m telling you to come back to life!” ¹⁵ The dead man sat up and began to talk, and Jesus gave him back to his mother.

¹⁶ Everyone was struck with fear and praised God. They said, “A great prophet has appeared among us,” and “God has taken care of his people.” ¹⁷ This news about Jesus spread throughout Judea and the surrounding region.