Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

⁸ Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, ⁹ “Arise, go to ^[a]Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and stay there. Behold, I have commanded a widow there to provide for you.” ¹⁰ So he set out and went to Zarephath, and when he came to the gate of the city, behold, a widow was there gathering sticks [for firewood]. He called out to her and said, “Please bring me a little water in a jar, so that I may drink.” ¹¹ As she was going to get it, he called to her and said, “Please bring me a piece of bread in your hand.” ¹² But she said, “As the Lord your God lives, I have no bread, only a handful of flour in the bowl and a little oil in the jar. See, I am gathering a few sticks so that I may go in and bake it for me and my son, that we may eat it [as our last meal] and die.” ¹³ Elijah said to her, “Do not fear; go and do as you have said. Just make me a little bread from it first and bring it out to me, and afterward you may make one for yourself and for your son. ¹⁴ For this is what the Lord God of Israel says: ‘The bowl of flour shall not be exhausted nor shall the jar of oil be empty until the day that the Lord sends rain [again] on the face of the earth.’” ¹⁵ She went and did as Elijah said. And she and he and her household ate for many days. ¹⁶ The bowl of flour was not exhausted nor did the jar of oil become empty, in accordance with the word of the Lord which He spoke through Elijah.

Elijah Raises the Widow’s Son

¹⁷ It happened after these things, that the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, became sick; and his illness was so severe that there was no breath left in him. ¹⁸ So she said to Elijah, “What [problem] is there between you and me, O man of God? Have you come to me to bring my sin to mind and to put my son to death?” ¹⁹ He said to her, “Give me your son.” Then he took him from her arms and carried him up to the upper room where he was living, and laid him on his own bed. ²⁰ He called to the Lord and said, “O Lord my God, have You brought further tragedy to the widow with whom I am staying, by causing her son to die?” ²¹ Then he stretched himself out upon the child three times, and called to the Lord and said, “O Lord my God, please let this child’s life return to him.” ²² The Lord heard the voice of Elijah, and the life of the child returned to him and he revived. ²³ Elijah took the child and brought him down from the upper room into the [lower part of the] house and gave him to his mother; and Elijah said, “See, your son is alive.” ²⁴ Then the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is truth.”

The Lord an Abundant Helper.

Paul Defends His Ministry

¹¹ For I want you to know, ^[a]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.

¹³ You have heard of my career and former manner of life in Judaism, how I used to hunt down and persecute the church of God extensively and [with fanatical zeal] tried [my best] to destroy it. ¹⁴ And [you have heard how] I surpassed many of my contemporaries among my countrymen in [my advanced study of the laws of] Judaism, as I was extremely loyal to the traditions of my ancestors. ¹⁵ But when God, who had chosen me and set me apart before I was born, and called me through His grace, was pleased^{(A) 16} to reveal His Son in me so that I might preach Him among the Gentiles [as the good news—the way of salvation], I did not immediately consult with ^[b]anyone [for guidance regarding God’s call and His revelation to me]. ¹⁷ Nor did I [even] go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me; but I went to Arabia and stayed awhile, and afterward returned once more to Damascus.

¹⁸ Then three years later I did go up to Jerusalem to get acquainted with Cephas (Peter), and I stayed with him fifteen days. ¹⁹ But I did not see any other apostle except James, the [half] brother of the Lord. ²⁰ (Now in what I am writing to you, I assure you as if I were standing before God that I am not lying.) ²¹ Then I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia. ²² And I was still unknown by sight to the churches which were in Christ in Judea (Jerusalem and the surrounding region); ²³ they only kept hearing, “He who used to persecute us is now preaching the [good news of the] faith which he once was trying to destroy.” ²⁴ And they were glorifying God [as the Author and Source of what had taken place and all that had been accomplished] in me.

¹¹ Soon afterward Jesus went to a city called Nain [near Nazareth], and His disciples and a large crowd accompanied Him. ¹² Now as He approached the city gate, a dead man was being carried out—the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the city was with her [in the funeral procession]. ¹³ When the Lord saw her, He felt [great] compassion for her, and said to her, “Do not weep.” ¹⁴ And He came up and touched the bier [on which the body rested], and the pallbearers stood still. And He said, “Young man, I say to you, arise [from death]!” ¹⁵ The man who was dead sat up and began to speak. And Jesus gave him back to his mother. ¹⁶ Fear and profound awe gripped them all, and they began glorifying and honoring and praising God, saying, “A great prophet has arisen among us!” and, “God has visited His people [to help and care for and provide for them]!” ¹⁷ This news about Him spread through all of Judea and in all the surrounding countryside.^(A)