Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 96
Sing to the Lord a New Song
Call to Worship
1 Sing to the Lord a new song.
Sing to the Lord, all the earth.
2 Sing to the Lord. Praise his name.
Proclaim the good news of his salvation from day to day.
3 Tell about his glory among the nations,
about his marvelous deeds among all peoples.
Praise Him Alone
4 For great is the Lord and worthy of great praise.
He is to be feared above all gods.
5 For all the gods of the peoples are “nothings,”[a]
but the Lord made the heavens.
6 Splendor and majesty are before him.
Power and beauty are in his sanctuary.
7 Ascribe to the Lord, families of peoples,
Ascribe to the Lord glory and power.
8 Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name.
Bring a gift and come into his courtyards.
9 Bow down to the Lord in the splendor of his holiness.[b]
Look away from his face,[c] all the earth.
10 Say among the nations, “The Lord reigns.”
The world is firmly established.
It will not be moved.
He will judge the peoples with fairness.
Let Nature Praise Him
11 Let the heavens rejoice.
Let the earth celebrate.
Let the sea roar,
and all that fills it.
12 Let the fields be overjoyed,
and everything that is in them.
Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy
13 before the Lord, for he comes,
for he comes to judge the earth.
He will judge the world in righteousness
and the peoples in his faithfulness.
Elijah Confronts the Prophets of Baal and Asherah
18 After a long time, the word of the Lord came to Elijah. (It was during the third year.) He said, “Go and present yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain to water the surface of the ground.” 2 So Elijah went to present himself to Ahab.
Now the drought was severe in Samaria. 3 Ahab had summoned his servant Obadiah, the palace administrator. Obadiah was devoted to serving[a] the Lord. 4 When Jezebel was exterminating the prophets of the Lord, Obadiah had taken one hundred prophets and kept them hidden in two caves, fifty in each cave, and he provided food and water for them.
5 Ahab said to Obadiah, “Go through the land to all the springs and all the streams. Maybe we will find enough grass so that we can keep the horses and mules alive, and we will not have to slaughter the cattle.” 6 In order to cover the whole land, they divided it between the two of them. Ahab went one way by himself, and Obadiah went another way by himself.
7 While Obadiah was on the way, Elijah suddenly met him. Obadiah recognized him and fell on his face and said, “Is that you, my lord Elijah?”
8 Elijah answered him, “Yes, it is. Go and tell your master, ‘Elijah is here.’”
9 But Obadiah said, “How have I sinned that you would hand your servant over to Ahab for him to kill me? 10 As surely as the Lord your God lives, there is no country or kingdom where my master has not sent someone to look for you. When they said, ‘He is not here,’ then he made that kingdom and nation swear that they could not find you. 11 But now you are telling me, ‘Go, tell your master that Elijah is here.’ 12 As soon as I leave you, the Spirit of the Lord will carry you to some place I do not know. When I go to tell Ahab and he then does not find you, he will kill me, even though your servant has been devoted to the Lord since my youth.
13 “Has my lord not been told what I did when Jezebel was killing the prophets of the Lord? I kept one hundred of the prophets of the Lord hidden in two caves, fifty in each, and I provided food and water for them. 14 But now you are saying, ‘Go and tell your master that Elijah is here.’”
15 But Elijah said to him, “As surely as the Lord of Armies lives, before whom I stand, I will present myself to him today.” 16 So Obadiah went to meet Ahab, and he informed him. Then Ahab came to meet Elijah.
17 When Ahab saw Elijah, Ahab said to him, “Is that you, the one who brings trouble on Israel?”
18 Elijah said, “It is not I who have brought trouble on Israel, but rather you and your father’s house, because you abandoned the Lord’s commandments and followed the Baals. 19 But now gather all Israel before me on Mount Carmel, along with the four hundred fifty prophets of Baal and the four hundred prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel’s table.”
Jesus Drives Out a Demon
31 He went down to Capernaum, a town of Galilee, and was teaching them on the Sabbath. 32 They were amazed by his teaching, because his message had authority. 33 In the synagogue there was a man who was possessed by the unclean spirit of a demon. He cried out with a loud voice, 34 “Leave us alone! What do you have to do with us, Jesus the Nazarene? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are: the Holy One of God!”
35 Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent, and come out of him!” The demon threw him down in front of them and came out of him without harming him.
36 They were all filled with awe and began to say to one another, “What is this message? With authority and power he commands unclean spirits, and they come out!” 37 News about him spread to every place in the surrounding area.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.