Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Praise for the Lord’s Glory
96 Sing to the Lord a new song [C celebrating victory; 33:3; 40:3; 98:1; 144:9; 149:1; Is. 42:10; Rev. 5:9; 14:3];
sing to the Lord, all the earth.
2 Sing to the Lord and ·praise [bless] his name;
every day ·tell [announce the good news] ·how he saves us [L of his salvation/victory].
3 Tell the nations of his glory [C his manifest presence];
tell all peoples the ·miracles [wonderful acts] he does,
4 because the Lord is great; he should be praised ·at all times [or with vigor].
He ·should be honored [is awesome; should be feared] more than all the gods,
5 because all the gods of the nations are ·only idols [or worthless],
but the Lord made the heavens [Gen. 1].
6 The Lord has ·glory [splendor] and majesty;
he has power and beauty in his ·Temple [sanctuary; L Holy Place].
7 ·Praise [L Ascribe to] the Lord, all ·nations on earth [L families of peoples];
·praise the Lord’s [L ascribe to the Lord] glory and power.
8 ·Praise the glory of the Lord’s [L Ascribe to the Lord the glory of his] name.
Bring an ·offering [grain/gift/tribute sacrifice; Lev. 2:1] and come into his Temple courtyards.
9 ·Worship [Bow down to] the Lord ·because he is holy [L in the splendor of his holiness].
Tremble before him, everyone on earth.
10 Tell the nations, “The Lord ·is king [reigns; 47:2; 93:1; 97:1; 98:6; 99:1; Rev. 19:6].”
The earth is ·set [established], and it cannot be moved.
He will judge the people fairly.
11 Let the ·skies [heavens] rejoice and the earth be glad;
let the sea and everything in it ·shout [thunder; roar].
12 Let the fields and everything in them rejoice.
Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy
13 before the Lord, because he is coming.
He is coming to judge the world;
he will judge the world with ·fairness [righteousness]
and the peoples with ·truth [faithfulness; 98:9].
Elijah Kills the Prophets of Baal
18 During the third year without rain, the ·Lord spoke his word [L word of the Lord came] to Elijah: “Go and ·meet [present/show yourself to] King Ahab, and I will soon send rain.” 2 So Elijah went to ·meet [present/show himself to] Ahab.
By this time ·there was no food [the famine was severe] in Samaria. 3 King Ahab sent for Obadiah, who was in charge of the ·king’s palace [household]. (Obadiah ·was a true follower of [L greatly revered/feared] the Lord. 4 When Jezebel was killing the Lord’s prophets, Obadiah hid a hundred of them in two caves, fifty in one cave and fifty in another. He also ·brought [provided] them food and water.) 5 Ahab said to Obadiah, “·Let’s [Go] check every spring and valley in the land. Maybe we can find enough grass to keep our horses and mules alive and not have to kill our animals.” 6 So ·each one chose a part of the country to search [they divided the land between them]; Ahab ·went in one direction [L walked one way by himself] and Obadiah ·in another [L walked one way by himself].
7 While Obadiah was on his way, Elijah met him. Obadiah recognized Elijah, so he ·bowed down to the ground [L fell on his face] and said, “Elijah? Is it really you, ·master [my lord]?”
8 “Yes,” Elijah answered. “Go tell your master that I am here.”
9 Then Obadiah said, “What ·wrong [sin] have I done for you to hand me over to Ahab like this? He will put me to death. 10 As surely as the Lord your God lives, the king has sent people to every ·country [nation and kingdom] to search for you. If the ruler said you were not there, Ahab ·forced the ruler to swear [required an oath that] you could not be found in his country. 11 Now you want me to go to my master and tell him, ‘Elijah is here’? 12 The Spirit of the Lord may carry you to some ·other [unknown] place after I leave. If I go tell King Ahab you are here, and he comes and doesn’t find you, he will kill me! ·I [Even though/Yet I] have ·followed [L revered; feared] the Lord since I was a boy. 13 Haven’t you been told what I did? When Jezebel was killing the Lord’s prophets, I hid a hundred of them, fifty in one cave and fifty in another. I ·brought [provided] them food and water. 14 Now you want me to go and tell my master, ‘Elijah is here’? He will kill me!”
15 Elijah answered, “As surely as the Lord ·All-Powerful [of Heaven’s Armies; of hosts] lives, whom I serve, I will ·be seen by [present/show myself to] Ahab today.”
16 So Obadiah went to Ahab and told him. Then Ahab went to meet Elijah.
17 When he saw Elijah, he asked, “Is it you—·the biggest troublemaker in [L you troubler of] Israel?”
18 Elijah answered, “I have not made trouble in Israel. You and your father’s ·family [L house] have made all this trouble by ·not obeying [forsaking; abandoning] the Lord’s commands. You have ·gone after [followed; worshiped] the Baals. 19 Now ·tell [summon; assemble] all Israel to meet me at Mount Carmel. Also bring the four hundred fifty prophets of Baal and the four hundred prophets of Asherah [14:15], who eat at Jezebel’s table.”
Jesus Forces Out an Evil Spirit(A)
31 Jesus went to Capernaum [4:23], a city in Galilee, and on the Sabbath day, he taught the people. 32 They were amazed at his teaching, because ·he spoke with [his words/message had] authority. 33 In the synagogue a man who had within him an ·evil spirit [L unclean spirit; C demons were viewed as “unclean” or defiling spirit-beings] shouted in a loud voice, 34 “Jesus of Nazareth! What do you ·want [have to do] with us? Did you come to destroy us? I know who you are—God’s Holy One!”
35 Jesus ·commanded [reprimanded; rebuked] the evil spirit, “Be quiet! Come out of the man!” The ·evil spirit [L demon] threw the man down to the ground before all the people and then left the man without ·hurting [injuring] him.
36 [L All] The people were amazed and said to each other, “·What does this mean? [or What words these are!] With authority and power he ·commands [gives orders to] ·evil [defiling; L unclean; v. 33] spirits, and they come out.” 37 And so the news about Jesus spread to every place in the whole area.
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