Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Praise for God’s Glory
96 Sing to the Lord a new song.
Sing to the Lord, all the earth.
2 Sing to the Lord and praise his name.
Every day tell how he saves us.
3 Tell the nations of his glory.
Tell all peoples the miracles he does.
4 The Lord is great; he should be praised.
He should be honored more than all the gods.
5 All the gods of the nations are only idols.
But the Lord made the skies.
6 The Lord has glory and majesty.
He has power and beauty in his Temple.
7 Praise the Lord, all nations on earth.
Praise the Lord’s glory and power.
8 Praise the glory of the Lord’s name.
Bring an offering and come into his Temple courtyards.
9 Worship the Lord because he is holy.
The whole earth should tremble before the Lord.
10 Tell the nations, “The Lord is king.”
The earth is set, and it cannot be moved.
He will judge the people fairly.
11 Let the skies rejoice and the earth be glad.
Let the sea and everything in it shout.
12 Let the fields and everything in them show their joy.
Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy.
13 They will sing before the Lord because he is coming.
He is coming to judge the world.
He will judge the world with fairness
and the nations with truth.
Elijah and the Prophets of Baal
18 During the third year without rain, the Lord spoke his word to Elijah. The Lord said, “Go and meet King Ahab. I will soon send rain.” 2 So Elijah went to meet Ahab.
By this time there was no food in Samaria. 3 So King Ahab sent for Obadiah. Obadiah was in charge of the king’s palace. (Obadiah was a true follower of the Lord. 4 One time Jezebel was killing all the Lord’s prophets. So Obadiah took 100 of them and hid them in two caves. He put 50 in one cave and 50 in another cave. And he brought them food and water.) 5 King Ahab said to Obadiah, “Let’s look at every spring and valley in the land. Maybe we can find enough grass to keep our horses and mules alive. Then we will not have to kill our animals.” 6 So each one chose a part of the country to search. Ahab went in one direction. Obadiah went in another direction.
7 While Obadiah was walking along, Elijah met him. Obadiah knew who Elijah was. So he bowed down to the ground before Elijah. He said, “Elijah? Is it really you, master?”
8 Elijah answered, “Yes. Go tell your master the king that I am here.”
9 Then Obadiah said, “If I tell Ahab that, he will kill me! I have done nothing wrong that I should be killed! 10 As surely as the Lord your God lives, the king has looked everywhere for you! He has sent people to every country to look for you. If the ruler said you were not there, that was not enough. Ahab then forced the ruler to swear 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 place after I leave. If I go tell King Ahab you are here, he will come. If he doesn’t find you, he will kill me! I have followed the Lord since I was a boy. 13 Haven’t you heard what I did? When Jezebel was killing the Lord’s prophets, I hid 100 of them. I put 50 prophets in one cave and 50 prophets in another cave. I brought them food and water. 14 Now you want me to go and tell the king you are here. He will kill me!”
15 Elijah answered, “I serve the Lord of heaven’s armies. As surely as the Lord lives, I will stand before Ahab today.”
16 So Obadiah went to Ahab and told him where Elijah was. Then Ahab went to meet Elijah.
17 When he saw Elijah, he said, “Is it you—the biggest troublemaker in Israel?”
18 Elijah answered, “I have not caused trouble in Israel. You and your father’s family have caused all this trouble. You have not obeyed the Lord’s commands. You have followed the Baals. 19 Now tell all Israel to meet me at Mount Carmel. Also bring the 450 prophets of Baal there. And bring the 400 prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel’s table.”
Jesus Removes an Evil Spirit
31 Jesus went to Capernaum, a city in Galilee. On the Sabbath day, Jesus taught the people. 32 They were amazed at his teaching, because he spoke with authority. 33 In the synagogue there was a man who had an evil spirit from the devil inside him. The man shouted in a loud voice, 34 “Jesus of Nazareth! What do you want with us? Did you come here to destroy us? I know who you are—God’s Holy One!”
35 But Jesus warned the evil spirit to stop. He said, “Be quiet! Come out of the man!” The evil spirit threw the man down to the ground before all the people. Then the evil spirit left the man and did not hurt him.
36 The people were amazed. They said to each other, “What does this mean? With authority and power he commands evil spirits, and they come out.” 37 And so the news about Jesus spread to every place in the whole area.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.