Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

A Call to Worship the Lord the Righteous Judge.

Obadiah Meets Elijah

18 Now it happened ^(A)after many days that the word of the Lord came to Elijah in the third year, saying, “Go, present yourself to Ahab, and ^(B)I will provide rain on the face of the earth.” ² So Elijah went to present himself to Ahab. Now the famine was severe in Samaria. ³ Ahab summoned Obadiah, ^(C)who was in charge of the household. (Now Obadiah ^[a](D)feared the Lord greatly; ⁴ for ^(E)when Jezebel killed the prophets of the Lord, Obadiah took a hundred prophets and hid them by fifties in a cave, and ^(F)provided them with bread and water.) ⁵ Then Ahab said to Obadiah, “Go through the land to all the springs of water and to all the river valleys; perhaps we will find grass and keep the horses and mules alive, and not have to kill some of the cattle.” ⁶ So they divided the land between them to ^[b]survey it; Ahab went one way by himself, and Obadiah went another way by himself.

⁷ Now as Obadiah was on the way, behold, Elijah met him, ^(G)and he recognized him and fell on his face and said, “Is it you, Elijah my master?” ⁸ And he said to him, “It is I. Go, say to your master, ‘Behold, Elijah is here.’” ⁹ But he said, “What ^[c]sin have I committed, that you are handing your servant over to Ahab, to put me to death? ^10 (H)As surely as the Lord your God lives, there is no nation or kingdom to which my master has not sent word to search for you; and whenever they say, ‘He is not here,’ he makes the kingdom or nation swear that they could not find you. ¹¹ Yet now you are saying, ‘Go, say to your master, “Behold, Elijah is here!”’ ¹² And it will come about when I leave you ^(I)that the Spirit of the Lord will carry you to where I do not know; so when I come and inform Ahab and he cannot find you, he will kill me, though I, your servant, have ^[d]feared the Lord from my youth. ^13 (J)Has it not been reported to my master what I did when Jezebel killed the prophets of the Lord, that I hid a hundred ^[e]prophets of the Lord by fifties in a cave, and provided them with bread and water? ¹⁴ Yet now you are saying, ‘Go, say to your master, “Behold, Elijah is here”’; he will then kill me!” ¹⁵ Then Elijah said, “^(K)As surely as the Lord of armies lives, before whom I stand, I will certainly present myself to him today.” ¹⁶ So Obadiah went to meet Ahab and informed him; then Ahab went to meet Elijah.

¹⁷ When Ahab saw Elijah, ^(L)Ahab said to him, “Is this you, the cause of disaster to Israel?” ¹⁸ He said, “I have not brought disaster to Israel, but you and your father’s house have, because ^(M)you have abandoned the commandments of the Lord and ^(N)you have followed the Baals. ¹⁹ Now then, send orders and gather to me all Israel at ^(O)Mount Carmel, ^(P)together with 450 prophets of Baal and four hundred prophets of ^[f](Q)the Asherah, who eat at Jezebel’s table.”

³¹ And ^(A)He came down to ^(B)Capernaum, a city of Galilee; and He was teaching them on the Sabbath; ³² and ^(C)they were amazed at His teaching, because ^(D)His ^[a]message was delivered with authority. ³³ In the synagogue there was a man ^[b]possessed by the spirit of an unclean demon, and he cried out with a loud voice, ³⁴ “Leave us alone! ^[c](E)What business do You have with us, Jesus ^[d]of ^(F)Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are—^(G)the Holy One of God!” ³⁵ But Jesus ^(H)rebuked him, saying, “Be quiet and come out of him!” And when the demon had thrown him down in the midst of the people, it came out of him without doing him any harm. ³⁶ And amazement came upon them all, and they began talking with one another, saying, “What is ^[e]this message? For ^(I)with authority and power He commands the unclean spirits, and they come out!” ³⁷ And ^(J)the news about Him was spreading into every locality of the surrounding region.