Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

²⁰ So Ahab summoned all the Israelites and the prophets of Baal to meet at Mount Carmel. ²¹ Elijah went up to the people and said, “How much longer will it take you to make up your minds? If the Lord is God, worship him; but if Baal is God, worship him!” But the people didn't say a word.

²² Then Elijah said, “I am the only prophet of the Lord still left, but there are 450 prophets of Baal. ²³ Bring two bulls; let the prophets of Baal take one, kill it, cut it in pieces, and put it on the wood—but don't light the fire. I will do the same with the other bull. ²⁴ Then let the prophets of Baal pray to their god, and I will pray to the Lord, and the one who answers by sending fire—he is God.”

The people shouted their approval.

²⁵ Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Since there are so many of you, you take a bull and prepare it first. Pray to your god, but don't set fire to the wood.”

²⁶ They took the bull that was brought to them, prepared it, and prayed to Baal until noon. They shouted, “Answer us, Baal!” and kept dancing around the altar they had built. But no answer came.

²⁷ At noon Elijah started making fun of them: “Pray louder! He is a god! Maybe he is day-dreaming or relieving himself, or perhaps he's gone off on a trip! Or maybe he's sleeping, and you've got to wake him up!” ²⁸ So the prophets prayed louder and cut themselves with knives and daggers, according to their ritual, until blood flowed. ²⁹ They kept on ranting and raving until the middle of the afternoon; but no answer came, not a sound was heard.

³⁰ Then Elijah said to the people, “Come closer to me,” and they all gathered around him. He set about repairing the altar of the Lord which had been torn down. ^31 (A)He took twelve stones, one for each of the twelve tribes named for the sons of Jacob, the man to whom the Lord had given the name Israel. ³² With these stones he rebuilt the altar for the worship of the Lord. He dug a trench around it, large enough to hold about four gallons of water. ³³ Then he placed the wood on the altar, cut the bull in pieces, and laid it on the wood. He said, “Fill four jars with water and pour it on the offering and the wood.” They did so, ³⁴ and he said, “Do it again”—and they did. “Do it once more,” he said—and they did. ³⁵ The water ran down around the altar and filled the trench.

³⁶ At the hour of the afternoon sacrifice the prophet Elijah approached the altar and prayed, “O Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, prove now that you are the God of Israel and that I am your servant and have done all this at your command. ³⁷ Answer me, Lord, answer me, so that this people will know that you, the Lord, are God and that you are bringing them back to yourself.”^[a]

³⁸ The Lord sent fire down, and it burned up the sacrifice, the wood, and the stones, scorched the earth and dried up the water in the trench. ³⁹ When the people saw this, they threw themselves on the ground and exclaimed, “The Lord is God; the Lord alone is God!”

God the Supreme King^(A)

1 From Paul, whose call to be an apostle did not come from human beings or by human means, but from Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from death. ² All the believers who are here join me in sending greetings to the churches of Galatia:

³ May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace.

⁴ In order to set us free from this present evil age, Christ gave himself for our sins, in obedience to the will of our God and Father. ⁵ To God be the glory forever and ever! Amen.

The One Gospel

⁶ I am surprised at you! In no time at all you are deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ,^[a] and are accepting another gospel. ⁷ Actually, there is no “other gospel,” but I say this because there are some people who are upsetting you and trying to change the gospel of Christ. ⁸ But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel that is different from the one we preached to you, may he be condemned to hell! ⁹ We have said it before, and now I say it again: if anyone preaches to you a gospel that is different from the one you accepted, may he be condemned to hell!

¹⁰ Does this sound as if I am trying to win human approval? No indeed! What I want is God's approval! Am I trying to be popular with people? If I were still trying to do so, I would not be a servant of Christ.

How Paul Became an Apostle

¹¹ Let me tell you, my friends, that the gospel I preach is not of human origin. ¹² I did not receive it from any human being, nor did anyone teach it to me. It was Jesus Christ himself who revealed it to me.

Jesus Heals a Roman Officer's Servant^(A)

7 When Jesus had finished saying all these things to the people, he went to Capernaum. ² A Roman officer there had a servant who was very dear to him; the man was sick and about to die. ³ When the officer heard about Jesus, he sent some Jewish elders to ask him to come and heal his servant. ⁴ They came to Jesus and begged him earnestly, “This man really deserves your help. ⁵ He loves our people and he himself built a synagogue for us.”

⁶ So Jesus went with them. He was not far from the house when the officer sent friends to tell him, “Sir, don't trouble yourself. I do not deserve to have you come into my house, ⁷ neither do I consider myself worthy to come to you in person. Just give the order, and my servant will get well. ⁸ I, too, am a man placed under the authority of superior officers, and I have soldiers under me. I order this one, ‘Go!’ and he goes; I order that one, ‘Come!’ and he comes; and I order my slave, ‘Do this!’ and he does it.”

⁹ Jesus was surprised when he heard this; he turned around and said to the crowd following him, “I tell you, I have never found faith like this, not even in Israel!”

¹⁰ The messengers went back to the officer's house and found his servant well.