Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Elijah Defeats the Prophets of Baal
20 Ahab sent for the Israelis and brought the prophets together at Mount Carmel, 21 where Elijah approached all the people and asked them, “How long will you keep hesitating[a] between both sides? If the Lord is God, go after him. If Baal, go after him.”
But the people didn’t say a word.
22 So Elijah told the people, “I’m the only one left over as a prophet of the Lord, am I? But Baal’s prophets number 450 men? 23 So let them provide two oxen. They can choose one ox for themselves. Cut it up, lay it on top of some wood, but don’t set fire to it. I will prepare the other ox and lay it on top of some wood, and I won’t set fire to it. 24 Then you can call on the name of your god, and I’ll call on the name of the Lord. Let the God who answers by fire be our God!”
“That’s a good idea!” all the people shouted.
25 So Elijah told the prophets of Baal, “Choose an ox for yourselves and you prepare it first, since there are so many of you. Call on the name of your god, but don’t set fire to the offering.”
26 So they took the ox that was given to them, prepared it, and called on the name of Baal from early morning until noon. “Baal! Answer us!” they cried. But there was no response. Nobody answered. So they kept on dancing[a] around the altar that they had made.
27 Starting about noon, Elijah began to tease them:
“Shout louder!
“He’s a god, so maybe he’s busy.
“Maybe he’s relieving himself.
“Maybe he’s busy someplace.
“Maybe he’s taking a nap and somebody needs to wake him up.”
28 So the prophets of Baal[b] cried even louder and slashed themselves with swords and lances until their blood gushed out all over them, as was their custom. 29 They kept on raving right through midday and until it was time to offer the evening sacrifice, but there was still no response. Nobody answered, and nobody paid attention.
30 Eventually, Elijah told everybody, “Come here!” So everybody approached him, and he repaired the Lord’s altar that had been torn down. 31 Elijah took twelve stones, one for each of the tribes of Jacob’s descendants, to whom the message from the Lord had come that “Israel is to be your name.” 32 So Elijah used the stones to build an altar to the name of the Lord. But then he dug a trench around the altar large enough to hold two measures[a] of seed. 33 Then he laid the wood in order, cut the bull into pieces, and laid them on top of the wood.
“Fill four pitchers with water,” he ordered. “Then pour them out on the burnt offering and the wood.”
34 “Do it a second time,” he ordered. So they did it a second time.
“Do it a third time,” he said. So they did it a third time. 35 The water ran down around the altar and completely filled the trench.[b]
Elijah’s Prayer and God’s Answer by Fire
36 As the time for the evening offering arrived, Elijah the prophet approached and said, “Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I, your servant, have done all of this in obedience to your word. 37 Answer me, Lord! Answer me so that this people may know that you, Lord, are God, and that you are turning back their hearts again.”
38 Right then the Lord’s fire fell and consumed the burnt offering, the wood, the stones, the dust, and even the water that was in the trench! 39 When all the people saw what had happened, they fell flat on their faces and cried out “The Lord is God! The Lord is God!”
Give Glory to the Lord
96 Sing a new song to the Lord!
Sing to the Lord, all the earth!
2 Sing to the Lord!
Bless his name!
Proclaim his deliverance every day!
3 Declare his glory among the nations
and his awesome deeds among all the peoples!
4 For the Lord is great,
and greatly to be praised;
he is awesome above all gods.
5 For all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols,
but the Lord made the heavens.
6 Splendor and majesty are before him;
might and beauty are in his sanctuary.
7 Ascribe to the Lord, you families of peoples,
ascribe to the Lord glory and strength!
8 Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name,
bring an offering and enter his courts!
9 Worship the Lord in holy splendor;
tremble before him, all the earth.
10 Declare among the nations, “The Lord reigns!”
Indeed, he established the world so that it will not falter.
He will judge people fairly.
11 The heavens will be glad
and the earth will rejoice;
even the sea and everything that fills it will roar.[a]
12 The field and all that is in it will rejoice;
then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy
13 in the Lord’s presence,
because he is coming;
indeed, he will come to judge the earth.
He will judge the world fairly
and its people reliably.
Greetings from Paul
1 From:[a] Paul—an apostle not sent[b] from men or by a man, but by Jesus the Messiah,[c] and God the Father, who raised him from the dead— 2 and all the brothers who are with me.
To: The churches in Galatia.
3 May grace and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus, the Messiah,[d] be yours! 4 He gave himself for our sins in order to rescue us from this present evil age according to the will of our God and Father. 5 To him be the glory forever and ever! Amen.
There is No Other Gospel
6 I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of the Messiah[e] and, instead, are following[f] a different gospel, 7 not that another one really exists. To be sure, there are certain people who are troubling you and want to distort the gospel about the Messiah.[g] 8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should proclaim to you[h] a gospel contrary to what we proclaimed to you, let that person be condemned! 9 What we have told you in the past I am now telling you again: If anyone proclaims to you a gospel contrary to what you received, let that person be condemned! 10 Am I now trying to win the approval of people or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be the Messiah’s[i] servant.[j]
Jesus Himself Gave Paul His Message
11 For[k] I want you to know, brothers, that the gospel that was proclaimed by me is not of human origin. 12 For I did not receive it from a man, nor was I taught it, but it was revealed to me by Jesus the Messiah.[l]
Jesus Heals a Centurion’s Servant(A)
7 After Jesus[a] had finished saying all these things[b] to the people who were there listening, he went to Capernaum. 2 There a centurion’s servant, whom he valued highly, was sick and about to die. 3 When the centurion[c] heard about Jesus, he sent some Jewish elders to him to ask him to come and save his servant’s life. 4 So they went to Jesus and begged him repeatedly, “He deserves to have this done for him, 5 because he loves our people and built our synagogue for us.”
6 So Jesus went with them. He was not far from the house when the centurion sent friends to tell Jesus,[d] “Sir,[e] stop troubling yourself, because I’m not worthy to have you come under my roof. 7 That’s why I didn’t presume to come to you. But just say the word, and let my servant be healed, 8 because I, too, am a man under authority and have soldiers under me. I say to one ‘Go’ and he goes, to another ‘Come’ and he comes, and to my servant ‘Do this’ and he does it.”
9 When Jesus heard this, he was amazed at him. Turning to the crowd that was following him, he said, “I tell you, not even in Israel have I found this kind of faith!” 10 Then the men who had been sent returned to the house and found the servant in perfect health.
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