Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
God or Baal on Mount Carmel
20 So Ahab sent a message among all the sons of Israel and brought the prophets together at Mount Carmel. 21 Elijah came near to all the people and said, “(A)How long will you [a]hesitate between two opinions? (B)If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him.” But the people did not answer him a word.
22 Then Elijah said to the people, “I (A)alone am left a prophet of the Lord, but Baal’s prophets are (B)450 men. 23 Now let them give us two oxen; and let them choose one ox for themselves and cut it up, and place it on the wood, but put no fire under it; and I will prepare the other ox and lay it on the wood, and I will not put a fire under it. 24 Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the Lord, and (C)the God who answers by fire, He is God.” And all the people said, “[a]That is a good idea.”
25 So Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose one ox for yourselves and prepare it first for you are many, and call on the name of your god, but put no fire under it.” 26 Then they took the ox which [b]was given them and they prepared it and called on the name of Baal from morning until noon saying, “O Baal, answer us.” But there was (D)no voice and no one answered. And they [c]leaped about the altar which [d]they made. 27 It came about at noon, that Elijah mocked them and said, “Call out with a loud voice, for he is a god; either he is occupied or gone aside, or is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and needs to be awakened.” 28 So they cried with a loud voice and (E)cut themselves according to their custom with swords and lances until the blood gushed out on them. 29 When midday was past, they [e]raved (F)until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice; but there was no voice, no one answered, and no [f]one paid attention.
30 Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come near to me.” So all the people came near to him. And (A)he repaired the altar of the Lord which had been torn down. 31 Elijah took twelve stones according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord had come, saying, “(B)Israel shall be your name.” 32 So with the stones he built an altar in (C)the name of the Lord, and he made a trench around the altar, large enough to hold two [a]measures of seed. 33 (D)Then he arranged the wood and cut the ox in pieces and laid it on the wood. 34 And he said, “Fill four pitchers with water and pour it on the burnt offering and on the wood.” And he said, “Do it a second time,” and they did it a second time. And he said, “Do it a third time,” and they did it a third time. 35 The water flowed around the altar and he also filled the trench with water.
Elijah’s Prayer
36 (E)At the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, Elijah the prophet came near and said, “(F)O Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, today let it be known that (G)You are God in Israel and that I am Your servant and (H)I have done all these things at Your word. 37 Answer me, O Lord, answer me, that this people may know that You, O Lord, are God, and that You have turned their heart back again.” 38 Then the (I)fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt offering and the wood and the stones and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. 39 When all the people saw it, they fell on their faces; and they said, “(J)The Lord, He is God; the Lord, He is God.”
A Call to Worship the Lord the Righteous Judge.
96 (A)Sing to the Lord a (B)new song;
Sing to the Lord, all the earth.
2 Sing to the Lord, bless His name;
(C)Proclaim good tidings of His salvation from day to day.
3 Tell of (D)His glory among the nations,
His wonderful deeds among all the peoples.
4 For (E)great is the Lord and (F)greatly to be praised;
He is to be (G)feared (H)above all gods.
5 For (I)all the gods of the peoples are [a]idols,
But (J)the Lord made the heavens.
6 (K)Splendor and majesty are before Him,
Strength and beauty are in His sanctuary.
7 [b]Ascribe to the Lord, O (L)families of the peoples,
[c](M)Ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
8 [d]Ascribe to the Lord the (N)glory of His name;
Bring an [e](O)offering and come into His courts.
9 (P)Worship the Lord in [f]holy attire;
(Q)Tremble before Him, all the earth.
10 Say among the nations, “(R)The Lord reigns;
Indeed, the (S)world is firmly established, it will not be moved;
He will (T)judge the peoples with [g]equity.”
11 Let the (U)heavens be glad, and let the (V)earth rejoice;
Let (W)the sea [h]roar, and [i]all it contains;
12 Let the (X)field exult, and all that is in it.
Then all the (Y)trees of the forest will sing for joy
13 Before the Lord, (Z)for He is coming,
For He is coming to judge the earth.
(AA)He will judge the world in righteousness
And the peoples in His faithfulness.
Introduction
1 Paul, (A)an apostle ((B)not sent from men nor through the agency of man, but (C)through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who (D)raised Him from the dead), 2 and all (E)the brethren who are with me,
To (F)the churches of Galatia:
3 (G)Grace to you and peace from [a]God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, 4 who (H)gave Himself for our sins so that He might rescue us from (I)this present evil [b]age, according to the will of (J)our God and Father, 5 (K)to whom be the glory forevermore. Amen.
Perversion of the Gospel
6 I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting (L)Him who called you [c]by the grace of Christ, for a (M)different gospel; 7 which is really not another; only there are some who are (N)disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we, or (O)an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel [d]contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be [e](P)accursed! 9 As we (Q)have said before, so I say again now, (R)if any man is preaching to you a gospel [f]contrary to what you received, he is to be [g](S)accursed!
10 For am I now (T)seeking the favor of men, or of God? Or am I striving to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a (U)bond-servant of Christ.
Paul Defends His Ministry
11 For (V)I would have you know, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is (W)not according to man. 12 For (X)I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a (Y)revelation of Jesus Christ.
Jesus Heals a Centurion’s Servant
7 (A)When He had completed all His discourse in the hearing of the people, (B)He went to Capernaum.
2 And a centurion’s slave, [a]who was highly regarded by him, was sick and about to die. 3 When he heard about Jesus, (C)he sent some [b]Jewish elders asking Him to come and [c]save the life of his slave. 4 When they came to Jesus, they earnestly implored Him, saying, “He is worthy for You to grant this to him; 5 for he loves our nation and it was he who built us our synagogue.” 6 Now Jesus started on His way with them; and when He was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends, saying to Him, “[d]Lord, do not trouble Yourself further, for I am not worthy for You to come under my roof; 7 for this reason I did not even consider myself worthy to come to You, but just [e]say the word, and my [f]servant will be healed. 8 For I also am a man placed under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to this one, ‘Go!’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come!’ and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this!’ and he does it.” 9 Now when Jesus heard this, He marveled at him, and turned and said to the crowd that was following Him, “I say to you, (D)not even in Israel have I found such great faith.” 10 When those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the slave in good health.
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