Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

²⁰ Ahab sent the message to all the Israelites. He gathered the prophets at Mount Carmel. ²¹ Elijah approached all the people and said, “How long will you hobble back and forth between two opinions? If the Lord^[a] is God, follow God. If Baal is God, follow Baal.” The people gave no answer.

²² Elijah said to the people, “I am the last of the Lord’s prophets, but Baal’s prophets number four hundred fifty. ²³ Give us two bulls. Let Baal’s prophets choose one. Let them cut it apart and set it on the wood, but don’t add fire. I’ll prepare the other bull, put it on the wood, but won’t add fire. ²⁴ Then all of you will call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the Lord. The god who answers with fire—that’s the real God!”

All the people answered, “That’s an excellent idea.”

²⁵ So Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose one of these bulls. Prepare it first since there are so many of you. Call on the name of your god, but don’t add fire.”

²⁶ So they took one of the bulls that had been brought to them. They prepared it and called on Baal’s name from morning to midday. They said, “Great Baal, answer us!” But there was no sound or answer. They performed a hopping dance around the altar that had been set up.

²⁷ Around noon, Elijah started making fun of them: “Shout louder! Certainly he’s a god! Perhaps he is lost in thought or wandering or traveling somewhere.^[a] Or maybe he is asleep and must wake up!”

²⁸ So the prophets of Baal cried with a louder voice and cut themselves with swords and knives as was their custom. Their blood flowed all over them. ²⁹ As noon passed they went crazy with their ritual until it was time for the evening offering. Still there was no sound or answer, no response whatsoever.

³⁰ Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come here!” All the people closed in, and he repaired the Lord’s altar that had been damaged. ³¹ Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob—to whom the Lord’s word came: “Your name will be Israel.” ³² He built the stones into an altar in the Lord’s name, and he dug a trench around the altar big enough to hold two seahs^[a] of dry grain. ³³ He put the wood in order, butchered the bull, and placed the bull on the wood. “Fill four jars with water and pour it on the sacrifice and on the wood,” he commanded. ³⁴ “Do it a second time!” he said. So they did it a second time. “Do it a third time!” And so they did it a third time. ³⁵ The water flowed around the altar, and even the trench filled with water. ³⁶ At the time of the evening offering, the prophet Elijah drew near and prayed: “Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant. I have done all these things at your instructions. ³⁷ Answer me, Lord! Answer me so that this people will know that you, Lord, are the real God and that you can change their hearts.”^{[b] 38} Then the Lord’s fire fell; it consumed the sacrifice, the wood, the stones, and the dust. It even licked up the water in the trench!

³⁹ All the people saw this and fell on their faces. “The Lord is the real God! The Lord is the real God!” they exclaimed.

Psalm 96

Greeting

1 From Paul, an apostle who is not sent from human authority or commissioned through human agency, but sent through Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised him from the dead; ² and from all the brothers and sisters with me.

To the churches in Galatia.

³ Grace and peace to you from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. ⁴ He gave himself for our sins, so he could deliver us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father. ⁵ To God be the glory forever and always! Amen.

The gospel challenged in Galatia

⁶ I’m amazed that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ to follow another gospel. ⁷ It’s not really another gospel, but certain people are confusing you and they want to change the gospel of Christ. ⁸ However, even if we ourselves or a heavenly angel should ever preach anything different from what we preached to you, they should be under a curse. ⁹ I’m repeating what we’ve said before: if anyone preaches something different from what you received, they should be under a curse!

Paul’s leadership

¹⁰ Am I trying to win over human beings or God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I wouldn’t be Christ’s slave. ¹¹ Brothers and sisters, I want you to know that the gospel I preached isn’t human in origin. ¹² I didn’t receive it or learn it from a human. It came through a revelation from Jesus Christ.

A servant is healed

7 After Jesus finished presenting all his words among the people, he entered Capernaum. ² A centurion had a servant who was very important to him, but the servant was ill and about to die. ³ When the centurion heard about Jesus, he sent some Jewish elders to Jesus to ask him to come and heal his servant. ⁴ When they came to Jesus, they earnestly pleaded with Jesus. “He deserves to have you do this for him,” they said. ⁵ “He loves our people and he built our synagogue for us.”

⁶ Jesus went with them. He had almost reached the house when the centurion sent friends to say to Jesus, “Lord, don’t be bothered. I don’t deserve to have you come under my roof. ⁷ In fact, I didn’t even consider myself worthy to come to you. Just say the word and my servant will be healed. ⁸ I’m also a man appointed under authority, with soldiers under me. I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and the servant does it.”

⁹ When Jesus heard these words, he was impressed with the centurion. He turned to the crowd following him and said, “I tell you, even in Israel I haven’t found faith like this.” ¹⁰ When the centurion’s friends returned to his house, they found the servant restored to health.