Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
8 (A)So the word of the Lord came to him: 9 Arise, go to Zarephath of Sidon and stay there. I have commanded a widow there to feed you. 10 He arose and went to Zarephath. When he arrived at the entrance of the city, a widow was there gathering sticks; he called out to her, “Please bring me a small cupful of water to drink.” 11 She left to get it, and he called out after her, “Please bring along a crust of bread.” 12 She said, “As the Lord, your God, lives, I have nothing baked; there is only a handful of flour in my jar and a little oil in my jug. Just now I was collecting a few sticks, to go in and prepare something for myself and my son; when we have eaten it, we shall die.” 13 Elijah said to her, “Do not be afraid. Go and do as you have said. But first make me a little cake and bring it to me. Afterwards you can prepare something for yourself and your son. 14 For the Lord, the God of Israel, says: The jar of flour shall not go empty, nor the jug of oil run dry, until the day when the Lord sends rain upon the earth.” 15 She left and did as Elijah had said. She had enough to eat for a long time—he and she and her household. 16 The jar of flour did not go empty, nor the jug of oil run dry, according to the word of the Lord spoken through Elijah.
17 (A)Some time later the son of the woman, the owner of the house, fell sick, and his sickness grew more severe until he stopped breathing. 18 So she said to Elijah, “Why have you done this to me, man of God? Have you come to me to call attention to my guilt and to kill my son?” 19 Elijah said to her, “Give me your son.” Taking him from her lap, he carried him to the upper room where he was staying, and laid him on his own bed. 20 He called out to the Lord: “Lord, my God, will you afflict even the widow with whom I am staying by killing her son?” 21 Then he stretched himself out upon the child three times and he called out to the Lord: “Lord, my God, let the life breath return to the body of this child.” 22 The Lord heard the prayer of Elijah; the life breath returned to the child’s body and he lived. 23 Taking the child, Elijah carried him down into the house from the upper room and gave him to his mother. Elijah said, “See! Your son is alive.” 24 The woman said to Elijah, “Now indeed I know that you are a man of God, and it is truly the word of the Lord that you speak.”
Psalm 146[a]
Trust in God the Creator and Redeemer
1 Hallelujah!
2 Praise the Lord, my soul;
I will praise the Lord all my life,
sing praise to my God while I live.(A)
I
3 Put no trust in princes,
in children of Adam powerless to save.(B)
4 Who breathing his last, returns to the earth;
that day all his planning comes to nothing.(C)
II
5 Blessed the one whose help is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in the Lord, his God,
6 The maker of heaven and earth,
the seas and all that is in them,(D)
Who keeps faith forever,
7 secures justice for the oppressed,(E)
who gives bread to the hungry.
The Lord sets prisoners free;(F)
8 the Lord gives sight to the blind.
The Lord raises up those who are bowed down;(G)
the Lord loves the righteous.
9 The Lord protects the resident alien,
comes to the aid of the orphan and the widow,(H)
but thwarts the way of the wicked.
10 The Lord shall reign forever,
your God, Zion, through all generations!(I)
Hallelujah!
III. Paul’s Defense of His Gospel and His Authority[a]
His Call by Christ. 11 (A)Now I want you to know, brothers, that the gospel preached by me is not of human origin. 12 For I did not receive it from a human being, nor was I taught it, but it came through a revelation of Jesus Christ.[b]
13 [c]For you heard of my former way of life in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God beyond measure and tried to destroy it,(B) 14 and progressed in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries among my race, since I was even more a zealot for my ancestral traditions.(C) 15 But when [God], who from my mother’s womb had set me apart and called me through his grace, was pleased(D) 16 to reveal his Son to me,(E) so that I might proclaim him to the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult flesh and blood,[d] 17 nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me; rather, I went into Arabia[e] and then returned to Damascus.
18 [f]Then after three years[g] I went up to Jerusalem to confer with Cephas and remained with him for fifteen days.(F) 19 But I did not see any other of the apostles,(G) only James the brother of the Lord.[h] 20 (As to what I am writing to you, behold, before God, I am not lying.)(H) 21 Then I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia.(I) 22 And I was unknown personally to the churches of Judea that are in Christ; 23 they only kept hearing that “the one who once was persecuting us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.”(J) 24 So they glorified God because of me.
11 (A)Soon afterward he journeyed to a city called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd accompanied him. 12 As he drew near to the gate of the city, a man who had died was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. A large crowd from the city was with her.(B) 13 When the Lord saw her, he was moved with pity for her and said to her, “Do not weep.” 14 He stepped forward and touched the coffin; at this the bearers halted, and he said, “Young man, I tell you, arise!” 15 The dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother.(C) 16 Fear seized them all, and they glorified God, exclaiming, “A great prophet has arisen in our midst,” and “God has visited his people.”(D) 17 This report about him spread through the whole of Judea and in all the surrounding region.
The Messengers from John the Baptist.[a]
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.