Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

⁸ The word of the Lord came to him, saying, ⁹ “Arise and go to Zarephath^[a] which belongs to Sidon and live there. I have commanded a woman there who is a widow to take care of you.”

¹⁰ So he arose and went to Zarephath. When he arrived at the gate to the city, there was a woman there who was a widow. She was gathering sticks, and he called out to her and said, “Bring me a little water in a jar so that I can have something to drink.”

¹¹ As she went to get it for him, he called out to her and said, “Please also bring me a bit of bread in your hand.” ¹² But she said to him, “As the Lord, your God, lives, I do not have any bread. I only have a handful of flour in a jar and a little bit of oil in a jug. I am gathering two sticks so that I can prepare it for myself and my son so that we can eat it and die.”

¹³ Elijah said to her, “Do not be afraid. Go and do what you have said, but first make a small piece of bread and bring it to me. Afterwards, you can make some for yourself and your son. ¹⁴ For thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘The jar of flour will not be used up, the jug of oil will not go dry, up until the day that the Lord sends rain upon the earth.’ ”

¹⁵ She went and did what Elijah had told her to do. She, and he, and her household ate for a long time. ¹⁶ The jar of flour was not used up, and the jug of oil did not go dry, just as the word of the Lord had foretold through Elijah.

¹⁷ Elijah Restores Life to the Widow’s Son.^[a] After these things happened, the son of the woman who owned the house fell ill. The illness was so severe that there was no breath left in him.

¹⁸ She said to Elijah, “What do I have to do with you, O man of God? Have you come to me to make me remember my sins,^[b] and to put my son to death?” ¹⁹ He said to her, “Give me your son.” He took him from her lap and carried him to the upper room, and he laid him upon his own bed. ²⁰ He called out to the Lord, “O Lord, my God, have you brought disaster upon the widow with whom I am living by killing her son?” ²¹ He stretched himself out upon the boy three times, and he cried out to the Lord and said, “O Lord, my God, may this child’s life return to him.”

²² The Lord heard Elijah’s voice, and the child’s life returned to him and he revived. ²³ Elijah took the child and brought him down from the upper chamber into the house and handed him over to his mother saying, “See, your son is alive.” ²⁴ The woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God, and that the word of God that is in your mouth is true.”

The Concluding Hallel—Pss 146–150^[a]

Psalm 146^[b]

Trust in God, Creator and Redeemer

^1 [c]Alleluia.

¹¹ Paul’s Gospel Revealed to Him by Christ.^[a]Brethren, I want you to be assured that the gospel I preached to you is not human in its origin. ¹² I did not receive it from a human being, nor was I taught it. Rather, I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.

¹³ Undoubtedly you have heard about my former way of life in Judaism,^[b] how I fiercely persecuted the Church of God and tried to destroy it. ¹⁴ I progressed in Judaism far beyond many of my contemporaries, inasmuch as I was much more zealous in upholding the traditions of my ancestors.

¹⁵ Paul’s Early Years as a Christian. However, when God, who had set me apart even before my birth, called me through his grace and chose ¹⁶ to reveal his Son to me so that I might proclaim him to the Gentiles, I did not confer with flesh and blood,^{[c] 17} nor did I go up to Jerusalem to consult with those who were apostles before me. Rather, I went off to Arabia, and afterward I returned to Damascus.

¹⁸ Paul’s First Meeting with Peter.^[d] Then after three years, I did go up to Jerusalem to become acquainted with Cephas, and I stayed with him for fifteen days. ¹⁹ However, I did not set eyes on any of the other apostles, except for James, the brother of the Lord.^{[e] 20} I declare before God that I am not lying in anything I have written.

²¹ Afterward, I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia.^{[f] 22} I was still unknown by sight to the Churches of Judea that are in Christ. ²³ They had only heard it said, “The one who was formerly persecuting us is now preaching the faith that he had once tried to destroy.” ²⁴ As a result, they gave glory to God because of me.

¹¹ Jesus Raises the Son of a Widow.^[a] Soon afterward, Jesus went to a town called Nain, accompanied by his disciples and a large crowd. ¹² As he drew near to the gate of the town, a man who had died was being carried out, the only son of his widowed mother. A large group of people from the town accompanied her.

¹³ When the Lord saw her, he was filled with compassion, and he said to her, “Do not weep.” ¹⁴ After this, he came forward and touched the bier, and the bearers halted. Then he said, “Young man, I say to you, arise!” ¹⁵ The dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother.

¹⁶ Fear seized all who were present, and they glorified God, saying, “A great prophet has risen among us,” and “God has visited his people.” ¹⁷ The news of what he had done spread throughout Judea and the surrounding region.