Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

The Woman Whose Husband Had Died

⁸ Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, ⁹ “Get up and go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and stay there. I have told a woman there, whose husband has died, to feed you.” ¹⁰ So Elijah got up and went to Zarephath. When he came to the city gate, he saw a woman there gathering sticks. He called to her and said, “I ask of you, get me a little water in a jar, that I may drink.” ¹¹ As she was going to get it, he called to her, “I ask of you, bring me a piece of bread in your hand.” ¹² But she said, “As the Lord your God lives, I have no bread. I only have enough flour in the jar to fill a hand, and a little oil in the jar. See, I am gathering a few sticks so I may go in and make it ready for me and my son. Then we will eat it and die.” ¹³ Elijah said to her, “Have no fear. Go and do as you have said. But make me a little loaf of bread from it first, and bring it out to me. Then you may make one for yourself and for your son. ¹⁴ For the Lord God of Israel says, ‘The jar of flour will not be used up. And the jar of oil will not be empty, until the day the Lord sends rain upon the earth.’” ¹⁵ So she went and did what Elijah said. And she and he and those of her house ate for many days. ¹⁶ The jar of flour was not used up, and the jar of oil did not become empty. It happened as was spoken by the word of the Lord through Elijah.

Elijah and the Woman’s Son

¹⁷ After this the son of the woman who owned the house became sick. His sickness was so bad that there was no breath left in him. ¹⁸ So the woman said to Elijah, “What do I have to do with you, O man of God? You have come to me to have my sin be remembered, and to kill my son!” ¹⁹ He said to her, “Give me your son.” Then he took him from her arms and carried him up to the room on the second floor where he stayed. And he laid him on his own bed. ²⁰ He called to the Lord and said, “O Lord my God, have You brought trouble to the woman I am staying with, by making her son die?” ²¹ Then he lay upon the child three times and called to the Lord, saying, “O Lord my God, I pray to You. Let this child’s life return to him.” ²² The Lord heard the voice of Elijah. And the life of the child returned to him and he became strong again. ²³ Elijah took the child and brought him down from the second floor into the house and gave him to his mother. He said, “See, your son is alive.” ²⁴ Then the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God. Now I know that the word of the Lord in your mouth is truth.”

The Lord—Our Helper

146 Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord, O my soul! ² I will praise the Lord as long as I live. I will sing praises to my God as long as I live. ³ Do not put your trust in princes, in a son of a man, who cannot save us. ⁴ When his spirit leaves, he returns to the earth. His thoughts end on that day. ⁵ Happy is he whose help is the God of Jacob, and whose hope is in the Lord his God. ⁶ The Lord made heaven and earth, the sea and all that is in them. He is faithful forever. ⁷ He helps those who have a bad power over them. He gives food to the hungry. And He sets those in prison free.

⁸ The Lord opens the eyes of the blind. The Lord raises up those who are brought down. The Lord loves those who are right and good. ⁹ The Lord keeps the strangers safe. He takes care of the children who have no father and the woman whose husband has died. But He destroys the way of the sinful. ¹⁰ The Lord will rule forever. Your God, O Zion, will rule over all people for all time. Praise the Lord!

¹¹ Christian brothers, I want you to know the Good News I preached to you was not made by man. ¹² I did not receive it from man. No one taught it to me. I received it from Jesus Christ as He showed it to me.

¹³ You have heard of my old life when I followed the Jewish religion. I made it as hard as I could for the Christians and did everything I could to destroy the Christian church. ¹⁴ I had learned more about the Jewish religion than many of the Jews my age. I had a much stronger desire than they to follow the ways of our early fathers. ¹⁵ But God chose me before I was born. By His loving-favor He called me to work for Him. ¹⁶ His Son was to be seen in me. He did this so I could preach about Christ to the people who are not Jews. When this happened, I did not talk to men. ¹⁷ I did not even go to Jerusalem to talk to those who were missionaries before me. Instead, I went to the country of Arabia. Later I returned to the city of Damascus.

¹⁸ Three years later I went to Jerusalem to meet Peter. I stayed with him fifteen days. ¹⁹ I did not see any of the other missionaries except James, the Lord’s brother. ²⁰ I am writing the truth. God knows I am not lying.

²¹ I went from Jerusalem to the countries of Syria and Cilicia. ²² None of the Christians in the churches in the country of Judea had ever seen me. ²³ The only thing they heard was, “The one who tried to destroy the Christian church is now preaching the Good News!” ²⁴ And they gave thanks to God because of me.

The Son of a Woman Whose Husband Had Died Was Raised from the Dead

¹¹ The next day Jesus went to a city called Nain. His followers and many other people went with Him. ¹² When they came near the city gate, a dead man was being carried out. He was the only son of a woman whose husband had died. Many people of the city were with her. ¹³ When the Lord saw her, He had loving-pity for her and said, “Do not cry.” ¹⁴ He went and put His hand on the box in which the dead man was carried. The men who were carrying it, stopped. Jesus said, “Young man, I say to you, get up!” ¹⁵ The man who was dead sat up and began to talk. Then Jesus gave him to his mother. ¹⁶ Everyone was afraid and they gave thanks to God. They said, “A great Man Who speaks for God has come among us! God has cared for His people!” ¹⁷ The news about Jesus went through all the country of Judea and over all the land.