Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

The Lord Surrounds His People.

A Song of ^[a]Ascents.

⁹ And when they had crossed over, Elijah said to Elisha, “Ask what I shall do for you before I am taken from you.” And Elisha said, “Please let a double ^[a]portion of your spirit be upon me.” ¹⁰ He said, “You have asked for a difficult thing. However, if you see me when I am taken from you, it shall be so for you; but if not, it shall not be so.” ¹¹ As they continued along and talked, behold, a chariot of fire with horses of fire [appeared suddenly and] separated the two of them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind. ¹² Elisha saw it and cried out, “My father, my father, the chariot of Israel and its horsemen!” And he no longer saw Elijah. Then he took hold of his own clothes and tore them into two pieces [in grief]. ¹³ He picked up the mantle of Elijah that fell off him, and went back and stood by the bank of the Jordan. ¹⁴ He took the mantle of Elijah that fell from him and struck the waters and said, “Where is the Lord, the God of Elijah?” And when he too had struck the waters, they divided this way and that, and Elisha crossed over.

Elisha Succeeds Elijah

¹⁵ When the sons of the prophets who were [watching] opposite at Jericho saw him, they said, “The spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha.” And they came to meet him and bowed down to the ground before him [in respect]. ¹⁶ Then they said to Elisha, “Behold now, there are among your servants fifty strong men; please let them go and search for your master. It may be that the Spirit of the Lord has taken him up and cast him on some mountain or into some valley.” And he said, “You shall not send anyone.” ¹⁷ But when they urged him until he was embarrassed [to refuse them], he said, “Send them.” So they sent fifty men, and they searched for three days but did not find Elijah. ¹⁸ They returned to Elisha while he was staying at Jericho; and he said to them, “Did I not tell you, ‘Do not go’?”

¹⁹ Then the men of the city said to Elisha, “Look, this city is in a pleasant place, as my lord [Elisha] sees; but the water is bad and the land ^[b]is barren.” ²⁰ He said, “Bring me a new jar, and put ^[c]salt in it.” So they brought it to him. ²¹ Then Elisha went to the spring of water and threw the salt in it and said, “Thus says the Lord: ‘I [not the salt] have purified and healed these waters; there shall no longer be death or barrenness because of it.’” ²² So the waters have been purified to this day, in accordance with the word spoken by Elisha.

¹⁷ “Now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance [not fully aware of what you were doing], just as your rulers did also. ¹⁸ And so God has fulfilled what He foretold by the mouth of all the prophets, that His Christ (Messiah, Anointed) would suffer. ¹⁹ So repent [change your inner self—your old way of thinking, regret past sins] and return [to God—seek His purpose for your life], so that your sins may be wiped away [blotted out, completely erased], so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord [restoring you like a cool wind on a hot day]; ²⁰ and that He may send [to you] Jesus, the Christ, who has been appointed for you, ²¹ whom heaven must keep until the time for the [complete] restoration of all things about which God promised through the mouth of His holy prophets from ancient time. ²² Moses said, ‘The Lord God will raise up for you a Prophet ^[a]like me from your countrymen; you shall listen to Him and obey everything He tells you. ²³ And it will be that every person that does not listen to and heed that Prophet will be utterly destroyed from among the people.’^{(A) 24} Indeed, all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and those who came after him, also announced these days. ²⁵ You are the sons (descendants) of the prophets and [heirs] of the covenant which God made with your fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘And in your seed (descendant) all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’^{(B) 26} It was for you first of all that God raised up His Servant and Son [Jesus], and sent Him to bless you by turning every one of you from your wicked ways.”^(C)

Peter and John Arrested

4 And while Peter and John were talking to the people, the priests and the captain [who was in charge of the temple area and] of the temple guard and the Sadducees came up to them, ² being extremely disturbed and thoroughly annoyed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in [the case of] Jesus the resurrection of the dead. ³ So they arrested them and put them in jail until the next day, because it was evening. ⁴ But many of those who heard the message [of salvation] believed [in Jesus and accepted Him as the Christ]. And the number of the men came to be about 5,000.