Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

(A song for worship.)

The Lord's People Are Safe

^9 (A) After they had reached the other side, Elijah said, “Elisha, the Lord will soon take me away. What can I do for you before that happens?”

Elisha answered, “Please give me twice as much of your power as you give the other prophets, so I can be the one who takes your place as their leader.”

¹⁰ “It won't be easy,” Elijah answered. “It can happen only if you see me as I am being taken away.”

¹¹ Elijah and Elisha were walking along and talking, when suddenly there appeared between them a flaming chariot pulled by fiery horses. At once, a strong wind took Elijah up into heaven. ^12 (B) Elisha saw this and shouted, “Israel's cavalry and chariots have taken my master away!”^[a] After Elijah had gone, Elisha tore his clothes in sorrow.

¹³ Elijah's coat had fallen off, so Elisha picked it up and walked back to the Jordan River. ¹⁴ He struck the water with the coat and wondered, “Will the Lord perform miracles for me as he did for Elijah?” As soon as Elisha did this, a dry path opened up through the water, and he walked across.

¹⁵ When the prophets from Jericho saw what happened, they said to each other, “Elisha now has Elijah's power.”

They walked over to him, bowed down, ¹⁶ and said, “There are 50 strong men here with us. Please let them go look for your master. Maybe the Spirit of the Lord carried him off to some mountain or valley.”

“No,” Elisha replied, “they won't find him.”

¹⁷ They kept begging until he was embarrassed to say no. He finally agreed, and the prophets sent the men out. They looked three days for Elijah but never found him. ¹⁸ They returned to Jericho, and Elisha said, “I told you that you wouldn't find him.”

Elisha Makes the Water Pure at Jericho

¹⁹ One day the people of Jericho said, “Elisha, you can see that our city is in a good spot. But the water from our spring is so bad that it even keeps our crops from growing.”

²⁰ He replied, “Put some salt in a new bowl and bring it to me.”

They brought him the bowl of salt, ²¹ and he carried it to the spring. He threw the salt into the water and said, “The Lord has made this water pure again. From now on you'll be able to grow crops, and no one will starve.”

²² The water has been fine ever since, just as Elisha said.

¹⁷ My friends, I am sure you and your leaders didn't know what you were doing. ¹⁸ But God had his prophets tell that his Messiah would suffer, and now he has kept this promise. ¹⁹ So turn to God! Give up your sins, and you will be forgiven. ²⁰ Then the time will come when the Lord will give you fresh strength. He will send you Jesus, his chosen Messiah. ²¹ But Jesus must stay in heaven until God makes all things new, just as his holy prophets promised long ago.

^22 (A) Moses said, “The Lord your God will choose one of your own people to be a prophet, just as he chose me. Listen to everything he tells you. ^23 (B) No one who disobeys this prophet will be one of God's people any longer.”

²⁴ Samuel and all the other prophets who came later also spoke about what is now happening. ^25 (C) You are really the ones God told his prophets to speak to. And you were given the promise God made to your ancestors. He said to Abraham, “All nations on earth will be blessed because of someone from your family.” ²⁶ God sent his chosen Son^[a] to you first, because God wanted to bless you and make each one of you turn away from your sins.

Peter and John Are Brought in Front of the Council

4 The apostles were still talking to the people, when some priests, the captain of the temple guard, and some Sadducees arrived. ² These men were angry because the apostles were teaching the people that the dead would be raised from death, just as Jesus had been raised from death. ³ It was already late in the afternoon, and they arrested Peter and John and put them in jail for the night. ⁴ But a lot of people who had heard the message believed it. So by now there were about 5,000 followers of the Lord.