Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 125
A song for those journeying to worship.
1 All who have faith in the Eternal stand as Mount Zion:
unmoved, enduring, eternal.
2 Just as the mountains around Jerusalem embrace her,
the Eternal, too, wraps around those who belong to Him—
for this moment and for every moment to come.
3 For wickedness will not get the upper hand;
it shall not rule the land where righteous people live
Lest good people go bad
and do what is wrong.
4 Be good, Eternal One, to those who are good,
to those who are filled with integrity.
5 The Eternal will send all the wicked away
along with those who pervert what’s good and twist it in their own crooked way.
May peace be with Israel.
9 After the two had made it to the other side of the Jordan, Elijah spoke to Elisha.
Elijah: Tell me what it is you would like me to do for you before I am taken away from you.
Elisha: Please, I wish to receive a double portion of your spirit. As your successor, I want to have twice the portion of your power.
Elijah: 10 What you have requested of me is challenging, but it will be done if you witness my departure. But if you do not watch, then you will not have your double portion.
11 Now as the two continued walking along and talking as they normally did, something incredible happened. A blazing chariot pulled by blazing horses stormed down from the heavens and came between Elijah and Elisha. Then Elijah was swept up into heaven by the fiery storm. 12 Elisha witnessed this amazing spectacle.
Elisha: My father, O my father! The chariots and riders of Israel!
Elijah and Enoch (Genesis 5:24) are the only two men in the Bible to leave earth while they are still alive. Although they are separated by centuries of time, both men are inseparable from God, and both leave quite a legacy: Elijah’s successor, Elisha, continues his mentor’s work, even calling out Elijah’s name for help. Enoch’s son, Methuselah, lives longer than anyone else ever has, which is proof that he, too, lives properly.
Elisha never saw Elijah again. Elisha grabbed the clothes he was wearing, and he ripped them in half. 13-14 He picked up Elijah’s cloak, which had dropped to the ground when he was taken up into heaven, and then he went back to the Jordan riverbank and stood. He struck the water with the cloak.
Elisha: Where is the Eternal One? Where is Elijah’s True God?
After Elisha struck the water, the Jordan River divided, just as when Elijah had struck the waters. Elisha then walked across on dry land.
15 The prophets’ disciples at Jericho standing on the opposite shore were watching this.
Prophets’ Disciples: Elijah’s powerful spirit now rests upon Elisha. Elijah’s cloak now clothes Elisha.
Then the prophets’ disciples at Jericho approached Elisha and humbled themselves before him.
Prophets’ Disciples: 16 There are 50 strong men along with us, your servants, who could go looking for your mentor. Perhaps the Spirit of the Eternal inside the whirlwind swept Elijah up into heaven and left him on some mountaintop or in some valley of the lowlands.
Elisha: That won’t be necessary.
17 But they kept asking his permission for a search, and he felt ashamed, so he finally agreed. They sent out a search party of 50 men who spent three days looking for Elijah, but they found no trace of him. 18 The search party came back to Elisha while he was still in Jericho.
Elisha: I told you not to go. He’s gone from the earth.
Men of Jericho: 19 Life is pleasant in this city; and as you can see, the city is in an advantageous location, except for the water. It’s contaminated, so the land is barren.
Elisha: 20 Fetch me a new bowl, and pour some salt into it.
So they brought him the bowl with the salt he had requested. 21 He then walked outside to the water spring and tossed some salt into it.
Elisha: This is the Eternal’s message: “This water is now entirely pure. It will no longer bring death or cause the earth to be barren.”
22 This water has been potable ever since, just as Elisha said.
17 Listen, friends, I know you didn’t fully realize what you were doing when you rejected and betrayed Jesus. I know that you, and your rulers as well, were acting in ignorance. 18 God was at work in all this, fulfilling what He had predicted through all the prophets—that the Anointed One would suffer. 19 So now you need to rethink everything and turn to God so your sins will be forgiven and a new day can dawn, days of refreshing times flowing from the Lord. 20 Then God may send Jesus the Anointed, whom God has chosen for you. 21 He is in heaven now and must remain there until the day of universal restoration comes—the restoration which in ancient times God announced through the holy prophets. 22 Moses, for example, said, “The Eternal One your God will raise up from among your people a prophet who will be like me. You must listen to Him. 23 And whoever does not listen to His words will be completely uprooted from among the people.”[a]
24 Every prophet, from Samuel through all of his successors, agreed. 25 You are the descendants of these prophets, and you are the people of God’s covenant to your ancestors. God’s word to Abraham includes you: “Because of your descendants, all the families of the earth will be blessed.”[b] 26 So when God raised up His Servant, God sent Him first to you, to begin blessing you by calling you to change your path from evil ways to God’s ways.
4 The conversation continued for a few hours there in Solomon’s porch. Suddenly, the head of the temple police and some members of the Sadducean party interrupted Peter and John. 2 They were annoyed because Peter and John were enthusiastically teaching that in Jesus, resurrection of the dead is possible—an idea the Sadducees completely rejected. 3 So they arrested Peter, John, and the man who was healed and kept them in jail overnight. 4 But during these few afternoon hours between the man’s miraculous healing and their arrest, Peter and John already had convinced about 5,000 more people to believe their message about Jesus!
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.