Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Elijah Runs from Jezebel
19 Ahab complained to Jezebel about everything that Elijah had done, especially the part about him killing all the prophets of Baal with a sword. 2 Jezebel sent a messenger to tell Elijah, “May the gods do the same to me and even more if tomorrow about this time I haven’t made you like one of those prophets you had killed.”[a]
3 Elijah was terrified, so he got up and ran for his life to Beer-sheba, which is part of Judah, and left his servant there 4 and ran for a day’s journey deep into the wilderness. He found a juniper tree, sat down under it, and prayed that he could die. He asked God, “Enough! Lord! Take my life, because I’m not better than my ancestors!”
5 Then he lay down and went to sleep under the juniper tree. All of a sudden, there was an angel, who kept grabbing him and telling him, “Get up! Eat!”
6 So he looked around, and there near his head was a muffin sitting on top of some heated stones, along with a jar of water. Elijah ate and drank and then lay down again. 7 Later, the angel of the Lord came a second time, grabbed him, and said “Get up! Eat! The journey ahead[a] is too difficult for you!”
8 So Elijah[a] got up, ate and drank, and survived on that one meal for 40 days and nights as he set out on his journey to Horeb, God’s mountain.
Elijah Talks to God at Horeb
9 Elijah[b] arrived at a cave and stayed there. All of a sudden this message came from the Lord: “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
10 “I’ve been very zealous for the Lord God of the Heavenly Armies,” he replied. “The Israelis have abandoned your covenant, demolished your altars, executed your prophets with swords, and I—that’s right, just me!—am the only one left. Now they’re seeking my life, to get rid of me!”
11 “Go out,” he responded, “and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord.” And there was the Lord, passing by! A tremendous, mighty windstorm was tearing at the mountains and breaking the rocks in pieces in the presence of the Lord, but the Lord was not in the windstorm. After the wind there came an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. 12 After the earthquake there came fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire, there was the sound of a gentle whisper. 13 As soon as Elijah heard it, he covered his face in his mantle, went outside, and stood at the entrance to the cave. And there a voice spoke to him and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
14 “I’ve been very zealous for the Lord God of the Heavenly Armies,” he replied. “The Israelis have abandoned your covenant, demolished your altars, executed your prophets with swords, and I—that’s right, just me!—am the only one left. Now they’re seeking my life, to get rid of me!”
15 The Lord replied to him, “Go! Return to Damascus, and when you get there, anoint Hazael as king over Aram,
BOOK II (Psalms 42-72)
To the Director: An instruction[a] of the Sons of Korah.
Hope in God When Times of Trouble Come
42 As an antelope pants for streams of water,
so my soul pants for you, God.
2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
When may I come and appear in God’s presence?
3 My tears have been my food day and night,
while people[b] keep asking me all day long,
“Where is your God?”
4 These things I will recall as I pour out my troubles[c] within me:
I used to go with the crowd in a procession to the house of God,
accompanied with shouts of joy and thanksgiving.
5 Why are you in despair, my soul?
Why are you disturbed within me?
Hope in God,
for once again I will praise him,
since his presence saves me.
6 My God, my soul feels depressed[d] within me;
therefore I will remember you from the land of Jordan,
from the heights of Hermon,
even from the foothills.[e]
7 Deep waters call out to what is deeper still;[f]
at the roar of your waterfalls
all your breakers and your waves swirled over me.
8 By day the Lord will command his gracious love,
and by night his song is with me—
a prayer to the God of my life.
9 I will ask God, my Rock, “Why have you forsaken me?
Why do I go around mourning under the enemy’s oppression?”
10 Like the shattering of my bones are the taunts of my oppressors,
saying to me all day long,
“Where is your God?”
11 Why are you in despair, my soul?
Why are you disturbed within me?
Hope in God,
for once again I will praise him,
since his presence saves me
and he is my God.
God is my Hope during Times of Trouble
43 [a]You be my judge,[b] God,
and plead my case against an unholy nation;
rescue me from the deceitful and unjust man.
2 Since you are the God who strengthens me,
why have you forsaken me?
Why do I go around mourning under the enemy’s oppression?”
3 Send forth your light and your truth
so they may guide me.
Let them bring me to your holy mountain and to your dwelling places.[c]
4 Then I will approach the altar of God,
even to God in whom my joy finds its source.[d]
Then I will praise you with the lyre,
God, my God,
5 Why are you in despair, my soul?
Why are you disturbed within me?
Hope in God,
because I will praise him once again,
since his presence saves me
and he is my God.
23 Now before faith came about, we were held in custody and confined under the Law in preparation for the faith that was to be revealed. 24 And so the Law was our guardian until the Messiah[a] came, so that we might be justified by faith. 25 But now that faith has come about, we are no longer under a guardian.
You are God’s Children
26 For all of you are God’s children through faith in the Messiah[b] Jesus. 27 Indeed, all of you who were baptized into the Messiah[c] have clothed yourselves with the Messiah.[d] 28 Because all of you are one in the Messiah[e] Jesus, a person is no longer a Jew or a Greek, a slave or a free person, a male or a female. 29 And if you belong to the Messiah,[f] then you are Abraham’s descendants indeed, and heirs according to the promise.
Jesus Heals a Demon-Possessed Man(A)
26 They landed in the region of the Gerasenes,[a] which is just across the lake from Galilee. 27 When Jesus[b] stepped out on the shore, a man from the city met him. This man was controlled by[c] demons and had not worn clothes for a long time. He did not live in a house but in the tombs. 28 When he saw Jesus, he screamed, fell down in front of him, and cried out in a loud voice, “What do you want from me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you not to torture me!” 29 because Jesus[d] was in the process of ordering the unclean spirit to come out of the man. On many occasions the unclean spirit[e] had seized the man,[f] and though he was kept under guard and bound with chains and shackles, he would break the chains and be driven by the demon into deserted places.
30 Jesus asked the man,[g] “What’s your name?”
He answered, “Legion,”[h] because many demons had gone into him. 31 Then the demons[i] began begging Jesus[j] not to order them to go into the bottomless pit.[k]
32 Now a large herd of pigs was grazing there on the hillside. So the demons[l] begged Jesus[m] to let them go into those pigs, and he consented to that. 33 Then the demons came out of the man and went into the pigs, and the herd rushed down a steep slope into the lake and drowned.
34 Now when those who had been taking care of the pigs saw what had happened, they ran away and reported it in the city and in the countryside. 35 So the people[n] went out to see what had happened. When they came to Jesus and found the man from whom the demons had gone out sitting at Jesus’ feet, dressed and in his right mind, they were frightened. 36 The people who had seen it told them how the demon-possessed man had been healed. 37 Then all the people from the region surrounding the Gerasenes[o] asked Jesus[p] to leave them, because they were terrified. So he got into a boat and started back.
38 Now the man from whom the demons had gone out kept begging Jesus[q] to let him go with him. But Jesus[r] sent him away, saying, 39 “Go home and tell what God has done for you.” So the man[s] left and kept proclaiming throughout the whole city how much Jesus had done for him.
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