Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

A Song of degrees.

125 They that confide in Jehovah are as mount Zion, which cannot be moved; it abideth for ever.

² Jerusalem!—mountains are round about her, and Jehovah is round about his people, from henceforth and for evermore.

³ For the sceptre of wickedness shall not rest upon the lot of the righteous; lest the righteous put forth their hands unto iniquity.

⁴ Do good, O Jehovah, unto the good, and to them that are upright in their hearts.

⁵ But as for such as turn aside unto their crooked ways, Jehovah will lead them forth with the workers of iniquity. Peace be upon Israel!

⁹ And it came to pass when they had gone over, that Elijah said to Elisha, Ask what I shall do for thee, before I am taken away from thee. And Elisha said, I pray thee, let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me.

¹⁰ And he said, Thou hast asked a hard thing: if thou see me when I am taken from thee, it shall be so to thee; but if not, it shall not be [so].

¹¹ And it came to pass as they went on, and talked, that behold, a chariot of fire and horses of fire; and they parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into the heavens.

¹² And Elisha saw [it], and he cried, My father, my father! the chariot of Israel and the horsemen thereof! And he saw him no more. Then he took hold of his own garments and rent them in two pieces.

¹³ And he took up the mantle of Elijah which fell from him, and went back and stood by the bank of the Jordan;

¹⁴ and he took the mantle of Elijah which had fallen from him, and smote the waters, and said, Where is Jehovah, the God of Elijah? He also smote the waters, and they parted hither and thither, and Elisha went over.

¹⁵ And the sons of the prophets who were at Jericho on the opposite side saw him, and they said, The spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha. And they came to meet him, and bowed themselves to the ground before him,

¹⁶ and said to him, Behold now, there are with thy servants fifty valiant men; let them go, we pray thee, and seek thy master, lest perhaps the Spirit of Jehovah have taken him up, and cast him upon some mountain, or into some ravine. And he said, Ye shall not send.

¹⁷ And they pressed him till he was ashamed, and he said, Send. They sent therefore fifty men, and they sought three days, but did not find him.

¹⁸ And they came again to him (now he was staying at Jericho); and he said to them, Did I not say to you, Go not?

¹⁹ And the men of the city said to Elisha, Behold now, the situation of the city is good, as my lord sees; but the water is bad, and the land is barren.

²⁰ And he said, Bring me a new cruse, and put salt in it. And they brought it to him.

²¹ And he went forth to the source of the waters, and cast the salt in there, and said, Thus saith Jehovah: I have healed these waters: there shall not be from thence any more death or barrenness.

²² And the waters were healed to this day, according to the saying of Elisha which he spoke.

¹⁷ And now, brethren, I know that ye did it in ignorance, as also your rulers;

¹⁸ but God has thus fulfilled what he had announced beforehand by the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ should suffer.

¹⁹ Repent therefore and be converted, for the blotting out of your sins, so that times of refreshing may come from [the] presence of the Lord,

²⁰ and he may send Jesus Christ, who was foreordained for you,

²¹ whom heaven indeed must receive till [the] times of [the] restoring of all things, of which God has spoken by the mouth of his holy prophets since time began.

²² Moses indeed said, A prophet shall [the] Lord your God raise up to you out of your brethren like me: him shall ye hear in everything whatsoever he shall say to you.

²³ And it shall be that whatsoever soul shall not hear that prophet shall be destroyed from among the people.

²⁴ And indeed all the prophets from Samuel and those in succession after [him], as many as have spoken, have announced also these days.

²⁵ *Ye* are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant which God appointed to our fathers, saying to Abraham, And in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed.

²⁶ To you first God, having raised up his servant, has sent him, blessing you in turning each one [of you] from your wickedness.

4 And as they were speaking to the people, the priests and captain of the temple and the Sadducees came upon them,

² being distressed on account of their teaching the people and preaching by Jesus the resurrection from among [the] dead;

³ and they laid hands on them, and put them in ward till the morrow; for it was already evening.

⁴ But many of those who had heard the word believed; and the number of the men had become [about] five thousand.