Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Elijah Flees to Horeb

19 Then Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. ² Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “Thus may the gods do to me, and may they add to it, surely at this time tomorrow I will make your life as the life of one of them!” ³ Then he became afraid,^[a] got up, and fled for his life.^[b] He came to Beersheba which belongs to Judah, and he left his servant there. ⁴ Then he went into the wilderness one day’s journey, and he went and sat under a certain broom tree. Then he asked Yahweh that he might die,^[c] and he said, “It is enough now, Yahweh; take my life, for I am no better than my ancestors.”^[d]

⁵ He lay down and fell asleep under a certain broom tree, and suddenly this angel was touching him and said to him, “Get up, eat!” ⁶ He looked, and behold, a bread cake on hot coals was near his head and a jar of water, so he ate and drank. Then he did it again and lay down. ⁷ The angel of Yahweh appeared a second time and touched him and said, “Get up, eat, for the journey is greater than you.”

⁸ So he got up, ate, drank, and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights up to Horeb, the mountain of God.

Elijah Encounters Yahweh at Horeb

⁹ He came to the cave there and spent the night there. Suddenly the word of Yahweh came to him and asked him, “Elijah, what are you doing here?”^{[a] 10} Then he said, “I have been very zealous for Yahweh the God of hosts, for the Israelites^[b] have forsaken your covenant. They have demolished your altars, and they have killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left over, and they seek to take my life. ¹¹ He^[c] said, “Go out and stand on the mountain before Yahweh.” Suddenly Yahweh was passing by, with a great and strong wind ripping the mountains and crushing rocks before Yahweh; but Yahweh was not in the wind. After the wind, there was an earthquake; but Yahweh was not in the earthquake. ¹² After the earthquake was a fire, but Yahweh was not in the fire. After the fire there was the sound of a gentle whisper. ¹³ It happened at the moment Elijah heard, he covered his face with his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. Suddenly a voice came to him and said, “Elijah, why are you here?”^{[d] 14} He said, “I have been very zealous for Yahweh the God of Hosts, for the Israelites^[e] have forsaken your covenant, demolished your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword; I alone am left, and they seek to take my life!” ¹⁵ Then Yahweh said to him, “Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus. Go and anoint Hazael as king over Aram;

Hope in God in the Midst of Despair

For the music director. A maskil of the sons of Korah.^[a]

A Prayer for Rescue

²³ But before faith came, we were detained under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith was revealed. ²⁴ So then, the law became our guardian until Christ, in order that we could be justified by faith. ²⁵ But after^[a] faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian. ²⁶ For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus,^{[b] 27} for as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. ²⁸ There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. ²⁹ And if you are Christ’s, then you are descendants of Abraham, heirs according to the promise.

A Demon-possessed Gerasene Healed

²⁶ And they sailed to the region of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee. ²⁷ And as^[a] he got out on the land, a certain man from the town met him^[b] who had demons and for a considerable time had not worn clothes and did not live in a house, but among the tombs. ²⁸ And when he^[c] saw Jesus, he cried out, fell down before him, and said with a loud voice, “What do I have to do with you,^[d] Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, do not torment me!” ²⁹ For he had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. (For it had seized him many times, and he was bound with chains and shackles and^[e] was guarded, and breaking the bonds he would be driven by the demon into the deserted places.) ³⁰ So Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Legion,” because many demons had entered into him. ³¹ And they began imploring^[f] him that he would not order them to depart into the abyss. ³² Now there was a large herd of pigs feeding there on the hill, and they implored him that he would permit them to enter into those pigs. And he permitted them. ³³ So the demons came out of the man and^[g] entered into the pigs, and the herd rushed headlong down the steep slope into the lake and were drowned. ³⁴ And when^[h] the herdsmen saw what had happened, they fled and reported it^[i] in the town and in the countryside. ³⁵ So they went out to see what had happened, and they came to Jesus and found the man from whom the demons had gone out sitting there clothed and in his right mind, at the feet of Jesus, and they were afraid. ³⁶ And those who had seen it^[j] reported to them how the man who had been demon-possessed had been healed. ³⁷ And all the people of the surrounding region of the Gerasenes asked him to depart from them, because they had been seized with great fear. So he got into the boat and^[k] returned. ³⁸ And the man from who the demons had gone out was begging him to stay with him, but he sent him away, saying, ³⁹ “Return to your home and tell all that God has done for you.” And he went away, proclaiming throughout the whole town all that Jesus had done for him.