Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Comfort in Times of Trouble

77 My voice goes up to God, and I will cry out. My voice goes up to God and He will hear me. ² I looked to the Lord when I was in trouble. I put out my hand at night, and it did not get tired. My soul would not be comforted.

¹¹ I will remember the things the Lord has done. Yes, I will remember the powerful works of long ago. ¹² I will think of all Your work, and keep in mind all the great things You have done. ¹³ O God, Your way is holy. What god is great like our God? ¹⁴ You are the God Who does great works. You have shown Your power among the people. ¹⁵ You have set free Your people, the sons of Jacob and Joseph, with Your strong arm.

¹⁶ The waters saw You, O God. The waters saw You and shook. The sea shook also. ¹⁷ The clouds poured down water. The sky sounded with thunder. Your arrows of lightning went this way and that. ¹⁸ The sound of Your thunder was in the turning wind. The lightning lit up the world. The earth shook. ¹⁹ Your way was through the sea. Your paths went through the powerful waters. And it cannot be known where You stepped. ²⁰ You led Your people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron.

¹³ So Ahaziah sent to him a third captain with fifty men. When the third captain of fifty men went up, he came and put his face to the ground in front of Elijah. He begged him and said, “O man of God, I beg you. Let my life and the lives of these fifty servants of yours be of great worth in your eyes. ¹⁴ Fire came down from heaven and destroyed the first two captains with their armies of fifty. But now let my life be of great worth in your eyes.” ¹⁵ The angel of the Lord said to Elijah, “Go down with him. Do not be afraid of him.” So Elijah got up and went with him to the king. ¹⁶ Then Elijah said to Ahaziah, “This is what the Lord says. ‘You have sent men to ask of Baal-zebub the god of Ekron. Is it because there is no God in Israel to ask of His Word? So now you will not leave the bed on which you lie. You will die for sure.’”

¹⁷ So Ahaziah died, just as the word of the Lord had said through Elijah. Because Ahaziah had no son, Jehoram his brother became king in his place, in the second year of Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah. ¹⁸ Now the rest of the acts of Ahaziah, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?

³ Then the sons of the men who spoke for God at Bethel came out to Elisha. They said to him, “Do you know that the Lord will take Elijah from you today?” And he said, “Yes, I know. Say no more.” ⁴ Elijah said to him, “Elisha, I ask you to stay here. For the Lord has sent me to Jericho.” But Elisha said, “As the Lord lives and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So they came to Jericho. ⁵ The sons of the men who spoke for God at Jericho came to Elisha. They said to him, “Do you know that the Lord will take Elijah from you today?” And he answered, “Yes, I know. Say no more.”

Jesus Tells of His Death for the First Time ^(A)

²¹ Then Jesus spoke to them and told them to tell no one. ²² He said, “The Son of Man must suffer many things. The leaders and the religious leaders and the teachers of the Law will have nothing to do with Him. He must be killed and be raised from the dead three days later.”

Giving Up Self and One’s Own Desires

²³ Then Jesus said to them all, “If anyone wants to follow Me, he must give up himself and his own desires. He must take up his cross everyday and follow Me. ²⁴ If anyone wants to keep his own life safe, he must lose it. If anyone gives up his life because of Me, he will save it. ²⁵ For what does a man have if he gets all the world and loses or gives up his life? ²⁶ Whoever is ashamed of Me and My Words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when He comes in His own shining-greatness and of the Father’s and of the holy angels. ²⁷ I tell you the truth, some standing here will not die until they see the holy nation of God.”