Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
A Prayer of Thanksgiving[a]
30 I praise you, Lord, because you have saved me
and kept my enemies from gloating over me.
2 I cried to you for help, O Lord my God,
and you healed me;
3 you kept me from the grave.
I was on my way to the depths below,[b]
but you restored my life.
4 Sing praise to the Lord,
all his faithful people!
Remember what the Holy One has done,
and give him thanks!
5 His anger lasts only a moment,
his goodness for a lifetime.
Tears may flow in the night,
but joy comes in the morning.
6 I felt secure and said to myself,
“I will never be defeated.”
7 You were good to me, Lord;
you protected me like a mountain fortress.
But then you hid yourself from me,
and I was afraid.
8 I called to you, Lord;
I begged for your help:
9 “What will you gain from my death?
What profit from my going to the grave?
Are dead people able to praise you?
Can they proclaim your unfailing goodness?
10 Hear me, Lord, and be merciful!
Help me, Lord!”
11 You have changed my sadness into a joyful dance;
you have taken away my sorrow
and surrounded me with joy.
12 So I will not be silent;
I will sing praise to you.
Lord, you are my God;
I will give you thanks forever.
18 Some years later, at harvest time, the boy went out one morning to join his father, who was in the field with the harvest workers. 19 Suddenly he cried out to his father, “My head hurts! My head hurts!”
“Carry the boy to his mother,” the father said to a servant. 20 The servant carried the boy back to his mother, who held him in her lap until noon, at which time he died. 21 She carried him up to Elisha's room, put him on the bed and left, closing the door behind her. 22 Then she called her husband and said to him, “Send a servant here with a donkey. I need to go to the prophet Elisha. I'll be back as soon as I can.”
23 “Why do you have to go today?” her husband asked. “It's neither a Sabbath nor a New Moon Festival.”[a]
“Never mind,” she answered. 24 Then she had the donkey saddled, and ordered the servant, “Make the donkey go as fast as it can, and don't slow down unless I tell you to.” 25 So she set out and went to Mount Carmel, where Elisha was.
Elisha saw her coming while she was still some distance away, and he said to his servant Gehazi, “Look, there comes the woman from Shunem! 26 Hurry to her and find out if everything is all right with her, her husband, and her son.”
She told Gehazi that everything was all right, 27 but when she came to Elisha, she bowed down before him and took hold of his feet. Gehazi was about to push her away, but Elisha said, “Leave her alone. Can't you see she's deeply distressed? And the Lord has not told me a thing about it.”
28 The woman said to him, “Sir, did I ask you for a son? Didn't I tell you not to get my hopes up?”
29 Elisha turned to Gehazi and said, “Hurry! Take my walking stick and go. Don't stop to greet anyone you meet, and if anyone greets you, don't take time to answer. Go straight to the house and hold my stick over the boy.”
30 The woman said to Elisha, “I swear by my loyalty to the living Lord and to you that I will not leave you!” So the two of them started back together. 31 Gehazi went on ahead and held Elisha's stick over the child, but there was no sound or any other sign of life. So he went back to meet Elisha and said, “The boy didn't wake up.”
Christian Giving
8 (A)Our friends, we want you to know what God's grace has accomplished in the churches in Macedonia. 2 They have been severely tested by the troubles they went through; but their joy was so great that they were extremely generous in their giving, even though they are very poor. 3 I can assure you that they gave as much as they could, and even more than they could. Of their own free will 4 they begged us and pleaded for the privilege of having a part in helping God's people in Judea. 5 It was more than we could have hoped for! First they gave themselves to the Lord; and then, by God's will they gave themselves to us as well. 6 So we urged Titus, who began this work, to continue it and help you complete this special service of love. 7 You are so rich in all you have: in faith, speech, and knowledge, in your eagerness to help and in your love for us.[a] And so we want you to be generous also in this service of love.
Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition) © 1992 American Bible Society. All rights reserved. For more information about GNT, visit www.bibles.com and www.gnt.bible.