); 1 Kings 18:36-39 (“God of Abraham”); 1 John 4:1-6 (Testing the spirits) (New American Bible (Revised Edition))
Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 47[a]
The Ruler of All the Nations
1 For the leader. A psalm of the Korahites.
I
2 All you peoples, clap your hands;
shout to God with joyful cries.(A)
3 For the Lord, the Most High, is to be feared,
the great king over all the earth,(B)
4 Who made people subject to us,
nations under our feet,(C)
5 [b]Who chose our heritage for us,
the glory of Jacob, whom he loves.(D)
Selah
II
6 [c]God has gone up with a shout;
the Lord, amid trumpet blasts.(E)
7 Sing praise to God, sing praise;
sing praise to our king, sing praise.
III
36 At the time for offering sacrifice, Elijah the prophet came forward and said, “Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command. 37 (A)Answer me, Lord! Answer me, that this people may know that you, Lord, are God and that you have turned their hearts back to you.” 38 The Lord’s fire came down and devoured the burnt offering, wood, stones, and dust, and lapped up the water in the trench. 39 Seeing this, all the people fell prostrate and said, “The Lord is God! The Lord is God!”
Chapter 4
Testing the Spirits.[a] 1 Beloved, do not trust every spirit but test the spirits to see whether they belong to God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.(A) 2 This is how you can know the Spirit of God: every spirit that acknowledges Jesus Christ come in the flesh belongs to God,(B) 3 and every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus[b] does not belong to God. This is the spirit of the antichrist that, as you heard, is to come, but in fact is already in the world.(C) 4 You belong to God, children, and you have conquered them, for the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. 5 They belong to the world; accordingly, their teaching belongs to the world, and the world listens to them.(D) 6 We belong to God, and anyone who knows God listens to us, while anyone who does not belong to God refuses to hear us. This is how we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of deceit.(E)
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.