Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Elijah Escapes from Jezebel
19 And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, also how he had (A)executed all the prophets with the sword. 2 Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, (B)“So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time.” 3 And when he saw that, he arose and ran for his life, and went to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there.
4 But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a [a]broom tree. And he (C)prayed that he might die, and said, “It is enough! Now, Lord, take my life, for I am no better than my fathers!”
5 Then as he lay and slept under a broom tree, suddenly an [a]angel touched him, and said to him, “Arise and eat.” 6 Then he looked, and there by his head was a cake baked on [b]coals, and a jar of water. So he ate and drank, and lay down again. 7 And the [c]angel of the Lord came back the second time, and touched him, and said, “Arise and eat, because the journey is too great for you.”
8 So he arose, and ate and drank; and he went in the strength of that food forty days and (A)forty nights as far as (B)Horeb, the mountain of God.
9 And there he went into a cave, and spent the night in that place; and behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and He said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
10 So he said, (C)“I have been very (D)zealous for the Lord God of hosts; for the children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and (E)killed Your prophets with the sword. (F)I alone am left; and they seek to take my life.”
God’s Revelation to Elijah
11 Then He said, “Go out, and stand (G)on the mountain before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord (H)passed by, and (I)a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; 12 and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire [a]a still small voice.
13 So it was, when Elijah heard it, that (J)he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave. (K)Suddenly a voice came to him, and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
14 (L)And he said, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God of hosts; because the children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I alone am left; and they seek to take my life.”
15 Then the Lord said to him: “Go, return on your way to the Wilderness of Damascus; (M)and when you arrive, anoint Hazael as king over Syria.
BOOK TWO
Psalms 42–72
Yearning for God in the Midst of Distresses
To the Chief Musician. A [a]Contemplation of the sons of Korah.
42 As the deer [b]pants for the water brooks,
So pants my soul for You, O God.
2 (A)My soul thirsts for God, for the (B)living God.
When shall I come and [c]appear before God?
3 (C)My tears have been my food day and night,
While they continually say to me,
(D)“Where is your God?”
4 When I remember these things,
(E)I pour out my soul within me.
For I used to go with the multitude;
(F)I went with them to the house of God,
With the voice of joy and praise,
With a multitude that kept a pilgrim feast.
5 (G)Why are you [d]cast down, O my soul?
And why are you disquieted within me?
(H)Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him
[e]For the help of His countenance.
6 [f]O my God, my soul is cast down within me;
Therefore I will remember You from the land of the Jordan,
And from the heights of Hermon,
From [g]the Hill Mizar.
7 Deep calls unto deep at the noise of Your waterfalls;
(I)All Your waves and billows have gone over me.
8 The Lord will (J)command His lovingkindness in the daytime,
And (K)in the night His song shall be with me—
A prayer to the God of my life.
Prayer to God in Time of Trouble
43 Vindicate (A)me, O God,
And (B)plead my cause against an ungodly nation;
Oh, deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man!
2 For You are the God of my strength;
Why do You cast me off?
(C)Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?
23 But before faith came, we were kept under guard by the law, [a]kept for the faith which would afterward be revealed. 24 Therefore (A)the law was our [b]tutor to bring us to Christ, (B)that we might be justified by faith. 25 But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor.
Sons and Heirs
26 For you (C)are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. 27 For (D)as many of you as were baptized into Christ (E)have put on Christ. 28 (F)There is neither Jew nor Greek, (G)there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all (H)one in Christ Jesus. 29 And (I)if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s (J)seed, and (K)heirs according to the promise.
A Demon-Possessed Man Healed(A)
26 (B)Then they sailed to the country of the [a]Gadarenes, which is opposite Galilee. 27 And when He stepped out on the land, there met Him a certain man from the city who had demons [b]for a long time. And he wore no clothes, nor did he live in a house but in the tombs. 28 When he saw Jesus, he (C)cried out, fell down before Him, and with a loud voice said, (D)“What have I to do with (E)You, 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 often seized him, and he was kept under guard, bound with chains and shackles; and he broke the bonds and was driven by the demon into the wilderness.
30 Jesus asked him, saying, “What is your name?”
And he said, “Legion,” because many demons had entered him. 31 And they begged Him that He would not command them to go out (F)into the abyss.
32 Now a herd of many (G)swine was feeding there on the mountain. So they begged Him that He would permit them to enter them. And He permitted them. 33 Then the demons went out of the man and entered the swine, and the herd ran violently down the steep place into the lake and drowned.
34 When those who fed them saw what had happened, they fled and told it in the city and in the country. 35 Then they went out to see what had happened, and came to Jesus, and found the man from whom the demons had departed, (H)sitting at the (I)feet of Jesus, clothed and in his (J)right mind. And they were afraid. 36 They also who had seen it told them by what means he who had been demon-possessed was [c]healed. 37 (K)Then the whole multitude of the surrounding region of the [d]Gadarenes (L)asked Him to (M)depart from them, for they were seized with great (N)fear. And He got into the boat and returned.
38 Now (O)the man from whom the demons had departed begged Him that he might be with Him. But Jesus sent him away, saying, 39 “Return to your own house, and tell what great things God has done for you.” And he went his way and proclaimed throughout the whole city what great things Jesus had done for him.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.