Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Elijah Is Taken to Heaven
2 It was almost time for the Lord to take Elijah by a whirlwind up into heaven. While Elijah and Elisha were leaving Gilgal, 2 Elijah said to Elisha, “Please stay here. The Lord has told me to go to Bethel.”
But Elisha said, “As the Lord lives, and as you live, I won’t leave you.” So they went down to Bethel.
6 Elijah said to Elisha, “Stay here. The Lord has sent me to the Jordan River.”
Elisha answered, “As the Lord lives, and as you live, I won’t leave you.”
So the two of them went on. 7 Fifty men of the groups of prophets came and stood far from where Elijah and Elisha were by the Jordan. 8 Elijah took off his coat, rolled it up, and hit the water. The water divided to the right and to the left, and Elijah and Elisha crossed over on dry ground.
9 After they had crossed over, Elijah said to Elisha, “What can I do for you before I am taken from you?”
Elisha said, “Leave me a double share of your spirit.”[a]
10 Elijah said, “You have asked a hard thing. But if you see me when I am taken from you, it will be yours. If you don’t, it won’t happen.”
11 As they were walking and talking, a chariot and horses of fire appeared and separated Elijah from Elisha. Then Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind. 12 Elisha saw it and shouted, “My father! My father! The chariots of Israel and their horsemen!” And Elisha did not see him anymore. Then Elisha grabbed his own clothes and tore them to show how sad he was.
13 He picked up Elijah’s coat that had fallen from him. Then he returned and stood on the bank of the Jordan. 14 Elisha hit the water with Elijah’s coat and said, “Where is the Lord, the God of Elijah?” When he hit the water, it divided to the right and to the left, and Elisha crossed over.
Remembering God’s Help
For the director of music. For Jeduthun. A psalm of Asaph.
77 I cry out to God;
I call to God, and he will hear me.
2 I look for the Lord on the day of trouble.
All night long I reach out my hands,
but I cannot be comforted.
11 I remember what the Lord did;
I remember the miracles you did long ago.
12 I think about all the things you did
and consider your deeds.
13 God, your ways are holy.
No god is as great as our God.
14 You are the God who does miracles;
you have shown people your power.
15 By your power you have saved your people,
the descendants of Jacob and Joseph. Selah
16 God, the waters saw you;
they saw you and became afraid;
the deep waters shook with fear.
17 The clouds poured down their rain.
The sky thundered.
Your lightning flashed back and forth like arrows.
18 Your thunder sounded in the whirlwind.
Lightning lit up the world.
The earth trembled and shook.
19 You made a way through the sea
and paths through the deep waters,
but your footprints were not seen.
20 You led your people like a flock
by using Moses and Aaron.
Keep Your Freedom
5 We have freedom now, because Christ made us free. So stand strong. Do not change and go back into the slavery of the law.
13 My brothers and sisters, God called you to be free, but do not use your freedom as an excuse to do what pleases your sinful self. Serve each other with love. 14 The whole law is made complete in this one command: “Love your neighbor as you love yourself.”[a] 15 If you go on hurting each other and tearing each other apart, be careful, or you will completely destroy each other.
The Spirit and Human Nature
16 So I tell you: Live by following the Spirit. Then you will not do what your sinful selves want. 17 Our sinful selves want what is against the Spirit, and the Spirit wants what is against our sinful selves. The two are against each other, so you cannot do just what you please. 18 But if the Spirit is leading you, you are not under the law.
19 The wrong things the sinful self does are clear: being sexually unfaithful, not being pure, taking part in sexual sins, 20 worshiping gods, doing witchcraft, hating, making trouble, being jealous, being angry, being selfish, making people angry with each other, causing divisions among people, 21 feeling envy, being drunk, having wild and wasteful parties, and doing other things like these. I warn you now as I warned you before: Those who do these things will not inherit God’s kingdom. 22 But the Spirit produces the fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. There is no law that says these things are wrong. 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified their own sinful selves. They have given up their old selfish feelings and the evil things they wanted to do. 25 We get our new life from the Spirit, so we should follow the Spirit.
A Town Rejects Jesus
51 When the time was coming near for Jesus to depart, he was determined to go to Jerusalem. 52 He sent some messengers ahead of him, who went into a town in Samaria to make everything ready for him. 53 But the people there would not welcome him, because he was set on going to Jerusalem. 54 When James and John, followers of Jesus, saw this, they said, “Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven and destroy those people?”[a]
55 But Jesus turned and scolded them. [And Jesus said, “You don’t know what kind of spirit you belong to. 56 The Son of Man did not come to destroy the souls of people but to save them.”][b] Then they went to another town.
Following Jesus
57 As they were going along the road, someone said to Jesus, “I will follow you any place you go.”
58 Jesus said to them, “The foxes have holes to live in, and the birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to rest his head.”
59 Jesus said to another man, “Follow me!”
But he said, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.”
60 But Jesus said to him, “Let the people who are dead bury their own dead. You must go and tell about the kingdom of God.”
61 Another man said, “I will follow you, Lord, but first let me go and say good-bye to my family.”
62 Jesus said, “Anyone who begins to plow a field but keeps looking back is of no use in the kingdom of God.”
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.