Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

⁸ The Lord’s message came to him, ⁹ “Get up, go to Zarephath in Sidonian territory, and live there. I have already told^[a] a widow who lives there to provide for you.” ¹⁰ So he got up and went to Zarephath. When he went through the city gate, there was a widow gathering wood. He called out to her, “Please give me a little water in a cup, so I can take a drink.” ¹¹ As she went to get it, he called out to her, “Please bring me a piece of bread.”^{[b] 12} She said, “As certainly as the Lord your God lives, I have no food, except for a handful of flour in a jar and a little olive oil in a jug. Right now I am gathering a couple of sticks for a fire. Then I’m going home to make one final meal for my son and myself. After we have eaten that, we will die of starvation.”^{[c] 13} Elijah said to her, “Don’t be afraid. Go and do as you planned.^[d] But first make me a small cake^[e] and bring it to me; then make something for yourself and your son. ¹⁴ For this is what the Lord God of Israel has said: ‘The jar of flour will not be empty and the jug of oil will not run out until the day the Lord makes it rain on the surface of the ground.’” ¹⁵ She went and did as Elijah told her; there was always enough food for Elijah and for her and her family.^{[f] 16} The jar of flour was never empty and the jug of oil never ran out, in keeping with the Lord’s message that he had spoken through Elijah.

Psalm 146^[a]

²⁴ For Christ did not enter a sanctuary made with hands—the representation^[a] of the true sanctuary^[b]—but into heaven itself, and he appears now in God’s presence for us. ²⁵ And he did not enter to offer^[c] himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the sanctuary year after year with blood that is not his own, ²⁶ for then he would have had to suffer again and again since the foundation of the world. But now he has appeared once for all at the consummation of the ages to put away sin by his sacrifice. ²⁷ And just as people^[d] are appointed to die once, and then to face judgment,^{[e] 28} so also, after Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many,^[f] to those who eagerly await him he will appear a second time, not to bear sin^[g] but to bring salvation.^[h]

Warnings About Experts in the Law

³⁸ In his teaching Jesus^[a] also said, “Watch out for the experts in the law.^[b] They like walking^[c] around in long robes and elaborate greetings^[d] in the marketplaces,^{[e] 39} and the best seats in the synagogues^[f] and the places of honor at banquets. ⁴⁰ They^[g] devour widows’ property,^[h] and as a show make long prayers. These men will receive a more severe punishment.”

The Widow’s Offering

⁴¹ Then^[i] he^[j] sat down opposite the offering box,^[k] and watched the crowd putting coins into it. Many rich people were throwing in large amounts. ⁴² And a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins,^[l] worth less than a penny. ⁴³ He called his disciples and said to them, “I tell you the truth,^[m] this poor widow has put more into the offering box^[n] than all the others.^{[o] 44} For they all gave out of their wealth.^[p] But she, out of her poverty, put in what she had to live on, everything she had.”^[q]