Luke 5:17-26
[17]
On one of those days, as he was teaching, Pharisees and teachers of the
law were sitting there, who had come from every village of Galilee and
Judea and from Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was with him to
heal. [18] And behold, some men were bringing on a bed a man who was
paralyzed, and they were seeking to bring him in and lay him before
Jesus, [19] but finding no way to bring him in, because of the crowd,
they went up on the roof and let him down with his bed through the tiles
into the midst before Jesus. [20] And when he saw their faith, he said,
“Man, your sins are forgiven you.” [21] And the scribes and the
Pharisees began to question, saying, “Who is this who speaks
blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone?” [22] When Jesus
perceived their thoughts, he answered them, “Why do you question in your
hearts? [23] Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or
to say, ‘Rise and walk’? [24] But that you may know that the Son of Man
has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the man who was
paralyzed—“I say to you, rise, pick up your bed and go home.” [25] And
immediately he rose up before them and picked up what he had been lying
on and went home, glorifying God. [26] And amazement seized them all,
and they glorified God and were filled with awe, saying, “We have seen
extraordinary things today.”
Philippians 2:1-11
[1]
So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any
participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, [2] complete my
joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full
accord and of one mind. [3] Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit,
but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. [4] Let
each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the
interests of others. [5] Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours
in Christ Jesus, [6] who, though he was in the form of God, did not
count equality with God a thing to be grasped, [7] but emptied himself,
by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. [8]
And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient
to the point of death, even death on a cross. [9] Therefore God has
highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every
name, [10] so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven
and on earth and under the earth, [11] and every tongue confess that
Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Psalm 119:129-136
[129] Your testimonies are wonderful;
therefore my soul keeps them.
[130] The unfolding of your words gives light;
it imparts understanding to the simple.
[131] I open my mouth and pant,
because I long for your commandments.
[132] Turn to me and be gracious to me,
as is your way with those who love your name.
[133] Keep steady my steps according to your promise,
and let no iniquity get dominion over me.
[134] Redeem me from man’s oppression,
that I may keep your precepts.
[135] Make your face shine upon your servant,
and teach me your statutes.
[136] My eyes shed streams of tears,
because people do not keep your law.
2 Kings 8
[1]
Now Elisha had said to the woman whose son he had restored to life,
“Arise, and depart with your household, and sojourn wherever you can,
for the LORD has called for a famine, and it will come upon the land for
seven years.” [2] So the woman arose and did according to the word of
the man of God. She went with her household and sojourned in the land of
the Philistines seven years. [3] And at the end of the seven years,
when the woman returned from the land of the Philistines, she went to
appeal to the king for her house and her land. [4] Now the king was
talking with Gehazi the servant of the man of God, saying, “Tell me all
the great things that Elisha has done.” [5] And while he was telling the
king how Elisha had restored the dead to life, behold, the woman whose
son he had restored to life appealed to the king for her house and her
land. And Gehazi said, “My lord, O king, here is the woman, and here is
her son whom Elisha restored to life.” [6] And when the king asked the
woman, she told him. So the king appointed an official for her, saying,
“Restore all that was hers, together with all the produce of the fields
from the day that she left the land until now.”
[7]
Now Elisha came to Damascus. Ben-hadad the king of Syria was sick. And
when it was told him, “The man of God has come here,” [8] the king said
to Hazael, “Take a present with you and go to meet the man of God, and
inquire of the LORD through him, saying, ‘Shall I recover from this
sickness?’” [9] So Hazael went to meet him, and took a present with him,
all kinds of goods of Damascus, forty camels’ loads. When he came and
stood before him, he said, “Your son Ben-hadad king of Syria has sent me
to you, saying, ‘Shall I recover from this sickness?’” [10] And Elisha
said to him, “Go, say to him, ‘You shall certainly recover,’ but the
LORD has shown me that he shall certainly die.” [11] And he fixed his
gaze and stared at him, until he was embarrassed. And the man of God
wept. [12] And Hazael said, “Why does my lord weep?” He answered,
“Because I know the evil that you will do to the people of Israel. You
will set on fire their fortresses, and you will kill their young men
with the sword and dash in pieces their little ones and rip open their
pregnant women.” [13] And Hazael said, “What is your servant, who is but
a dog, that he should do this great thing?” Elisha answered, “The LORD
has shown me that you are to be king over Syria.” [14] Then he departed
from Elisha and came to his master, who said to him, “What did Elisha
say to you?” And he answered, “He told me that you would certainly
recover.” [15] But the next day he took the bed cloth and dipped it in
water and spread it over his face, till he died. And Hazael became king
in his place.
[16]
In the fifth year of Joram the son of Ahab, king of Israel, when
Jehoshaphat was king of Judah, Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat, king of
Judah, began to reign. [17] He was thirty-two years old when he became
king, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. [18] And he walked in the
way of the kings of Israel, as the house of Ahab had done, for the
daughter of Ahab was his wife. And he did what was evil in the sight of
the LORD. [19] Yet the LORD was not willing to destroy Judah, for the
sake of David his servant, since he promised to give a lamp to him and
to his sons forever.
[20]
In his days Edom revolted from the rule of Judah and set up a king of
their own. [21] Then Joram passed over to Zair with all his chariots and
rose by night, and he and his chariot commanders struck the Edomites
who had surrounded him, but his army fled home. [22] So Edom revolted
from the rule of Judah to this day. Then Libnah revolted at the same
time. [23] Now the rest of the acts of Joram, and all that he did, are
they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah?
[24] So Joram slept with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in
the city of David, and Ahaziah his son reigned in his place.
[25]
In the twelfth year of Joram the son of Ahab, king of Israel, Ahaziah
the son of Jehoram, king of Judah, began to reign. [26] Ahaziah was
twenty-two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned one year in
Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Athaliah; she was a granddaughter of
Omri king of Israel. [27] He also walked in the way of the house of Ahab
and did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, as the house of Ahab
had done, for he was son-in-law to the house of Ahab.
[28]
He went with Joram the son of Ahab to make war against Hazael king of
Syria at Ramoth-gilead, and the Syrians wounded Joram. [29] And King
Joram returned to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds that the Syrians
had given him at Ramah, when he fought against Hazael king of Syria. And
Ahaziah the son of Jehoram king of Judah went down to see Joram the son
of Ahab in Jezreel, because he was sick.
2 Kings 9
[1]
Then Elisha the prophet called one of the sons of the prophets and said
to him, “Tie up your garments, and take this flask of oil in your hand,
and go to Ramoth-gilead. [2] And when you arrive, look there for Jehu
the son of Jehoshaphat, son of Nimshi. And go in and have him rise from
among his fellows, and lead him to an inner chamber. [3] Then take the
flask of oil and pour it on his head and say, ‘Thus says the LORD, I
anoint you king over Israel.’ Then open the door and flee; do not
linger.”
[4]
So the young man, the servant of the prophet, went to Ramoth-gilead.
[5] And when he came, behold, the commanders of the army were in
council. And he said, “I have a word for you, O commander.” And Jehu
said, “To which of us all?” And he said, “To you, O commander.” [6] So
he arose and went into the house. And the young man poured the oil on
his head, saying to him, “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, I
anoint you king over the people of the LORD, over Israel. [7] And you
shall strike down the house of Ahab your master, so that I may avenge on
Jezebel the blood of my servants the prophets, and the blood of all the
servants of the LORD. [8] For the whole house of Ahab shall perish, and
I will cut off from Ahab every male, bond or free, in Israel. [9] And I
will make the house of Ahab like the house of Jeroboam the son of
Nebat, and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah. [10] And the dogs
shall eat Jezebel in the territory of Jezreel, and none shall bury
her.” Then he opened the door and fled.
[11]
When Jehu came out to the servants of his master, they said to him, “Is
all well? Why did this mad fellow come to you?” And he said to them,
“You know the fellow and his talk.” [12] And they said, “That is not
true; tell us now.” And he said, “Thus and so he spoke to me, saying,
‘Thus says the LORD, I anoint you king over Israel.’” [13] Then in haste
every man of them took his garment and put it under him on the bare
steps, and they blew the trumpet and proclaimed, “Jehu is king.”
[14]
Thus Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat the son of Nimshi conspired against
Joram. (Now Joram with all Israel had been on guard at Ramoth-gilead
against Hazael king of Syria, [15] but King Joram had returned to be
healed in Jezreel of the wounds that the Syrians had given him, when he
fought with Hazael king of Syria.) So Jehu said, “If this is your
decision, then let no one slip out of the city to go and tell the news
in Jezreel.” [16] Then Jehu mounted his chariot and went to Jezreel, for
Joram lay there. And Ahaziah king of Judah had come down to visit
Joram.
[17]
Now the watchman was standing on the tower in Jezreel, and he saw the
company of Jehu as he came and said, “I see a company.” And Joram said,
“Take a horseman and send to meet them, and let him say, ‘Is it peace?’”
[18] So a man on horseback went to meet him and said, “Thus says the
king, ‘Is it peace?’” And Jehu said, “What do you have to do with peace?
Turn around and ride behind me.” And the watchman reported, saying,
“The messenger reached them, but he is not coming back.” [19] Then he
sent out a second horseman, who came to them and said, “Thus the king
has said, ‘Is it peace?’” And Jehu answered, “What do you have to do
with peace? Turn around and ride behind me.” [20] Again the watchman
reported, “He reached them, but he is not coming back. And the driving
is like the driving of Jehu the son of Nimshi, for he drives furiously.”
[21]
Joram said, “Make ready.” And they made ready his chariot. Then Joram
king of Israel and Ahaziah king of Judah set out, each in his chariot,
and went to meet Jehu, and met him at the property of Naboth the
Jezreelite. [22] And when Joram saw Jehu, he said, “Is it peace, Jehu?”
He answered, “What peace can there be, so long as the whorings and the
sorceries of your mother Jezebel are so many?” [23] Then Joram reined
about and fled, saying to Ahaziah, “Treachery, O Ahaziah!” [24] And Jehu
drew his bow with his full strength, and shot Joram between the
shoulders, so that the arrow pierced his heart, and he sank in his
chariot. [25] Jehu said to Bidkar his aide, “Take him up and throw him
on the plot of ground belonging to Naboth the Jezreelite. For remember,
when you and I rode side by side behind Ahab his father, how the LORD
made this pronouncement against him: [26] ‘As surely as I saw yesterday
the blood of Naboth and the blood of his sons—declares the LORD—I will
repay you on this plot of ground.’ Now therefore take him up and throw
him on the plot of ground, in accordance with the word of the LORD.”
[27]
When Ahaziah the king of Judah saw this, he fled in the direction of
Beth-haggan. And Jehu pursued him and said, “Shoot him also.” And they
shot him in the chariot at the ascent of Gur, which is by Ibleam. And he
fled to Megiddo and died there. [28] His servants carried him in a
chariot to Jerusalem, and buried him in his tomb with his fathers in the
city of David.
[29] In the eleventh year of Joram the son of Ahab, Ahaziah began to reign over Judah.
[30]
When Jehu came to Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it. And she painted her
eyes and adorned her head and looked out of the window. [31] And as Jehu
entered the gate, she said, “Is it peace, you Zimri, murderer of your
master?” [32] And he lifted up his face to the window and said, “Who is
on my side? Who?” Two or three eunuchs looked out at him. [33] He said,
“Throw her down.” So they threw her down. And some of her blood
spattered on the wall and on the horses, and they trampled on her. [34]
Then he went in and ate and drank. And he said, “See now to this cursed
woman and bury her, for she is a king’s daughter.” [35] But when they
went to bury her, they found no more of her than the skull and the feet
and the palms of her hands. [36] When they came back and told him, he
said, “This is the word of the LORD, which he spoke by his servant
Elijah the Tishbite: ‘In the territory of Jezreel the dogs shall eat the
flesh of Jezebel, [37] and the corpse of Jezebel shall be as dung on
the face of the field in the territory of Jezreel, so that no one can
say, This is Jezebel.’”
