Nadab Reigns in Israel

²⁵ Now ^(A)Nadab the son of Jeroboam became king over Israel in the second year of Asa king of Judah, and he reigned over Israel two years. ²⁶ And he did evil in the sight of the Lord, and walked in the way of his father, and in ^(B)his sin by which he had made Israel sin.

^27 (C)Then Baasha the son of Ahijah, of the house of Issachar, conspired against him. And Baasha killed him at ^(D)Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines, while Nadab and all Israel laid siege to Gibbethon. ²⁸ Baasha killed him in the third year of Asa king of Judah, and reigned in his place. ²⁹ And it was so, when he became king, that he killed all the house of Jeroboam. He did not leave to Jeroboam anyone that breathed, until he had destroyed him, according to ^(E)the word of the Lord which He had spoken by His servant Ahijah the Shilonite, ^30 (F)because of the sins of Jeroboam, which he had sinned and by which he had made Israel sin, because of his provocation with which he had provoked the Lord God of Israel to anger.

³¹ Now the rest of the acts of Nadab, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? ^32 (G)And there was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all their days.

Baasha Reigns in Israel

³³ In the third year of Asa king of Judah, Baasha the son of Ahijah became king over all Israel in Tirzah, and reigned twenty-four years. ³⁴ He did evil in the sight of the Lord, and walked in ^(H)the way of Jeroboam, and in his sin by which he had made Israel sin.

The Reigns of Elah, Zimri, Omri, and Ahab

16 Then the word of the Lord came to ^(I)Jehu the son of ^(J)Hanani, against ^(K)Baasha, saying: ^2 (L)“Inasmuch as I lifted you out of the dust and made you ruler over My people Israel, and ^(M)you have walked in the way of Jeroboam, and have made My people Israel sin, to provoke Me to anger with their sins, ³ surely I will ^(N)take^[a] away the posterity of Baasha and the posterity of his house, and I will make your house like ^(O)the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat. ⁴ The dogs shall eat ^(P)whoever belongs to Baasha and dies in the city, and the birds of the air shall eat whoever dies in the fields.”

⁵ Now the rest of the acts of Baasha, what he did, and his might, ^(Q)are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? ⁶ So Baasha ^[b]rested with his fathers and was buried in ^(R)Tirzah. Then Elah his son reigned in his place.

⁷ And also the word of the Lord came by the prophet ^(S)Jehu the son of Hanani against Baasha and his house, because of all the evil that he did in the sight of the Lord in provoking Him to anger with the work of his hands, in being like the house of Jeroboam, and because ^(T)he killed them.

Elah Reigns in Israel

⁸ In the twenty-sixth year of Asa king of Judah, Elah the son of Baasha became king over Israel, and reigned two years in Tirzah. ^9 (U)Now his servant Zimri, commander of half his chariots, conspired against him as he was in Tirzah drinking himself drunk in the house of Arza, ^(V)steward^[c] of his house in Tirzah. ¹⁰ And Zimri went in and struck him and killed him in the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah, and reigned in his place.

¹¹ Then it came to pass, when he began to reign, as soon as he was seated on his throne, that he killed all the household of Baasha; he ^(W)did not leave him one male, neither of his relatives nor of his friends. ¹² Thus Zimri destroyed all the household of Baasha, ^(X)according to the word of the Lord, which He spoke against Baasha by Jehu the prophet, ¹³ for all the sins of Baasha and the sins of Elah his son, by which they had sinned and by which they had made Israel sin, in provoking the Lord God of Israel to anger ^(Y)with their ^[d]idols.

¹⁴ Now the rest of the acts of Elah, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?

Zimri Reigns in Israel

¹⁵ In the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah, Zimri had reigned in Tirzah seven days. And the people were encamped ^(Z)against Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines. ¹⁶ Now the people who were encamped heard it said, “Zimri has conspired and also has killed the king.” So all Israel made Omri, the commander of the army, king over Israel that day in the camp. ¹⁷ Then Omri and all Israel with him went up from Gibbethon, and they besieged Tirzah. ¹⁸ And it happened, when Zimri saw that the city was ^[e]taken, that he went into the citadel of the king’s house and burned the king’s house ^[f]down upon himself with fire, and died, ¹⁹ because of the sins which he had committed in doing evil in the sight of the Lord, ^(AA)in walking in the ^(AB)way of Jeroboam, and in his sin which he had committed to make Israel sin.

²⁰ Now the rest of the acts of Zimri, and the treason he committed, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?

Omri Reigns in Israel

²¹ Then the people of Israel were divided into two parts: half of the people followed Tibni the son of Ginath, to make him king, and half followed Omri. ²² But the people who followed Omri prevailed over the people who followed Tibni the son of Ginath. So Tibni died and Omri reigned. ²³ In the thirty-first year of Asa king of Judah, Omri became king over Israel, and reigned twelve years. Six years he reigned in ^(AC)Tirzah. ²⁴ And he bought the hill of Samaria from Shemer for two talents of silver; then he built on the hill, and called the name of the city which he built, ^(AD)Samaria,^[g] after the name of Shemer, owner of the hill. ^25 (AE)Omri did evil in the eyes of the Lord, and did worse than all who were before him. ²⁶ For he ^(AF)walked in all the ways of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and in his sin by which he had made Israel sin, provoking the Lord God of Israel to anger with their ^(AG)idols.^[h]

²⁷ Now the rest of the acts of Omri which he did, and the might that he showed, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?

²⁸ So Omri rested with his fathers and was buried in Samaria. Then Ahab his son reigned in his place.

Ahab Reigns in Israel

²⁹ In the thirty-eighth year of Asa king of Judah, Ahab the son of Omri became king over Israel; and Ahab the son of Omri reigned over Israel in Samaria twenty-two years. ³⁰ Now Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the Lord, more than all who were before him. ³¹ And it came to pass, as though it had been a trivial thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, ^(AH)that he took as wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal, king of the ^(AI)Sidonians; ^(AJ)and he went and served Baal and worshiped him. ³² Then he set up an altar for Baal in ^(AK)the temple of Baal, which he had built in Samaria. ^33 (AL)And Ahab made a ^[i]wooden image. Ahab ^(AM)did more to provoke the Lord God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel who were before him. ³⁴ In his days Hiel of Bethel built Jericho. He laid its foundation ^[j]with Abiram his firstborn, and with his youngest son Segub he set up its gates, ^(AN)according to the word of the Lord, which He had spoken through Joshua the son of Nun.

Elijah Proclaims a Drought

17 And Elijah the Tishbite, of the ^(AO)inhabitants of Gilead, said to Ahab, ^(AP)“As the Lord God of Israel lives, ^(AQ)before whom I stand, ^(AR)there shall not be dew nor rain ^(AS)these years, except at my word.”

² Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, ³ “Get away from here and turn eastward, and hide by the Brook Cherith, which flows into the Jordan. ⁴ And it will be that you shall drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ^(AT)ravens to feed you there.”

⁵ So he went and did according to the word of the Lord, for he went and stayed by the Brook Cherith, which flows into the Jordan. ⁶ The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening; and he drank from the brook. ⁷ And it happened after a while that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land.

Elijah and the Widow

⁸ Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, ⁹ “Arise, go to ^(AU)Zarephath, which belongs to ^(AV)Sidon, and dwell there. See, I have commanded a widow there to provide for you.” ¹⁰ So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, indeed a widow was there gathering sticks. And he called to her and said, “Please bring me a little water in a cup, that I may drink.” ¹¹ And as she was going to get it, he called to her and said, “Please bring me a morsel of bread in your hand.”

¹² So she said, “As the Lord your God lives, I do not have bread, only a handful of flour in a bin, and a little oil in a ^[k]jar; and see, I am gathering a couple of sticks that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it, and ^(AW)die.”

¹³ And Elijah said to her, “Do not fear; go and do as you have said, but make me a small cake from it first, and bring it to me; and afterward make some for yourself and your son. ¹⁴ For thus says the Lord God of Israel: ‘The bin of flour shall not be used up, nor shall the jar of oil run dry, until the day the Lord sends rain on the earth.’ ”

¹⁵ So she went away and did according to the word of Elijah; and she and he and her household ate for many days. ¹⁶ The bin of flour was not used up, nor did the jar of oil run dry, according to the word of the Lord which He spoke by Elijah.

Elijah Revives the Widow’s Son

¹⁷ Now it happened after these things that the son of the woman who owned the house became sick. And his sickness was so ^[l]serious that ^[m]there was no breath left in him. ¹⁸ So she said to Elijah, ^(AX)“What have I to do with you, O man of God? Have you come to me to bring my sin to remembrance, and to kill my son?”

¹⁹ And he said to her, “Give me your son.” So he took him out of her arms and carried him to the upper room where he was staying, and laid him on his own bed. ²⁰ Then he cried out to the Lord and said, “O Lord my God, have You also brought tragedy on the widow with whom I lodge, by killing her son?” ^21 (AY)And he stretched himself out on the child three times, and cried out to the Lord and said, “O Lord my God, I pray, let this child’s soul come back to him.” ²² Then the Lord heard the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child came back to him, and he ^(AZ)revived.

²³ And Elijah took the child and brought him down from the upper room into the house, and gave him to his mother. And Elijah said, “See, your son lives!”

²⁴ Then the woman said to Elijah, “Now by this ^(BA)I know that you are a man of God, and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is the truth.”

Peter Meets Cornelius

²⁴ And the following day they entered Caesarea. Now Cornelius was waiting for them, and had called together his relatives and close friends. ²⁵ As Peter was coming in, Cornelius met him and fell down at his feet and worshiped him. ²⁶ But Peter lifted him up, saying, ^(A)“Stand up; I myself am also a man.” ²⁷ And as he talked with him, he went in and found many who had come together. ²⁸ Then he said to them, “You know how ^(B)unlawful it is for a Jewish man to keep company with or go to one of another nation. But ^(C)God has shown me that I should not call any man common or unclean. ²⁹ Therefore I came without objection as soon as I was sent for. I ask, then, for what reason have you sent for me?”

³⁰ So Cornelius said, ^[a]“Four days ago I was fasting until this hour; and at the ninth hour I prayed in my house, and behold, ^(D)a man stood before me ^(E)in bright clothing, ³¹ and said, ‘Cornelius, ^(F)your prayer has been heard, and ^(G)your ^[b]alms are remembered in the sight of God. ³² Send therefore to Joppa and call Simon here, whose surname is Peter. He is lodging in the house of Simon, a tanner, by the sea. ^[c]When he comes, he will speak to you.’ ³³ So I sent to you immediately, and you have done well to come. Now therefore, we are all present before God, to hear all the things commanded you by God.”

Preaching to Cornelius’ Household

³⁴ Then Peter opened his mouth and said: ^(H)“In truth I perceive that God shows no partiality. ³⁵ But ^(I)in every nation whoever fears Him and works righteousness is ^(J)accepted by Him. ³⁶ The word which God sent to the ^[d]children of Israel, ^(K)preaching peace through Jesus Christ—^(L)He is Lord of all— ³⁷ that word you know, which was proclaimed throughout all Judea, and ^(M)began from Galilee after the baptism which John preached: ³⁸ how ^(N)God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who ^(O)went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, ^(P)for God was with Him. ³⁹ And we are ^(Q)witnesses of all things which He did both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem, whom ^[e]they ^(R)killed by hanging on a tree. ⁴⁰ Him ^(S)God raised up on the third day, and showed Him openly, ^41 (T)not to all the people, but to witnesses chosen before by God, even to us ^(U)who ate and drank with Him after He arose from the dead. ⁴² And ^(V)He commanded us to preach to the people, and to testify ^(W)that it is He who was ordained by God to be Judge ^(X)of the living and the dead. ^43 (Y)To Him all the prophets witness that, through His name, ^(Z)whoever believes in Him will receive ^(AA)remission^[f] of sins.”

The Holy Spirit Falls on the Gentiles

⁴⁴ While Peter was still speaking these words, ^(AB)the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who heard the word. ^45 (AC)And ^[g]those of the circumcision who believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, ^(AD)because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also. ⁴⁶ For they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God.

Then Peter answered, ⁴⁷ “Can anyone forbid water, that these should not be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit ^(AE)just as we have?” ^48 (AF)And he commanded them to be baptized ^(AG)in the name of the Lord. Then they asked him to stay a few days.

Praising the Lord in His House at Night

A Song of Ascents.