^16 (A)You shall not uncover the nakedness of your brother's wife; it is your brother's nakedness. ¹⁷ You shall not uncover the nakedness of a woman and of her daughter, and you shall not take her son's daughter or her daughter's daughter to uncover her nakedness; they are relatives; it is depravity. ¹⁸ And you shall not take a woman as a ^(B)rival wife to her sister, uncovering her nakedness ^(C)while her sister is still alive.

^19 (D)“You shall not approach a woman to uncover her nakedness while she is in her menstrual uncleanness. ^20 (E)And you shall not lie sexually with your neighbor's wife and so make yourself unclean with her. ²¹ You shall not give any of your children to ^(F)offer them^[a] to ^(G)Molech, and so ^(H)profane the name of your God: I am the Lord. ^22 (I)You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination. ^23 (J)And you shall not lie with any animal and so make yourself unclean with it, neither shall any woman give herself to an animal to lie with it: it is ^(K)perversion.

^24 (L)“Do not make yourselves unclean by any of these things, ^(M)for by all these the nations I am driving out before you have become unclean, ²⁵ and the ^(N)land became unclean, so that I punished its iniquity, and the land ^(O)vomited out its inhabitants. ²⁶ But ^(P)you shall keep my statutes and my rules and do none of these abominations, either the ^(Q)native or the stranger who sojourns among you ²⁷ (for the people of the land, who were before you, did all of these abominations, so that the land became unclean), ²⁸ lest the land vomit you out when you make it unclean, as it vomited out the nation that was before you. ²⁹ For everyone who does any of these abominations, the persons who do them shall be cut off from among their people. ^30 (R)So keep my charge never to practice ^(S)any of these abominable customs that were practiced before you, and never to make yourselves unclean by them: ^(T)I am the Lord your God.”

Jehu Assassinates Joram and Ahaziah

¹⁴ Thus Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat the son of Nimshi conspired against Joram. (^(A)Now Joram with all Israel had been on guard at Ramoth-gilead against ^(B)Hazael king of Syria, ^15 (C)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 ^(D)is like the driving of Jehu ^(E)the son of Nimshi, for he drives furiously.”

²¹ Joram said, ^(F)“Make ready.” And they made ready his chariot. ^(G)Then Joram king of Israel and Ahaziah king of Judah set out, each in his chariot, and went to meet Jehu, and met him ^(H)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 ^(I)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 ^(J)his aide, “Take him up and throw him ^(K)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 ^(L)the Lord made this ^(M)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 (N)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^[a] in the chariot at the ascent of Gur, which is by ^(O)Ibleam. And he fled to ^(P)Megiddo and died there. ^28 (Q)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 ^(R)eleventh year of Joram the son of Ahab, Ahaziah began to reign over Judah.

Jehu Executes Jezebel

³⁰ When Jehu came to Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it. And ^(S)she painted her eyes and adorned her head and looked out of the window. ³¹ And as Jehu entered the gate, she said, ^(T)“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, ^(U)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: ^(V)‘In the territory of Jezreel the dogs shall eat the flesh of Jezebel, ³⁷ and the corpse of Jezebel shall be ^(W)as dung on the face of the field in the territory of Jezreel, so that no one can say, This is Jezebel.’”

¹² And when the wall falls, will it not be said to you, ‘Where is the coating with which you smeared it?’ ¹³ Therefore thus says the Lord God: ^(A)I will make a stormy wind break out in my wrath, ^(B)and there shall be a deluge of rain in my anger, and great hailstones in wrath to make a full end. ¹⁴ And I will break down the wall that you have smeared with whitewash, and bring it down to the ground, so that its foundation will be laid bare. When it falls, you shall perish in the midst of it, ^(C)and you shall know that I am the Lord. ¹⁵ Thus will I spend my wrath upon the wall and upon those who have smeared it with whitewash, and I will say to you, The wall is no more, nor those who smeared it, ¹⁶ the prophets of Israel who prophesied concerning Jerusalem ^(D)and saw visions of peace for her, when there was no peace, declares the Lord God.

¹⁷ “And you, son of man, ^(E)set your face against ^(F)the daughters of your people, ^(G)who prophesy out of their own hearts. Prophesy against them ¹⁸ and say, Thus says the Lord God: Woe to the women ^(H)who sew magic bands upon all wrists, and ^(I)make veils for the heads of persons of every stature, in ^(J)the hunt for souls! Will you hunt down souls belonging to my people and keep your own souls alive? ¹⁹ You have profaned me among my people ^(K)for handfuls of barley ^(L)and for pieces of bread, putting to death souls who should not die and keeping alive souls who should not live, by your lying to my people, who listen to lies.

²⁰ “Therefore thus says the Lord God: Behold, ^(M)I am against ^(N)your magic bands with which you hunt the souls like birds, and I will tear them from your arms, and I will let the souls whom you hunt go free, the souls like birds. ²¹ Your veils also I will tear off and ^(O)deliver my people out of your hand, and they shall be no more in your hand as prey, ^(P)and you shall know that I am the Lord. ^22 (Q)Because you have disheartened the righteous falsely, although I have not grieved him, and ^(R)you have encouraged the wicked, that ^(S)he should not turn from his evil way to save his life, ^23 (T)therefore you shall no more see false visions nor practice divination. I will deliver my people out of your hand. And you shall know that I am the Lord.”

I Will Walk with Integrity

A Psalm of David.

A Lamp Under a Jar

^16 (A)(B)“No one after lighting a lamp covers it with a jar or puts it under a bed, but puts it on a stand, so that those who enter may see the light. ^17 (C)For nothing is hidden that will not be made manifest, nor is anything secret that will not be known and come to light. ^18 (D)Take care then how you hear, ^(E)for to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he thinks that he has will be taken away.”

Jesus' Mother and Brothers

^19 (F)Then his mother and ^(G)his brothers^[a] came to him, but they could not reach him because of the crowd. ²⁰ And he was told, “Your mother and your brothers are standing outside, desiring to see you.” ²¹ But he answered them, “My mother and my brothers are those ^(H)who hear the word of God and do it.”

Jesus Calms a Storm

^22 (I)One day he got into a boat with his disciples, and he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side of ^(J)the lake.” So they set out, ²³ and as they sailed he fell asleep. And a windstorm came down on ^(K)the lake, and they were filling with water and were in danger. ²⁴ And they went and woke him, saying, “Master, Master, we are perishing!” And he awoke and ^(L)rebuked the wind and the raging waves, and they ceased, ^(M)and there was a calm. ²⁵ He said to them, “Where is your faith?” And they ^(N)were afraid, and they ^(O)marveled, saying to one another, “Who then is this, that ^(P)he commands even winds and water, and they obey him?”

Triumph in Christ

¹² When ^(A)I came to Troas to preach the gospel of Christ, even though ^(B)a door was opened for me in the Lord, ¹³ my spirit ^(C)was not at rest because I did not find my brother Titus there. So I took leave of them and went on to Macedonia.

¹⁴ But ^(D)thanks be to God, who in Christ always ^(E)leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads ^(F)the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. ¹⁵ For we are the aroma of Christ to God among ^(G)those who are being saved and among ^(H)those who are perishing, ^16 (I)to one a fragrance from death to death, ^(J)to the other a fragrance from life to life. ^(K)Who is sufficient for these things? ¹⁷ For we are not, like so many, peddlers of God's word, but as men of sincerity, as commissioned by God, in the sight of God we speak in Christ.