¹⁷ But ^(A)the bull and its skin and its flesh and its dung he burned up with fire outside the camp, as the Lord commanded Moses.

^18 (B)Then he presented the ram of the burnt offering, and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the ram. ¹⁹ And he killed it, and Moses threw the blood against the sides of the altar. ²⁰ He cut the ram into pieces, and Moses burned ^(C)the head and the pieces and the fat. ²¹ He washed the entrails and the legs with water, and Moses burned the whole ram on the altar. It was a burnt offering with a pleasing aroma, a food offering for the Lord, as the Lord commanded Moses.

²² Then ^(D)he presented the other ram, the ram of ordination, and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the ram. ²³ And he killed it, and Moses took some of its blood and ^(E)put it on the lobe of Aaron's right ear and on the thumb of his right hand and on the big toe of his right foot. ²⁴ Then he presented Aaron's sons, and Moses put some of the blood on the lobes of their right ears and on the thumbs of their right hands and on the big toes of their right feet. And Moses threw the blood against the sides of the altar. ²⁵ Then he took the fat and the fat tail and all the fat that was on the entrails and the long lobe of the liver and the two kidneys with their fat and the right thigh, ²⁶ and out of the basket of unleavened bread that was before the Lord he took one unleavened loaf and one loaf of bread with oil and one wafer and placed them on the pieces of fat and on the right thigh. ²⁷ And he put all these in the hands of Aaron and in the hands of his sons and waved them as a wave offering before the Lord. ²⁸ Then Moses took them from their hands and burned them on the altar with the burnt offering. This was an ordination offering with a pleasing aroma, a food offering to the Lord. ²⁹ And Moses took the breast and waved it for a wave offering before the Lord. It was Moses' portion of the ram of ordination, as the Lord commanded Moses.

³⁰ Then ^(F)Moses took some of the anointing oil and of the blood that was on the altar and sprinkled it on Aaron and his garments, and also on his sons and his sons' garments. So he consecrated Aaron and his garments, and his sons and his sons' garments with him.

³¹ And Moses said to Aaron and his sons, “Boil the flesh at the entrance of the tent of meeting, and there eat it and the bread that is in the basket of ordination offerings, as I commanded, saying, ‘Aaron and his sons shall eat it.’ ³² And what remains of the flesh and the bread you shall burn up with fire. ³³ And you shall not go outside the entrance of the tent of meeting for seven days, until the days of your ordination are completed, for it ^(G)will take seven days to ordain you. ³⁴ As has been done today, the Lord has commanded to be done to make atonement for you. ³⁵ At the entrance of the tent of meeting you shall remain day and night for seven days, performing what the Lord has ^(H)charged, so that you do not die, for so I have been commanded.” ³⁶ And Aaron and his sons did all the things that the Lord commanded by Moses.

The Prophets of Baal Defeated

²⁰ So Ahab sent to all the people of Israel and gathered the prophets together at Mount Carmel. ²¹ And Elijah came near to all the people and said, “How long ^(A)will you go limping between two different opinions? ^(B)If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.” And the people did not answer him a word. ²² Then Elijah said to the people, ^(C)“I, even I only, am left a prophet of the Lord, but Baal's prophets are ^(D)450 men. ²³ Let two bulls be given to us, and let them choose one bull for themselves and cut it in pieces and lay it on the wood, but put no fire to it. And I will prepare the other bull and lay it on the wood and put no fire to it. ²⁴ And you call upon the name of your god, and I will call upon the name of the Lord, and the God who ^(E)answers by fire, he is God.” And all the people answered, “It is well spoken.” ²⁵ Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose for yourselves one bull and prepare it first, for you are many, and call upon the name of your god, but put no fire to it.” ²⁶ And they took the bull that was given them, and they prepared it and called upon the name of Baal from morning until noon, saying, “O Baal, answer us!” But there was no voice, and no one answered. And they limped around the altar that they had made. ²⁷ And at noon Elijah mocked them, saying, “Cry aloud, for he is a god. Either he is musing, or he is relieving himself, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and must be awakened.” ²⁸ And they cried aloud and ^(F)cut themselves after their custom with swords and lances, until the blood gushed out upon them. ²⁹ And as midday passed, they raved on until the time of ^(G)the offering of the oblation, but there was no voice. No one answered; no one paid attention.

³⁰ Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come near to me.” And all the people came near to him. And he repaired the altar of the Lord that had been ^(H)thrown down. ³¹ Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord came, saying, ^(I)“Israel shall be your name,” ³² and with the stones he built an altar in the name of the Lord. And he made a trench about the altar, as great as would contain two seahs^[a] of seed. ^33 (J)And he put the wood in order and cut the bull in pieces and laid it on the wood. And he said, “Fill four jars with water and ^(K)pour it on the burnt offering and on the wood.” ³⁴ And he said, “Do it a second time.” And they did it a second time. And he said, “Do it a third time.” And they did it a third time. ³⁵ And the water ran around the altar and filled the trench also with water.

³⁶ And at the time of ^(L)the offering of the oblation, Elijah the prophet came near and said, “O Lord, ^(M)God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that ^(N)you are God in Israel, and that I am your servant, and that ^(O)I have done all these things at your word. ³⁷ Answer me, O Lord, answer me, that this people may know that you, O Lord, are God, and that you have turned their hearts back.” ^38 (P)Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt offering and the wood and the stones and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. ³⁹ And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces and said, ^(Q)“The Lord, he is God; the Lord, he is God.” ⁴⁰ And Elijah said to them, “Seize the prophets of Baal; let not one of them escape.” And they seized them. And Elijah brought them down to ^(R)the brook Kishon and ^(S)slaughtered them there.

O God, Do Not Keep Silence

A Song. A Psalm of ^(A)Asaph.

²¹ Now when all the people were baptized, and when ^(A)Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, ^(B)the heavens were opened, ²² and ^(C)the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form, like a dove; and ^(D)a voice came from heaven, ^(E)“You are my beloved Son;^[a] with you I am well pleased.”^[b]

Do All to the Glory of God

^23 (A)“All things are lawful,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful,” but not all things build up.