Elijah Flees from Jezebel

19 Now Ahab told Jezebel everything that Elijah had done, and ^[a](A)how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. ² Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “^(B)So may the gods do to me and more so, if by about this time tomorrow I do not make your ^[b]life like the ^[c]life of one of them.” ³ And he ^[d]was afraid, and got up and ran for his ^[e]life and came to ^(C)Beersheba, which belongs to Judah; and he left his servant there. ⁴ But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a broom tree; and ^(D)he asked for himself to die, and said, “Enough! Now, Lord, take my ^[f]life, for I am no better than my fathers.” ⁵ Then he lay down and fell asleep under a broom tree; but behold, there was ^(E)an angel touching him, and he said to him, “Arise, eat!” ⁶ And he looked, and behold, there was at his head a round loaf of bread baked on hot coals, and a pitcher of water. So he ate and drank, and lay down again. ⁷ But the angel of the Lord came back a second time and touched him, and said, “Arise, eat; because the journey is too long for you.” ⁸ So he arose and ate and drank, and he journeyed in the strength of that food for ^(F)forty days and forty nights to ^(G)Horeb, the mountain of God.

Elijah at Horeb

⁹ Then he came there to a cave and spent the night there; and behold, ^(H)the word of the Lord came to him, and He said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” ¹⁰ And he said, “^(I)I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of armies; for the sons of Israel have abandoned Your covenant, ^(J)torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. And ^(K)I alone am left; and they have sought to take my life.”

¹¹ So He said, “^(L)Go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord was passing by! And ^(M)a great and powerful wind was tearing out the mountains and breaking the rocks in pieces before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. ¹² And after the earthquake, a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire, ^(N)a sound of a gentle blowing. ¹³ When Elijah heard it, ^(O)he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave. And behold, ^(P)a voice came to him and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” ¹⁴ Then he said, “^(Q)I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of armies; for the sons of Israel have abandoned Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. And I alone am left; and they have sought to take my life.”

¹⁵ The Lord said to him, “Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus; and when you have arrived, ^(R)you shall anoint Hazael king over Aram. ¹⁶ You shall also anoint ^(S)Jehu the son of Nimshi king over Israel; and you shall anoint ^(T)Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah as prophet in your place. ¹⁷ And it shall come about that the ^(U)one who escapes from the sword of Hazael, Jehu ^(V)shall put to death, and the one who escapes from the sword of Jehu, Elisha shall put to death. ^18 (W)Yet I will leave seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal and every mouth that has not ^(X)kissed him.”

Paul’s Reliance upon the Spirit

2 And when I came to you, brothers and sisters, I ^(A)did not come as someone superior in ^[a]speaking ability or ^[b]wisdom, as I proclaimed to you ^(B)the ^[c]testimony of God. ² For I determined to know nothing among you except ^(C)Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. ³ I also was with you in ^(D)weakness and ^(E)fear, and in great trembling, ⁴ and my ^[d]message and my preaching were ^(F)not in persuasive words of ^[e]wisdom, but in demonstration of ^(G)the Spirit and of power, ⁵ so that your faith would not ^[f]rest on the ^[g]wisdom of mankind, but on ^(H)the power of God.

⁶ Yet we do speak wisdom among those who are ^(I)mature; a wisdom, however, not of ^(J)this age nor of the rulers of ^(K)this age, who are ^(L)passing away; ⁷ but we speak God’s wisdom in a ^(M)mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ^(N)predestined before the ^(O)ages to our glory; ⁸ the wisdom ^(P)which none of the rulers of ^(Q)this age has understood; for if they had understood it, they would not have crucified ^(R)the Lord of glory; ⁹ but just as it is written:

^10 [h](T)For to us God revealed them ^(U)through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the ^(V)depths of God. ¹¹ For who among people knows the thoughts of a person except the ^(W)spirit of the person that is in him? So also the thoughts of God no one knows, except the Spirit of God. ¹² Now we ^(X)have not received the spirit of ^(Y)the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God. ¹³ We also speak these things, ^(Z)not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, ^[i]combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words.

¹⁴ But ^[j]a ^(AA)natural person ^(AB)does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are ^(AC)foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. ¹⁵ But the one who is ^(AD)spiritual discerns all things, yet he himself is ^[k]discerned by no one. ¹⁶ For ^(AE)who has known the mind of the Lord, that he will instruct Him? But ^(AF)we have the mind of Christ.

Foundations for Living

3 And I, brothers and sisters, could not speak to you as ^(A)spiritual people, but only as ^(B)fleshly, as to ^(C)infants in Christ. ² I gave you ^(D)milk to drink, not solid food; for you ^(E)were not yet able to consume it. But even now you are not yet able, ³ for you are still fleshly. For since there is ^(F)jealousy and strife among you, are you not fleshly, and are you not walking ^(G)like ordinary people? ⁴ For when ^(H)one person says, “I am ^[a]with Paul,” and another, “I am ^[b]with Apollos,” are you not ordinary ^(I)people?

⁵ What then is Apollos? And what is Paul? ^(J)Servants through whom you believed, even ^(K)as the Lord gave opportunity to each one. ^6 (L)I planted, ^(M)Apollos watered, but ^(N)God was causing the growth. ⁷ So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth. ⁸ Now the one who plants and the one who waters are one; but each will ^(O)receive his own ^[c]reward according to his own labor. ⁹ For we are God’s ^(P)fellow workers; you are God’s ^[d](Q)field, God’s ^(R)building.

¹⁰ According to ^(S)the grace of God which was given to me, like a wise master builder ^(T)I laid a foundation, and ^(U)another is building on it. But each person must be careful how he builds on it. ¹¹ For no one can lay a ^(V)foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. ¹² Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or straw, ^13 (W)each one’s work will become evident; for ^(X)the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test ^[e]the quality of each one’s work. ¹⁴ If anyone’s work which he has built on it remains, he will ^(Y)receive a reward. ¹⁵ If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet only ^(Z)so as through fire.

^16 (AA)Do you not know that ^(AB)you are a ^[f]temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? ¹⁷ If anyone destroys the ^[g]temple of God, God will destroy ^[h]that person; for the ^[i]temple of God is holy, ^[j]and that is what you are.

^18 (AC)Take care that no one deceives himself. ^(AD)If anyone among you thinks that he is wise in ^(AE)this age, he must become foolish, so that he may become wise. ¹⁹ For ^(AF)the wisdom of this world is foolishness in the sight of God. For it is written: “He is ^(AG)the one who catches the wise by their craftiness”; ²⁰ and again, “^(AH)The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are useless.” ²¹ So then, ^(AI)no one is to be boasting in people. For ^(AJ)all things belong to you, ^22 (AK)whether Paul or Apollos or ^[k]Cephas, or the world or ^(AL)life or death, or things present or things to come; all things belong to you, ²³ and ^(AM)you belong to Christ, and ^(AN)Christ belongs to God.