Elijah’s Mount Carmel Victory

²⁰ So Ahab sent for all the children of Israel, and ^(A)gathered the prophets together on Mount Carmel. ²¹ And Elijah came to all the people, and said, ^(B)“How long will you falter between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal, ^(C)follow him.” But the people answered him not a word. ²² Then Elijah said to the people, ^(D)“I alone am left a prophet of the Lord; ^(E)but Baal’s prophets are four hundred and fifty men. ²³ Therefore let them give us two bulls; and let them choose one bull for themselves, cut it in pieces, and lay it on the wood, but put no fire under it; and I will prepare the other bull, and lay it on the wood, but put no fire under it. ²⁴ Then you call on the name of your gods, and I will call on the name of the Lord; and the God who ^(F)answers by fire, He is God.”

So all the people answered and said, ^[a]“It is well spoken.”

²⁵ Now Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose one bull for yourselves and prepare it first, for you are many; and call on the name of your god, but put no fire under it.”

²⁶ So they took the bull which was given them, and they prepared it, and called on the name of Baal from morning even till noon, saying, “O Baal, ^[b]hear us!” But there was ^(G)no voice; no one answered. Then they ^[c]leaped about the altar which they had made.

²⁷ And so it was, at noon, that Elijah mocked them and said, “Cry ^[d]aloud, for he is a god; either he is meditating, or he is busy, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is sleeping and must be awakened.” ²⁸ So they cried aloud, and ^(H)cut themselves, as was their custom, with ^[e]knives and lances, until the blood gushed out on them. ²⁹ And when midday was past, ^(I)they prophesied until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice. But there was ^(J)no voice; no one answered, no one paid attention.

³⁰ Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come near to me.” So all the people came near to him. ^(K)And he repaired the altar of the Lord that was broken down. ³¹ And Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord had come, saying, ^(L)“Israel shall be your name.” ³² Then with the stones he built an altar ^(M)in the name of the Lord; and he made a trench around the altar large enough to hold two seahs of seed. ³³ And he ^(N)put the wood in order, cut the bull in pieces, and laid it on the wood, and said, “Fill four waterpots with water, and ^(O)pour it on the burnt sacrifice and on the wood.” ³⁴ Then 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 So the water ran all around the altar; and he also filled ^(P)the trench with water.

³⁶ And it came to pass, at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near and said, “Lord ^(Q)God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, ^(R)let it be known this day that You are God in Israel and I am Your servant, and that ^(S)I have done all these things at Your word. ³⁷ Hear me, O Lord, hear me, that this people may know that You are the Lord God, and that You have turned their hearts back to You again.”

³⁸ Then ^(T)the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood and the stones and the dust, and it licked up the water that was in the trench. ³⁹ Now when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces; and they said, ^(U)“The Lord, He is God! The Lord, He is God!”

⁴⁰ And Elijah said to them, ^(V)“Seize the prophets of Baal! Do not let one of them escape!” So they seized them; and Elijah brought them down to the Brook ^(W)Kishon and ^(X)executed them there.

By Grace Through Faith

2 And ^(A)you He made alive, ^(B)who were dead in trespasses and sins, ^2 (C)in which you once walked according to the ^[a]course of this world, according to ^(D)the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in ^(E)the sons of disobedience, ^3 (F)among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in ^(G)the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and ^(H)were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.

⁴ But God, ^(I)who is rich in mercy, because of His ^(J)great love with which He loved us, ^5 (K)even when we were dead in trespasses, ^(L)made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), ⁶ and raised us up together, and made us sit together ^(M)in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, ⁷ that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in ^(N)His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. ^8 (O)For by grace you have been saved ^(P)through faith, and that not of yourselves; ^(Q)it is the gift of God, ⁹ not of ^(R)works, lest anyone should ^(S)boast. ¹⁰ For we are ^(T)His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

Brought Near by His Blood

¹¹ Therefore remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh—who are called Uncircumcision by what is called ^(U)the Circumcision made in the flesh by hands— ¹² that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. ¹³ But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

Christ Our Peace

¹⁴ For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, ¹⁵ having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one ^(V)new man from the two, thus making peace, ¹⁶ and that He might ^(W)reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby ^(X)putting to death the enmity. ¹⁷ And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near. ¹⁸ For ^(Y)through Him we both have access ^(Z)by one Spirit to the Father.

Christ Our Cornerstone

¹⁹ Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, ²⁰ having been ^(AA)built ^(AB)on the foundation of the ^(AC)apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being ^(AD)the chief cornerstone, ²¹ in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into ^(AE)a holy temple in the Lord, ^22 (AF)in whom you also are being built together for a ^(AG)dwelling place of God in the Spirit.