Prophecy and Tongues

14 Pursue love, and ^(A)desire spiritual gifts, ^(B)but especially that you may prophesy. ² For he who ^(C)speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God, for no one understands him; however, in the spirit he speaks mysteries. ³ But he who prophesies speaks ^(D)edification and ^(E)exhortation and comfort to men. ⁴ He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself, but he who prophesies edifies the church. ⁵ I wish you all spoke with tongues, but even more that you prophesied; ^[a]for he who prophesies is greater than he who speaks with tongues, unless indeed he interprets, that the church may receive edification.

Tongues Must Be Interpreted

⁶ But now, brethren, if I come to you speaking with tongues, what shall I profit you unless I speak to you either by ^(F)revelation, by knowledge, by prophesying, or by teaching? ⁷ Even things without life, whether flute or harp, when they make a sound, unless they make a distinction in the sounds, how will it be known what is piped or played? ⁸ For if the trumpet makes an uncertain sound, who will prepare for battle? ⁹ So likewise you, unless you utter by the tongue words easy to understand, how will it be known what is spoken? For you will be speaking into the air. ¹⁰ There are, it may be, so many kinds of languages in the world, and none of them is without ^[b]significance. ¹¹ Therefore, if I do not know the meaning of the language, I shall be a ^[c]foreigner to him who speaks, and he who speaks will be a foreigner to me. ¹² Even so you, since you are ^[d]zealous for spiritual gifts, let it be for the ^[e]edification of the church that you seek to excel.

¹³ Therefore let him who speaks in a tongue pray that he may ^(G)interpret. ¹⁴ For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my understanding is unfruitful. ¹⁵ What is the conclusion then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will also pray with the understanding. ^(H)I will sing with the spirit, and I will also sing ^(I)with the understanding. ¹⁶ Otherwise, if you bless with the spirit, how will he who occupies the place of the uninformed say “Amen” ^(J)at your giving of thanks, since he does not understand what you say? ¹⁷ For you indeed give thanks well, but the other is not edified.

¹⁸ I thank my God I speak with tongues more than you all; ¹⁹ yet in the church I would rather speak five words with my understanding, that I may teach others also, than ten thousand words in a tongue.

Tongues a Sign to Unbelievers

²⁰ Brethren, ^(K)do not be children in understanding; however, in malice ^(L)be babes, but in understanding be mature.

^21 (M)In the law it is written:

says the Lord.

²² Therefore tongues are for a ^(O)sign, not to those who believe but to unbelievers; but prophesying is not for unbelievers but for those who believe. ²³ Therefore if the whole church comes together in one place, and all speak with tongues, and there come in those who are uninformed or unbelievers, ^(P)will they not say that you are ^[f]out of your mind? ²⁴ But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or an uninformed person comes in, he is convinced by all, he is convicted by all. ^25 [g]And thus the secrets of his heart are revealed; and so, falling down on his face, he will worship God and report ^(Q)that God is truly among you.

The King Restores the Shunammite’s Land

8 Then Elisha spoke to the woman ^(A)whose son he had restored to life, saying, “Arise and go, you and your household, and stay wherever you can; for the Lord ^(B)has called for a ^(C)famine, and furthermore, it will come upon the land for seven years.” ² So the woman arose and did according to the saying of the man of God, and she went with her household and dwelt in the land of the Philistines seven years.

³ It came to pass, at the end of seven years, that the woman returned from the land of the Philistines; and she went to make an appeal to the king for her house and for her land. ⁴ Then the king talked with ^(D)Gehazi, the servant of the man of God, saying, “Tell me, please, all the great things Elisha has done.” ⁵ Now it happened, as he was telling the king how he had restored the dead to life, that there was the woman whose son he had ^(E)restored to life, appealing to the king for her house and for her land. And Gehazi said, “My lord, O king, this is the woman, and this is her son whom Elisha restored to life.” ⁶ And when the king asked the woman, she told him.

So the king appointed a certain officer for her, saying, “Restore all that was hers, and all the proceeds of the field from the day that she left the land until now.”

Death of Ben-Hadad

⁷ Then Elisha went to Damascus, and ^(F)Ben-Hadad king of Syria was sick; and it was told him, saying, “The man of God has come here.” ⁸ And the king said to ^(G)Hazael, ^(H)“Take a present in your hand, and go to meet the man of God, and ^(I)inquire of the Lord by him, saying, ‘Shall I recover from this disease?’ ” ⁹ So ^(J)Hazael went to meet him and took a present with him, of every good thing of Damascus, forty camel-loads; and he came and stood before him, and said, “Your son Ben-Hadad king of Syria has sent me to you, saying, ‘Shall I recover from this disease?’ ”

¹⁰ And Elisha said to him, “Go, say to him, ‘You shall certainly recover.’ However the Lord has shown me that ^(K)he will really die.” ¹¹ Then he ^[a]set his countenance in a stare until he was ashamed; and the man of God ^(L)wept. ¹² And Hazael said, “Why is my lord weeping?”

He answered, “Because I know ^(M)the evil that you will do to the children of Israel: Their strongholds you will set on fire, and their young men you will kill with the sword; and you ^(N)will dash their children, and rip open their women with child.”

¹³ So Hazael said, “But what ^(O)is your servant—a dog, that he should do this gross thing?”

And Elisha answered, ^(P)“The Lord has shown me that you will become king over Syria.”

¹⁴ Then he departed from Elisha, and came to his master, who said to him, “What did Elisha say to you?” And he answered, “He told me you would surely recover.” ¹⁵ But it happened on the next day that he took a thick cloth and dipped it in water, and spread it over his face so that he died; and Hazael reigned in his place.

Jehoram Reigns in Judah^(Q)

¹⁶ Now ^(R)in the fifth year of Joram the son of Ahab, king of Israel, Jehoshaphat having been king of Judah, ^(S)Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat began to reign as ^[b]king of Judah. ¹⁷ He was ^(T)thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. ¹⁸ And he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, just as the house of Ahab had done, for ^(U)the daughter of Ahab was his wife; and he did evil in the sight of the Lord. ¹⁹ Yet the Lord would not destroy Judah, for the sake of His servant David, ^(V)as He promised him to give a lamp to him and his sons forever.

²⁰ In his days ^(W)Edom revolted against Judah’s authority, ^(X)and made a king over themselves. ²¹ So ^[c]Joram went to Zair, and all his chariots with him. Then he rose by night and attacked the Edomites who had surrounded him and the captains of the chariots; and the troops fled to their tents. ²² Thus Edom has been in revolt against Judah’s authority to this day. ^(Y)And Libnah revolted at that time.

²³ Now the rest of the acts of Joram, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? ²⁴ So Joram ^[d]rested with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the City of David. Then ^(Z)Ahaziah^[e] his son reigned in his place.

Ahaziah Reigns in Judah^(AA)

²⁵ In the twelfth year of Joram the son of Ahab, king of Israel, Ahaziah the son of Jehoram, king of Judah, began to reign. ²⁶ Ahaziah was ^(AB)twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Athaliah the granddaughter of Omri, king of Israel. ^27 (AC)And he walked in the way of the house of Ahab, and did evil in the sight of the Lord, like the house of Ahab, for he was the son-in-law of the house of Ahab.

²⁸ Now he went ^(AD)with Joram the son of Ahab to war against Hazael king of Syria at ^(AE)Ramoth Gilead; and the Syrians wounded Joram. ²⁹ Then ^(AF)King Joram went back to Jezreel to recover from the wounds which the Syrians had inflicted on him at ^[f]Ramah, when he fought against Hazael king of Syria. ^(AG)And Ahaziah the son of Jehoram, king of Judah, went down to see Joram the son of Ahab in Jezreel, because he was sick.

Jonah Preaches at Nineveh

3 Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying, ² “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and preach to it the message that I tell you.” ³ So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, ^[a]a three-day journey in extent. ⁴ And Jonah began to enter the city on the first day’s walk. Then ^(A)he cried out and said, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!”

The People of Nineveh Believe

⁵ So the ^(B)people of Nineveh believed God, proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest to the least of them. ⁶ Then word came to the king of Nineveh; and he arose from his throne and laid aside his robe, covered himself with sackcloth ^(C)and sat in ashes. ^7 (D)And he caused it to be proclaimed and published throughout Nineveh by the decree of the king and his ^[b]nobles, saying,

^10 (H)Then God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God relented from the disaster that He had said He would bring upon them, and He did not do it.