¹⁵ Then the Lord said to him: “Go, return on your way to the Wilderness of Damascus; ^(A)and when you arrive, anoint Hazael as king over Syria. ¹⁶ Also you shall anoint ^(B)Jehu the son of Nimshi as king over Israel. And ^(C)Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel Meholah you shall anoint as prophet in your place.

Elisha Follows Elijah

¹⁹ So he departed from there, and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, who was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen before him, and he was with the twelfth. Then Elijah passed by him and threw his ^(A)mantle on him. ²⁰ And he left the oxen and ran after Elijah, and said, ^(B)“Please let me kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow you.”

And he said to him, “Go back again, for what have I done to you?”

²¹ So Elisha turned back from him, and took a yoke of oxen and slaughtered them and ^(C)boiled their flesh, using the oxen’s equipment, and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he arose and followed Elijah, and became his servant.

The Hope of the Faithful, and the Messiah’s Victory

A ^(A)Michtam of David.

Christian Liberty

5 ^(A)Stand^[a] fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a ^(B)yoke of bondage.

¹³ For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only ^(A)do not use liberty as an ^(B)opportunity for the flesh, but ^(C)through love serve one another. ¹⁴ For ^(D)all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: ^(E)“You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” ¹⁵ But if you bite and devour one another, beware lest you be consumed by one another!

Walking in the Spirit

¹⁶ I say then: ^(F)Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. ¹⁷ For ^(G)the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, ^(H)so that you do not do the things that you wish. ¹⁸ But ^(I)if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

¹⁹ Now ^(J)the works of the flesh are evident, which are: ^[a]adultery, ^[b]fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, ²⁰ idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, ²¹ envy, ^[c]murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that ^(K)those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

²² But ^(L)the fruit of the Spirit is ^(M)love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, ^(N)goodness, ^(O)faithfulness, ^23 [d]gentleness, self-control. ^(P)Against such there is no law. ²⁴ And those who are Christ’s ^(Q)have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. ^25 (R)If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

A Samaritan Village Rejects the Savior

⁵¹ Now it came to pass, when the time had come for ^(A)Him to be received up, that He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem, ⁵² and sent messengers before His face. And as they went, they entered a village of the Samaritans, to prepare for Him. ⁵³ But ^(B)they did not receive Him, because His face was set for the journey to Jerusalem. ⁵⁴ And when His disciples ^(C)James and John saw this, they said, “Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, ^[a]just as ^(D)Elijah did?”

⁵⁵ But He turned and rebuked them, ^[b]and said, “You do not know what manner of ^(E)spirit you are of. ^56 [c]For ^(F)the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives but to save them.” And they went to another village.

The Cost of Discipleship^(G)

^57 (H)Now it happened as they journeyed on the road, that someone said to Him, “Lord, I will follow You wherever You go.”

⁵⁸ And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man ^(I)has nowhere to lay His head.”

^59 (J)Then He said to another, “Follow Me.”

But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.”

⁶⁰ Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and preach the kingdom of God.”

⁶¹ And another also said, “Lord, ^(K)I will follow You, but let me first go and bid them farewell who are at my house.”

⁶² But Jesus said to him, “No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is ^(L)fit for the kingdom of God.”