End of Jeroboam’s Line

²⁵ Nadab son of Jeroboam began to reign over Israel in the second year of King Asa of Judah, and he reigned over Israel two years. ²⁶ He also did what was evil in Adonai’s eyes, walking in the way of his father and in his sins that he caused Israel to commit. ²⁷ Then Baasa son of Ahijah of the house of Issachar conspired against him, and Baasa struck him down at Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines, while Nadab and all Israel were besieging Gibbethon. ²⁸ So Baasa slew him, in the third year of King Asa of Judah, and became king in his place. ²⁹ As soon as he became king, he struck down all the household of Jeroboam. He did not spare Jeroboam anything with breath until he had destroyed him, just as was the word of Adonai that He spoke by the hand of His servant Ahijah the Shilonite, ³⁰ because of the sins Jeroboam had committed and caused Israel to commit, by which he utterly provoked Adonai, God of Israel. ³¹ Now the rest of the deeds of Nadab and all he did—are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?

³² So there was war between Asa and King Baasa of Israel all their days. ³³ In the third year of King Asa of Judah, Baasa son of Ahijah began to reign over all Israel in Tirzah, reigning 24 years. ³⁴ He did what was evil in Adonai’s eyes, and followed the way of Jeroboam and the sin that he had made Israel commit.

Zimri Ends Baasa’s Line

16 Now the word of Adonai came to Jehu son of Hanani against Baasa, saying: ² “Since I raised you up from the dust and made you ruler over My people Israel, yet you have walked in the way of Jeroboam and have caused My people Israel to sin, vexing Me with their sins. ³ I am about to consume Baasa and his house. I will make your house like the house of Jeroboam son of Nebat. ⁴ Anyone of Baasa who dies in the city, the dogs will eat, and anyone of his who dies in the field, the birds of the sky will eat.”

⁵ Now the rest of the deeds of Baasa and what he did and his might, are they not written in Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? ⁶ Then Baasa slept with his fathers and was buried in Tirzah, and his son Elah became king in his place. ⁷ But the word of Adonai had already come by the hand of the prophet Jehu son of Hanani against Baasa and against his house, because of all the evil he had done in Adonai’s eyes, vexing Him with the work of his hands, becoming thus like the house of Jeroboam which He struck down.

⁸ In the twenty-sixth year of King Asa of Judah, Elah son of Baasa became king over Israel in Tirzah, and reigned two years. ⁹ Then his servant Zimri, commander of half his chariotry, conspired against him while he was in Tirzah, making himself drunk in the house of Arza, who was in charge of the palace in Tirzah. ¹⁰ Then Zimri went in, struck him down and killed him, in the twenty-seventh year of King Asa of Judah, and became king in his place. ¹¹ It came about when he became king, as soon as he sat on the throne, he struck down all the household of Baasa, leaving him not even one man, nor his kinsmen nor his friend.

¹² So Zimri destroyed the entire house of Baasa, according to the word of Adonai which He spoke against Baasa by the prophet Jehu, ¹³ for all the sins of Baasa and the sins of his son Elah, which they committed and caused Israel to commit, vexing Adonai God of Israel with their useless idols. ¹⁴ Now the rest of the deeds of Elah and all that he did, are they not written in Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?

Rise of Omri

¹⁵ In the twenty-seventh year of King Asa of Judah, Zimri reigned for seven days in Tirzah. Now the people were encamped against Gibbethon of the Philistines. ¹⁶ When the people encamped heard it said, “Zimri has conspired and even struck down the king,” then all Israel proclaimed Omri—the commander of the army—king over Israel that very day in the camp. ¹⁷ Then Omri and all Israel with him went up from Gibbethon and besieged Tirzah. ¹⁸ When Zimri saw that the city was captured, he went into the citadel of the royal palace, and burned down the royal palace over him with fire. So he died too, ¹⁹ because of the sins which he committed, doing what was evil in Adonai’s eyes, walking in the way of Jeroboam and in the sin which he had committed, making Israel sin. ²⁰ Now the rest of the deeds of Zimri and his treason that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?

²¹ Then the people of Israel were divided into two factions: half of the people followed Tibni son of Ginath, making him king, while the other half followed Omri. ²² But the people following Omri prevailed against the people following Tibni son of Ginath. Tibni died, and Omri became king.

²³ In the thirty-first year of King Asa of Judah, Omri began to reign over Israel, and reigned 12 years, six years in Tirzah. ²⁴ Then he bought the hill of Samaria from Shemer for two talents of silver, and built a city on the hill. He named the city that he built Samaria, based on the name Shemer, the owner of the hill.

²⁵ But Omri did what was evil in Adonai’s eyes, and acted more wickedly than all who were before him. ²⁶ For he walked in all the ways of Jeroboam son of Nebat and in the sins that he had caused Israel to commit, vexing Adonai God of Israel, with their useless idols. ²⁷ Now the rest of the deeds of Omri that he did and the valiant deeds that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? ²⁸ So Omri slept with his fathers and was buried in Samaria.

Ahab Even Worse

Then his son Ahab became king in his place. ²⁹ In the thirty-eighth year of King Asa of Judah, Ahab son of Omri began to reign over Israel; and Ahab son of Omri reigned over Israel in Samaria 22 years. ³⁰ But Ahab son of Omri did what was evil in Adonai’s eyes, more than all who were before him. ³¹ Now, as if it was a trifling thing to walk in the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, he also took as wife Jezebel the daughter of King Ethbaal of the Sidonians, and went and served Baal and worshipped him. ³² He also erected an altar for Baal in the temple of Baal that he had built in Samaria. ³³ Also Ahab made the Asherah pole. So Ahab did yet more to provoke the Adonai God of Israel than all the kings of Israel who were before him.

Curse of Jericho Rebuilt

³⁴ During his days, Hiel of Bethel rebuilt Jericho. At the cost of Abiram his firstborn, he laid its foundation, and at the cost of his youngest son Segub, he set up its gates—according to the word of Adonai, which He had spoken through Joshua son of Nun.

Elijah Proclaims Famine

17 Now Elijah the Tishbite, one of the settlers of Gilead, said to Ahab: “As Adonai God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall be no dew or rain these years, except at my word.”^[a]

² Then the word of Adonai came to him saying: ³ “Leave this place, turn eastward, and hide yourself by the Wadi Cherith, east of the Jordan. ⁴ It will come about that you will drink from the wadi. I have also commanded the ravens to feed you there.”

⁵ So he went and did according to the word of Adonai—he went and lived by the Wadi Cherith, which is east of the Jordan. ⁶ The ravens kept bringing him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the wadi. ⁷ Then it came to pass after a while that the wadi dried up, because there was no rain in the land.

⁸ Then the word of Adonai came to him saying: ⁹ “Arise, go to Zarephath of Sidon and stay there. I have just commanded a widow there to provide for you.”

Miracle of Flour and Oil

¹⁰ So he arose and went to Zarephath. Now when he came to the town gate, to his surprise, a widow was there gathering sticks. So he called her and said, “Please bring a little water in a jar that I may drink.” ¹¹ As she was going to fetch it, he called her and said, “Please bring me a morsel of bread in your hand.”

¹² So she said, “As Adonai your God lives, I have nothing baked, only a handful of flour in the jar, and a little oil in the jug. Now look, I am gathering a couple of sticks, so that I may go in and prepare it for me and my son, that we may eat it and die.”

¹³ Elijah said to her, “Fear not! Go and do as you said, but first make me a little cake from what you have there. Bring it out to me and afterwards, make some for you and for your son. ¹⁴ For thus says Adonai God of Israel, ‘The jar of flour shall not be exhausted nor shall the jug of oil be empty until the day Adonai sends rain on the land.’”

¹⁵ So she went and did according to the word of Elijah—and she and he, and her household ate for many days. ¹⁶ The jar of flour was not exhausted, nor did the jug of oil become empty, according to the word of Adonai which He spoke through Elijah.

Resurrection of a Boy

¹⁷ After these things, it came to pass that the son of the woman, the mistress of the house fell sick, and his sickness was getting much worse until he had no breath left in him. ¹⁸ So she said to Elijah, “What do I have to do with you, man of God? Have you come to me to remind me of my sin and kill my son?”

¹⁹ He said to her, “Give me your son.” Then he took him from her arms, carried him up to the upper room where he was staying and laid him on his own bed. ²⁰ He cried out to Adonai and said, “Adonai my God, have You brought such evil even on the widow with whom I am staying, by causing her son to die?” ²¹ Then he stretched himself upon the child three times. He cried out to Adonai and said, “Adonai my God, please let this child’s soul come back into his body!”

²² Adonai listened to the cry of Elijah, so the soul of the child came back into his body and he was revived. ²³ Then Elijah took the child and brought him down from the upper room into the house, and gave him to his mother. Elijah said, “See! Your son is alive.”^[b]

²⁴ Then the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God, and that the word in your mouth is truth.”

Peter Goes to Cornelius

²⁴ The following day he entered Caesarea. Cornelius was waiting for them and had called together his relatives and close friends. ²⁵ As Peter entered, Cornelius met him and fell down at his feet and worshiped him.

²⁶ But Peter pulled him up, saying, “Stand up! I too am just a man.”

²⁷ Talking with him, Peter went inside and found many people gathered. ²⁸ He said to them, “You yourselves know that it is not permitted for a Jewish man to associate with a non-Jew or to visit him. Yet God has shown me that I should call no one unholy or unclean. ²⁹ So I came without objection when I was sent for. I ask, then, what is the reason why you sent for me?”

³⁰ Cornelius declared, “Four days ago at this hour, I was praying minchah^[a] in my house. Suddenly, a man stood in front of me in shining clothes. ³¹ He says, ‘Cornelius, your prayer has been heard and your tzedakah remembered before God. ³² Therefore send to Joppa and ask for Simon, who is also called Peter. He is staying in the house of Simon the tanner, by the sea.’ ³³ So I sent for you immediately, and you have been kind enough to come. Now then, we are all here before God to hear all that you have been commanded by the Lord.”

³⁴ Then Peter opened his mouth and said, “I truly understand that God is not one to show favoritism, ^{[b] 35} but in every nation the one who fears Him and does what is right is acceptable to Him. ³⁶ You know the message He sent to Bnei-Yisrael, proclaiming shalom through Messiah Yeshua—He is Lord of all. ³⁷ You know the message that has spread throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee after the immersion that John proclaimed. ³⁸ You know how God anointed Yeshua of Natzeret with the Ruach ha-Kodesh and power—how He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, because God was with Him. ³⁹ We are witnesses to all He did, both in the Judean countryside and in Jerusalem. They put Him to death by hanging Him on a tree, ⁴⁰ but God raised Him up on the third day and caused Him to be visible— ⁴¹ not to all the people, but to us, witnesses who were chosen beforehand by God. We ate and drank with Him after He rose from the dead. ⁴² And He commanded us to proclaim to the people and to testify that He is the One ordained by God as Judge of the living and the dead. ⁴³ All the prophets testify about Him—that everyone who puts his trust in Him receives forgiveness of sins through His name.”

The Ruach Falls on the Gentiles

⁴⁴ While Peter was still speaking these words, the Ruach ha-Kodesh fell on all those hearing the message. ⁴⁵ All the circumcised believers who came with Peter were astonished, because the gift of the Ruach ha-Kodesh had been poured out even on the Gentiles. ⁴⁶ For they were hearing them speaking in tongues and magnifying God.

Then Peter answered, ⁴⁷ “Can anyone refuse water for these to be immersed, who have received the Ruach ha-Kodesh just as we did?” ⁴⁸ So he commanded them to be immersed in the name of Messiah Yeshua. Then they asked him to stay for a few days.

Call to Evening Worship

Psalm 134