Ahaziah’s Messengers Meet Elijah

1 Now ^(A)Moab broke with Israel after the death of Ahab. ² And Ahaziah fell through the window lattice in his upper chamber which was in Samaria, and became ill. So he sent messengers and said to them, “Go, ^(B)inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, ^(C)whether I will recover from this sickness.” ³ But the angel of the Lord said to ^(D)Elijah the Tishbite, “Arise, go up to meet the messengers of the king of Samaria and say to them, ‘Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are going to inquire of ^(E)Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron?’ ⁴ Now therefore, this is what the Lord says: ‘^[a](F)You will not get down from the bed upon which you have lain, but you shall certainly die.’” Then Elijah departed.

⁵ When the messengers returned to ^[b]Ahaziah, he said to them, “^[c]Why have you returned?” ⁶ They said to him, “A man came up to meet us and said to us, ‘Go, return to the king who sent you and say to him, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are sending messengers ^(G)to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron? Therefore ^[d]you will not get down from the bed upon which you have lain, but you shall certainly die.’”’” ⁷ Then he said to them, “What ^[e]did the man look like, who came up to meet you and spoke these words to you?” ⁸ And they said to him, “^(H)He was a hairy man with a leather ^[f]belt worn around his waist.” And he said, “It is Elijah the Tishbite.”

⁹ Then the king ^(I)sent to him a captain of fifty with his fifty men. And he went up to him, and behold, he was sitting on the top of the hill. And he said to him, “You man of God, the king says, ‘Come down.’” ¹⁰ But Elijah replied to the captain of fifty, “If I am a man of God, ^(J)may fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty.” ^(K)Then fire came down from heaven and consumed him and his fifty men.

¹¹ So the king again sent to him another captain of fifty with his fifty men. And he said to him, “You man of God, this is what the king says: ‘Come down quickly!’” ¹² But Elijah replied to them, “If I am a man of God, may fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty.” Then the fire of God came down from heaven and consumed him and his fifty men.

¹³ So the king ^(L)again sent the captain of a third fifty with his fifty men. When the third captain of fifty went up, he came and bowed down on his knees before Elijah, and begged him and said to him, “You man of God, please let my life and the lives of these fifty servants of yours be precious in your sight. ¹⁴ Behold, fire came down from heaven and consumed the first two captains of fifty with their fifties; but now let my ^[g]life be precious in your sight.” ¹⁵ And ^(M)the angel of the Lord said to Elijah, “Go down with him; ^(N)do not be afraid of him.” So he got up and went down with him to the king. ¹⁶ Then he said to him, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Since you have sent messengers ^(O)to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron—is it because there is no God in Israel to inquire of His word? Therefore ^[h]you will not get down from the bed upon which you have lain, but you shall certainly die.’”

Jehoram Reigns over Israel

¹⁷ So Ahaziah died in accordance with the word of the Lord which Elijah had spoken. And since he had no son, Jehoram became king in his place ^(P)in the second year of Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah. ¹⁸ Now as for the rest of the acts of Ahaziah which he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?

Paul Confronts the Corinthians

10 Now ^(A)I, Paul, myself ^(B)urge you by the ^(C)meekness and gentleness of Christ—I who ^(D)am ^[a]meek when face to face with you, but bold toward you when absent! ² I ask that ^(E)when I am present I need not be bold with the confidence with which I intend to be courageous against ^(F)some, who regard us as if we walked ^(G)according to the flesh. ³ For though we walk in the flesh, we do not wage battle ^(H)according to the flesh, ⁴ for the ^(I)weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but ^[b]divinely powerful ^(J)for the destruction of fortresses. ⁵ We are destroying arguments and all ^(K)arrogance raised against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the ^(L)obedience of Christ, ⁶ and we are ready to punish all disobedience, whenever ^(M)your obedience is complete.

^7 [c](N)You are looking at ^[d]things as they are outwardly. ^(O)If anyone is confident in himself that he is Christ’s, have him consider this again within himself, that just as he is Christ’s, ^(P)so too are we. ⁸ For if ^(Q)I boast somewhat ^[e]more about our ^(R)authority, which the Lord gave for building you up and not for destroying you, I will not be put to shame, ^9 [f]for I do not want to seem as if I would terrify you by my letters. ¹⁰ For they say, “His letters are weighty and strong, but his ^[g]personal presence is ^(S)unimpressive and ^(T)his speech contemptible.” ¹¹ Have such a person consider this, that what we are in word by letters when absent, such persons we are also in deed when present.

¹² For we do not presume to rank or compare ourselves with ^[h]some of those who ^(U)commend themselves; but when they ^[i]measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they have no understanding. ¹³ But we will not boast ^(V)beyond our measure, but ^[j](W)within the measure of the ^[k]domain which God assigned to us as a measure, to reach even as far as you. ¹⁴ For we are not overextending ourselves, as if we did not reach to you, for ^(X)we were the first to come even as far as you in the ^(Y)gospel of Christ; ¹⁵ not boasting ^(Z)beyond our measure, that is, in ^(AA)other people’s labors, but with the hope that as ^(AB)your faith grows, we will be, ^[l]within our ^[m]domain, ^(AC)enlarged even more by you, ¹⁶ so as to ^(AD)preach the gospel even to ^(AE)the regions beyond you, and not to boast ^[n](AF)in what has been accomplished in the domain of another. ¹⁷ But ^(AG)the one who boasts is to boast in the Lord. ¹⁸ For it is not the one who ^(AH)commends himself that is approved, but the one ^(AI)whom the Lord commends.

Elijah Taken to Heaven

2 Now it came about, when the Lord was about to ^(A)bring Elijah up by a ^[a]whirlwind to heaven, that Elijah left ^(B)Gilgal with ^(C)Elisha. ² And Elijah said to Elisha, “^(D)Stay here please, for the Lord has sent me as far as ^(E)Bethel.” But Elisha said, “^(F)As surely as the Lord lives and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So they went down to Bethel. ³ Then ^(G)the sons of the prophets who were at Bethel went out to Elisha and said to him, “Are you aware that the Lord will take away your master from over ^[b]you today?” And he said, “Yes, I am aware; say nothing about it.”

⁴ And Elijah said to him, “Elisha, please ^(H)stay here, for the Lord has sent me to ^(I)Jericho.” But he said, “^(J)As surely as the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So they came to Jericho. ⁵ Then ^(K)the sons of the prophets who were at Jericho approached Elisha and said to him, “^(L)Do you know that the Lord will take away your master from over ^[c]you today?” And he ^[d]answered, “Yes, I know; say nothing about it.” ⁶ And Elijah said to him, “Please ^(M)stay here, for the Lord has sent me to ^(N)the Jordan.” But he said, “As surely as the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So the two of them went on.

⁷ Now ^(O)fifty men of the sons of the prophets went and stood opposite them at a distance, while the two of them stood by the Jordan. ⁸ And Elijah ^(P)took his coat, folded it, and ^(Q)struck the waters, and they were divided here and there, so that the two of them crossed over on dry ground.

⁹ When they had crossed over, Elijah said to Elisha, “Ask me what I should do for you before I am taken from you.” And Elisha said, “Please let a ^(R)double portion of your spirit be upon me.” ¹⁰ He said, “You have asked a hard thing. Nevertheless, if you ^(S)see me when I am taken from you, it shall be so for you; but if not, it shall not be so.” ¹¹ And as they were walking along and talking, behold, ^(T)a chariot of fire appeared with horses of fire, and they separated the two of them. Then Elijah went up by a ^[e]whirlwind to heaven. ¹² And Elisha was watching it and he was crying out, “^(U)My father, my father, the chariot of Israel and its horsemen!” And he did not see ^[f]Elijah again. Then ^(V)he took hold of his own clothes and tore them in two pieces. ¹³ He also took up the coat of Elijah that had fallen from him, and he went back and stood by the bank of the Jordan. ¹⁴ Then he took the coat of Elijah that had fallen from him and struck the waters, and said, “Where is the Lord, the God of Elijah?” And when he also had ^(W)struck the waters, they were divided here and there; and Elisha crossed over.

Elisha Succeeds Elijah

¹⁵ Now when ^(X)the sons of the prophets who were at Jericho opposite him saw him, they said, “The spirit of Elijah has settled on Elisha.” And they came to meet him and bowed down to the ground before him. ¹⁶ Then they said to him, “Behold now, there are with your servants fifty strong men; please let them go and search for your master, in case ^(Y)the Spirit of the Lord has taken him up and cast him on some mountain or into some valley.” But he said, “You shall not send anyone.” ¹⁷ Yet when ^(Z)they urged him until he was ashamed to refuse, he said, “Send them.” So they sent fifty men; and they searched for three days, but did not find him. ¹⁸ They returned to him while he was staying in Jericho; and he said to them, “Did I not say to you, ‘Do not go’?”

¹⁹ Then the men of the city said to Elisha, “Behold now, the site of the city is pleasant, as my lord sees; but the water is bad and the land ^[g]is unfruitful.” ²⁰ And he said, “Bring me a new jar, and put salt ^[h]in it.” So they brought it to him. ²¹ Then he went out to the spring of water and ^(AA)threw salt ^[i]in it and said, “This is what the Lord says: ‘I have ^[j]purified these waters; there shall not come from there death or ^[k]unfruitfulness any longer.’” ²² So the waters have been ^[l]purified to this day, in accordance with the word of Elisha which he spoke.

Jesus before Pilate

23 Then the entire assembly of them set out and ^(A)brought Him before Pilate. ^2 (B)And they began to bring charges against Him, saying, “We found this man ^(C)misleading our nation and ^(D)forbidding us to pay taxes to Caesar, and saying that He Himself is ^[a]Christ, a King.” ³ Now Pilate asked Him, saying, “So You are the King of the Jews?” And He answered him and said, “^(E)It is as you say.” ⁴ But Pilate said to the chief priests and the crowds, “^(F)I find no grounds for charges in the case of this man.” ⁵ But they kept on insisting, saying, “He is stirring up the people, teaching all over Judea, ^(G)starting from Galilee, as far as this place!”

⁶ Now when Pilate heard this, he asked whether the man was a Galilean. ⁷ And when he learned that He belonged to Herod’s jurisdiction, he sent Him to ^(H)Herod, ^[b]since he also was in Jerusalem ^[c]at this time.

Jesus before Herod

⁸ Now Herod was overjoyed when he saw Jesus; for ^(I)he had wanted to see Him for a long time, because he had been hearing about Him and was hoping to see some ^[d]sign performed by Him. ⁹ And he questioned Him ^[e]at some length; but ^(J)He offered him no answer at all. ¹⁰ Now the chief priests and the scribes stood there, vehemently charging Him. ¹¹ And Herod, together with his soldiers, treated Him with contempt and mocked Him, ^(K)dressing Him in a brightly shining robe, and sent Him back to Pilate. ¹² And so ^(L)Herod and Pilate became friends with one another that very day; for previously, they had been enemies toward each other.

Pilate Seeks Jesus’ Release

¹³ Now Pilate summoned to himself the chief priests, the ^[f](M)rulers, and the people, ¹⁴ and he said to them, “You brought this man to me on the ground that ^(N)he is inciting the people to revolt; and behold, after examining Him before you, I ^(O)have found no basis at all in the case of this man for the charges which you are bringing against Him. ¹⁵ No, nor has ^(P)Herod, for he sent Him back to us; and behold, nothing deserving death has been done by Him. ¹⁶ Therefore I will ^[g](Q)punish Him and release Him.” ¹⁷ [^[h]Now he was obligated to release to them at the feast one prisoner.]

¹⁸ But they cried out all together, saying, “^(R)Away with this man, and release to us Barabbas!” ¹⁹ (He was one who had been thrown into prison for a revolt that took place in the city, and for murder.) ²⁰ But Pilate, wanting to release Jesus, addressed them again, ²¹ but they kept on crying out, saying, “Crucify, crucify Him!” ²² And he said to them a third time, “Why, what has this man done wrong? I have found ^[i]in His case no grounds for a sentence of death; therefore I will ^[j](S)punish Him and release Him.” ²³ But they were insistent, with loud voices, demanding that He be crucified. And their voices began to prevail. ²⁴ And so Pilate decided to have their demand carried out. ²⁵ And he released the man for whom they were asking, who had been thrown into prison for a revolt and murder; but he handed Jesus over to their will.