The Song of Deborah and Barak

5 ^(A)Then sang Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam on that day:

^(AP)And the land had rest for forty years.

Elijah Flees Jezebel

19 Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and how ^(A)he had killed all the prophets with the sword. ² Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, ^(B)“So may the gods do to me and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by this time tomorrow.” ³ Then he was afraid, and he arose and ran for his life and came to ^(C)Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there.

⁴ But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness and came and sat down under a broom tree. ^(D)And he asked that he might die, saying, “It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my fathers.” ⁵ And he lay down and slept under a broom tree. And behold, an angel touched him and said to him, “Arise and eat.” ⁶ And he looked, and behold, there was at his head a cake baked on hot stones and a jar of water. And he ate and drank and lay down again. ⁷ And the angel of the Lord came again a second time and touched him and said, “Arise and eat, for the journey is too great for you.” ⁸ And he arose and ate and drank, and went in the strength of that food ^(E)forty days and forty nights to ^(F)Horeb, the mount of God.

The Lord Speaks to Elijah

⁹ There he came to a cave and lodged in it. And behold, ^(G)the word of the Lord came to him, and he said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” ¹⁰ He said, “I have been very ^(H)jealous for the Lord, the God of hosts. For the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, ^(I)thrown down your altars, and ^(J)killed your prophets with the sword, ^(K)and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away.” ¹¹ And he said, “Go out and ^(L)stand on the mount before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord passed by, and ^(M)a great and strong wind tore the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind ^(N)an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. ¹² And after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire the sound of a low whisper.^{[a] 13} And when Elijah heard it, ^(O)he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. And behold, ^(P)there came a voice to him and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” ¹⁴ He said, ^(Q)“I have been very jealous for the Lord, the God of hosts. For the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, ^(R)thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away.” ¹⁵ And the Lord said to him, “Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus. And when you arrive, you shall anoint Hazael to be king over Syria. ^16 (S)And Jehu the son of Nimshi you shall anoint to be king over Israel, and ^(T)Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah you shall anoint to be prophet in your place. ¹⁷ And the one who escapes from ^(U)the sword of Hazael ^(V)shall Jehu put to death, and the one who escapes from the sword of Jehu ^(W)shall Elisha put to death. ^18 (X)Yet I will leave seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not ^(Y)kissed him.”

Jesus Heals the Sick in Gennesaret

^53 (A)When they had crossed over, they came to land at ^(B)Gennesaret and moored to the shore. ⁵⁴ And when they got out of the boat, the people immediately ^(C)recognized him ⁵⁵ and ran about the whole region and began to bring ^(D)the sick people ^(E)on their beds to wherever they heard he was. ⁵⁶ And wherever he came, in villages, cities, or countryside, ^(F)they laid the sick in the marketplaces and implored him that they might touch even ^(G)the fringe of his garment. And ^(H)as many as touched it were made well.

Traditions and Commandments

7 ^(I)Now when the Pharisees gathered to him, with some of the scribes ^(J)who had come from Jerusalem, ² they saw that some of his disciples ate with hands that were ^(K)defiled, that is, unwashed. ³ (For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands properly,^[a] holding to ^(L)the tradition of ^(M)the elders, ⁴ and when they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash.^[b] And there are many other traditions that they observe, such as ^(N)the washing of ^(O)cups and pots and copper vessels and dining couches.^[c]) ⁵ And the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why do your disciples not walk according to ^(P)the tradition of ^(Q)the elders, ^(R)but eat with ^(S)defiled hands?” ⁶ And he said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you ^(T)hypocrites, as it is written,

⁸ You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men.”

⁹ And he said to them, “You have a fine way of ^(W)rejecting the commandment of God in order to establish your tradition! ¹⁰ For Moses said, ^(X)‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ^(Y)‘Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.’ ¹¹ But you say, ‘If a man tells his father or his mother, “Whatever you would have gained from me is Corban”’ (that is, given to God)^[d]— ¹² then you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or mother, ¹³ thus ^(Z)making void the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And many such things you do.”

What Defiles a Person

¹⁴ And he called the people to him again and said to them, ^(AA)“Hear me, all of you, and understand: ^15 (AB)There is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him.”^{[e] 17} And when he had entered ^(AC)the house and left the people, ^(AD)his disciples asked him about the parable. ¹⁸ And he said to them, “Then ^(AE)are you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him, ¹⁹ since it enters not his heart ^(AF)but his stomach, and is expelled?”^[f] (^(AG)Thus he declared all foods clean.) ²⁰ And he said, ^(AH)“What comes out of a person is what defiles him. ²¹ For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, ^(AI)murder, adultery, ²² coveting, wickedness, deceit, ^(AJ)sensuality, ^(AK)envy, ^(AL)slander, ^(AM)pride, ^(AN)foolishness. ^23 (AO)All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”

Paul Speaks to the Ephesian Elders

¹⁷ Now from Miletus he sent to Ephesus and called ^(A)the elders of the church to come to him. ¹⁸ And when they came to him, he said to them:

^(B)“You yourselves know ^(C)how I lived among you the whole time ^(D)from the first day that I set foot in Asia, ^19 (E)serving the Lord ^(F)with all humility and with ^(G)tears and with trials that happened to me through ^(H)the plots of the Jews; ²⁰ how I ^(I)did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and ^(J)teaching you in public and from house to house, ^21 (K)testifying both to Jews and to Greeks of ^(L)repentance toward God and of ^(M)faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.^{[a] 22} And now, behold, I am going to Jerusalem, constrained ^(N)by^[b] the Spirit, not knowing what will happen to me there, ²³ except that ^(O)the Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city that ^(P)imprisonment and ^(Q)afflictions await me. ²⁴ But ^(R)I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only ^(S)I may finish my course and ^(T)the ministry ^(U)that I received from the Lord Jesus, ^(V)to testify to ^(W)the gospel of ^(X)the grace of God. ²⁵ And now, behold, ^(Y)I know that none of you among whom I have gone about ^(Z)proclaiming the kingdom will see my face again. ²⁶ Therefore ^(AA)I testify to you this day that ^(AB)I am innocent of the blood of all, ²⁷ for ^(AC)I did not shrink from declaring to you ^(AD)the whole counsel of God. ^28 (AE)Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all ^(AF)the flock, in which ^(AG)the Holy Spirit has made you ^(AH)overseers, ^(AI)to care for ^(AJ)the church of God,^[c] which he ^(AK)obtained ^(AL)with his own blood.^{[d] 29} I ^(AM)know that after my departure ^(AN)fierce wolves will come in among you, ^(AO)not sparing the flock; ³⁰ and ^(AP)from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them. ³¹ Therefore ^(AQ)be alert, remembering that ^(AR)for three years I did not cease night or day ^(AS)to admonish every one ^(AT)with tears. ³² And now ^(AU)I commend you to God and to ^(AV)the word of his grace, which is able to ^(AW)build you up and to give you ^(AX)the inheritance among all those who are sanctified. ^33 (AY)I coveted no one's silver or gold or apparel. ^34 (AZ)You yourselves know that ^(BA)these hands ministered to my necessities and ^(BB)to those who were with me. ³⁵ In all things ^(BC)I have shown you that ^(BD)by working hard in this way we must ^(BE)help the weak and ^(BF)remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed ^(BG)to give than to receive.’”

³⁶ And when he had said these things, ^(BH)he knelt down and prayed with them all. ³⁷ And ^(BI)there was much weeping on the part of all; ^(BJ)they embraced Paul and ^(BK)kissed him, ³⁸ being sorrowful most of all because of ^(BL)the word he had spoken, that they would not see his face again. And ^(BM)they accompanied him to the ship.