The Song of Deborah and Barak

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

And the land was at rest for forty years.

Elijah Flees from Jezebel

19 Now Ahab told Jezebel everything that Elijah had done, and ^[a](A)how 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 so, if by about this time tomorrow I do not make your ^[b]life like the ^[c]life of one of them.” ³ And he ^[d]was afraid, and got up and ran for his ^[e]life and came to ^(C)Beersheba, which belongs to Judah; and he 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; and ^(D)he asked for himself to die, and said, “Enough! Now, Lord, take my ^[f]life, for I am no better than my fathers.” ⁵ Then he lay down and fell asleep under a broom tree; but behold, there was ^(E)an angel touching him, and he said to him, “Arise, eat!” ⁶ And he looked, and behold, there was at his head a round loaf of bread baked on hot coals, and a pitcher of water. So he ate and drank, and lay down again. ⁷ But the angel of the Lord came back a second time and touched him, and said, “Arise, eat; because the journey is too long for you.” ⁸ So he arose and ate and drank, and he journeyed in the strength of that food for ^(F)forty days and forty nights to ^(G)Horeb, the mountain of God.

Elijah at Horeb

⁹ Then he came there to a cave and spent the night there; and behold, ^(H)the word of the Lord came to him, and He said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” ¹⁰ And he said, “^(I)I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of armies; for the sons of Israel have abandoned Your covenant, ^(J)torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. And ^(K)I alone am left; and they have sought to take my life.”

¹¹ So He said, “^(L)Go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord was passing by! And ^(M)a great and powerful wind was tearing out the mountains and breaking the rocks in pieces before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind there was 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, ^(N)a sound of a gentle blowing. ¹³ When Elijah heard it, ^(O)he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave. And behold, ^(P)a voice came to him and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” ¹⁴ Then he said, “^(Q)I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of armies; for the sons of Israel have abandoned Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. And I alone am left; and they have sought to take my life.”

¹⁵ The Lord said to him, “Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus; and when you have arrived, ^(R)you shall anoint Hazael king over Aram. ¹⁶ You shall also anoint ^(S)Jehu the son of Nimshi king over Israel; and you shall anoint ^(T)Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah as prophet in your place. ¹⁷ And it shall come about that the ^(U)one who escapes from the sword of Hazael, Jehu ^(V)shall put to death, and the one who escapes from the sword of Jehu, Elisha shall put to death. ^18 (W)Yet I will leave seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal and every mouth that has not ^(X)kissed him.”

Healing at Gennesaret

^53 (A)When they had crossed over they came to land at Gennesaret, and moored at the shore. ⁵⁴ And when they got out of the boat, immediately the people recognized Him, ⁵⁵ and ran about that entire country and began carrying here and there on their pallets those who were sick, ^[a]to wherever they heard He was. ⁵⁶ And wherever He entered villages, or cities, or a countryside, they were laying the sick in the marketplaces and imploring Him that they might just ^(B)touch ^(C)the fringe of His cloak; and all who touched it were being ^[b]healed.

Followers of Tradition

7 ^(D)The Pharisees and some of the scribes *gathered to Him after they came ^(E)from Jerusalem, ² and saw that some of His disciples were eating their bread with ^[c](F)unholy hands, that is, unwashed. ³ (For the Pharisees and all the other Jews do not eat unless they ^[d]carefully wash their hands, thereby holding firmly to the ^(G)tradition of the elders; ⁴ and when they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they ^[e]completely cleanse themselves; and there are many other things which they have received as traditions to firmly hold, such as the ^[f]washing of ^(H)cups, pitchers, and copper pots.) ⁵ And the Pharisees and the scribes *asked Him, “Why do Your disciples not walk in accordance with the ^(I)tradition of the elders, but eat their bread with ^(J)[g]unholy hands?” ⁶ But He said to them, “Rightly did Isaiah prophesy about you hypocrites, as it is written:

⁸ Neglecting the commandment of God, you hold to the ^(M)tradition of men.”

⁹ He was also saying to them, “You are experts at setting aside the commandment of God in order to keep your ^(N)tradition. ¹⁰ For Moses said, ‘^(O)Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘^(P)The one who speaks evil of father or mother, is ^[h]certainly to be put to death’; ¹¹ but you say, ‘If a person says to his father or his mother, whatever I have that would help you is ^(Q)Corban (that is, ^[i]given to God),’ ¹² you no longer allow him to do anything for his father or his mother; ¹³ thereby invalidating the word of God by your ^(R)tradition which you have handed down; and you do many things such as that.”

The Heart of Man

¹⁴ After He called the crowd to Him again, He began saying to them, “Listen to Me, all of you, and understand: ¹⁵ there is nothing outside the person which can defile him if it goes into him; but the things which come out of the person are what defile the person^[j].”

¹⁷ And when He later entered a house, away from the crowd, ^(S)His disciples asked Him about the parable. ¹⁸ And He *said to them, “Are you so lacking in understanding as well? Do you not understand that whatever goes into the person from outside cannot defile him, ¹⁹ because it does not go into his heart, but into his stomach, and ^[k]is eliminated?” (Thereby He declared ^(T)all foods ^(U)clean.) ²⁰ And He was saying, “^(V)That which comes out of the person, that is what defiles the person. ²¹ For from within, out of the ^[l]hearts of people, come the evil thoughts, acts of sexual immorality, thefts, murders, acts of adultery, ²² deeds of greed, wickedness, deceit, indecent behavior, ^[m](W)envy, slander, ^[n]pride, and foolishness. ²³ All these evil things come from within and defile the person.”

Farewell to Ephesus

¹⁷ From Miletus he sent word to ^(A)Ephesus and called to himself ^(B)the elders of the church. ¹⁸ And when they came to him, he said to them,

“You yourselves know, ^(C)from the first day that I set foot in ^[a]Asia, how I was with you the whole time, ¹⁹ serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and trials which came upon me ^[b]through ^(D)the plots of the Jews; ²⁰ how I ^(E)did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was beneficial, and teaching you publicly and ^[c]from house to house, ²¹ solemnly ^(F)testifying to both Jews and Greeks of ^(G)repentance toward God and ^(H)faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. ²² And now, behold, bound by the ^[d]Spirit, ^(I)I am on my way to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there, ²³ except that ^(J)the Holy Spirit solemnly ^(K)testifies to me in every city, saying that ^(L)chains and afflictions await me. ²⁴ But ^(M)I do not consider my life of any account as dear to myself, so that I may ^(N)finish my course and ^(O)the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to ^(P)testify solemnly of the gospel of ^(Q)God’s grace.

²⁵ “And now behold, I know that all of you, among whom I went about ^(R)preaching the kingdom, will no longer see my face. ²⁶ Therefore, I ^[e]testify to you this day that ^(S)I am ^[f]innocent of the blood of all people. ²⁷ For I ^(T)did not shrink from declaring to you the whole ^(U)purpose of God. ²⁸ Be on guard for yourselves and for all ^(V)the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you ^[g]overseers, to shepherd ^(W)the church of God which ^(X)He ^[h]purchased ^[i]with His own blood. ²⁹ I know that after my departure ^(Y)savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing ^(Z)the flock; ³⁰ and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things to draw away ^(AA)the disciples after them. ³¹ Therefore, be on the alert, remembering that night and day for a period of ^(AB)three years I did not cease to admonish each one ^(AC)with tears. ³² And now I ^(AD)entrust you to God and to ^(AE)the word of His grace, which is able to ^(AF)build you up and to give you ^(AG)the inheritance among all those who are sanctified. ^33 (AH)I have coveted no one’s silver or gold or clothes. ³⁴ You yourselves know that ^(AI)these hands served my own needs and the ^(AJ)men who were with me. ³⁵ In everything I showed you that by working hard in this way you must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He Himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”

³⁶ When he had said these things, he ^(AK)knelt down and prayed with them all. ³⁷ And ^[j]they all began to weep aloud and ^[k](AL)embraced Paul, and repeatedly kissed him, ^38 [l]grieving especially over ^(AM)the word which he had spoken, that they would not see his face again. And they were ^(AN)accompanying him to the ship.