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Elijah Flees to the Wilderness
19 Then Ahab told Jezebel everything that Elijah had done, including the fact that he had killed all their prophets with the sword. 2 So Jezebel sent a messenger to say to Elijah, “May the gods punish me severely and even double it, if by this time tomorrow I have not made your life like one of theirs.”
3 Elijah was afraid,[a] and he ran for his life. He went to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and he left his servant there. 4 But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness. There he sat down under a broom tree, where he prayed that he would die. He said, “I’ve had enough, Lord. Take my life, for I am no better than my fathers.” 5 Then he lay down and went to sleep under the broom tree.
Suddenly an angel touched him and said, “Get up and eat.”
6 Then he looked around, and near his head there was a loaf of bread baking on coals and a jar of water, so he ate and drank, and then he lay down again.
7 Then the angel of the Lord came back a second time and touched him and said, “Get up and eat, because the journey is too much for you.”
8 So he got up and ate and drank. Then, with the strength gained from that food, he walked for forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the mountain of God. 9 He came to a cave and spent the night there.
Then the word of the Lord suddenly came to him, saying, “Why are you here, Elijah?”
10 He said, “I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of Armies, but the people of Israel have abandoned your covenant. They have torn down your altars and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are seeking to take my life.”
11 Then the Lord said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is passing by.” Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains and shattered rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind.
After the wind came an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake.
12 After the earthquake there was a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire.
After the fire there was a soft, whispering voice.
13 When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak, and he went out and stood at the entrance to the cave. Then a voice came to him and said, “Why are you here, Elijah?”
14 He said, “I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of Armies, but the people of Israel have abandoned your covenant. They have torn down your altars and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are seeking to take my life.”
15 Then the Lord said to him, “Go back the way you came and go to the Wilderness of Damascus. When you get there, you are to anoint Hazael as king over Aram. 16 You will also anoint Jehu son of Nimshi as king over Israel and Elisha son of Shaphat from Abel Meholah as prophet in your place. 17 Whoever escapes the sword of Hazael, Jehu will kill, and whoever escapes the sword of Jehu, Elisha will kill. 18 But I have preserved in Israel seven thousand whose knees have not bent to Baal and whose lips have not kissed him.”
Elijah Calls Elisha
19 So Elijah went from there and found Elisha son of Shaphat. Elisha was doing the plowing with twelve teams of oxen in front of him, and he himself was driving the twelfth team. Elijah crossed over to him and threw his cloak over him. 20 Then Elisha left the oxen and ran after Elijah. He said, “Let me kiss my father and my mother good-bye! Then I will follow you.”
Then Elijah said, “Go back! For what have I done to you?”
21 So Elisha turned back from following him. Then he took the team of oxen and slaughtered them. Using the equipment from the oxen as fuel, he cooked the meat and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he got up, followed Elijah, and served him.
An Angel Frees Peter
12 At about that time, King Herod[a] laid violent hands on some who belonged to the church, in order to mistreat them. 2 He had James, the brother of John, put to death with the sword. 3 When he saw that this pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter during the days of Unleavened Bread.
4 After arresting Peter, Herod put him in prison and handed him over to four squads of four soldiers each to guard him. Herod intended to bring him before the people for trial after the Passover. 5 So Peter was kept in prison, but the church earnestly offered up prayer to God for him.
6 The very night before Herod was going to bring him out for trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers. He was bound with two chains, while sentries were in front of the door, guarding the prison.
7 Suddenly an angel of the Lord stood near him, and a light shone in the cell. The angel woke Peter up by striking him on the side, saying, “Quick, get up!” The chains fell from his wrists.
8 Then the angel said to him, “Get dressed and put on your sandals.” So he did so. Then the angel told him, “Put on your cloak and follow me.” 9 Peter went out, following the angel, but he did not realize that what the angel was doing was really happening. He thought he was seeing a vision. 10 When they had passed through the first and second guard posts, they came to the iron gate that leads into the city. It opened all by itself for them. They went outside, walked down one street, and immediately the angel left him.
11 When Peter came to himself, he said, “Now I know for sure that the Lord sent his angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod and from everything the Jewish people were expecting.”
12 When he realized this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John, who is also called Mark. Many had gathered there and were praying. 13 When Peter knocked at the entrance gate, a servant girl named Rhoda came to answer. 14 She recognized Peter’s voice and was so overjoyed, she did not open the gate. Instead she ran in and announced that Peter was standing in front of the gate.
15 They told her, “You are out of your mind!” But she kept on insisting it was so, and they started saying, “It’s his angel.”
16 Meanwhile, Peter kept on knocking. When they opened the door and saw him, they were astonished. 17 Peter motioned to them with his hand to be silent and described to them how the Lord had brought him out of prison. He said, “Tell these things to James and to the brothers.” Then he left and went on to another place.
18 At daybreak, there was no small commotion among the soldiers about what had become of Peter. 19 After Herod searched for him and did not find him, he questioned the guards and ordered that they be executed.
Herod’s Death
Then Herod went down from Judea to Caesarea and stayed there. 20 Herod was very angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon. They joined together and approached him after they had won over Blastus, the king’s personal assistant. They asked for peace because their country depended on the king’s country for food.
21 On the appointed day Herod, dressed in his royal robes and seated on his throne, delivered a public address to them. 22 The crowd shouted, “It’s the voice of a god and not of a man!” 23 Immediately an angel of the Lord struck him down because he did not give the glory to God. He was eaten by worms and died.
Psalm 136
His Mercy Endures Forever
Introduction
1 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good.
For his mercy endures forever.
2 Give thanks to the God of Gods.
For his mercy endures forever.
3 Give thanks to the Lord of Lords.
For his mercy endures forever.
His Creating Love
4 To him who alone does great wonders—[a]
For his mercy endures forever.
5 To him who by his understanding made the heavens—
For his mercy endures forever.
6 To him who spread out the earth on the waters—
For his mercy endures forever.
7 To him who made the great lights,
For his mercy endures forever.
8 the sun to rule by day,
For his mercy endures forever.
9 the moon and stars to rule by night—
For his mercy endures forever.
His Redeeming Love
10 To him who struck Egypt by killing their firstborn,
For his mercy endures forever.
11 and brought Israel out from their midst,
For his mercy endures forever.
12 with a mighty hand and outstretched arm—
For his mercy endures forever.
13 To him who cut the Red Sea in two,
For his mercy endures forever.
14 and brought Israel through the middle of it,
For his mercy endures forever.
15 but brushed off Pharaoh and his army into the Red Sea—
For his mercy endures forever.
16 To him who made his people travel through the wilderness—
For his mercy endures forever.
17 To him who struck down great kings,
For his mercy endures forever.
18 and killed mighty kings,
For his mercy endures forever.
19 Sihon king of the Amorites,
For his mercy endures forever.
20 and Og king of Bashan,
For his mercy endures forever.
21 and gave their land as a possession,
For his mercy endures forever.
22 a possession to his servant Israel.
For his mercy endures forever.
His Continuing Love
23 Who remembered us in our low condition,
For his mercy endures forever.
24 and tore us out of the hands of our oppressors.
For his mercy endures forever.
25 He gives food to all living creatures.[b]
For his mercy endures forever.
26 Give thanks to the God of the heavens.
For his mercy endures forever.
14 Starting a quarrel is like opening a floodgate,
so stop the dispute before it gets started.
15 Acquitting a guilty person
and convicting an innocent person—
both of these are disgusting[a] to the Lord.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.