Wednesday, July 26, 2023
1After Ahab's death, Moab rebelled against Israel. 2Now
Ahaziah had fallen through the lattice of his upper room in Samaria and injured
himself. So he sent messengers, saying to them, "Go and consult
Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron, to see if I will recover from this injury."
3But the angel of the LORD said to Elijah the
Tishbite, "Go up and meet the messengers of the king of Samaria and ask
them, 'Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are going off to
consult Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron?' 4Therefore this is what the
LORD says: 'You will not leave the bed you are lying on. You will certainly
die!' " So Elijah went.
5When the messengers returned to the king, he asked
them, "Why have you come back?"
6"A man came to meet us," they replied.
"And he said to us, 'Go back to the king who sent you and tell him,
"This is what the LORD says: Is it because there is no God in Israel that
you are sending men to consult Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron? Therefore you will
not leave the bed you are lying on. You will certainly die!" ' "
7The king asked them, "What kind of man was it
who came to meet you and told you this?"
8They replied, "He was a man with a garment of
hair and with a leather belt around his waist." The king said, "That
was Elijah the Tishbite."
9Then he sent to Elijah a captain with his company of
fifty men. The captain went up to Elijah, who was sitting on the top of a hill,
and said to him, "Man of God, the king says, 'Come down!' "
10Elijah answered the captain, "If I am a man of
God, may fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty men!"
Then fire fell from heaven and consumed the captain and his men.
11At this the king sent to Elijah another captain with
his fifty men. The captain said to him, "Man of God, this is what the king
says, 'Come down at once!'"
12"If I am a man of God," Elijah replied,
"may fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty men!"
Then the fire of God fell from heaven and consumed him and his fifty men.
13So the king sent a third captain with his fifty men.
This third captain went up and fell on his knees before Elijah. "Man of
God," he begged, "please have respect for my life and the lives of
these fifty men, your servants! 14See, fire has fallen from heaven
and consumed the first two captains and all their men. But now have respect for
my life!"
15The angel of the LORD said to Elijah, "Go down
with him; do not be afraid of him." So Elijah got up and went down with
him to the king.
16He told the king, "This is what the LORD says:
Is it because there is no God in Israel for you to consult that you have sent
messengers to consult Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron? Because you have done this,
you will never leave the bed you are lying on. You will certainly die!" 17So
he died, according to the word of the LORD that Elijah had spoken.
Because Ahaziah had
no son, Joram succeeded him as king in the second year of Jehoram son of
Jehoshaphat king of Judah. 18As for all the other events of
Ahaziah's reign, and what he did, are they not written in the book of the
annals of the kings of Israel?
Psalm
23
1A psalm of
David. The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. 2He makes me
lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, 3he
restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. 4Even
though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil,
for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. 5You
prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head
with oil; my cup overflows. 6Surely goodness and love will follow me
all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.
Matthew
12:38-50
38Then some
of the Pharisees and teachers of the law said to him, "Teacher, we want to
see a miraculous sign from you."
39He
answered, "A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a miraculous sign!
But none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. 40For
as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the
Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. 41The
men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn
it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now one greater than Jonah
is here. 42The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with
this generation and condemn it; for she came from the ends of the earth to
listen to Solomon's wisdom, and now one greater than Solomon is here.
43"When
an evil spirit comes out of a man, it goes through arid places seeking rest and
does not find it. 44Then it says, 'I will return to the house I
left.' When it arrives, it finds the house unoccupied, swept clean and put in
order. 45Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more
wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of
that man is worse than the first. That is how it will be with this wicked generation."
46While
Jesus was still talking to the crowd, his mother and brothers stood outside,
wanting to speak to him. 47Someone told him, "Your mother and
brothers are standing outside, wanting to speak to you."
48He replied
to him, "Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?" 49Pointing
to his disciples, he said, "Here are my mother and my brothers. 50For
whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and
mother."
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