Tuesday, 08 October

29.   In the thirty–eighth year of Asa king of Judah, Ahab the son of Omri became king over Israel; and Ahab the son of Omri reigned over Israel in Samaria twenty–two years. 30.   Now Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the LORD, more than all who were before him. 31.   And it came to pass, as though it had been a trivial thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that he took as wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal, king of the Sidonians; and he went and served Baal and worshiped him. 32.   Then he set up an altar for Baal in the temple of Baal, which he had built in Samaria. 33.   And Ahab made a wooden image. Ahab did more to provoke the LORD God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel who were before him. 34.   In his days Hiel of Bethel built Jericho. He laid its foundation with Abiram his firstborn, and with his youngest son Segub he set up its gates, according to the word of the LORD, which He had spoken through Joshua the son of Nun.

1.   And Elijah the Tishbite, of the inhabitants of Gilead, said to Ahab, " As the LORD God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, except at my word." 2.   Then the word of the LORD came to him, saying, 3.   "Get away from here and turn eastward, and hide by the Brook Cherith, which flows into the Jordan. 4.   "And it will be that you shall drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there." 5.   So he went and did according to the word of the LORD, for he went and stayed by the Brook Cherith, which flows into the Jordan. 6.   The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening; and he drank from the brook. 7.   And it happened after a while that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land. 8.   Then the word of the LORD came to him, saying, 9.   "Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. See, I have commanded a widow there to provide for you." 10.   So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, indeed a widow was there gathering sticks. And he called to her and said, "Please bring me a little water in a cup, that I may drink." 11.   And as she was going to get it , he called to her and said, "Please bring me a morsel of bread in your hand." 12.   So she said, "As the LORD your God lives, I do not have bread, only a handful of flour in a bin, and a little oil in a jar; and see, I am gathering a couple of sticks that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it, and die." 13.   And Elijah said to her, "Do not fear; go and do as you have said, but make me a small cake from it first, and bring it to me; and afterward make some for yourself and your son. 14.   "For thus says the LORD God of Israel: ‘The bin of flour shall not be used up, nor shall the jar of oil run dry, until the day the LORD sends rain on the earth.’" 15.   So she went away and did according to the word of Elijah; and she and he and her household ate for many days. 16.   The bin of flour was not used up, nor did the jar of oil run dry, according to the word of the LORD which He spoke by Elijah. 17.   Now it happened after these things that the son of the woman who owned the house became sick. And his sickness was so serious that there was no breath left in him. 18.   So she said to Elijah, "What have I to do with you, O man of God? Have you come to me to bring my sin to remembrance, and to kill my son?" 19.   And he said to her, "Give me your son." So he took him out of her arms and carried him to the upper room where he was staying, and laid him on his own bed. 20.   Then he cried out to the LORD and said, "O LORD my God, have You also brought tragedy on the widow with whom I lodge, by killing her son?" 21.   And he stretched himself out on the child three times, and cried out to the LORD and said, "O LORD my God, I pray, let this child’s soul come back to him." 22.   Then the LORD heard the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child came back to him, and he revived. 23.   And Elijah took the child and brought him down from the upper room into the house, and gave him to his mother. And Elijah said, "See, your son lives!" 24.   Then the woman said to Elijah, "Now by this I know that you are a man of God, and that the word of the LORD in your mouth is the truth."

1.   Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying: 2.   "Son of man, how is the wood of the vine better than any other wood, the vine branch which is among the trees of the forest? 3.   "Is wood taken from it to make any object? Or can men make a peg from it to hang any vessel on? 4.   "Instead, it is thrown into the fire for fuel; the fire devours both ends of it, and its middle is burned. Is it useful for any work? 5.   "Indeed, when it was whole, no object could be made from it. How much less will it be useful for any work when the fire has devoured it, and it is burned? 6.   "Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: ‘Like the wood of the vine among the trees of the forest, which I have given to the fire for fuel, so I will give up the inhabitants of Jerusalem; 7.   ‘and I will set My face against them. They will go out from one fire, but another fire shall devour them. Then you shall know that I am the LORD, when I set My face against them. 8.   ‘Thus I will make the land desolate, because they have persisted in unfaithfulness,’ says the Lord GOD."

1.   For the law, having a shadow of the good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with these same sacrifices, which they offer continually year by year, make those who approach perfect. 2.   For then would they not have ceased to be offered? For the worshipers, once purified, would have had no more consciousness of sins. 3.   But in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year. 4.   For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins. 5.   Therefore, when He came into the world, He said: "Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, But a body You have prepared for Me. 6.   In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You had no pleasure. 7.   Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come––In the volume of the book it is written of Me––To do Your will, O God.’" 8.   Previously saying, "Sacrifice and offering, burnt offerings, and offerings for sin You did not desire, nor had pleasure in them " (which are offered according to the law), 9.   then He said, "Behold, I have come to do Your will, O God." He takes away the first that He may establish the second. 10.   By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all . 11.   And every priest stands ministering daily and offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. 12.   But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God, 13.   from that time waiting till His enemies are made His footstool. 14.   For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified. 15.   But the Holy Spirit also witnesses to us; for after He had said before, 16.   "This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the LORD: I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds I will write them," 17.   then He adds , "Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more." 18.   Now where there is remission of these, there is no longer an offering for sin.