2 Kings 1 - 2, Matthew 14-15:28, Psalms 14 - 15

Ahaziah’s Messengers Meet Elijah

1Now ^aMoab revolted against Israel after the death of Ahab. ²And Ahaziah fell through the lattice in his upper chamber, which was in Samaria, and became ill. So he sent messengers and said to them, “Go, ^ainquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, ^bwhether I will live from this sickness.” ³But the angel of ¹Yahweh said to ^aElijah the Tishbite, “Arise, go up to meet the messengers of the king of Samaria and say to them, ‘Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are going to inquire of ^bBaal-zebub, the god of Ekron?’ ⁴“Now therefore thus says Yahweh, ‘¹^,^aYou shall not come down from the bed where you have gone up, but you shall surely die.’” Then Elijah departed.

⁵So the messengers returned to him, and he said to them, “¹Why have you returned?” ⁶And they said to him, “A man came up to meet us and said to us, ‘Go, return to the king who sent you and say to him, “Thus says Yahweh, ‘Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are sending ^ato inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron? Therefore ¹you shall not come down from the bed where you have gone up, but shall surely die.’”’” ⁷And he said to them, “What ¹kind of man was he who came up to meet you and spoke these words to you?” ⁸And they said to him, “^aHe was a hairy man with a leather girdle girded about his loins.” And he said, “It is Elijah the Tishbite.”

⁹Then the king ^asent to him a commander of fifty with his fifty. And he went up to him, and behold, he was sitting on the top of the hill. And he said to him, “O man of God, the king says, ‘Come down.’” ¹⁰And Elijah answered and spoke to the commander of fifty, “If I am a man of God, ^alet fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty.” ^bThen fire came down from heaven and consumed him and his fifty.

¹¹So he again sent to him another commander of fifty with his fifty. And he answered and spoke to him, “O man of God, thus says the king, ‘Come down quickly.’” ¹²And Elijah answered and spoke to them, “If I am a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty.” Then the fire of God came down from heaven and consumed him and his fifty.

¹³So he ^aagain sent the commander of a third fifty with his fifty. Then the third commander of fifty went up and came and bowed down on his knees before Elijah, and he begged him and said to him, “O man of God, please let my life and the lives of these fifty servants of yours be precious in your sight. ¹⁴“Behold, fire came down from heaven and consumed the first two commanders of fifty with their fifties; but now let my ¹life be precious in your sight.” ¹⁵^aThen the angel of Yahweh spoke to Elijah, “Go down with him; ^bdo not be afraid of him.” So he arose and went down with him to the king. ¹⁶Then he spoke to him, “Thus says Yahweh, ‘Because you have sent messengers ^ato inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron—is it because there is no God in Israel to inquire of His word?—therefore ¹you shall not come down from the bed where you have gone up, but shall surely die.’”

Jehoram Reigns over Israel

¹⁷So Ahaziah died according to the word of Yahweh which Elijah had spoken. And because he had no son, Jehoram became king in his place ^ain the second year of Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah. ¹⁸Now the rest of the acts of Ahaziah which he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?

Elijah Taken to Heaven

2Now it happened when Yahweh was about to ^atake up Elijah by a ¹whirlwind to heaven, that Elijah went with ^bElisha from ^cGilgal. ²And Elijah said to Elisha, “^aStay here please, for Yahweh has sent me as far as ^bBethel.” But Elisha said, “^cAs Yahweh lives and as your soul lives, I will not forsake you.” So they went down to Bethel. ³Then ^athe sons of the prophets who were at Bethel came out to Elisha and said to him, “Do you know that Yahweh will take away your master from over ¹you today?” And he said, “Yes, I know; be silent.”

⁴And Elijah said to him, “Elisha, please ^astay here, for Yahweh has sent me to ^bJericho.” But he said, “^cAs Yahweh lives and as your soul lives, I will not forsake you.” So they came to Jericho. ⁵^aThen the sons of the prophets who were at Jericho approached Elisha and said to him, “^bDo you know that Yahweh will take away your master from over ¹you today?” And he ²answered, “Yes, I know; be silent.” ⁶Then Elijah said to him, “Please ^astay here, for Yahweh has sent me to ^bthe Jordan.” And he said, “As Yahweh lives and as your soul lives, I will not forsake you.” So the two of them went on.

⁷Now ^afifty men of the sons of the prophets went and stood opposite them at a distance, but the two of them stood by the Jordan. ⁸And Elijah ^atook his mantle and folded it together and ^bstruck the waters, and they were divided here and there, so that the two of them crossed over on dry ground.

⁹Now it happened when they crossed over, that Elijah said to Elisha, “Ask what I shall do for you before I am taken from you.” And Elisha said, “Please, let a ^adouble portion of your spirit be upon me.” ¹⁰And he said, “You have asked a hard thing. Nevertheless, if you ^asee me when I am taken from you, it shall be so for you; but if not, it shall not be so.” ¹¹As they were going along and talking, behold, there appeared ^aa chariot of fire and horses of fire, and it separated the two of them. And Elijah went up by a ¹whirlwind to heaven. ¹²And Elisha was seeing this and he was crying out, “^aMy father, my father, the ¹chariots of Israel and its horsemen!” And he saw ²Elijah no more. Then ^bhe took hold of his own clothes and tore them in two pieces. ¹³He also took up the mantle of Elijah that fell from him and returned and stood by the bank of the Jordan. ¹⁴And he took the mantle of Elijah that fell from him and struck the waters and said, “Where is Yahweh, the God of Elijah?” Indeed, he himself also ^astruck the waters, and they were divided here and there! And Elisha crossed over.

Elisha Has the Spirit of Elijah

¹⁵Then ^athe sons of the prophets who were at Jericho opposite him saw him and said, “The spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha.” And they came to meet him and bowed themselves to the ground before him. ¹⁶Then they said to him, “Behold now, there are with your servants fifty excellent men, please let them go and search for your master, lest ^athe Spirit of Yahweh has taken him up and cast him on some mountain or into some valley.” And he said, “You shall not send.” ¹⁷But when ^athey urged him until he was ashamed, he said, “Send.” They sent therefore fifty men; and they searched three days but did not find him. ¹⁸So they returned to him while he was staying at Jericho; and he said to them, “Did I not say to you, ‘Do not go’?”

¹⁹Then the men of the city said to Elisha, “Behold now, the habitat of this city is pleasant, as my lord sees; but the water is bad and the land ¹is unfruitful.” ²⁰And he said, “Bring me a new jar, and put salt ¹in it.” So they brought it to him. ²¹And he went out to the spring of water and ^athrew salt ¹in it and said, “Thus says Yahweh, ‘I have ²purified these waters; there shall not be from there death or barrenness any longer.’” ²²So the waters have been ¹purified to this day, according to the word of Elisha which he spoke.

²³Then he went up from there to Bethel; and as he was going up by the way, young boys came out from the city and ^amocked him and said to him, “Go up, you baldhead; go up, you baldhead!” ²⁴Then he looked behind him and saw them. And he ^acursed them in the name of Yahweh. Then two female bears came out of the woods and tore up forty-two lads of ¹their number. ²⁵And he went from there to ^aMount Carmel, and from there he returned to Samaria.

John the Baptist Beheaded

14^aAt that ¹time ^bHerod the tetrarch heard the news about Jesus, ²and said to his servants, “^aThis is John the Baptist; ¹he has risen from the dead, and that is why miraculous powers are at work in him.”

³For when ^aHerod had John arrested, he bound him and put him ^bin prison because of ^cHerodias, the wife of his brother Philip. ⁴For John had been saying to him, “^aIt is not lawful for you to have her.” ⁵And although Herod wanted to put him to death, he feared the crowd, because they were regarding ¹John as ^aa prophet.

⁶But when Herod’s birthday came, the daughter of ^aHerodias danced ¹before them and pleased ^bHerod, ⁷so much that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she asked. ⁸Now having been prompted by her mother, she *said, “Give me here on a platter the head of John the Baptist.” ⁹And although he was grieved, the king commanded it to be given because of his oaths, and because of ¹his dinner guests. ¹⁰And he sent and had John beheaded in the prison. ¹¹And his head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, and she brought it to her mother. ¹²And his disciples came and took away the body and buried ¹it; and they went and reported to Jesus.

Jesus Feeds Five Thousand

¹³^aNow when Jesus heard about John, He withdrew from there in a boat to a desolate place by Himself; and when the crowds heard of this, they followed Him on foot from the cities. ¹⁴And when He went ¹ashore, He ^asaw a large crowd, and felt compassion for them and ^bhealed their sick.

¹⁵Now when it was evening, the disciples came to Him and said, “This place is desolate and the hour is already ¹late; so send the crowds away, that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves.” ¹⁶But Jesus said to them, “They do not need to go away; you give them something to eat!” ¹⁷But they *said to Him, “We have here only ^afive loaves and two fish.” ¹⁸And He said, “Bring them here to Me.” ¹⁹And ordering the crowds to ¹sit down on the grass, He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up toward heaven, He ^ablessed the food. And breaking the loaves, He gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds, ²⁰and they all ate and were satisfied. They picked up what was left over of the broken pieces, twelve full ^abaskets. ²¹And there were about five thousand men who ate, besides women and children.

Jesus Walks on the Sea

²²^aImmediately He ¹made the disciples get into the boat and go ahead of Him to the other side, while He sent the crowds away. ²³And after He had sent the crowds away, ^aHe went up on the mountain by Himself to pray; and when it was evening, He was there alone. ²⁴But the boat was already many ¹stadia away from the land, ²being battered by the waves; for the wind was ³^,^aagainst them. ²⁵And in ^athe ¹fourth watch of the night He came to them, walking on the sea. ²⁶Now when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, “It is ^aa ghost!” And they cried out ¹in fear. ²⁷But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “^aTake courage, ¹it is I; ^bdo not be afraid.”

²⁸And Peter answered and said to Him, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.” ²⁹And He said, “Come!” And getting out of the boat, Peter walked on the water and came toward Jesus. ³⁰But seeing the wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, saying, “Lord, save me!” ³¹And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and took hold of him, and *said to him, “^aYou of little faith, why did you doubt?” ³²And when they got into the boat, the wind stopped. ³³And those who were in the boat worshiped Him, saying, “You are truly ^aGod’s Son!”

³⁴^aAnd when they had crossed over, they came to land at ^bGennesaret. ³⁵And when the men of that place ¹recognized Him, they sent word into all that surrounding district and brought to Him all who were sick; ³⁶and they were pleading with Him that they might just touch ^athe fringe of His garment; and as many as ^btouched it were cured.

God’s Commandments, Man’s Traditions

15^aThen some Pharisees and scribes *came to Jesus ^bfrom Jerusalem and said, ²“Why do Your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they ^ado not wash their hands when they eat bread.” ³And He answered and said to them, “Why do you yourselves transgress the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? ⁴“For God said, ‘^aHonor your father and mother,’ and, ‘^bHe who speaks evil of father or mother is to ¹be put to death.’ ⁵“But you say, ‘Whoever says to his father or mother, “Whatever you might benefit from me ¹is given to God,” ⁶he need not ¹honor his father.’ And by this you invalidated the word of God for the sake of your tradition. ⁷“You hypocrites, rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you:

⁸‘^aThis people honors Me with their lips,But their heart is far away from Me.⁹‘But in vain do they worship Me,Teaching as ^adoctrines the commands of men.’”

¹⁰After Jesus called the crowd to Him, He said to them, “Hear and understand. ¹¹“^aIt is not what enters into the mouth that defiles the man, but what proceeds out of the mouth, this defiles the man.”

¹²Then the disciples *came and *said to Him, “Do You know that the Pharisees were ¹offended when they heard this statement?” ¹³But He answered and said, “^aEvery plant which My heavenly Father did not plant shall be uprooted. ¹⁴“Let them alone; ^athey are blind guides ¹of the blind. And ^bif a blind man guides a blind man, both will fall into a pit.”

The Heart of Man

¹⁵Now Peter answered and said to Him, “^aExplain the parable to us.” ¹⁶And ¹Jesus said, “Are you still lacking in understanding also? ¹⁷“Do you not understand that everything that goes into the mouth passes into the stomach, and goes into the sewer? ¹⁸“But ^athe things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man. ¹⁹“^aFor out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, sexual immoralities, thefts, false witness, slanders. ²⁰“These are the things which defile the man; but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile the man.”

The Canaanite Woman

²¹^aAnd going away from there, Jesus withdrew into the district of ^bTyre and ^cSidon. ²²And behold, a Canaanite woman from that region came out and began to cry out, saying, “Have mercy on me, Lord, ^aSon of David; my daughter is cruelly ^bdemon-possessed.” ²³But He did not answer her a word. And His disciples came and were pleading with Him, saying, “Send her away, because she keeps shouting ¹at us.” ²⁴But He answered and said, “I was not sent except to ^athe lost sheep of the house of Israel.” ²⁵But she came and ¹^,^awas bowing down before Him, saying, “Lord, help me!” ²⁶And He answered and said, “It is not ¹good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” ²⁷But she said, “Yes, Lord; ¹but even the dogs feed on the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.” ²⁸Then Jesus answered and said to her, “O woman, ^ayour faith is great; it shall be done for you as you wish.” And her daughter was healed ¹at once.

There Is No One Who Does Good

For the choir director. Of David.

The ¹wicked fool ^asays in his heart, “There is no God.”They act corruptly, they commit abominable ²deeds;There is ^bno one who does good.²Yahweh ^alooks down from heaven upon the sons of menTo see if there is anyone who ¹^,^bhas insight,Anyone who ^cseeks after God.³They have all ^aturned aside, altogether they have become ¹worthless;There is ^bno one who does good, not even one.⁴Do all the workers of iniquity ^anot know,Who ^beat up my people as they eat bread,And ^cdo not call upon Yahweh?⁵There they are in great dread,For God is with the ^arighteous generation.⁶You would put to shame the counsel of the afflicted,But Yahweh is his ^arefuge.⁷Oh, that ^athe salvation of Israel ¹would come out of Zion!When Yahweh ²^,^brestores His captive people,May Jacob rejoice, may Israel be glad.

Who May Dwell on Your Holy Mountain?

A Psalm of David.

O Yahweh, who may ¹sojourn ^ain Your tent?Who may dwell on Your ^bholy mountain?²He who ^awalks blamelessly, and works righteousness,And ^bspeaks truth in his heart.³He ^adoes not slander ¹with his tongue,Nor ^bdoes evil to his neighbor,Nor ^ctakes up a reproach against his friend;⁴In ¹whose eyes a reprobate is despised,But ²who ^ahonors those who fear Yahweh;He ^bswears to his own hurt and does not change;⁵He ^adoes not put out his money ¹at interest,Nor ^bdoes he take a bribe against the innocent.^cHe who does these things will never be shaken.