2 Kings 7 - 8, 2 Chronicles 21, Matthew 18:15-19:30, Psalm 18:1-24

7Then Elisha said, “Listen to the word of Yahweh; thus says Yahweh, ‘^aAbout this time tomorrow a ¹seah of fine flour will be sold for a ²shekel, and two ³seahs of barley for a ⁴shekel, in the gate of Samaria.’” ²^aAnd the royal officer on whose hand the king was leaning answered the man of God and said, “Behold, ^bif Yahweh should make windows in heaven, could this thing be?” Then he said, “Behold, you will see it with your own eyes, but you will not eat ¹of it.”

Lepers Report the Arameans’ Flight

³Now there were four ^aleprous men at the entrance of the gate; and they said to one another, “Why do we sit here until we die? ⁴“If we say, ‘We will enter the city,’ then the famine is in the city and we will die there; and if we sit here, we die also. So now come, and let us ¹go over to ^athe camp of the Arameans. If they spare us, we will live; and if they put us to death, we will die.” ⁵So they arose at twilight to go to the camp of the Arameans. Then they came to the outskirts of the camp of the Arameans, but behold, there was no one there. ⁶Now ^athe Lord had caused the camp of the Arameans to hear a sound of chariots and a sound of horses, even the sound of a great military force, so that they said to one another, “Behold, the king of Israel has hired against us ^bthe kings of the Hittites and ^cthe kings of the Egyptians, to come upon us.” ⁷Therefore they ^aarose and fled in the twilight, and forsook their tents and their horses and their donkeys, even the camp just as it was, and fled for their life. ⁸So these lepers came to the outskirts of the camp and entered one tent and ate and drank. Then they ^acarried from there silver and gold and clothes, and they went and hid them; and they returned and entered another tent and carried from there also and went and hid them.

⁹Then they said to one another, “We are not doing right. This day is a day of good news, but we are keeping silent; if we wait until morning light, punishment will ¹overtake us. So now, come, let us go and tell the king’s household.” ¹⁰So they came and called to the gatekeepers of the city, and they told them, saying, “We came to the camp of the Arameans, and behold, there was no one there, nor the voice of man, only the horses tied and the donkeys tied, and the tents just as they were.” ¹¹And the gatekeepers called and told it within the king’s household. ¹²Then the king arose in the night and said to his servants, “I will now tell you what the Arameans have done to us. They know that ^awe are hungry; therefore they have gone from the camp ^bto hide themselves in the field, saying, ‘When they come out of the city, we will capture them alive and get into the city.’” ¹³And one of his servants answered and said, “Please, let some men take five of the remaining horses, which remain ¹in the city. Behold, they will be in any case like all the multitude of Israel who remain in it; behold, they will be in any case like all the multitude of Israel who have already come to an end, so let us send and see.” ¹⁴They took therefore two chariots with horses, and the king sent after the camp of the Arameans, saying, “Go and see.”

Plundering the Arameans

¹⁵Then they went after them to the Jordan, and behold, all the way was full of clothes and equipment which the Arameans had thrown away in their haste. Then the messengers returned and told the king.

¹⁶So the people went out and plundered the camp of the Arameans. Then a ¹seah of fine flour was sold for a shekel and two ²seahs of barley for a shekel, ^aaccording to the word of Yahweh. ¹⁷Now the king appointed ^athe royal officer on whose hand he leaned ¹to have charge of the gate; but the people trampled on him at the gate, and he died just as the man of God had spoken, ^bwho spoke when the king came down to him. ¹⁸So it happened just as the man of God had spoken to the king, saying, “^aTwo ¹seahs of barley for a shekel and a ²seah of fine flour for a shekel will be sold tomorrow about this time at the gate of Samaria.” ¹⁹And the royal officer had answered the man of God and said, “Now behold, ^aif Yahweh should make windows in heaven, could such a thing be?” And he had said, “Behold, you will see it with your own eyes, but you will not eat ¹of it.” ²⁰And so it happened to him, for the people trampled on him at the gate and he died.

Jehoram Restores the Shunammite’s Land

8Now ^aElisha spoke to the woman whose son he had restored to life, saying, “Arise and go ¹with your household, and sojourn wherever you can sojourn; for ^bYahweh has called for a famine, and ^cit will even come on the land for seven years.” ²So the woman arose and did according to the word of the man of God, and she went with her household and sojourned in the land of the Philistines seven years. ³Now it happened at the end of seven years, that the woman returned from the land of the Philistines; and she went out to cry out to the king for her house and for her field. ⁴Now the king was speaking with ^aGehazi, the young man of the man of God, saying, “Please recount to me all the great things that Elisha has done.” ⁵Now it happened as he was recounting to the king ^ahow he had restored to life the one who was dead, that behold, the woman whose son he had restored to life was crying out to the king for her house and for her field. And Gehazi said, “My lord, O king, this is the woman, and this is her son, whom Elisha restored to life.” ⁶Then the king asked the woman, and she recounted it to him. So the king appointed for her a certain officer, saying, “Restore all that was hers and all the produce of the field from the day that she left the land even until now.”

Elisha Weeps over Hazael’s Evil

⁷Then Elisha came to ^aDamascus. Now ^bBen-hadad king of Aram was sick, and it was told to him, saying, “^cThe man of God has come here.” ⁸And the king said to ^aHazael, “^bTake a present in your hand and go to meet the man of God, and ^cinquire of Yahweh by him, saying, ‘Will I be restored to life from this sickness?’” ⁹So Hazael went to meet him and took a present in his hand, even every kind of good thing of Damascus, forty camels’ loads; and he came and stood before him and said, “^aYour son Ben-hadad king of Aram has sent me to you, saying, ‘Will I be restored to life from this sickness?’” ¹⁰Then Elisha said to him, “^aGo, say to him, ‘You will surely be restored to life,’ but ^bYahweh has shown me that he will certainly die.” ¹¹And he ¹fixed his gaze steadily on him ^auntil he was ashamed, and ^bthe man of God wept. ¹²Then Hazael said, “Why does my lord weep?” Then he said, “Because ^aI know the evil that you will do to the sons of Israel: their fortifications you will set on fire, and their young men you will kill with the sword, and their infants you ^bwill dash in pieces, and their pregnant women you will rip up.” ¹³Then Hazael said, “But what is your servant, ^awho is but a dog, that he should do this great thing?” And Elisha ¹answered, “^bYahweh has shown me that you will be king over Aram.” ¹⁴So he went from Elisha and came to his master. And he said to him, “What did Elisha say to you?” And he said, “He said to me that ^ayou would surely be restored to life.” ¹⁵Now it happened that on the following day, he took the cover and dipped it in water and spread it on his face; ^aso he died. And Hazael became king in his place.

Jehoram Reigns over Judah

¹⁶Now in the fifth year of ^aJoram the son of Ahab king of Israel, Jehoshaphat being then the king of Judah, Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat king of Judah became king. ¹⁷He was ^athirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. ¹⁸And he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, just as the house of Ahab had done, for ^athe daughter of Ahab became his wife; and he did what was evil in the sight of Yahweh. ¹⁹However, Yahweh was not willing to make Judah a ruin, for the sake of David His servant, ^asince He had ¹promised him to give a ²lamp to him through his sons always.

²⁰In his days ^aEdom revolted from under the hand of Judah and made a king over themselves. ²¹Then Joram crossed over to Zair, and all his chariots with him. And he arose by night and struck the Edomites who were surrounding him and the commanders of the chariots; ^abut ¹his army fled to their tents. ²²^aSo Edom revolted ¹against Judah to this day. Then ^bLibnah revolted at the same time. ²³Now the rest of the acts of Joram and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah?

Ahaziah Reigns over Judah

²⁴So Joram slept with his fathers and ^awas buried with his fathers in the city of David; and ^bAhaziah his son became king in his place.

²⁵^aIn the twelfth year of Joram the son of Ahab king of Israel, Ahaziah the son of Jehoram king of Judah became king. ²⁶^aAhaziah was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Athaliah the granddaughter of Omri king of Israel. ²⁷^aHe also walked in the way of the house of Ahab and did what was evil in the sight of Yahweh, like the house of Ahab had done, because he was a son-in-law of the house of Ahab.

²⁸Then he went with Joram the son of Ahab to war with ^aHazael king of Aram at ^bRamoth-gilead, and the Arameans struck Joram. ²⁹So ^aKing Joram returned to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds which the Arameans had caused by striking him at ^bRamah when he fought against Hazael king of Aram. Then ^cAhaziah the son of Jehoram king of Judah went down to see Joram the son of Ahab in Jezreel because he was sick.

Jehoram Reigns over Judah

21^aAnd Jehoshaphat slept with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of David, and Jehoram his son became king in his place. ²Now he had brothers, the sons of Jehoshaphat: Azariah, Jehiel, Zechariah, ¹Azaryahu, Michael, and Shephatiah. All these were the sons of Jehoshaphat king ^aof Israel. ³And their father gave them many gifts of silver, gold, and precious things, ^awith fortified cities in Judah, but he gave the kingdom to Jehoram because he was the firstborn.

⁴So Jehoram arose over the kingdom of his father and strengthened himself, and he ^akilled all his brothers with the sword, and some of the commanders of Israel also. ⁵^aJehoram was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. ⁶^aAnd he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, just as the house of Ahab had done, ^bfor Ahab’s daughter was his wife; and he did what was evil in the sight of Yahweh. ⁷However, Yahweh was not willing to make the house of David a ruin because of the covenant which He had cut with David, ^aand since He had promised to give a lamp to him and his sons forever.

Revolt Against Judah

⁸In his days ^aEdom revolted from under the hand of Judah and made a king over themselves. ⁹Then Jehoram crossed over with his commanders and all his chariots with him. And he arose by night and struck down the Edomites who were surrounding him and the commanders of the chariots. ¹⁰So Edom revolted from under the hand of Judah to this day. Then Libnah revolted at the same time from under his hand, because he had forsaken Yahweh, the God of his fathers. ¹¹Moreover, ^ahe made high places in the mountains of Judah, and caused the inhabitants of Jerusalem ^bto play the harlot and drove Judah astray.

¹²Then a letter came to him from Elijah the prophet saying, “Thus says Yahweh, the God of your father David, ‘Because ^ayou have not walked in the ways of Jehoshaphat your father ^band the ways of Asa king of Judah, ¹³but ^ahave walked in the way of the kings of Israel, and have caused Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to play the harlot ^bas the house of Ahab played the harlot, and you ^chave also killed your brothers, ¹your own family, who were better than you, ¹⁴behold, Yahweh is going to smite your people, your sons, your wives, and all your possessions with a great ¹calamity; ¹⁵and ^ayou will suffer ¹severe sickness, a disease of your bowels, until your bowels come out because of the sickness, day by day.’”

¹⁶Then ^aYahweh stirred up against Jehoram the spirit of the Philistines and ^bthe Arabs who ¹bordered the Ethiopians; ¹⁷and they went up against Judah and invaded it, and carried away all the possessions found in the king’s house together with his sons and his wives, so that no son was left to him except ¹^,^aJehoahaz, the youngest of his sons.

¹⁸So after all this Yahweh smote him ^ain his bowels with an incurable sickness. ¹⁹Now it happened in the course of time, at the end of two years, that his bowels came out because of his sickness and he died with this greatly painful disease. And his people made no fire for him like ^athe fire for his fathers. ²⁰He was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eight years; and he departed ¹^,^awith no one’s regret, and they buried him in the city of David, ^bbut not in the tombs of the kings.

If Your Brother Sins

¹⁵“^aNow if your brother sins¹, go and ²show him his fault, between you and him alone; if he listens to you, you have won your brother. ¹⁶“But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that ^aby the mouth of two or three witnesses every ¹fact may be confirmed. ¹⁷“And if he refuses to listen to them, ^atell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, ^blet him be to you as the Gentile and the tax collector. ¹⁸“Truly I say to you, ^awhatever you ¹bind on earth ²shall have been bound in heaven; and whatever you ³loose on earth ⁴shall have been loosed in heaven.

¹⁹“Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask, ^ait shall be done for them ¹by My Father who is in heaven. ²⁰“For where two or three have gathered together in My name, ^aI am there in their midst.”

Forgiveness

²¹Then Peter came and said to Him, “Lord, ^ahow often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Up to ^bseven times?” ²²Jesus *said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to ^aseventy times seven.

²³“For this reason ^athe kingdom of heaven ¹may be compared to a king who wished to ^bsettle accounts with his slaves. ²⁴“When he had begun to settle them, one who owed him ten thousand ¹talents was brought to him. ²⁵“But since he ¹^,^adid not have the means to repay, his lord commanded him ^bto be sold, along with his wife and children and all that he had, and repayment to be made. ²⁶“Therefore, the slave fell to the ground and ^awas prostrating himself before him, saying, ‘Have patience with me and I will repay you everything.’ ²⁷“And feeling compassion, the lord of that slave released him and ^aforgave him the ¹debt. ²⁸“But that slave went out and found one of his fellow slaves who owed him one hundred ¹denarii; and he seized him and began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay back what you owe.’ ²⁹“So, his fellow slave fell to the ground and was pleading with him, saying, ‘Have patience with me and I will repay you.’ ³⁰“But he was unwilling ¹and went and threw him in prison until he should pay back what was owed. ³¹“So, when his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were deeply grieved and came and reported to their lord all that had happened. ³²“Then summoning him, his lord *said to him, ‘You wicked slave, I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. ³³‘^aShould you not also have had mercy on your fellow slave, in the same way that I had mercy on you?’ ³⁴“And his lord, moved with anger, handed him over to the torturers until he should repay all that was owed him. ³⁵“^aMy heavenly Father will also do the same to you, if each of you does not forgive his brother from your hearts.”

Teaching About Divorce

19¹^,^aNow it happened that when Jesus had finished these words, He departed from Galilee and ^bcame into the region of Judea beyond the Jordan; ²and ¹large crowds followed Him, and ^aHe healed them there.

³And some Pharisees came to ¹Jesus, testing Him and saying, “^aIs it lawful for a man to ²divorce his wife for any reason at all?” ⁴And He answered and said, “Have you not read ^athat He who created them from the beginning made them male and female, ⁵and said, ‘^aFor this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and ^bthe two shall become one flesh’? ⁶“So they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate.” ⁷They *said to Him, “^aWhy then did Moses command to give her a certificate of divorce and send her away?” ⁸He *said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart Moses permitted you to ¹divorce your wives; but from the beginning it has not been this way. ⁹“And I say to you, ^awhoever ¹divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another woman ²commits adultery³.”

¹⁰The disciples *said to Him, “If the relationship of the man with his wife is like this, it is better not to marry.” ¹¹But He said to them, “^aNot all men can accept this statement, but ^bonly those to whom it has been given. ¹²“For there are eunuchs who were born that way from their mother’s womb; and there are eunuchs who were made eunuchs by men; and there are also eunuchs who made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. He who is able to accept this, let him accept it.”

Jesus Blesses Children

¹³^aThen some children were brought to Him so that He might lay His hands on them and pray; and the disciples rebuked them. ¹⁴But Jesus said, “¹^,^aLet the children alone, and do not hinder them from coming to Me; for ^bthe kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” ¹⁵And after laying His hands on them, He departed from there.

The Rich Young Ruler

¹⁶^aAnd behold, someone came to Him and said, “Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have ^beternal life?” ¹⁷And He said to him, “Why are you asking Me about what is good? There is only One who is good; but ^aif you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.” ¹⁸Then he *said to Him, “Which ones?” And Jesus said, “^aYou shall not murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; ¹⁹^aHonor your father and mother; and ^bYou shall love your neighbor as yourself.” ²⁰The young man *said to Him, “All these things I have kept; what am I still lacking?” ²¹Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be ¹complete, go and ^asell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have ^btreasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” ²²But when the young man heard this statement, he went away grieving; for he was one who owned much property.

²³And Jesus said to His disciples, “Truly I say to you, ^ait is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. ²⁴“And again I say to you, ^ait is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” ²⁵And when the disciples heard this, they were very astonished and said, “Then who can be saved?” ²⁶And looking at them Jesus said to them, “^aWith people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

Many Who Are First Will Be Last

²⁷Then Peter answered and said to Him, “Behold, we have left everything and followed You; what then will there be for us?” ²⁸And Jesus said to them, “Truly I say to you, that you who have followed Me, in the regeneration when ^athe Son of Man will sit on ¹His glorious throne, ^byou also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. ²⁹“And ^aeveryone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother ¹or children or farms for My name’s sake, will receive ²one hundred times as much, and will inherit eternal life. ³⁰“^aBut many who are first will be last; and the last, first.

Yahweh Is My Rock and My Fortress

For the choir director. Of the servant of Yahweh, of David, ¹who spoke to Yahweh the words of this song in the day that Yahweh delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul.

He said, “I love You, O Yahweh, ^amy strength.”²Yahweh is ^amy ¹rock and ^bmy fortress and my ^cdeliverer,My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge;My ^dshield and the ^ehorn of my salvation, my ^fstronghold.³I call upon Yahweh, who is ^aworthy to be praised,And I am ^bsaved from my enemies.⁴The ^acords of death encompassed me,And the ^btorrents of vileness ¹terrified me.⁵The ^acords of Sheol surrounded me;The snares of death confronted me.⁶In my ^adistress I called upon Yahweh,And cried to my God for help;He heard my voice ^bout of His temple,And my ^ccry for help before Him came into His ears.⁷Then the ^aearth shook and quaked;And the ^bfoundations of the mountains were tremblingAnd were shaken, because He was angry.⁸Smoke went up ¹out of His nostrils,And ^afire from His mouth devoured;Coals were kindled by it.⁹He ^abowed the heavens and came downWith thick ^bdarkness under His feet.¹⁰He rode upon a ^acherub and flew;And He sped upon the ^bwings of the wind.¹¹He made ^adarkness His hiding place, ^bHis ¹canopy around Him,Darkness of waters, thick clouds of the skies.¹²From the ^abrightness before Him passed His thick clouds,Hailstones and ^bcoals of fire.¹³Yahweh also ^athundered in the heavens,And the Most High gave forth His voice,Hailstones and coals of fire.¹⁴He ^asent out His arrows, and scattered them,And lightning flashes in abundance, and ¹threw them into confusion.¹⁵Then the ^achannels of water appeared,And the foundations of the world were ¹laid bareAt Your ^brebuke, O Yahweh,At the blast of the ^cbreath of Your nostrils.¹⁶He ^asent from on high, He took me;He drew me out of ^bmany waters.¹⁷He ^adelivered me from my strong enemy,And from those who hated me, for they were ^btoo mighty for me.¹⁸They confronted me in ^athe day of my disaster,But ^bYahweh was my support.¹⁹He brought me forth also into a ^abroad place;He rescued me, because ^bHe delighted in me.²⁰Yahweh has ^arewarded me according to my righteousness;According to the ^bcleanness of my hands He has recompensed me.²¹For I have ^akept the ways of Yahweh,And have ^bnot wickedly departed from my God.²²For all ^aHis judgments were before me,And I did not put away His ^bstatutes from me.²³I was also ¹^,^ablameless with Him,And I ^bkept myself from my iniquity.²⁴Therefore Yahweh has ^arecompensed me according to my righteousness,According to the cleanness of my hands before His eyes.