3 Kingdoms 19
Elijah Flees from Jezebel
1 Now Ahab told Jezebel his wife everything Elijah did, and how he put to death the prophets with the sword.
2 Then Jezebel sent to Elijah, saying, “If you are Elijah and I this Jezebel, may God do so to me and more also if at this hour tomorrow, I do not make your life like the life of one of them.”
3 Elijah was fearful, and he arose and ran for his life. He came to Beersheba of Judah, where he left his servant.
4 But Elijah himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat under a juniper tree. He prayed concerning his life, that he might die, and said, “I pray it be enough, O Lord. Now take my life, for I am no better than my fathers.”†
5 Then he lay down and slept under a tree. Unexpectedly, someone touched him and said to him, “Arise and eat.”
6 Then Elijah looked, and there by his head was a cake made of wheat and a jar of water. So he ate and drank, and lay down again.
7 Again the angel of the Lord came back a second time, touched him, and said, “Arise and eat, because the journey is a great many days for you.”
8 So he arose, ate and drank; and he went with the strength of that food forty days and forty nights, as far as Mount Horeb.
9 There he went into a cave and rested.
The Sound of a Gentle Breeze
Behold, the word of the Lord came to him and said to him, “Elijah, what are you doing here?”
10 And Elijah said, “I have been very zealous for the Lord Almighty since the children of Israel have forsaken You. They tore down Your altars and killed Your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they seek to take my life.”†
11 Then He replied, “Go out tomorrow and stand on the mountain before the Lord; and behold, the Lord will pass by, and before the Lord, a great and powerful wind will be rending the mountains and shattering the rocks; but the Lord will not be in the wind. After the wind, an earthquake, but the Lord will not be in the earthquake.†
12 After the earthquake, there will be a fire, but the Lord will not be in the fire. After the fire, there will be a sound of a gentle breeze, and the Lord will be there.”
13 So when Elijah heard this, he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave. Suddenly a Voice came to him and said, “Elijah, what are you doing here?”†
14 He replied, “I have been very zealous for the Lord Almighty, since the children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they seek to take my life.”
15 Then the Lord said to him, “Go and return on your way to the desert of Damascus. When you arrive, anoint Hazael as king over Syria.
16 You shall also anoint Jehu the son of Nimshi as king over Israel, and shall anoint Elisha the son of Shaphat of 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 And you will leave seven thousand in Israel; all those whose knees have not bowed to Baal, and whose mouth has not kissed him.Ӡ
Elisha Follows after Elijah
19 Elijah departed from there and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, who was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen before him. Then Elijah passed by him and threw his mantle on him.
20 So Elisha left the oxen, and ran after Elijah and said, “I will kiss my father, then I will follow after you.” Elijah said to him, “Return, for I have done this for you.”
21 Elisha returned from following him, and took a pair of oxen, and slaughtered them. He boiled their flesh with the proper equipment, and gave it to the people to eat. He then arose and followed Elijah, and ministered to him.
Psalms 90
1 The praise of an ode by David. †He who dwells in the help of the Most High Shall lodge in the shelter of the God of heaven.
2 He shall say to the Lord, “You are my protector and my refuge, My God; I will hope in Him;
3 For He shall free me from the snare of the hunters, And from every troubling word.”
4 He shall overshadow you with His shoulders, And under His wings you shall hope; His truth shall encircle you with a shield.
5 You shall not be frightened by fear at night, Nor from an arrow that flies by day,
6 Nor by a thing moving in darkness, Nor by mishap and a demon of noonday.
bookmarked7 A thousand shall fall at your side And ten thousand at your right hand, Yet it shall not come near you;
8 But you shall observe with your eyes, And you shall see the reward of sinners.
9 For You, O Lord, are my hope; You made the Most High your refuge.
10 Evils shall not come to you, And a scourge shall not draw near your dwelling;
11 For He shall command His angels concerning you, To keep you in all your ways;
12 In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you strike your foot against a stone;
13 You shall tread upon the asp and the basilisk, And you shall trample the lion and the dragon.
14 “For he hoped in Me, and I will deliver him; I will shelter him, because he knew My name.
15 He shall call upon Me, and I will hear him; I am with him in affliction, And I will deliver and glorify him.
16 With length of days I will satisfy him, And show him My salvation.”
Proverbs of Solomon 19
19 A malicious man shall be punished severely, And if he commits injury, he will also add this to his soul.
20 Hear, my son, the instruction of your father, That you may become wise in your last days.
21 There are many thoughts in the heart of a man, But the counsel of the Lord abides forever.†
22 Mercy is fruit to a man, And a poor righteous man is better than a rich liar.
23 The fear of the Lord is unto life for a man, And he shall lodge without fear in places where knowledge is not examined.†
24 A man who hides his hands in his bosom unrighteously, He will not even bring them up to his mouth.
Luke 14
The Cost of Discipleship
25 Now great multitudes went with Him. And He turned and said to them,
26 “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple.†
27 And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.†
28 For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it —†
29 lest, after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him,
30 saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish’?
31 Or what king, going to make war against another king, does not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand?
32 Or else, while the other is still a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks conditions of peace.
33 So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple.
34 “Salt is good; but if the salt has lost its flavor, how shall it be seasoned?†
35 It is neither fit for the land nor for the dunghill, but men throw it out. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”