1 And the word of the Lord came to ⁿJehu the son of ^oHanani against Baasha, saying, 2 “Since I ^pexalted you out of the dust and made you leader over my people Israel, and ^qyou have walked in the way of Jeroboam and have made my people Israel to sin, provoking me to anger with their sins, 3 behold, I will utterly ^rsweep away ^sBaasha and his house, and I will make your house ^tlike the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat. 4 ^uAnyone belonging to Baasha who dies in the city the dogs shall eat, and anyone of his who dies in the field the birds of the heavens shall eat.”

5 Now the rest of the acts of Baasha and what he did, and his might, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? 6 And Baasha slept with his fathers and was buried at ^vTirzah, and Elah his son reigned in his place. 7 Moreover, the word of the Lord came by the prophet ⁿJehu the son of Hanani against Baasha and his house, both because of all the evil that he did in the sight of the Lord, provoking him to anger with the work of his hands, in being like the house of Jeroboam, and also because ^whe destroyed it.

Elah Reigns in Israel

8 In the twenty-sixth year of Asa king of Judah, Elah the son of Baasha began to reign over Israel in Tirzah, and he reigned two years. 9 But his servant ^xZimri, commander of half his chariots, conspired against him. When he was at Tirzah, drinking himself drunk in the house of Arza, ^ywho was over the household in Tirzah, 10 Zimri came in and struck him down and killed him, in the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah, and reigned in his place.

11 When he began to reign, as soon as he had seated himself on his throne, he struck down ^zall the house of Baasha. He ^adid not leave him a single male of his relatives or his friends. 12 Thus Zimri destroyed all the house of Baasha, ^baccording to the word of the Lord, which he spoke against Baasha by ⁿJehu the prophet, 13 for all the sins of Baasha and the sins of Elah his son, which they sinned and which they made Israel to sin, ^cprovoking the Lord God of Israel to anger with their idols. 14 Now the rest of the acts of Elah and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?

Zimri Reigns in Israel

15 In the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah, Zimri reigned seven days in Tirzah. Now the troops were encamped against ^dGibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines, 16 and the troops who were encamped heard it said, “Zimri has conspired, and he has killed the king.” Therefore all Israel made Omri, the commander of the army, king over Israel that day in the camp. 17 So Omri went up from Gibbethon, and all Israel with him, and they besieged Tirzah. 18 And when Zimri saw that the city was taken, he went into the citadel of the king’s house and burned the king’s house over him with fire and died, 19 because of his sins that he committed, doing evil in the sight of the Lord, ^ewalking in the way of Jeroboam, and for his sin which he committed, making Israel to sin. 20 Now the rest of the acts of Zimri, and the conspiracy that he made, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?

Omri Reigns in Israel

21 Then the people of Israel were divided into two parts. Half of the people followed Tibni the son of Ginath, to make him king, and half followed Omri. 22 But the people who followed Omri overcame the people who followed Tibni the son of Ginath. So Tibni died, and Omri became king. 23 In the thirty-first year of Asa king of Judah, Omri began to reign over Israel, and he reigned for twelve years; six years he reigned in Tirzah. 24 He bought the hill of ^fSamaria from Shemer for two talents¹ of silver, and he fortified the hill and called the name of the city that he built ^gSamaria, after the name of Shemer, the owner of the hill.

25 ^hOmri did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and did more evil ⁱthan all who were before him. 26 For ^ehe walked in all the way of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and in the sins that he made Israel to sin, ^jprovoking the Lord, the God of Israel, to anger by their idols. 27 Now the rest of the acts of Omri that he did, and the might that he showed, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? 28 And Omri slept with his fathers and was buried in Samaria, and Ahab his son reigned in his place.

Ahab Reigns in Israel

29 In the thirty-eighth year of Asa king of Judah, Ahab the son of Omri began to reign over Israel, and Ahab the son of Omri reigned over Israel in Samaria twenty-two years. 30 And Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the Lord, ^kmore than all who were before him. 31 And as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, ^lhe took for his wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the ^mSidonians, ⁿand went and served Baal and worshiped him. 32 He erected an altar for Baal in ^othe house of Baal, which he built in Samaria. 33 And Ahab made an ^pAsherah. Ahab did more to provoke the Lord, the God of Israel, to anger ^kthan all the kings of Israel who were before him. 34 ^qIn his days Hiel of Bethel built ^rJericho. He laid its foundation at the cost of Abiram his firstborn, and set up its gates at the cost of his youngest son Segub, according to the word of the Lord, which he spoke by Joshua the son of Nun.

Elijah Predicts a Drought

1 Now Elijah the Tishbite, of ^sTishbe² in Gilead, said to Ahab, ^t“As the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, ^ubefore whom I stand, ^vthere shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word.” 2 And the word of the Lord came to him: 3 “Depart from here and turn eastward and hide yourself by the brook Cherith, which is east of the Jordan. 4 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. He went and lived by the brook Cherith that is east of the Jordan. 6 And 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 after a while the brook dried up, because there was no rain in the land.

The Widow of Zarephath

8 Then the word of the Lord came to him, 9 “Arise, go to ^wZarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. Behold, I have commanded a widow there to feed you.” 10 So he arose and went to ^wZarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, a widow was there ^xgathering sticks. And he called to her and said, “Bring me a little water in a vessel, that I may drink.” 11 And as she was going to bring it, he called to her and said, “Bring me a morsel of bread in your hand.” 12 And she said, ^t“As the Lord your God lives, I have nothing baked, only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. And now 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 first make me a little cake of it and bring it to me, and afterward make something for yourself and your son. 14 For thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘The jar of flour shall not be spent, and the jug of oil shall not be empty, until the day that the Lord sends rain upon the earth.’” 15 And she went and did as Elijah said. And she and he and her household ate for many days. 16 The jar of flour was not spent, neither did the jug of oil become empty, according to the word of the Lord that he spoke by Elijah.

Elijah Raises the Widow’s Son

17 After this the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, became ill. And his illness was so severe that there was no breath left in him. 18 And she said to Elijah, ^y“What have you against me, O ^zman of God? You have come to me to bring my sin to remembrance and to cause the death of my son!” 19 And he said to her, “Give me your son.” And he took him from her arms and carried him up into the upper chamber where he lodged, and laid him on his own bed. 20 And he cried to the Lord, “O Lord my God, have you brought calamity even upon the widow with whom I sojourn, by killing her son?” 21 ^aThen he stretched himself upon the child three times and cried to the Lord, “O Lord my God, let this child’s life³ come into him again.” 22 And the Lord listened to the voice of Elijah. And the life of the child came into him again, and ^bhe revived. 23 And Elijah took the child and brought him down from the upper chamber into the house and delivered him to his mother. And Elijah said, “See, your son lives.” 24 And the woman said to Elijah, ^c“Now I know that you are a man of God, and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is truth.”

When Brothers Dwell in Unity

A Song of ^mAscents. Of David.

Jesus, Founder and Perfecter of Our Faith

1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and ^wsin which clings so closely, and ^xlet us run ^ywith endurance the race that is ^zset before us, 2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, ^awho for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising ^bthe shame, and ^cis seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

Do Not Grow Weary

3 ^dConsider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or ^efainthearted. 4 In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. 5 And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons?

7 It is for discipline that you have to endure. ⁱGod is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? 8 If you are left without discipline, ^jin which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. 9 Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to ^kthe Father of spirits ^land live? 10 For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, ^mthat we may share his holiness. 11 ⁿFor the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields ^othe peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

12 Therefore ^plift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, 13 and ^qmake straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint ^rbut rather be healed. 14 ^sStrive for peace with everyone, and for the ^tholiness ^uwithout which no one will see the Lord. 15 See to it that no one ^vfails to obtain the grace of God; that no ^w“root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled; 16 that no one is ^xsexually immoral or unholy like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal. 17 For you know that ^yafterward, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no chance to repent, though he sought it with tears.

A Kingdom That Cannot Be Shaken

18 For you have not come to ^zwhat may be touched, a blazing fire and darkness and gloom and a tempest 19 and ^athe sound of a trumpet and a voice whose words ^bmade the hearers beg that no further messages be spoken to them. 20 For they could not endure the order that was given, ^c“If even a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned.” 21 Indeed, ^dso terrifying was the sight that Moses said, “I tremble with fear.” 22 But you have come to ^eMount Zion and to the city of the living God, ^fthe heavenly Jerusalem, and to ^ginnumerable angels in festal gathering, 23 and to ^hthe assembly¹ of the firstborn who are ⁱenrolled in heaven, and to ^jGod, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, 24 and to Jesus, ^kthe mediator of a new covenant, and to ^lthe sprinkled blood ^mthat speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.

25 See that you do not refuse him who is speaking. For ⁿif they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape if we reject him who warns from heaven. 26 At that time ^ohis voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, ^p“Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.” 27 This phrase, “Yet once more,” indicates ^qthe removal of things that are shaken—that is, things that have been made—in order that the things that cannot be shaken may remain. 28 Therefore let us be grateful for receiving ^ra kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus ^slet us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, 29 for our ^tGod is a consuming fire.

Sacrifices Pleasing to God

1 Let ^ubrotherly love continue. 2 ^vDo not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby ^wsome have entertained angels unawares. 3 ^xRemember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body. 4 ^yLet marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge ^zthe sexually immoral and adulterous. 5 Keep your life ^afree from love of money, and ^bbe content with what you have, for he has said, ^c“I will never leave you nor forsake you.” 6 So we can confidently say,

7 Remember ^fyour leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and ^gimitate their faith. 8 Jesus Christ is ^hthe same yesterday and today and forever. 9 Do not be ⁱled away by diverse and strange teachings, for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, ^jnot by foods, which have not benefited those devoted to them. 10 We have an altar ^kfrom which those who serve the tent² have no right to eat. 11 For ^lthe bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy places by the high priest as a sacrifice for sin are burned ^moutside the camp. 12 So Jesus also ⁿsuffered ^ooutside the gate in order to sanctify the people ^pthrough his own blood. 13 Therefore let us go to him outside the camp and bear ^qthe reproach he endured. 14 For ^rhere we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come. 15 ^sThrough him then let us continually offer up ^ta sacrifice of praise to God, that is, ^uthe fruit of lips that acknowledge his name. 16 Do not neglect to do good and ^vto share what you have, for such ^wsacrifices are pleasing to God.

17 Obey ^xyour leaders and submit to them, ^yfor they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to ^zgive an account. ^aLet them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.

18 ^bPray for us, for we are sure that we have a clear conscience, desiring to act honorably in all things. 19 I urge you the more earnestly to do this in order ^cthat I may be restored to you the sooner.

Benediction

20 Now ^dmay the God of peace ^ewho brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, ^fthe great shepherd of the sheep, by ^gthe blood of the eternal covenant, 21 ^hequip you with everything good that you may do his will, ⁱworking in us³ that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, ^jto whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.

Final Greetings

22 I appeal to you, brothers,⁴ bear with my word of exhortation, for ^kI have written to you briefly. 23 You should know that ^lour brother Timothy has been released, with whom I shall see you if he comes soon. 24 Greet all ^myour leaders and all the saints. Those who come from Italy send you greetings. 25 ⁿGrace be with all of you.