19 uOf old you spoke in a vision to your godly one,1 and said:
“I have vgranted help to one who is wmighty;
I have exalted one xchosen from the people.
20 yI have found David, my servant;
with my holy oil I have zanointed him,
21 so that my ahand shall be established with him;
my arm also shall strengthen him.
22 The enemy shall not outwit him;
bthe wicked shall not humble him.
23 I will ccrush his foes before him
and strike down those who hate him.
24 My dfaithfulness and my dsteadfast love shall be with him,
and in my name shall his ehorn be exalted.
25 I will set his hand on fthe sea
and his right hand on fthe rivers.
26 He shall cry to me, ‘You are my gFather,
my God, and hthe Rock of my salvation.’
27 And I will make him the ifirstborn,
jthe highest of the kings of the earth.
28 My steadfast love I will keep for him forever,
and my kcovenant will stand firm2 for him.
29 I will establish his loffspring forever
and his lthrone as mthe days of the heavens.
30 nIf his children forsake my law
and do not walk according to my rules,3
31 if they violate my statutes
and do not keep my commandments,
32 then I will punish their transgression with othe rod
and their iniquity with stripes,
33 but I will not remove from him my steadfast love
or be false to my faithfulness.
34 I will not violate my kcovenant
or alter the word that went forth from my lips.
35 Once for all I have sworn pby my holiness;
I will not qlie to David.
36 His loffspring shall endure forever,
rhis lthrone as long as sthe sun before me.
37 Like sthe moon it shall be established forever,
ta faithful witness in the skies.” Selah
38 But now you have ucast off and rejected;
you are full of wrath against your vanointed.
39 You have wrenounced xthe covenant with your servant;
you have ydefiled his zcrown in the dust.
40 You have abreached all his walls;
you have laid his strongholds in ruins.
41 aAll who pass by plunder him;
he has become bthe scorn of his neighbors.
42 You have exalted the right hand of his foes;
you have made all his enemies rejoice.
43 You have also turned back the edge of his sword,
and you have not made him stand in battle.
44 You have made his splendor to cease
and cast his throne to the ground.
45 You have cut short cthe days of his youth;
you have dcovered him with shame. Selah
46 eHow long, O Lord? Will you hide yourself forever?
How long will your wrath fburn like fire?
47 gRemember hhow short my itime is!
For what vanity you have created all the children of man!
48 jWhat man can live and never ksee death?
Who can deliver his soul from the power of lSheol? Selah
49 Lord, where is your msteadfast love of old,
which by your mfaithfulness you swore to David?
50 nRemember, O Lord, how your servants are mocked,
and how I bear in my oheart the insults4 of all the many nations,
51 with which your enemies mock, O Lord,
52 rBlessed be the Lord forever!
Amen and Amen.
I Will Sing of the Steadfast Love of the Lord
A Maskil1 of hEthan the Ezrahite.
1 iI will sing of jthe steadfast love of the Lord, forever;
with my mouth I will make known your kfaithfulness to all generations.
Elijah Flees Jezebel
1 Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and how qhe had killed all the prophets with the sword. 2 Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, r“So may the gods do to me and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by this time tomorrow.” 3 Then he was afraid, and he arose and ran for his life and came to sBeersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there.
4 But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness and came and sat down under a broom tree. tAnd he asked that he might die, saying, “It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my fathers.” 5 And he lay down and slept under a broom tree. And behold, an angel touched him and said to him, “Arise and eat.” 6 And he looked, and behold, there was at his head a cake baked on hot stones and a jar of water. And he ate and drank and lay down again. 7 And the angel of the Lord came again a second time and touched him and said, “Arise and eat, for the journey is too great for you.” 8 And he arose and ate and drank, and went in the strength of that food uforty days and forty nights to vHoreb, the mount of God.
The Lord Speaks to Elijah
9 There he came to a cave and lodged in it. And behold, wthe word of the Lord came to him, and he said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” 10 He said, “I have been very xjealous for the Lord, the God of hosts. For the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, ythrown down your altars, and zkilled your prophets with the sword, aand I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away.” 11 And he said, “Go out and bstand on the mount before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord passed by, and ca great and strong wind tore the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind dan earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. 12 And after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire the sound of a low whisper.1 13 And when Elijah heard it, ehe wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. And behold, fthere came a voice to him and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” 14 He said, x“I have been very jealous for the Lord, the God of hosts. For the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, ythrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away.” 15 And the Lord said to him, “Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus. And when you arrive, you shall anoint Hazael to be king over Syria. 16 gAnd Jehu the son of Nimshi you shall anoint to be king over Israel, and hElisha the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah you shall anoint to be prophet in your place. 17 And the one who escapes from ithe sword of Hazael jshall Jehu put to death, and the one who escapes from the sword of Jehu kshall Elisha put to death. 18 lYet I will leave seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not mkissed him.”
The Call of Elisha
19 So he departed from there and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, who was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen in front of him, and he was with the twelfth. Elijah passed by him and cast nhis cloak upon him. 20 And he left the oxen and ran after Elijah and said, o“Let me kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow you.” And he said to him, “Go back again, for what have I done to you?” 21 And he returned from following him and took the yoke of oxen and sacrificed them and boiled their flesh pwith the yokes of the oxen and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he arose and went after Elijah and assisted him.
Suffering for Righteousness’ Sake
8 Finally, all of you, uhave unity of mind, sympathy, vbrotherly love, wa tender heart, and xa humble mind. 9 yDo not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, zbless, for ato this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing. 10 For
b“Whoever desires to love life
and see good days,
let him keep his tongue from evil
and his lips from speaking deceit;
11 let him turn away from evil and do good;
let him seek peace and pursue it.
12 For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous,
and his ears are open to their prayer.
But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”
13 Now cwho is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good? 14 dBut even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you will be blessed. eHave no fear of them, fnor be troubled, 15 but gin your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, halways being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and irespect, 16 jhaving a good conscience, so that, kwhen you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. 17 For lit is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God’s will, than for doing evil.
18 For Christ also msuffered1 nonce for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, othat he might bring us to God, being put to death pin the flesh but made alive qin the spirit, 19 in which2 he went and qproclaimed3 to the spirits in prison, 20 because4 they formerly did not obey, rwhen God’s patience waited in the days of Noah, swhile the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, teight persons, were brought safely through water. 21 Baptism, which corresponds to this, unow saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but vas an appeal to God for a good conscience, wthrough the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 22 who has gone into heaven and xis at the right hand of God, ywith angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him.
Stewards of God’s Grace
1 Since therefore zChrist suffered in the flesh,5 aarm yourselves with the same way of thinking, for bwhoever has suffered in the flesh chas ceased from sin, 2 dso as to live for ethe rest of the time in the flesh fno longer for human passions but gfor the will of God. 3 For the time that is past hsuffices ifor doing what the Gentiles want to do, living in sensuality, passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and lawless idolatry. 4 With respect to this they are surprised when you do not join them in the same flood of jdebauchery, and kthey malign you; 5 but they will give account to him who is ready lto judge the living and the dead. 6 For this is why mthe gospel was preached even to those who are dead, that though judged in the flesh the way people are, they might live in the spirit the way God does.
