¹And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, also how he had executed all the prophets with the sword. ²Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time.” ³And when he saw that, he arose and ran for his life, and went to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there. ⁴But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a broom tree. And he prayed that he might die, and said, “It is enough! Now, Lord, take my life, for I am no better than my fathers!” ⁵Then as he lay and slept under a broom tree, suddenly an angel touched him, and said to him, “Arise and eat.” ⁶Then he looked, and there by his head was a cake baked on coals, and a jar of water. So he ate and drank, and lay down again. ⁷And the angel of the Lᴏʀᴅ came back the second time, and touched him, and said, “Arise and eat, because the journey is too great for you.” ⁸So he arose, and ate and drank; and he went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights as far as Horeb, the mountain of God. ⁹And there he went into a cave, and spent the night in that place; and behold, the word of the Lᴏʀᴅ came to him, and He said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” ¹⁰So he said, “I have been very zealous for the Lᴏʀᴅ God of hosts; for 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.” ¹¹Then He said, “Go out, and stand on the mountain before the Lᴏʀᴅ.” And behold, the Lᴏʀᴅ passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the Lᴏʀᴅ, but the Lᴏʀᴅ was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lᴏʀᴅ was not in the earthquake; ¹²and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lᴏʀᴅ was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice. ¹³So it was, when Elijah heard it, that 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, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” ¹⁴And he said, “I have been very zealous for the Lᴏʀᴅ God of hosts; because 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.” ¹⁵Then the Lᴏʀᴅ said to him: “Go, return on your way to the Wilderness of Damascus; and when you arrive, anoint Hazael as king over Syria. ¹⁶Also you shall anoint Jehu the son of Nimshi as king over Israel. And Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel Meholah you shall anoint as prophet in your place. ¹⁷It shall be that whoever escapes the sword of Hazael, Jehu will kill; and whoever escapes the sword of Jehu, Elisha will kill. ¹⁸Yet I have reserved seven thousand in Israel, all whose knees have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him.” ¹⁹So he departed from there, and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, who was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen before him, and he was with the twelfth. Then Elijah passed by him and threw his mantle on him. ²⁰And he left the oxen and ran after Elijah, and said, “Please 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?” ²¹So Elisha turned back from him, and took a yoke of oxen and slaughtered them and boiled their flesh, using the oxen’s equipment, and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he arose and followed Elijah, and became his servant.

¹For you yourselves know, brethren, that our coming to you was not in vain. ²But even after we had suffered before and were spitefully treated at Philippi, as you know, we were bold in our God to speak to you the gospel of God in much conflict. ³For our exhortation did not come from error or uncleanness, nor was it in deceit. ⁴But as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, even so we speak, not as pleasing men, but God who tests our hearts. ⁵For neither at any time did we use flattering words, as you know, nor a cloak for covetousness—God is witness. ⁶Nor did we seek glory from men, either from you or from others, when we might have made demands as apostles of Christ. ⁷But we were gentle among you, just as a nursing mother cherishes her own children. ⁸So, affectionately longing for you, we were well pleased to impart to you not only the gospel of God, but also our own lives, because you had become dear to us. ⁹For you remember, brethren, our labor and toil; for laboring night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you, we preached to you the gospel of God. ¹⁰You are witnesses, and God also, how devoutly and justly and blamelessly we behaved ourselves among you who believe; ¹¹as you know how we exhorted, and comforted, and charged every one of you, as a father does his own children, ¹²that you would walk worthy of God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory. ¹³For this reason we also thank God without ceasing, because when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you welcomed it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which also effectively works in you who believe. ¹⁴For you, brethren, became imitators of the churches of God which are in Judea in Christ Jesus. For you also suffered the same things from your own countrymen, just as they did from the Judeans, ¹⁵who killed both the Lord Jesus and their own prophets, and have persecuted us; and they do not please God and are contrary to all men, ¹⁶forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they may be saved, so as always to fill up the measure of their sins; but wrath has come upon them to the uttermost. ¹⁷But we, brethren, having been taken away from you for a short time in presence, not in heart, endeavored more eagerly to see your face with great desire. ¹⁸Therefore we wanted to come to you—even I, Paul, time and again—but Satan hindered us. ¹⁹For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Is it not even you in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at His coming? ²⁰For you are our glory and joy.

¹In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. ²And the Lᴏʀᴅ gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with some of the articles of the house of God, which he carried into the land of Shinar to the house of his god; and he brought the articles into the treasure house of his god. ³Then the king instructed Ashpenaz, the master of his eunuchs, to bring some of the children of Israel and some of the king’s descendants and some of the nobles, ⁴young men in whom there was no blemish, but good-looking, gifted in all wisdom, possessing knowledge and quick to understand, who had ability to serve in the king’s palace, and whom they might teach the language and literature of the Chaldeans. ⁵And the king appointed for them a daily provision of the king’s delicacies and of the wine which he drank, and three years of training for them, so that at the end of that time they might serve before the king. ⁶Now from among those of the sons of Judah were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. ⁷To them the chief of the eunuchs gave names: he gave Daniel the name Belteshazzar; to Hananiah, Shadrach; to Mishael, Meshach; and to Azariah, Abed-Nego. ⁸But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king’s delicacies, nor with the wine which he drank; therefore he requested of the chief of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself. ⁹Now God had brought Daniel into the favor and goodwill of the chief of the eunuchs. ¹⁰And the chief of the eunuchs said to Daniel, “I fear my lord the king, who has appointed your food and drink. For why should he see your faces looking worse than the young men who are your age? Then you would endanger my head before the king.” ¹¹So Daniel said to the steward whom the chief of the eunuchs had set over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, ¹²“Please test your servants for ten days, and let them give us vegetables to eat and water to drink. ¹³Then let our appearance be examined before you, and the appearance of the young men who eat the portion of the king’s delicacies; and as you see fit, so deal with your servants.” ¹⁴So he consented with them in this matter, and tested them ten days. ¹⁵And at the end of ten days their features appeared better and fatter in flesh than all the young men who ate the portion of the king’s delicacies. ¹⁶Thus the steward took away their portion of delicacies and the wine that they were to drink, and gave them vegetables. ¹⁷As for these four young men, God gave them knowledge and skill in all literature and wisdom; and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams. ¹⁸Now at the end of the days, when the king had said that they should be brought in, the chief of the eunuchs brought them in before Nebuchadnezzar. ¹⁹Then the king interviewed them, and among them all none was found like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah; therefore they served before the king. ²⁰And in all matters of wisdom and understanding about which the king examined them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and astrologers who were in all his realm. ²¹Thus Daniel continued until the first year of King Cyrus.

¹Oh, give thanks to the Lᴏʀᴅ! Call upon His name; Make known His deeds among the peoples! ²Sing to Him, sing psalms to Him; Talk of all His wondrous works! ³Glory in His holy name; Let the hearts of those rejoice who seek the Lᴏʀᴅ! ⁴Seek the Lᴏʀᴅ and His strength; Seek His face evermore! ⁵Remember His marvelous works which He has done, His wonders, and the judgments of His mouth, ⁶O seed of Abraham His servant, You children of Jacob, His chosen ones! ⁷He is the Lᴏʀᴅ our God; His judgments are in all the earth. ⁸He remembers His covenant forever, The word which He commanded, for a thousand generations, ⁹The covenant which He made with Abraham, And His oath to Isaac, ¹⁰And confirmed it to Jacob for a statute, To Israel as an everlasting covenant, ¹¹Saying, “To you I will give the land of Canaan As the allotment of your inheritance,” ¹²When they were few in number, Indeed very few, and strangers in it. ¹³When they went from one nation to another, From one kingdom to another people, ¹⁴He permitted no one to do them wrong; Yes, He rebuked kings for their sakes, ¹⁵Saying, “Do not touch My anointed ones, And do My prophets no harm.” ¹⁶Moreover He called for a famine in the land; He destroyed all the provision of bread. ¹⁷He sent a man before them— Joseph—who was sold as a slave. ¹⁸They hurt his feet with fetters, He was laid in irons. ¹⁹Until the time that his word came to pass, The word of the Lᴏʀᴅ tested him. ²⁰The king sent and released him, The ruler of the people let him go free. ²¹He made him lord of his house, And ruler of all his possessions, ²²To bind his princes at his pleasure, And teach his elders wisdom. ²³Israel also came into Egypt, And Jacob dwelt in the land of Ham. ²⁴He increased His people greatly, And made them stronger than their enemies. ²⁵He turned their heart to hate His people, To deal craftily with His servants. ²⁶He sent Moses His servant, And Aaron whom He had chosen. ²⁷They performed His signs among them, And wonders in the land of Ham. ²⁸He sent darkness, and made it dark; And they did not rebel against His word. ²⁹He turned their waters into blood, And killed their fish. ³⁰Their land abounded with frogs, Even in the chambers of their kings. ³¹He spoke, and there came swarms of flies, And lice in all their territory. ³²He gave them hail for rain, And flaming fire in their land. ³³He struck their vines also, and their fig trees, And splintered the trees of their territory. ³⁴He spoke, and locusts came, Young locusts without number, ³⁵And ate up all the vegetation in their land, And devoured the fruit of their ground. ³⁶He also destroyed all the firstborn in their land, The first of all their strength. ³⁷He also brought them out with silver and gold, And there was none feeble among His tribes. ³⁸Egypt was glad when they departed, For the fear of them had fallen upon them. ³⁹He spread a cloud for a covering, And fire to give light in the night. ⁴⁰The people asked, and He brought quail, And satisfied them with the bread of heaven. ⁴¹He opened the rock, and water gushed out; It ran in the dry places like a river. ⁴²For He remembered His holy promise, And Abraham His servant. ⁴³He brought out His people with joy, His chosen ones with gladness. ⁴⁴He gave them the lands of the Gentiles, And they inherited the labor of the nations, ⁴⁵That they might observe His statutes And keep His laws. Praise the Lᴏʀᴅ!