Elijah Flees to Horeb

19 Now Ahab told Jezebel^(A) everything Elijah had done and how he had killed^(B) all the prophets with the sword. ² So Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah to say, “May the gods deal with me, be it ever so severely,^(C) if by this time tomorrow I do not make your life like that of one of them.”^(D)

³ Elijah was afraid^[a] and ran^(E) for his life.^(F) When he came to Beersheba^(G) in Judah, he left his servant there, ⁴ while he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness. He came to a broom bush,^(H) sat down under it and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, Lord,” he said. “Take my life;^(I) I am no better than my ancestors.” ⁵ Then he lay down under the bush and fell asleep.^(J)

All at once an angel^(K) touched him and said, “Get up and eat.” ⁶ He looked around, and there by his head was some bread baked over hot coals, and a jar of water. He ate and drank and then lay down again.

⁷ The angel of the Lord came back a second time and touched him and said, “Get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you.” ⁸ So he got up and ate and drank. Strengthened by that food, he traveled forty^(L) days and forty nights until he reached Horeb,^(M) the mountain of God. ⁹ There he went into a cave^(N) and spent the night.

The Lord Appears to Elijah

And the word of the Lord came to him: “What are you doing here, Elijah?”^(O)

¹⁰ He replied, “I have been very zealous^(P) for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant,^(Q) torn down your altars,^(R) and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left,^(S) and now they are trying to kill me too.”

¹¹ The Lord said, “Go out and stand on the mountain^(T) in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.”^(U)

Then a great and powerful wind^(V) tore the mountains apart and shattered^(W) the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. ¹² After the earthquake came a fire,^(X) but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper.^{(Y) 13} When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face^(Z) and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave.

Then a voice said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

¹⁴ He replied, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left,^(AA) and now they are trying to kill me too.”

¹⁵ The Lord said to him, “Go back the way you came, and go to the Desert of Damascus. When you get there, anoint Hazael^(AB) king over Aram. ¹⁶ Also, anoint^(AC) Jehu son of Nimshi king over Israel, and anoint Elisha^(AD) son of Shaphat from Abel Meholah^(AE) to succeed you as prophet. ¹⁷ Jehu will put to death any who escape the sword of Hazael,^(AF) and Elisha will put to death any who escape the sword of Jehu.^{(AG) 18} Yet I reserve^(AH) seven thousand in Israel—all whose knees have not bowed down to Baal and whose mouths have not kissed^(AI) him.”

The Call of Elisha

¹⁹ So Elijah went from there and found Elisha son of Shaphat. He was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen, and he himself was driving the twelfth pair. Elijah went up to him and threw his cloak^(AJ) around him. ²⁰ Elisha then left his oxen and ran after Elijah. “Let me kiss my father and mother goodbye,”^(AK) he said, “and then I will come with you.”

“Go back,” Elijah replied. “What have I done to you?”

²¹ So Elisha left him and went back. He took his yoke of oxen^(AL) and slaughtered them. He burned the plowing equipment to cook the meat and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he set out to follow Elijah and became his servant.^(AM)

³ This is what the Lord says to the people of Judah and to Jerusalem:

Disaster From the North

¹⁰ Then I said, “Alas, Sovereign Lord! How completely you have deceived^(AD) this people and Jerusalem by saying, ‘You will have peace,’^(AE) when the sword is at our throats!”

¹¹ At that time this people and Jerusalem will be told, “A scorching wind^(AF) from the barren heights in the desert blows toward my people, but not to winnow or cleanse; ¹² a wind^(AG) too strong for that comes from me. Now I pronounce my judgments^(AH) against them.”

²⁷ This is what the Lord says:

The Weak and the Strong

14 Accept the one whose faith is weak,^(A) without quarreling over disputable matters. ² One person’s faith allows them to eat anything, but another, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables.^{(B) 3} The one who eats everything must not treat with contempt^(C) the one who does not, and the one who does not eat everything must not judge^(D) the one who does, for God has accepted them. ⁴ Who are you to judge someone else’s servant?^(E) To their own master, servants stand or fall. And they will stand, for the Lord is able to make them stand.

⁵ One person considers one day more sacred than another;^(F) another considers every day alike. Each of them should be fully convinced in their own mind. ⁶ Whoever regards one day as special does so to the Lord. Whoever eats meat does so to the Lord, for they give thanks to God;^(G) and whoever abstains does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God. ⁷ For none of us lives for ourselves alone,^(H) and none of us dies for ourselves alone. ⁸ If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.^{(I) 9} For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life^(J) so that he might be the Lord of both the dead and the living.^(K)

¹⁰ You, then, why do you judge your brother or sister^[a]? Or why do you treat them with contempt?^(L) For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat.^{(M) 11} It is written:

¹² So then, each of us will give an account of ourselves to God.^(P)

¹³ Therefore let us stop passing judgment^(Q) on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in the way of a brother or sister.^{(R) 14} I am convinced, being fully persuaded in the Lord Jesus, that nothing is unclean in itself.^(S) But if anyone regards something as unclean, then for that person it is unclean.^{(T) 15} If your brother or sister is distressed because of what you eat, you are no longer acting in love.^(U) Do not by your eating destroy someone for whom Christ died.^{(V) 16} Therefore do not let what you know is good be spoken of as evil.^{(W) 17} For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking,^(X) but of righteousness, peace^(Y) and joy in the Holy Spirit,^{(Z) 18} because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and receives human approval.^(AA)

¹⁹ Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace^(AB) and to mutual edification.^{(AC) 20} Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food.^(AD) All food is clean,^(AE) but it is wrong for a person to eat anything that causes someone else to stumble.^{(AF) 21} It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything else that will cause your brother or sister to fall.^(AG)

²² So whatever you believe about these things keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who does not condemn^(AH) himself by what he approves. ²³ But whoever has doubts^(AI) is condemned if they eat, because their eating is not from faith; and everything that does not come from faith is sin.^[c]

15 We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak^(AJ) and not to please ourselves. ² Each of us should please our neighbors for their good,^(AK) to build them up.^{(AL) 3} For even Christ did not please himself^(AM) but, as it is written: “The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.”^{[d](AN) 4} For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us,^(AO) so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope.

⁵ May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind^(AP) toward each other that Christ Jesus had, ⁶ so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify^(AQ) the God and Father^(AR) of our Lord Jesus Christ.

⁷ Accept one another,^(AS) then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God. ⁸ For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the Jews^[e](AT) on behalf of God’s truth, so that the promises^(AU) made to the patriarchs might be confirmed ⁹ and, moreover, that the Gentiles^(AV) might glorify God^(AW) for his mercy. As it is written:

¹⁰ Again, it says,

¹¹ And again,

¹² And again, Isaiah says,

¹³ May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace^(BC) as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.^(BD)

Paul the Minister to the Gentiles

¹⁴ I myself am convinced, my brothers and sisters, that you yourselves are full of goodness,^(BE) filled with knowledge^(BF) and competent to instruct one another. ¹⁵ Yet I have written you quite boldly on some points to remind you of them again, because of the grace God gave me^{(BG) 16} to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles.^(BH) He gave me the priestly duty of proclaiming the gospel of God,^(BI) so that the Gentiles might become an offering^(BJ) acceptable to God, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.

¹⁷ Therefore I glory in Christ Jesus^(BK) in my service to God.^{(BL) 18} I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me in leading the Gentiles^(BM) to obey God^(BN) by what I have said and done— ¹⁹ by the power of signs and wonders,^(BO) through the power of the Spirit of God.^(BP) So from Jerusalem^(BQ) all the way around to Illyricum, I have fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ.^{(BR) 20} It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel^(BS) where Christ was not known, so that I would not be building on someone else’s foundation.^{(BT) 21} Rather, as it is written:

²² This is why I have often been hindered from coming to you.^(BV)

Paul’s Plan to Visit Rome

²³ But now that there is no more place for me to work in these regions, and since I have been longing for many years to visit you,^{(BW) 24} I plan to do so when I go to Spain.^(BX) I hope to see you while passing through and to have you assist^(BY) me on my journey there, after I have enjoyed your company for a while. ²⁵ Now, however, I am on my way to Jerusalem^(BZ) in the service^(CA) of the Lord’s people^(CB) there. ²⁶ For Macedonia^(CC) and Achaia^(CD) were pleased to make a contribution for the poor among the Lord’s people in Jerusalem.^{(CE) 27} They were pleased to do it, and indeed they owe it to them. For if the Gentiles have shared in the Jews’ spiritual blessings, they owe it to the Jews to share with them their material blessings.^{(CF) 28} So after I have completed this task and have made sure that they have received this contribution, I will go to Spain^(CG) and visit you on the way. ²⁹ I know that when I come to you,^(CH) I will come in the full measure of the blessing of Christ.

³⁰ I urge you, brothers and sisters, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit,^(CI) to join me in my struggle by praying to God for me.^{(CJ) 31} Pray that I may be kept safe^(CK) from the unbelievers in Judea and that the contribution^(CL) I take to Jerusalem may be favorably received by the Lord’s people^(CM) there, ³² so that I may come to you^(CN) with joy, by God’s will,^(CO) and in your company be refreshed.^{(CP) 33} The God of peace^(CQ) be with you all. Amen.