Ahab’s Wars with Syria

1 ^qBen-hadad the king of Syria gathered all his army together. ^rThirty-two kings were with him, and horses and chariots. And he went up and closed in on ^sSamaria and fought against it. 2 And he sent messengers into the city to Ahab king of Israel and said to him, “Thus says Ben-hadad: 3 ‘Your silver and your gold are mine; your best wives and children also are mine.’” 4 And the king of Israel answered, “As you say, my lord, O king, I am yours, and all that I have.” 5 The messengers came again and said, “Thus says Ben-hadad: ‘I sent to you, saying, “Deliver to me your silver and your gold, your wives and your children.” 6 Nevertheless I will send my servants to you tomorrow about this time, and they shall search your house and the houses of your servants and lay hands on whatever pleases you and take it away.’”

7 Then the king of Israel called all the ^telders of the land and said, ^u“Mark, now, and see how this man is seeking trouble, for he sent to me for my wives and my children, and for my silver and my gold, and I did not refuse him.” 8 And all the elders and all the people said to him, “Do not listen or consent.” 9 So he said to the messengers of Ben-hadad, “Tell my lord the king, ‘All that you first demanded of your servant I will do, but this thing I cannot do.’” And the messengers departed and brought him word again. 10 Ben-hadad sent to him and said, ^v“The gods do so to me and more also, if the dust of Samaria shall suffice for handfuls for all the people ^wwho follow me.” 11 And the king of Israel answered, “Tell him, ‘Let not him who straps on his armor boast himself as he who takes it off.’” 12 When Ben-hadad heard this message as ^xhe was drinking with the kings in the booths, he said to his men, “Take your positions.” And they took their positions against the city.

Ahab Defeats Ben-hadad

13 And behold, a prophet came near to Ahab king of Israel and said, “Thus says the Lord, Have you seen all this great multitude? Behold, ^yI will give it into your hand this day, ^zand you shall know that I am the Lord.” 14 And Ahab said, “By whom?” He said, “Thus says the Lord, By the servants of the governors of the districts.” Then he said, “Who shall begin the battle?” He answered, “You.” 15 Then he mustered the servants of the governors of the districts, and they were 232. And after them he mustered all the people of Israel, seven thousand.

16 And they went out at noon, while Ben-hadad ^xwas drinking himself drunk in the booths, he and the thirty-two kings who helped him. 17 The servants of the governors of the districts went out first. And Ben-hadad sent out scouts, and they reported to him, “Men are coming out from Samaria.” 18 He said, “If they have come out for peace, take them alive. Or if they have come out for war, take them alive.”

19 So these went out of the city, the servants of the governors of the districts and the army that followed them. 20 And each struck down his man. The Syrians fled, and Israel pursued them, but Ben-hadad king of Syria escaped on a horse with horsemen. 21 And the king of Israel went out and struck the horses and chariots, and struck the Syrians with a great blow.

22 Then ^athe prophet came near to the king of Israel and said to him, “Come, strengthen yourself, and consider well what you have to do, for ^bin the spring the king of Syria will come up against you.”

23 And the servants of the king of Syria said to him, “Their gods are gods of the hills, and so they were stronger than we. But let us fight against them in the plain, and surely we shall be stronger than they. 24 And do this: remove the kings, each from his post, and put commanders in their places, 25 and muster an army like the army that you have lost, horse for horse, and chariot for chariot. Then we will fight against them in the plain, and surely we shall be stronger than they.” And he listened to their voice and did so.

Ahab Defeats Ben-hadad Again

26 ^bIn the spring, Ben-hadad mustered the Syrians and went up to ^cAphek to fight against Israel. 27 And the people of Israel were mustered and were provisioned and went against them. The people of Israel encamped before them like two little flocks of goats, but the Syrians filled the country. 28 And a ^dman of God came near and said to the king of Israel, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Because the Syrians have said, ^e“The Lord is a god of the hills but he is not a god of the valleys,” therefore ^fI will give all this great multitude into your hand, and you shall know that I am the Lord.’” 29 And they encamped opposite one another seven days. Then on the seventh day the battle was joined. And the people of Israel struck down of the Syrians 100,000 foot soldiers in one day. 30 And the rest fled into the city of ^cAphek, and the wall fell upon 27,000 men who were left.

Ben-hadad also fled and entered ^gan inner chamber in the city. 31 And his servants said to him, “Behold now, we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are merciful kings. Let us ^hput sackcloth around our waists and ropes on our heads and go out to the king of Israel. Perhaps he will spare your life.” 32 So they ^htied sackcloth around their waists and put ropes on their heads and went to the king of Israel and said, “Your servant Ben-hadad says, ‘Please, let me live.’” And he said, “Does he still live? He is my brother.” 33 Now the men were watching for a sign, and they quickly took it up from him and said, “Yes, your brother Ben-hadad.” Then he said, “Go and bring him.” Then Ben-hadad came out to him, and he caused him to come up into the chariot. 34 And Ben-hadad said to him, ⁱ“The cities that my father took from your father I will restore, and you may establish bazaars for yourself in ^jDamascus, as my father did in Samaria.” And Ahab said, “I will let you go on these terms.” So he made a covenant with him and let him go.

A Prophet Condemns Ben-hadad’s Release

35 And a certain man of ^kthe sons of the prophets said to his fellow ^lat the command of the Lord, “Strike me, please.” But the man refused to strike him. 36 Then he said to him, “Because you have not obeyed the voice of the Lord, behold, as soon as you have gone from me, a lion shall strike you down.” And as soon as he had departed from him, ^ma lion met him and struck him down. 37 Then he found another man and said, “Strike me, please.” And the man struck him—struck him and wounded him. 38 So the prophet departed and waited for the king by the way, ⁿdisguising himself with a bandage over his eyes. 39 And as the king passed, he cried to the king and said, “Your servant went out into the midst of the battle, and behold, a soldier turned and brought a man to me and said, ‘Guard this man; if by any means he is missing, ^oyour life shall be for his life, or else you shall pay a talent¹ of silver.’ 40 And as your servant was busy here and there, he was gone.” The king of Israel said to him, “So shall your judgment be; you yourself have decided it.” 41 Then he hurried to take the bandage away from his eyes, and the king of Israel recognized him as one of the prophets. 42 And he said to him, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Because you have let go out of your hand the man whom I had devoted to destruction,² therefore ^oyour life shall be for his life, and your people for his people.’” 43 And the king of Israel ^pwent to his house vexed and sullen and came to Samaria.

My Refuge and My Fortress

Greeting

1 Paul, ^aan apostle of Christ Jesus ^bby the will of God,

To the saints who are in Ephesus, and ^care faithful¹ in Christ Jesus:

2 ^dGrace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Spiritual Blessings in Christ

3 ^eBlessed be ^fthe God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing ^gin the heavenly places, 4 ^heven as he ⁱchose us in him ^jbefore the foundation of the world, that we should be ^kholy and blameless before him. In love 5 ^lhe predestined us² for ^madoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, ⁿaccording to the purpose of his will, 6 ^oto the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in ^pthe Beloved. 7 ^qIn him we have ^rredemption ^sthrough his blood, ^tthe forgiveness of our trespasses, ^uaccording to the riches of his grace, 8 which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight 9 ^vmaking known³ to us the mystery of his will, ⁿaccording to his purpose, which he ^wset forth in Christ⁴ 10 as a plan for ^xthe fullness of time, ^yto unite all things in Christ, things in heaven and things on earth in him.

11 In him we have obtained ^zan inheritance, ^ahaving been predestined ^baccording to the purpose of him who works all things according to ^cthe counsel of his will, 12 so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be ^dto the praise of his glory. 13 In him you also, when you heard ^ethe word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, ^fwere sealed with the ^gpromised Holy Spirit, 14 who is ^hthe guarantee⁵ of our ⁱinheritance until ^jwe acquire ^kpossession of it,^{6 l}to the praise of his glory.

Thanksgiving and Prayer

15 For this reason, ^mbecause I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love⁷ toward all the saints, 16 I ⁿdo not cease to give thanks for you, ^oremembering you in my prayers, 17 that ^pthe God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, ^qmay give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, 18 ^rhaving the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is ^sthe hope to which he has called you, what are ^tthe riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, ^uaccording to the working of ^vhis great might 20 that he worked in Christ ^wwhen he raised him from the dead and ^xseated him at his right hand ^yin the heavenly places, 21 ^zfar above ^aall rule and authority and power and dominion, and above ^bevery name that is named, not only in ^cthis age but also in the one to come. 22 And ^dhe put all things under his feet and gave him as ^ehead over all things to the church, 23 ^fwhich is his body, ^gthe fullness of him ^hwho fills ⁱall in all.

By Grace Through Faith

1 ^jAnd you were ^kdead in the trespasses and sins 2 ^lin which you once walked, following the course⁸ of this world, following ^mthe prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in ⁿthe sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in ^othe passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the flesh and the mind, and ^pwere by nature ^qchildren of wrath, like the rest of mankind.⁹ 4 But¹⁰ God, being ^rrich in mercy, ^sbecause of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even ^twhen we were dead in our trespasses, ^umade us alive together with Christ—^vby grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and ^wseated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable ^xriches of his grace in ^ykindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For ^zby grace you have been saved ^athrough faith. And this is ^bnot your own doing; ^cit is the gift of God, 9 ^dnot a result of works, ^eso that no one may boast. 10 For ^fwe are his workmanship, ^gcreated in Christ Jesus ^hfor good works, ⁱwhich God prepared beforehand, ^jthat we should walk in them.

One in Christ

11 Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called ^kthe circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands— 12 remember ^lthat you were at that time separated from Christ, ^malienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to ⁿthe covenants of promise, ^ohaving no hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were ^pfar off have been brought near ^qby the blood of Christ. 14 For ^rhe himself is our peace, ^swho has made us both one and has broken down ^tin his flesh the dividing wall of hostility 15 by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ^uordinances, that he might create in himself one ^vnew man in place of the two, so making peace, 16 and might ^wreconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. 17 And he came and ^xpreached peace to you who were ^yfar off and peace to those who were ^znear. 18 For ^athrough him we both have ^baccess in ^cone Spirit to the Father. 19 So then you are no longer ^dstrangers and aliens,¹¹ but you are ^efellow citizens with the saints and ^fmembers of the household of God, 20 ^gbuilt on the foundation of the ^hapostles and prophets, ⁱChrist Jesus himself being ^jthe cornerstone, 21 ^kin whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into ^la holy temple in the Lord. 22 In him ^myou also are being built together ⁿinto a dwelling place for God by¹² the Spirit.

The Mystery of the Gospel Revealed

1 For this reason I, Paul, ^oa prisoner of Christ Jesus ^pon behalf of you Gentiles— 2 assuming that you have heard of ^qthe stewardship of ^rGod’s grace that was given to me for you, 3 ^show the mystery was made known to me ^tby revelation, ^uas I have written briefly. 4 ^vWhen you read this, you can perceive my insight into ^wthe mystery of Christ, 5 which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit. 6 This mystery is¹³ that the Gentiles are ^xfellow heirs, ^ymembers of the same body, and ^zpartakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.

7 ^aOf this gospel I was made ^ba minister according to the gift of ^cGod’s grace, which was given me ^dby the working of his power. 8 To me, ^ethough I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, ^fto preach to the Gentiles the ^gunsearchable ^hriches of Christ, 9 and ⁱto bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery ^jhidden for ages in¹⁴ God, ^kwho created all things, 10 so that through the church the manifold ^lwisdom of God ^mmight now be made known to ⁿthe rulers and authorities ^oin the heavenly places. 11 This was ^paccording to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord, 12 in whom we have ^qboldness and ^raccess with ^sconfidence through our ^tfaith in him. 13 So I ask you not to lose heart over what I am suffering ^ufor you, ^vwhich is your glory.

Prayer for Spiritual Strength

14 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, 15 from whom ^wevery family¹⁵ in heaven and on earth is named, 16 that according to ^xthe riches of his glory ^yhe may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit ^zin your inner being, 17 ^aso that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being ^brooted and ^cgrounded in love, 18 may have strength to ^dcomprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and ^eheight and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ ^fthat surpasses knowledge, that ^gyou may be filled with all ^hthe fullness of God.

20 ⁱNow to ^jhim who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, ^kaccording to the power at work within us, 21 ^lto him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.