Ahab and the False Prophets

1 For three years Syria and Israel continued without war. 2 ^sBut in the third year ^tJehoshaphat the king of Judah came down to the king of Israel. 3 And the king of Israel said to his servants, “Do you know that ^uRamoth-gilead belongs to us, and we keep quiet and do not take it out of the hand of the king of Syria?” 4 And he said to Jehoshaphat, “Will you go with me to battle at Ramoth-gilead?” And Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, ^v“I am as you are, my people as your people, my horses as your horses.”

5 And Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, “Inquire first for the word of the Lord.” 6 Then the king of Israel ^wgathered the prophets together, about four hundred men, and said to them, “Shall I go to battle against Ramoth-gilead, or shall I refrain?” And they said, “Go up, for the Lord will give it into the hand of the king.” 7 But ^xJehoshaphat said, “Is there not here another prophet of the Lord of whom we may inquire?” 8 And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “There is yet one man by whom we may inquire of the Lord, Micaiah the son of Imlah, but I hate him, for he never prophesies good concerning me, but evil.” And Jehoshaphat said, “Let not the king say so.” 9 Then the king of Israel summoned an officer and said, “Bring quickly Micaiah the son of Imlah.” 10 Now the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah were sitting on their thrones, arrayed in their robes, at the threshing floor ^yat the entrance of the gate of Samaria, and all the prophets were prophesying before them. 11 And Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah made for himself ^zhorns of iron and said, “Thus says the Lord, ‘With these ^ayou shall push the Syrians until they are destroyed.’” 12 And all the prophets prophesied so and said, “Go up to Ramoth-gilead and triumph; the Lord will give it into the hand of the king.”

Micaiah Prophesies Against Ahab

13 And the messenger who went to summon Micaiah said to him, “Behold, the words of the prophets with one accord are favorable to the king. Let your word be like the word of one of them, and speak favorably.” 14 But Micaiah said, ^b“As the Lord lives, ^cwhat the Lord says to me, that I will speak.” 15 And when he had come to the king, the king said to him, “Micaiah, shall we go to Ramoth-gilead to battle, or shall we refrain?” And he answered him, “Go up and triumph; the Lord will give it into the hand of the king.” 16 But the king said to him, “How many times shall I make you swear that you speak to me nothing but the truth in the name of the Lord?” 17 And he said, “I saw all Israel scattered on the mountains, ^das sheep that have no shepherd. And the Lord said, ‘These have no master; let each return to his home in peace.’” 18 And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, ^e“Did I not tell you that he would not prophesy good concerning me, but evil?” 19 And Micaiah said, “Therefore hear the word of the Lord: ^fI saw the Lord sitting on his throne, ^gand all the host of heaven standing beside him on his right hand and on his left; 20 and the Lord said, ‘Who will entice Ahab, that he may go up and fall at Ramoth-gilead?’ And one said one thing, and another said another. 21 Then a spirit came forward and stood before the Lord, saying, ‘I will entice him.’ 22 And the Lord said to him, ‘By what means?’ And he said, ‘I will go out, and will be ^ha lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.’ And he said, ‘You are to entice him, and you shall succeed; go out and do so.’ 23 Now therefore behold, the Lord has put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these your prophets; the Lord has declared disaster for you.”

24 Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah came near ⁱand struck Micaiah on the cheek and said, “How did the Spirit of the Lord go from me to speak to you?” 25 And Micaiah said, “Behold, you shall see on that day when you go ^jinto an inner chamber to hide yourself.” 26 And the king of Israel said, “Seize Micaiah, and take him back to Amon the governor of the city and to Joash the king’s son, 27 and say, ‘Thus says the king, ^k“Put this fellow in prison and feed him meager rations of bread and water, ^luntil I come in peace.”’” 28 And Micaiah said, “If you return in peace, ^mthe Lord has not spoken by me.” And he said, ⁿ“Hear, all you peoples!”

How Great Are Your Works

A Psalm. A Song for the Sabbath.

Unity in the Body of Christ

1 I therefore, ^ma prisoner for the Lord, urge you to ⁿwalk in a manner worthy of ^othe calling to which you have been called, 2 with all ^phumility and ^qgentleness, with ^rpatience, ^sbearing with one another in love, 3 eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in ^tthe bond of peace. 4 There is ^uone body and ^vone Spirit—just as you were called to the one ^whope that belongs to your call— 5 ^xone Lord, ^yone faith, ^zone baptism, 6 ^aone God and Father of all, ^bwho is over all and through all and in all. 7 But ^cgrace was given ^dto each one of us ^eaccording to the measure of Christ’s gift. 8 Therefore it says,

9 (^hIn saying, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended into ⁱthe lower regions, the earth?² 10 He who descended is the one who also ^jascended ^kfar above all the heavens, that he might ^lfill all things.) 11 And ^mhe gave the ⁿapostles, the prophets, the ^oevangelists, the ^pshepherds³ and teachers,⁴ 12 ^qto equip the saints for the work of ministry, for ^rbuilding up ^sthe body of Christ, 13 until we all attain to ^tthe unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, ^uto mature manhood,⁵ to the measure of the stature of ^vthe fullness of Christ, 14 so that we may no longer be children, ^wtossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in ^xdeceitful schemes. 15 Rather, ^yspeaking the truth in love, we are to ^zgrow up in every way into him who is ^athe head, into Christ, 16 ^bfrom whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, ^cwhen each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.

The New Life

17 Now this I say and ^dtestify in the Lord, ^ethat you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, ^fin the futility of their minds. 18 They ^gare darkened in their understanding, ^halienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to ⁱtheir hardness of heart. 19 They ^jhave become callous and ^khave given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. 20 But that is not the way you ^llearned Christ!— 21 assuming that ^myou have heard about him and ⁿwere taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, 22 to ^oput off ^pyour old self,⁶ which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through ^qdeceitful desires, 23 and ^rto be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 24 and to put on ^sthe new self, ^tcreated after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

25 Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you ^uspeak the truth with his neighbor, for ^vwe are members one of another. 26 ^wBe angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, 27 and ^xgive no opportunity to the devil. 28 Let the thief no longer steal, but rather ^ylet him labor, ^zdoing honest work with his own hands, so ^athat he may have something to share with anyone in need. 29 ^bLet no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give ^cgrace to those who hear. 30 And ^ddo not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, ^eby whom you were sealed for the day of ^fredemption. 31 ^gLet all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. 32 ^hBe kind to one another, tenderhearted, ⁱforgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

Walk in Love

1 ^jTherefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. 2 And ^kwalk in love, ^las Christ loved us and ^mgave himself up for us, a ⁿfragrant ^ooffering and sacrifice to God.

3 But ^psexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness ^qmust not even be named among you, as is proper among saints. 4 Let there be ^rno filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, ^swhich are out of place, but instead ^tlet there be thanksgiving. 5 For you may be sure of this, that ^ueveryone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (^vthat is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. 6 ^wLet no one ^xdeceive you with empty words, for because of these things ^ythe wrath of God comes upon ^zthe sons of disobedience. 7 Therefore ^ado not become partners with them; 8 for ^bat one time you were ^cdarkness, but now you are light in the Lord. ^dWalk as children of light 9 (for ^ethe fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), 10 and ^ftry to discern what is pleasing to the Lord. 11 ^gTake no part in the ^hunfruitful ⁱworks of darkness, but instead ^jexpose them. 12 For ^kit is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret. 13 But when ^lanything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible, 14 for anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says,

15 ^pLook carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, 16 ^pmaking the best use of the time, because ^qthe days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what ^rthe will of the Lord is. 18 And ^sdo not get drunk with wine, for that is ^tdebauchery, but ^ube filled with the Spirit, 19 addressing one another in ^vpsalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, 20 ^wgiving thanks always and for everything to God the Father ^xin the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, 21 ^ysubmitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.

Wives and Husbands

22 ^zWives, ^asubmit to your own husbands, ^bas to the Lord. 23 For ^cthe husband is the head of the wife even as ^dChrist is the head of the church, his body, and is ^ehimself its Savior. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit ^fin everything to their husbands.

25 ^gHusbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and ^hgave himself up for her, 26 that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by ⁱthe washing of water ^jwith the word, 27 so ^kthat he might present the church to himself in splendor, ^lwithout spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.⁷ 28 In the same way ^mhusbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, 30 because ⁿwe are members of his body. 31 ^o“Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and ^pthe two shall become one flesh.” 32 This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. 33 However, ^qlet each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she ^rrespects her husband.

Children and Parents

1 ^sChildren, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2 ^t“Honor your father and mother” (this is the first commandment with a promise), 3 “that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.” 4 Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, ^ubut bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

Bondservants and Masters

5 ^vBondservants,⁸ obey your earthly masters⁹ with fear and trembling, ^wwith a sincere heart, ^xas you would Christ, 6 not by the way of eye-service, as ^ypeople-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, 7 rendering service with a good will as to the Lord and not to man, 8 ^zknowing that whatever good anyone does, this he will receive back from the Lord, ^awhether he is a bondservant or is free. 9 Masters, do the same to them, ^band stop your threatening, knowing that ^che who is both their Master¹⁰ and yours is in heaven, and that ^dthere is no partiality with him.

The Whole Armor of God

10 Finally, ^ebe strong in the Lord and in ^fthe strength of his might. 11 ^gPut on ^hthe whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against ⁱthe schemes of the devil. 12 For ^jwe do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against ^kthe rulers, against the authorities, against ^lthe cosmic powers over ^mthis present darkness, against ⁿthe spiritual forces of evil ^oin the heavenly places. 13 Therefore ^ptake up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in ^qthe evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. 14 Stand therefore, ^rhaving fastened on the belt of truth, and ^shaving put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and, ^tas shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. 16 In all circumstances take up ^uthe shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all ^vthe flaming darts of ^wthe evil one; 17 and take ^sthe helmet of salvation, and ^xthe sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, 18 praying ^yat all times ^zin the Spirit, ^awith all prayer and supplication. To that end, ^bkeep alert with all perseverance, making ^csupplication for all the saints, 19 and ^dalso for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth ^eboldly to proclaim ^fthe mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I ^gam an ambassador ^hin chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak.

Final Greetings

21 ⁱSo that you also may know how I am and what I am doing, ^jTychicus the beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord will tell you everything. 22 I have sent him to you for this very purpose, that you may know how we are, and that he may ^kencourage your hearts.

23 ^lPeace be to the brothers,¹¹ and ^mlove with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 24 Grace be with all who ⁿlove our Lord Jesus Christ with love incorruptible.