Elijah Denounces Ahaziah

1 ^aAfter the death of Ahab, Moab ^brebelled against Israel.

2 Now Ahaziah fell through the lattice in his upper chamber in Samaria, and lay sick; so he sent messengers, telling them, “Go, inquire of ^cBaal-zebub, the god of Ekron, ^dwhether I shall recover from this sickness.” 3 But the angel of the Lord said to Elijah ^ethe Tishbite, “Arise, go up to meet the messengers of the king of Samaria, and say to them, ‘Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are going to inquire of ^cBaal-zebub, the god of Ekron? 4 Now therefore thus says the Lord, ^fYou shall not come down from the bed to which you have gone up, but you shall surely die.’” So Elijah went.

5 The messengers returned to the king, and he said to them, “Why have you returned?” 6 And they said to him, “There came a man to meet us, and said to us, ‘Go back to the king who sent you, and say to him, Thus says the Lord, Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are sending to inquire of ^cBaal-zebub, the god of Ekron? Therefore you shall not come down from the bed to which you have gone up, but you shall surely die.’” 7 He said to them, “What kind of man was he who came to meet you and told you these things?” 8 They answered him, ^g“He wore a garment of hair, with a belt of leather about his waist.” And he said, “It is Elijah the Tishbite.”

9 Then the king sent to him a captain of fifty men with his fifty. He went up to Elijah, who was sitting on the top of a hill, and said to him, ^h“O man of God, the king says, ‘Come down.’” 10 But Elijah answered the captain of fifty, “If I am a man of God, ⁱlet fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty.” Then fire came down from heaven and consumed him and his fifty.

11 Again the king sent to him another captain of fifty men with his fifty. And he answered and said to him, “O man of God, this is the king’s order, ‘Come down quickly!’” 12 But Elijah answered them, “If I am a man of God, ^jlet fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty.” Then the fire of God came down from heaven and consumed him and his fifty.

13 Again the king sent the captain of a third fifty with his fifty. And the third captain of fifty went up and came and fell on his knees before Elijah and entreated him, “O man of God, please let my life, and the life of these fifty servants of yours, ^kbe precious in your sight. 14 Behold, fire came down from heaven and consumed the two former captains of fifty men with their fifties, but now let my life be precious in your sight.” 15 Then the angel of the Lord said to Elijah, “Go down with him; do not be afraid of him.” So he arose and went down with him to the king 16 and said to him, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Because you have sent messengers to inquire of ^cBaal-zebub, the god of Ekron—is it because there is no God in Israel to inquire of his word?—therefore you shall not come down from the bed to which you have gone up, but you shall surely die.’”

17 So he died according to the word of the Lord that Elijah had spoken. Jehoram became king in his place ^lin the second year of Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, because Ahaziah had no son. 18 Now the rest of the acts of Ahaziah that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?

The Lord Will Not Forsake His People

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.