1 Corinthians 12; 2 Kings 6; 2 Kings 7:1-2; Jonah 1

1 Corinthians 12

1 About matters of the spirit: brothers, I do not want you to be unaware.

2 You know how, when you were pagans, you were led to dumb idols-being led astray.

3 Therefore I am informing you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God says, "Jesus is cursed," and no one can say, "Jesus is Lord," except by the Holy Spirit.

4 Now there are different gifts, but the same Spirit.

5 There are different ministries, but the same Lord.

6 And there are different activities, but the same God is active in everyone and everything.

7 A manifestation of the Spirit is given to each person to produce what is beneficial:

8 to one is given a message of wisdom through the Spirit, to another, a message of knowledge by the same Spirit,

9 to another, faith by the same Spirit, to another, gifts of healing by the one Spirit,

10 to another, the performing of miracles, to another, prophecy, to another, distinguishing between spirits, to another, different kinds of languages, to another, interpretation of languages.

11 But one and the same Spirit is active in all these, distributing to each one as He wills.

12 For as the body is one and has many parts, and all the parts of that body, though many, are one body-so also is Christ.

13 For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body-whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free-and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.

14 So the body is not one part but many.

15 If the foot should say, "Because I'm not a hand, I don't belong to the body," in spite of this it still belongs to the body.

16 And if the ear should say, "Because I'm not an eye, I don't belong to the body," in spite of this it still belongs to the body.

17 If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole were an ear, where would be the sense of smell?

18 But now God has placed the parts, each one of them, in the body just as He wanted.

19 And if they were all the same part, where would the body be?

20 Now there are many parts, yet one body.

21 So the eye cannot say to the hand, "I don't need you!" nor again the head to the feet, "I don't need you!"

22 On the contrary, all the more, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are necessary.

23 And those parts of the body that we think to be less honorable, we clothe these with greater honor, and our unpresentable parts have a better presentation.

24 But our presentable parts have no need [of clothing]. Instead, God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the less honorable,

25 so that there would be no division in the body, but that the members would have the same concern for each other.

26 So if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.

27 Now you are the body of Christ, and individual members of it.

28 And God has placed these in the church: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, next, miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, managing, various kinds of languages.

29 Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all do miracles?

30 Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in languages? Do all interpret?

31 But desire the greater gifts. And I will show you an even better way.

2 Kings 6

1 The sons of the prophets said to Elisha, "Please notice that the place where we live under your supervision is too small for us.

2 Please let us go to the Jordan where we can each get a log and can build ourselves a place to live there." "Go," he said.

3 Then one said, "Please come with your servants." "I'll come," he answered.

4 So he went with them, and when they came to the Jordan, they cut down trees.

5 As one of them was cutting down a tree, the iron [ax head] fell into the water, and he cried out: "Oh, my master, it was borrowed!"

6 Then the man of God asked, "Where did it fall?" When he showed him the place, the man of God cut a stick, threw it there, and made the iron float.

7 Then he said, "Pick it up." So he reached out and took it.

8 When the king of Aram was waging war against Israel, he conferred with his servants, "My camp will be at such and such a place."

9 But the man of God sent [word] to the king of Israel: "Be careful passing by this place, for the Arameans are going down there."

10 Consequently, the king of Israel sent [word] to the place the man of God had told him about. The man of God repeatedly warned the king, so the king would be on his guard.

11 The king of Aram was enraged because of this matter, and he called his servants and demanded of them, "Tell me, which one of us is for the king of Israel?"

12 One of his servants said, "No one, my lord the king. Elisha, the prophet in Israel, tells the king of Israel even the words you speak in your bedroom."

13 So the king said, "Go and see where he is, so I can send [men] to capture him." When he was told, "Elisha is in Dothan,"

14 he sent horses, chariots, and a massive army there. They went by night and surrounded the city.

15 When the servant of the man of God got up early and went out, he discovered an army with horses and chariots surrounding the city. So he asked Elisha, "Oh, my master, what are we to do?"

16 Elisha said, "Don't be afraid, for those who are with us outnumber those who are with them."

17 Then Elisha prayed, "Lord, please open his eyes and let him see." So the Lord opened the servant's eyes. He looked and saw that the mountain was covered with horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.

18 When the Arameans came against him, Elisha prayed to the Lord, "Please strike this nation with blindness." So He struck them with blindness, according to Elisha's word.

19 Then Elisha said to them, "This is not the way, and this is not the city. Follow me, and I will take you to the man you're looking for." And he led them to Samaria.

20 When they entered Samaria, Elisha said, "Lord, open these men's eyes and let them see." So the Lord opened their eyes. They looked and discovered [they were] in Samaria.

21 When the king of Israel saw them, he said to Elisha, "My father, should I kill them? I will kill them."

22 Elisha replied, "Don't kill them. Do you kill those you have captured with your sword or your bow? Set food and water in front of them so they can eat and drink and go to their master."

23 So he prepared a great feast for them. When they had eaten and drunk, he sent them away, and they went to their master. The Aramean raiders did not come into Israel's land again.

24 Some time later, King Ben-hadad of Aram brought all his military units together and marched up to besiege Samaria.

25 So there was a great famine in Samaria, and they continued the siege against it until a donkey's head [sold for] 80 silver [shekels], and a cup of dove's dung [sold for] five silver [shekels].

26 As the king of Israel was passing by on the wall, a woman cried out to him, "My lord the king, help!"

27 He answered, "If the Lord doesn't help you, where can I get help for you? From the threshing floor or the winepress?"

28 Then the king asked her, "What's the matter?" She said, "This woman said to me, 'Give up your son, and we will eat him today. Then we will eat my son tomorrow.'

29 So we boiled my son and ate him, and I said to her the next day, 'Give up your son, and we will eat him,' but she has hidden her son."

30 When the king heard the woman's words, he tore his clothes. Then, as he was passing by on the wall, the people saw that there was sackcloth under his clothes next to his skin.

31 He announced, "May God punish me and do so severely if the head of Elisha son of Shaphat remains on his shoulders today."

32 Elisha was sitting in his house, and the elders were sitting with him. The king sent a man ahead of him, but before the messenger got to him, Elisha said to the elders, "Do you see how this murderer has sent [someone] to cut off my head? Look, when the messenger comes, shut the door to keep him out. Isn't the sound of his master's feet behind him?"

33 While Elisha was still speaking with them, the messenger came down to him. Then he said, "This disaster is from the Lord. Why should I trust the Lord any longer?"

2 Kings 7:1-2

1 Elisha said, "Hear the word of the Lord! This is what the Lord says: 'About this time tomorrow at the gate of Samaria, six quarts of fine meal [will sell] for a shekel and 12 quarts of barley [will sell] for a shekel.' "

2 Then the captain, the king's right-hand man, responded to the man of God, "Look, [even if] the Lord were to make windows in heaven, could this really happen?" Elisha announced, "You will in fact see it with your own eyes, but you won't eat any of it."

Jonah 1

1 The word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai:

2 "Get up! Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because their wickedness has confronted Me."

3 However, Jonah got up to flee to Tarshish from the Lord's presence. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish. He paid the fare and went down into it to go with them to Tarshish, from the Lord's presence.

4 Then the Lord hurled a violent wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose on the sea that the ship threatened to break apart.

5 The sailors were afraid, and each cried out to his god. They threw the ship's cargo into the sea to lighten the load. Meanwhile, Jonah had gone down to the lowest part of the vessel and had stretched out and fallen into a deep sleep.

6 The captain approached him and said, "What are you doing sound asleep? Get up! Call to your god. Maybe this god will consider us, and we won't perish."

7 "Come on!" the sailors said to each other. "Let's cast lots. Then we will know who is to blame for this trouble we're in." So they cast lots, and the lot singled out Jonah.

8 Then they said to him, "Tell us who is to blame for this trouble we're in. What is your business and where are you from? What is your country and what people are you from?"

9 He answered them, "I am a Hebrew. I worship Yahweh, the God of the heavens, who made the sea and the dry land."

10 Then the men were even more afraid and said to him, "What is this you've done?" For the men knew he was fleeing from the Lord's presence, because he had told them.

11 So they said to him, "What should we do to you to calm this sea that's against us?" For the sea was getting worse and worse.

12 He answered them, "Pick me up and throw me into the sea so it may quiet down for you, for I know that I'm to blame for this violent storm that is against you."

13 Nevertheless, the men rowed hard to get back to dry land, but they could not because the sea was raging against them more and more.

14 So they called out to the Lord: "Please, Yahweh, don't let us perish because of this man's life, and don't charge us with innocent blood! For You, Yahweh, have done just as You pleased."

15 Then they picked up Jonah and threw him into the sea, and the sea stopped its raging.

16 The men feared the Lord even more, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows.

17 Then the Lord appointed a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the fish three days and three nights.