1 Corinthians 14:26-40; 2 Kings 9; Jonah 4

1 Corinthians 14:26-40

26 How is it then, brothers? Whenever you come together, each one has a psalm, a teaching, a revelation, [another] language, or an interpretation. All things must be done for edification.

27 If any person speaks in [another] language, there should be only two, or at the most three, each in turn, and someone must interpret.

28 But if there is no interpreter, that person should keep silent in the church and speak to himself and to God.

29 Two or three prophets should speak, and the others should evaluate.

30 But if something has been revealed to another person sitting there, the first prophet should be silent.

31 For you can all prophesy one by one, so that everyone may learn and everyone may be encouraged.

32 And the prophets' spirits are under the control of the prophets,

33 since God is not a God of disorder but of peace. As in all the churches of the saints,

34 the women should be silent in the churches, for they are not permitted to speak, but should be submissive, as the law also says.

35 And if they want to learn something, they should ask their own husbands at home, for it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in the church meeting.

36 Did the word of God originate from you, or did it come to you only?

37 If anyone thinks he is a prophet or spiritual, he should recognize that what I write to you is the Lord's command.

38 But if anyone ignores this, he will be ignored.

39 Therefore, my brothers, be eager to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in [other] languages.

40 But everything must be done decently and in order.

2 Kings 9

1 The prophet Elisha called one of the sons of the prophets and said, "Tuck your mantle under your belt, take this flask of oil with you, and go to Ramoth-gilead.

2 When you get there, look for Jehu son of Jehoshaphat, son of Nimshi. Go in, get him away from his colleagues, and take him to an inner room.

3 Then, take the flask of oil, pour it on his head, and say, 'This is what the Lord says: "I anoint you king over Israel." ' Open the door and escape. Don't wait."

4 So the young prophet went to Ramoth-gilead.

5 When he arrived, the army commanders were sitting there, so he said, "I have a message for you, commander." Jehu asked, "For which one of us?" He answered, "For you, commander."

6 So Jehu got up and went into the house. The young prophet poured the oil on his head and said, "This is what the Lord God of Israel says: 'I anoint you king over the Lord's people, Israel.

7 You are to strike down the house of your master Ahab so that I may avenge the blood shed by the hand of Jezebel-the blood of My servants the prophets and of all the servants of the Lord.

8 The whole house of Ahab will perish, and I will eliminate all of Ahab's males, both slave and free, in Israel.

9 I will make the house of Ahab like the house of Jeroboam son of Nebat and like the house of Baasha son of Ahijah.

10 The dogs will eat Jezebel in the plot of land at Jezreel-no one will bury her.' " Then the young prophet opened the door and escaped.

11 When Jehu came out to his master's servants, they asked, "Is everything all right? Why did this crazy person come to you?" Then he said to them, "You know the sort and their ranting."

12 But they replied, "[That's] a lie! Tell us!" So Jehu said, "He talked to me about this and that and said, 'This is what the Lord says: I anoint you king over Israel.' "

13 Each man quickly took his garment and put it under Jehu on the bare steps.They blew the ram's horn and proclaimed, "Jehu is king!"

14 Then Jehu son of Jehoshaphat, son of Nimshi, conspired against Joram. Joram and all Israel had been at Ramoth-gilead on guard against Hazael king of Aram.

15 But King Joram had returned to Jezreel to recover from the wounds that the Arameans had inflicted on him when he fought against Aram's King Hazael. Jehu said, "If you [commanders] wish [to make me king], then don't let anyone escape from the city to go tell about it in Jezreel."

16 Jehu got into his chariot and went to Jezreel since Joram was laid up there and Ahaziah king of Judah had gone down to visit Joram.

17 Now the watchman was standing on the tower in Jezreel. He saw Jehu's troops approaching and shouted, "I see troops!" Joram responded, "Choose a rider and send him to meet them and have him ask, '[Do you come in] peace?' "

18 So a horseman went to meet Jehu and said, "This is what the king asks: '[Do you come in] peace?' " Jehu replied, "What do you have to do with peace? Fall in behind me." The watchman reported, "The messenger reached them but hasn't started back."

19 So he sent out a second horseman, who went to them and said, "This is what the king asks: '[Do you come in] peace?' " Jehu answered, "What do you have to do with peace? Fall in behind me."

20 Again the watchman reported, "He reached them but hasn't started back. Also, the driving is like that of Jehu son of Nimshi-he drives like a madman."

21 "Harness!" Joram shouted, and they harnessed his chariot. Then Joram king of Israel and Ahaziah king of Judah set out, each in his own chariot, and met Jehu at the plot of land of Naboth the Jezreelite.

22 When Joram saw Jehu he asked, "[Do you come in] peace, Jehu?" He answered, "What peace can there be as long as there is so much prostitution and witchcraft from your mother Jezebel?"

23 Joram turned around and fled, shouting to Ahaziah, "It's treachery, Ahaziah!"

24 Then Jehu drew his bow and shot Joram between the shoulders. The arrow went through his heart, and he slumped down in his chariot.

25 Jehu said to Bidkar his aide, "Pick him up and throw him on the plot of ground belonging to Naboth the Jezreelite. For remember when you and I were riding side by side behind his father Ahab, and the Lord uttered this oracle against him:

26 'As surely as I saw the blood of Naboth and the blood of his sons yesterday,' this is the Lord's message, 'so will I repay you on this plot of land,' this is the Lord's message. So now, according to the word of the Lord, pick him up and throw him on the plot of land."

27 When King Ahaziah of Judah saw [what was happening], he fled up the road toward Beth-haggan. Jehu pursued him, shouting, "Shoot him too!" So they shot him in his chariot at Gur Pass near Ibleam, but he fled to Megiddo and died there.

28 Then his servants carried him to Jerusalem in a chariot and buried him in his fathers' tomb in the city of David.

29 It was in the eleventh year of Joram son of Ahab that Ahaziah had become king over Judah.

30 When Jehu came to Jezreel, Jezebel heard about it, so she painted her eyes, adorned her head, and looked down from the window.

31 As Jehu entered the gate, she said, "[Do you come in] peace, Zimri, killer of your master?"

32 He looked up toward the window and said, "Who is on my side? Who?" Two or three eunuchs looked down at him,

33 and he said, "Throw her down!" So they threw her down, and some of her blood splattered on the wall and on the horses, and Jehu rode over her.

34 Then he went in, ate and drank, and said, "Take care of this cursed woman and bury her, since she's a king's daughter."

35 But when they went out to bury her, they did not find anything but her skull, her feet, and the palms of her hands.

36 So they went back and told him, and he said, "This [fulfills] the Lord's word that He spoke through His servant Elijah the Tishbite: 'In the plot of land at Jezreel, the dogs will eat Jezebel's flesh.

37 Jezebel's corpse will be like manure on the surface of the field in the plot of land at Jezreel so that no one will [be able] to say: This is Jezebel.' "

Jonah 4

1 But Jonah was greatly displeased and became furious.

2 He prayed to the Lord: "Please, Lord, isn't this what I said while I was still in my own country? That's why I fled toward Tarshish in the first place. I knew that You are a merciful and compassionate God, slow to become angry, rich in faithful love, and One who relents from [sending] disaster.

3 And now, Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live."

4 The Lord asked, "Is it right for you to be angry?"

5 Jonah left the city and sat down east of it. He made himself a shelter there and sat in its shade to see what would happen to the city.

6 Then the Lord God appointed a plant, and it grew up to provide shade over Jonah's head to ease his discomfort. Jonah was greatly pleased with the plant.

7 When dawn came the next day, God appointed a worm that attacked the plant, and it withered.

8 As the sun was rising, God appointed a scorching east wind. The sun beat down on Jonah's head so that he almost fainted, and he wanted to die. He said, "It's better for me to die than to live."

9 Then God asked Jonah, "Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?" "[Yes,]" he replied. "It is right. I'm angry enough to die!"

10 So the Lord said, "You cared about the plant, which you did not labor over and did not grow. It appeared in a night and perished in a night.

11 Should I not care about the great city of Nineveh, which has more than 120,000 people who cannot distinguish between their right and their left, as well as many animals?"