1 Corinthians 7:25-40; 1 Kings 21; Amos 5

1 Corinthians 7:25-40

25 About virgins: I have no command from the Lord, but I do give an opinion as one who by the Lord's mercy is trustworthy.

26 Therefore I consider this to be good because of the present distress: it is fine for a man to stay as he is.

27 Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be loosed. Are you loosed from a wife? Do not seek a wife.

28 However, if you do get married, you have not sinned, and if a virgin marries, she has not sinned. But such people will have trouble in this life, and I am trying to spare you.

29 And I say this, brothers: the time is limited, so from now on those who have wives should be as though they had none,

30 those who weep as though they did not weep, those who rejoice as though they did not rejoice, those who buy as though they did not possess,

31 and those who use the world as though they did not make full use of it. For this world in its current form is passing away.

32 I want you to be without concerns. An unmarried man is concerned about the things of the Lord-how he may please the Lord.

33 But a married man is concerned about the things of the world-how he may please his wife-

34 and he is divided. An unmarried woman or a virgin is concerned about the things of the Lord, so that she may be holy both in body and in spirit. But a married woman is concerned about the things of the world-how she may please her husband.

35 Now I am saying this for your own benefit, not to put a restraint on you, but because of what is proper, and so that you may be devoted to the Lord without distraction.

36 But if any man thinks he is acting improperly toward his virgin, if she is past marriageable age, and so it must be, he can do what he wants. He is not sinning; they can get married.

37 But he who stands firm in his heart (who is under no compulsion, but has control over his own will) and has decided in his heart to keep his own virgin, will do well.

38 So then he who marries his virgin does well, but he who does not marry will do better.

39 A wife is bound as long as her husband is living. But if her husband dies, she is free to be married to anyone she wants-only in the Lord.

40 But she is happier if she remains as she is, in my opinion. And I think that I also have the Spirit of God.

1 Kings 21

1 Some time passed after these events. Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard; it was in Jezreel next to the palace of Ahab king of Samaria.

2 So Ahab spoke to Naboth, saying, "Give me your vineyard so I can have it for a vegetable garden, since it is right next to my palace. I will give you a better vineyard in its place, or if you prefer, I will give you its value in silver."

3 But Naboth said to Ahab, "I will never give my fathers' inheritance to you."

4 So Ahab went to his palace resentful and angry, because of what Naboth the Jezreelite had told him. He had said, "I will not give you my fathers' inheritance." He lay down on his bed, turned his face away, and didn't eat any food.

5 Then his wife Jezebel came to him and said to him, "Why are you so upset that you refuse to eat?"

6 "Because I spoke to Naboth the Jezreelite," he replied. "I told him: Give me your vineyard for silver, or if you wish, I will give you a vineyard in its place. But he said, 'I won't give you my vineyard!' "

7 Then his wife Jezebel said to him, "Now, exercise your royal power over Israel. Get up, eat some food, and be happy. [For] I will give you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite."

8 So she wrote letters in Ahab's name and sealed them with his seal. She sent the letters to the elders and nobles who lived with Naboth in his city.

9 In the letters, she wrote: Proclaim a fast and seat Naboth at the head of the people.

10 Then seat two wicked men opposite him and have them testify against him, saying, "You have cursed God and king!" Then take him out and stone him to death.

11 The men of his city, the elders and nobles who lived in his city, did as Jezebel had commanded them, as was written in the letters she had sent them.

12 They proclaimed a fast and seated Naboth at the head of the people.

13 The two wicked men came in and sat opposite him. Then the wicked men testified against Naboth in the presence of the people, saying, "Naboth has cursed God and king!" So they took him outside the city and stoned him to death with stones.

14 Then they sent [word] to Jezebel, "Naboth has been stoned to death."

15 When Jezebel heard that Naboth had been stoned to death, she said to Ahab, "Get up and take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite who refused to give it to you for silver, since Naboth isn't alive, but dead."

16 When Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, he got up to go down to the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite to take possession of it.

17 Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite:

18 "Get up and go to meet Ahab king of Israel, who is in Samaria. You'll find him in Naboth's vineyard, where he has gone to take possession of it.

19 Tell him, 'This is what the Lord says: Have you murdered and also taken possession?' Then tell him, 'This is what the Lord says: In the place where the dogs licked Naboth's blood, the dogs will also lick your blood!' "

20 Ahab said to Elijah, "So, you have caught me, my enemy." He replied, "I have caught you because you devoted yourself to do what is evil in the Lord's sight.

21 This is what the Lord says: 'I am about to bring disaster on you and will sweep away your descendants: I will eliminate all of Ahab's males, both slave and free, in Israel;

22 I will make your house like the house of Jeroboam son of Nebat and like the house of Baasha son of Ahijah, because you have provoked [My] anger and caused Israel to sin.

23 The Lord also speaks of Jezebel: The dogs will eat Jezebel in the plot of land at Jezreel:

24 He who belongs to Ahab and dies in the city, the dogs will eat, and he who dies in the field, the birds of the sky will eat.' "

25 Still, there was no one like Ahab, who devoted himself to do what was evil in the Lord's sight, because his wife Jezebel incited him.

26 He committed the most detestable acts by going after idols as the Amorites had, whom the Lord had dispossessed before the Israelites.

27 When Ahab heard these words, he tore his clothes, put sackcloth over his body, and fasted. He lay down in sackcloth and walked around subdued.

28 Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite:

29 "Have you seen how Ahab has humbled himself before Me? I will not bring the disaster during his lifetime, because he has humbled himself before Me. I will bring the disaster on his house during his son's lifetime."

Amos 5

1 Listen to this message that I am singing for you, a lament, house of Israel:

2 She has fallen; Virgin Israel will never rise again. She lies abandoned on her land, with no one to raise her up.

3 For the Lord God says: The city that marches out a thousand [strong] will have [only] a hundred left, and the one that marches out a hundred [strong] will have [only] ten left in the house of Israel.

4 For the Lord says to the house of Israel: Seek Me and live!

5 Do not seek Bethel or go to Gilgal or journey to Beer-sheba, for Gilgal will certainly go into exile, and Bethel will come to nothing.

6 Seek Yahweh and live, or He will spread like fire [throughout] the house of Joseph; it will consume [everything,] with no one at Bethel to extinguish it.

7 Those who turn justice into wormwood throw righteousness to the ground.

8 The One who made the Pleiades and Orion, who turns darkness into dawn and darkens day into night, who summons the waters of the sea and pours them out over the face of the earth- Yahweh is His name.

9 He brings destruction on the strong, and it falls on the stronghold.

10 They hate the one who convicts [the guilty] at the city gate and despise the one who speaks with integrity.

11 Therefore, because you trample on the poor and exact a grain tax from him, you will never live in the houses of cut stone you have built; you will never drink the wine from the lush vineyards you have planted.

12 For I know your crimes are many and your sins innumerable. They oppress the righteous, take a bribe, and deprive the poor of justice at the gates.

13 Therefore, the wise person will keep silent at such a time, for the days are evil.

14 Seek good and not evil so that you may live, and the Lord, the God of Hosts, will be with you, as you have claimed.

15 Hate evil and love good; establish justice in the gate. Perhaps the Lord, the God of Hosts, will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.

16 Therefore Yahweh, the God of Hosts, the Lord, says: There will be wailing in all the public squares; they will cry out in anguish in all the streets. The farmer will be called on to mourn, and professional mournersto wail.

17 There will be wailing in all the vineyards, for I will pass among you. The Lord has spoken.

18 Woe to you who long for the Day of the Lord! What will the Day of the Lord be for you? It will be darkness and not light.

19 It will be like a man who flees from a lion only to have a bear confront him. He goes home and rests his hand against the wall only to have a snake bite him.

20 Won't the Day of the Lord be darkness rather than light, even gloom without any brightness in it?

21 I hate, I despise your feasts! I can't stand the stench of your solemn assemblies.

22 Even if you offer Me your burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept [them]; I will have no regard for your fellowship offerings of fattened cattle.

23 Take away from Me the noise of your songs! I will not listen to the music of your harps.

24 But let justice flow like water, and righteousness, like an unfailing stream.

25 "House of Israel, was it sacrifices and grain offerings that you presented to Me during the 40 years in the wilderness?

26 But you have taken up Sakkuthyour king and Kaiwanyour star god, images you have made for yourselves.

27 So I will send you into exile beyond Damascus." Yahweh, the God of Hosts, is His name. He has spoken.