1 Corinthians 10; 2 Kings 3; Amos 8

1 Corinthians 10

1 Now I want you to know, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, all passed through the sea,

2 and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea.

3 They all ate the same spiritual food,

4 and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from a spiritual rock that followed them, and that rock was Christ.

5 But God was not pleased with most of them, for they were struck down in the desert.

6 Now these things became examples for us, so that we will not desire evil as they did.

7 Don't become idolaters as some of them were; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and got up to play.

8 Let us not commit sexual immorality as some of them did, and in a single day 23,000 people fell dead.

9 Let us not tempt Christ as some of them did, and were destroyed by snakes.

10 Nor should we complain as some of them did, and were killed by the destroyer.

11 Now these things happened to them as examples, and they were written as a warning to us, on whom the ends of the ages have come.

12 Therefore, whoever thinks he stands must be careful not to fall!

13 No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to humanity. God is faithful and He will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation He will also provide a way of escape, so that you are able to bear it.

14 Therefore, my dear friends, flee from idolatry.

15 I am speaking as to wise people. Judge for yourselves what I say.

16 The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a sharing in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a sharing in the body of Christ?

17 Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for all of us share that one bread.

18 Look at the people of Israel. Are not those who eat the sacrifices partners in the altar?

19 What am I saying then? That food offered to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything?

20 No, but I do say that what they sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be partners with demons!

21 You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot share in the Lord's table and the table of demons.

22 Or are we provoking the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than He?

23 "Everything is permissible," but not everything is helpful. "Everything is permissible," but not everything builds up.

24 No one should seek his own [good], but [the good] of the other person.

25 Eat everything that is sold in the meat market, asking no questions for conscience' sake, for

26 the earth is the Lord's, and all that is in it.

27 If one of the unbelievers invites you over and you want to go, eat everything that is set before you, without raising questions of conscience.

28 But if someone says to you, "This is food offered to an idol," do not eat it, out of consideration for the one who told you, and for conscience' sake.

29 I do not mean your own conscience, but the other person's. For why is my freedom judged by another person's conscience?

30 If I partake with thanks, why am I slandered because of something for which I give thanks?

31 Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for God's glory.

32 Give no offense to the Jews or the Greeks or the church of God,

33 just as I also try to please all people in all things, not seeking my own profit, but the profit of many, that they may be saved.

2 Kings 3

1 Joram son of Ahab became king over Israel in Samaria during the eighteenth year of Judah's King Jehoshaphat; he reigned 12 years.

2 He did what was evil in the Lord's sight, but not like his father and mother, for he removed the sacred pillar of Baal his father had made.

3 Nevertheless, Joram clung to the sins that Jeroboam son of Nebat had caused Israel to commit. He did not turn away from them.

4 King Mesha of Moab was a sheep breeder. He used to pay the king of Israel 100,000 lambs and the wool of 100,000 rams,

5 but when Ahab died, the king of Moab rebelled against the king of Israel.

6 So King Joram marched out from Samaria at that time and mobilized all Israel.

7 Then he sent [a message] to King Jehoshaphat of Judah: "The king of Moab has rebelled against me. Will you go with me to fight against Moab?" Jehoshaphat said, "I will go. I am as you are, my people as your people, my horses as your horses."

8 Then he asked, "Which route should we take?" Joram replied, "The route of the wilderness of Edom."

9 So the king of Israel, the king of Judah, and the king of Edom set out. After they had traveled their indirect route for seven days, they had no water for the army or their animals.

10 Then the king of Israel said, "Oh no, the Lord has summoned us three kings, only to hand us over to Moab."

11 But Jehoshaphat said, "Isn't there a prophet of the Lord here? Let's inquire of the Lord through him." One of the servants of the king of Israel answered, "Elisha son of Shaphat, who used to pour water on Elijah's hands, is here."

12 Jehoshaphat affirmed, "The Lord's words are with him." So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat and the king of Edom went to him.

13 However, Elisha said to King [Joram] of Israel, "We have nothing in common. Go to the prophets of your father and your mother!" But the king of Israel replied, "No, because it is the Lord who has summoned us three kings to hand us over to Moab."

14 Elisha responded, "As the Lord of Hosts lives, I stand before Him. If I did not have respect for King Jehoshaphat of Judah, I would not look at you; I wouldn't take notice of you.

15 Now, bring me a musician." While the musician played, the Lord's hand came on Elisha.

16 Then he said, "This is what the Lord says: 'Dig ditch after ditch in this wadi.'

17 For the Lord says, 'You will not see wind or rain, but the wadi will be filled with water, and you will drink-you and your cattle and your animals.'

18 This is easy in the Lord's sight. He will also hand Moab over to you.

19 Then you must attack every fortified city and every choice city. You must cut down every good tree and stop up every spring of water. You must ruin every good piece of land with stones."

20 About the time for the grain offering the [next] morning, water suddenly came from the direction of Edom and filled the land.

21 All Moab had heard that the kings had come up to fight against them. So all who could bear arms, from the youngest to the oldest, were summoned and took their stand at the border.

22 When they got up early in the morning, the sun was shining on the water, and the Moabites saw that the water across from them was red like blood.

23 "This is blood!" they exclaimed. "The kings have clashed swords and killed each other. So, to the spoil, Moab!"

24 However, when the Moabites came to Israel's camp, the Israelites attacked them, and they fled from them. So Israel went into the land and struck down the Moabites.

25 They destroyed the cities, and each of them threw stones to cover every good piece of land. They stopped up every spring of water and cut down every good tree. In the end, only the buildings of Kir-hareseth were left. Then men with slings surrounded [the city] and attacked it.

26 When the king of Moab saw that the battle was too fierce for him, he took 700 swordsmen with him to try to break through to the king of Edom, but they could not do it.

27 So he took his firstborn son, who was to become king in his place, and offered him as a burnt offering on the city wall. Great wrath was on the Israelites, and they withdrew from him and returned to their land.

Amos 8

1 The Lord God showed me this: A basket of summer fruit.

2 He asked me, "What do you see, Amos?" I replied, "A basket of summer fruit." The Lord said to me, "The end has come for My people Israel; I will no longer spare them.

3 In that day the temple songs will become wailing"-the Lord God 's declaration. "Many dead bodies, thrown everywhere! Silence!"

4 Hear this, you who trample on the needy and do away with the poor of the land,

5 asking, "When will the New Moon be over so we may sell grain, and the Sabbath, so we may market wheat? We can reduce the measure while increasing the price and cheat with dishonest scales.

6 We can buy the poor with silver and the needy for a pair of sandals and even sell the wheat husks!"

7 The Lord has sworn by the Pride of Jacob: I will never forget all their deeds.

8 Because of this, won't the land quake and all who dwell in it mourn? All of it will rise like the Nile; it will surge and then subside like the Nile in Egypt.

9 And in that day- [this is]*The bracketed text has been added for clarity. the declaration of the Lord God - I will make the sun go down at noon; I will darken the land in the daytime.

10 I will turn your feasts into mourning and all your songs into lamentation; I will cause everyone to wear sackcloth and every head to be shaved. I will make that grief like mourning for an only son and its outcome like a bitter day.

11 Hear this! The days are coming- [this is] the declaration of the Lord God - when I will send a famine through the land: not a famine of bread or a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord.

12 People will stagger from sea to sea and roam from north to east, seeking the word of the Lord, but they will not find it.

13 In that day the beautiful young women, the young men also, will faint from thirst.

14 Those who swear by the guilt of Samaria and say, "As your god lives, Dan," or "As the wayof Beer-sheba lives"- they will fall, never to rise again.