Immoral Followers

1 Corinthians 5 I have heard terrible things about some of you. In fact, you are behaving worse than the Gentiles. A man is even sleeping with his own stepmother. ²You are proud, when you ought to feel bad enough to chase away anyone who acts like that.
^3-4I am with you only in my thoughts. But in the name of our Lord Jesus I have already judged this man, as though I were with you in person. So when you meet together and the power of the Lord Jesus is with you, I will be there too. ⁵You must then hand that man over to Satan. His body will be destroyed, but his spirit will be saved when the Lord Jesus returns.
⁶Stop being proud! Don't you know how a little yeast can spread through the whole batch of dough? ⁷Get rid of the old yeast! Then you will be like fresh bread made without yeast, and that is what you are. Our Passover lamb is Christ, who has already been sacrificed. ⁸So don't celebrate the festival by being evil and sinful, which is like serving bread made with yeast. Be pure and truthful and celebrate by using bread made without yeast.
⁹In my other letter I told you not to have anything to do with immoral people. ¹⁰But I wasn't talking about the people of this world. You would have to leave this world to get away from everyone who is immoral or greedy or who cheats or worships idols. ¹¹I was talking about your own people who are immoral or greedy or worship idols or curse others or get drunk or cheat. Don't even eat with them! ¹²Why should I judge outsiders? Aren't we supposed to judge only church members? ¹³God judges everyone else. The Scriptures say, "Chase away any of your own people who are evil."

Elijah Proves He Is the LORD's Prophet

1 Kings 18 ^1-2For three years no rain fell in Samaria, and there was almost nothing to eat anywhere. The LORD said to Elijah, "Go and meet with King Ahab. I will soon make it rain." So Elijah went to see Ahab.
^3-4At that time Obadiah was in charge of Ahab's palace, but he faithfully worshiped the LORD. In fact, when Jezebel was trying to kill the LORD's prophets, Obadiah hid one hundred of them in two caves and gave them food and water.
Ahab sent for Obadiah ⁵and said, "We have to find something for our horses and mules to eat. If we don't, we will have to kill them. Let's look around every creek and spring in the country for some grass. ⁶You go one way, and I'll go the other." Then they left in separate directions.
⁷As Obadiah was walking along, he met Elijah. Obadiah recognized him, bowed down, and asked, "Elijah, is it really you?"
⁸"Yes. Go tell Ahab I'm here."
⁹Obadiah replied:

King Ahab would kill me if I told him that. And I haven't even done anything wrong. ¹⁰I swear to you in the name of the living LORD your God that the king has looked everywhere for you. He sent people to look in every country, and when they couldn't find you, he made the leader of each country swear that you were not in that country. ¹¹Do you really want me to tell him you're here?

¹²What if the LORD's Spirit takes you away as soon as I leave? When Ahab comes to get you, he won't find you. Then he will surely kill me.

I have worshiped the LORD since I was a boy. ¹³I even hid one hundred of the LORD's prophets in caves when Jezebel was trying to kill them. I also gave them food and water. ¹⁴Do you really want me to tell Ahab you're here? He will kill me!

¹⁵Elijah said, "I'm a servant of the living LORD All-Powerful, and I swear in his name that I will meet with Ahab today."
¹⁶Obadiah left and told Ahab where to find Elijah.
Ahab went to meet Elijah, ¹⁷and when he saw him, Ahab shouted, "There you are, the biggest troublemaker in Israel!"
¹⁸Elijah answered:

You're the troublemaker--not me! You and your family have disobeyed the LORD's commands by worshiping Baal.

¹⁹Call together everyone from Israel and have them meet me on Mount Carmel. Be sure to bring along the four hundred fifty prophets of Baal and the four hundred prophets of Asherah who eat at Jezebel's table.

²⁰Ahab got everyone together, then they went to meet Elijah on Mount Carmel. ²¹Elijah stood in front of them and said, "How much longer will you try to have things both ways? If the LORD is God, worship him! But if Baal is God, worship him!"
The people did not say a word.
²²Then Elijah continued:

I am the LORD's only prophet, but Baal has four hundred fifty prophets.

²³Bring us two bulls. Baal's prophets can take one of them, kill it, and cut it into pieces. Then they can put the meat on the wood without lighting the fire. I will do the same thing with the other bull, and I won't light a fire under it either.

²⁴The prophets of Baal will pray to their god, and I will pray to the LORD. The one who answers by starting the fire is God.

"That's a good idea," everyone agreed.
²⁵Elijah said to Baal's prophets, "There are more of you, so you go first. Pick out a bull and get it ready, but don't light the fire. Then pray to your god."
²⁶They chose their bull, then they got it ready and prayed to Baal all morning, asking him to start the fire. They danced around the altar and shouted, "Answer us, Baal!" But there was no answer.
²⁷At noon, Elijah began making fun of them. "Pray louder!" he said. "Baal must be a god. Maybe he's day-dreaming or using the toilet or traveling somewhere. Or maybe he's asleep, and you have to wake him up."
²⁸The prophets kept shouting louder and louder, and they cut themselves with swords and knives until they were bleeding. This was the way they worshiped, ²⁹and they kept it up all afternoon. But there was no answer of any kind.
³⁰Elijah told everyone to gather around him while he repaired the LORD's altar. ^31-32Then he used twelve stones to build an altar in honor of the LORD. Each stone stood for one of the tribes of Israel, which was the name the LORD had given to their ancestor Jacob. Elijah dug a ditch around the altar, large enough to hold about thirteen quarts. ³³He placed the wood on the altar, then they cut the bull into pieces and laid the meat on the wood.
He told the people, "Fill four large jars with water and pour it over the meat and the wood." After they did this, ³⁴he told them to do it two more times. They did exactly as he said ³⁵until finally, the water ran down the altar and filled the ditch.
³⁶When it was time for the evening sacrifice, Elijah prayed:

Our LORD, you are the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel. Now, prove that you are the God of this nation, and that I, your servant, have done this at your command. ³⁷Please answer me, so these people will know that you are the LORD God, and that you will turn their hearts back to you.

³⁸The LORD immediately sent fire, and it burned up the sacrifice, the wood, and the stones. It scorched the ground everywhere around the altar and dried up every drop of water in the ditch. ³⁹When the crowd saw what had happened, they all bowed down and shouted, "The LORD is God! The LORD is God!"
⁴⁰Just then, Elijah said, "Grab the prophets of Baal! Don't let any of them get away."
So the people captured the prophets and took them to Kishon River, where Elijah killed every one of them.

It Starts To Rain

⁴¹Elijah told Ahab, "Get something to eat and drink. I hear a heavy rain coming."
⁴²Ahab left, but Elijah climbed back to the top of Mount Carmel. Then he stooped down with his face almost to the ground ⁴³and said to his servant, "Look toward the sea."
The servant left. And when he came back, he said, "I looked, but I didn't see anything." Elijah told him to look seven more times.
⁴⁴After the seventh time the servant replied, "I see a small cloud coming this way. But it's no bigger than a fist."
Elijah told him, "Tell Ahab to get his chariot ready and start home now. Otherwise, the rain will stop him."
^45-46A few minutes later, it got very cloudy and windy, and rain started pouring down. So Elijah wrapped his coat around himself, and the LORD gave him strength to run all the way to Jezreel. Ahab followed him.

Judgment on Moab

Amos 2 The LORD said:
I will punish Moab for countless crimes,
and I won't change my mind.
They made lime from the bones of the king of Edom.
²Now I will send fire to destroy the fortresses of Kerioth.
Battle shouts and trumpet blasts will be heard
as I destroy Moab ³with its king and leaders.
I, the LORD, have spoken!

Judgment on Judah

⁴The LORD said:
I will punish Judah for countless crimes,
and I won't change my mind.
They have rejected my teachings and refused to obey me.
They were led astray by the same false gods
their ancestors worshiped.
⁵Now I will send fire on Judah
and destroy the fortresses of Jerusalem.

Judgment on Israel

⁶The LORD said:
I will punish Israel for countless crimes,
and I won't change my mind.
They sell honest people for money, and the needy are sold
for the price of sandals.
⁷They smear the poor in the dirt
and push aside those who are helpless.

My holy name is dishonored, because fathers and sons
sleep with the same young women.
⁸They lie down beside altars
on clothes taken as security for loans.
And they drink wine in my temple,
wine bought with the money they received from fines.

⁹Israel, the Amorites were there when you entered Canaan.
They were tall as cedars and strong as oaks.
But I wiped them out--
I destroyed their branches and their roots.
¹⁰I had rescued you from Egypt,
and for forty years I had led you through the desert.
Then I gave you the land of the Amorites.

¹¹I chose some of you to be prophets
and others to be Nazirites.
People of Israel, you know this is true.
I, the LORD, have spoken!
¹²But you commanded the prophets
not to speak their message,
and you pressured the Nazirites into drinking wine.

¹³And so I will crush you, just as a wagon full of grain
crushes the ground.
¹⁴No matter how fast you run, you won't escape.
No matter how strong you are, you will lose your strength
and your life.
¹⁵Even if you are an expert with a bow and arrow,
you will retreat.
And you won't get away alive,
not even if you run fast or ride a horse.
¹⁶You may be brave and strong, but you will run away,
stripped naked.
I, the LORD, have spoken!

Amos 3 People of Israel, I rescued you from Egypt.
Now listen to my judgment against you.
²Of all nations on earth,
you are the only one I have chosen.
That's why I will punish you because of your sins.