Taking Each Other to Court

1 Corinthians 6 When one of you has a complaint against another, do you take your complaint to a court of sinners? Or do you take it to God's people? ²Don't you know that God's people will judge the world? And if you are going to judge the world, can't you settle small problems? ³Don't you know that we will judge angels? And if that is so, we can surely judge everyday matters. ⁴Why do you take everyday complaints to judges who are not respected by the church? ⁵I say this to your shame. Aren't any of you wise enough to act as a judge between one follower and another? ⁶Why should one of you take another to be tried by unbelievers?
⁷When one of you takes another to court, all of you lose. It would be better to let yourselves be cheated and robbed. ⁸But instead, you cheat and rob other followers.
⁹Don't you know that evil people won't have a share in the blessings of God's kingdom? Don't fool yourselves! No one who is immoral or worships idols or is unfaithful in marriage or is a pervert or behaves like a homosexual ¹⁰will share in God's kingdom. Neither will any thief or greedy person or drunkard or anyone who curses and cheats others. ¹¹Some of you used to be like that. But now the name of our Lord Jesus Christ and the power of God's Spirit have washed you and made you holy and acceptable to God.

Honor God with Your Body

¹²Some of you say, "We can do anything we want to." But I tell you that not everything is good for us. So I refuse to let anything have power over me. ¹³You also say, "Food is meant for our bodies, and our bodies are meant for food." But I tell you that God will destroy them both. We are not supposed to do indecent things with our bodies. We are to use them for the Lord who is in charge of our bodies. ¹⁴God will raise us from death by the same power that he used when he raised our Lord to life.
¹⁵Don't you know that your bodies are part of the body of Christ? Is it right for me to join part of the body of Christ to a prostitute? No, it isn't! ¹⁶Don't you know that a man who does that becomes part of her body? The Scriptures say, "The two of them will be like one person." ¹⁷But anyone who is joined to the Lord is one in spirit with him.
¹⁸Don't be immoral in matters of sex. That is a sin against your own body in a way that no other sin is. ¹⁹You surely know that your body is a temple where the Holy Spirit lives. The Spirit is in you and is a gift from God. You are no longer your own. ²⁰God paid a great price for you. So use your body to honor God.

Elijah Runs Away from Ahab and Jezebel

1 Kings 19 Ahab told his wife Jezebel what Elijah had done and that he had killed the prophets. ²She sent a message to Elijah: "You killed my prophets. Now I'm going to kill you! I pray that the gods will punish me even more severely if I don't do it by this time tomorrow."
³Elijah was afraid when he got her message, and he ran to the town of Beersheba in Judah. He left his servant there, ⁴then walked another whole day into the desert. Finally, he came to a large bush and sat down in its shade. He begged the LORD, "I've had enough. Just let me die! I'm no better off than my ancestors." ⁵Then he lay down in the shade and fell asleep.
Suddenly an angel woke him up and said, "Get up and eat." ⁶Elijah looked around, and by his head was a jar of water and some baked bread. He sat up, ate and drank, then lay down and went back to sleep.
⁷Soon the LORD's angel woke him again and said, "Get up and eat, or else you'll get too tired to travel." ⁸So Elijah sat up and ate and drank.
The food and water made him strong enough to walk forty more days. At last, he reached Mount Sinai, the mountain of God, ⁹and he spent the night there in a cave.

The LORD Appears to Elijah

While Elijah was on Mount Sinai, the LORD asked, "Elijah, why are you here?"
¹⁰He answered, "LORD God All-Powerful, I've always done my best to obey you. But your people have broken their solemn promise to you. They have torn down your altars and killed all your prophets, except me. And now they are even trying to kill me!"
¹¹"Go out and stand on the mountain," the LORD replied. "I want you to see me when I pass by."
All at once, a strong wind shook the mountain and shattered the rocks. But the LORD was not in the wind. Next, there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. ¹²Then there was a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire.
Finally, there was a gentle breeze, ¹³and when Elijah heard it, he covered his face with his coat. He went out and stood at the entrance to the cave.
The LORD asked, "Elijah, why are you here?"
¹⁴Elijah answered, "LORD God All-Powerful, I've always done my best to obey you. But your people have broken their solemn promise to you. They have torn down your altars and killed all your prophets, except me. And now they are even trying to kill me!"
¹⁵The LORD said:

Elijah, you can go back to the desert near Damascus. And when you get there, appoint Hazael to be king of Syria. ¹⁶Then appoint Jehu son of Nimshi to be king of Israel, and Elisha son of Shaphat to take your place as my prophet.

¹⁷Hazael will start killing the people who worship Baal. Jehu will kill those who escape from Hazael, and Elisha will kill those who escape from Jehu.

¹⁸But seven thousand Israelites have refused to worship Baal, and they will live.

Elisha Becomes Elijah's Assistant

¹⁹Elijah left and found Elisha plowing a field with a pair of oxen. There were eleven other men in front of him, and each one was also plowing with a pair of oxen. Elijah went over and put his own coat on Elisha.
²⁰Elisha stopped plowing and ran after him. "Let me kiss my parents good-by, then I'll go with you," he said.
"You can go," Elijah said. "But remember what I've done for you."
²¹Elisha left and took his oxen with him. He killed them and boiled them over a fire he had made with the wood from his plow. He gave the meat to the people who were with him, and they ate it. Then he left with Elijah and became his assistant.

The Work of a Prophet

Amos 3³Can two people walk together without agreeing to meet?
⁴Does a lion roar in the forest unless it has caught a victim?
Does it growl in its den unless it is eating?
⁵How can anyone catch a bird without using a net?
Does a trap spring shut unless something is caught?

⁶Isn't the whole city frightened
when the trumpet signals an attack?
Isn't it the LORD who brings disaster on a city?
⁷Whatever the LORD God plans to do,
he tells his servants, the prophets.
⁸Everyone is terrified when a lion roars--
and ordinary people become prophets
when the LORD God speaks.

Samaria Is Doomed

⁹Here is a message for the leaders of Philistia and Egypt--
tell everyone to come together on the hills of Samaria.
Let them see the injustice and the lawlessness in that city.
¹⁰The LORD has said that they don't even know how
to do right.
They have become rich from violence and robbery.
¹¹And so the LORD God has sworn
that they will be surrounded.
Enemies will break through their defenses
and steal their treasures.

¹²The LORD has promised that only a few from Samaria
will escape with their lives
and with some broken pieces of their beds and couches.
It will be like when a shepherd rescues two leg bones
and part of a sheep's ear from the jaws of a lion.

The Altars at Bethel

¹³The LORD God All-Powerful told me to speak this message
against Jacob's descendants:
¹⁴When I, the LORD, punish Israel for their sins,
I will destroy the altars at Bethel.
Even the corners of the altar will be left in the dirt.
¹⁵I will tear down winter homes and summer homes.
Houses decorated with ivory and all other mansions
will be gone forever.
I, the LORD, have spoken!

The Women of Samaria

The LORD said:
Amos 4You women of Samaria are fat cows!
You mistreat and abuse the poor and needy,
then you say to your husbands, "Bring us more drinks!"
²I, the LORD God, have sworn by my own name
that your time is coming.
Not one of you will be left--
you will be taken away by sharp hooks.
³You will be dragged through holes in your city walls,
and you will be thrown toward Harmon.
I, the LORD, have spoken!