Questions about Marriage

1 Corinthians 7 Now I will answer the questions that you asked in your letter. You asked, "Is it best for people not to marry?" ²Well, having your own husband or wife should keep you from doing something immoral. ³Husbands and wives should be fair with each other about having sex. ⁴A wife belongs to her husband instead of to herself, and a husband belongs to his wife instead of to himself. ⁵So don't refuse sex to each other, unless you agree not to have sex for a little while, in order to spend time in prayer. Then Satan won't be able to tempt you because of your lack of self-control. ⁶In my opinion that is what should be done, though I don't know of anything the Lord said about this matter. ⁷I wish that all of you were like me, but God has given different gifts to each of us.
⁸Here is my advice for people who have never been married and for widows. You should stay single, just as I am. ⁹But if you don't have enough self-control, then go ahead and get married. After all, it is better to marry than to burn with desire.
¹⁰I instruct married couples to stay together, and this is exactly what the Lord himself taught. A wife who leaves her husband ¹¹should either stay single or go back to her husband. And a husband should not leave his wife.
¹²I don't know of anything else the Lord said about marriage. All I can do is to give you my own advice. If your wife isn't a follower of the Lord, but is willing to stay with you, don't divorce her. ¹³If your husband isn't a follower, but is willing to stay with you, don't divorce him. ¹⁴Your husband or wife who isn't a follower is made holy by having you as a mate. This also makes your children holy and keeps them from being unclean in God's sight.
¹⁵If your husband or wife isn't a follower of the Lord and decides to divorce you, then you should agree to it. You are no longer bound to that person. After all, God chose you and wants you to live at peace. ¹⁶And besides, how do you know if you will be able to save your husband or wife who isn't a follower?

Obeying the Lord at All Times

¹⁷In every church I tell the people to stay as they were when the Lord Jesus chose them and God called them to be his own. Now I say the same thing to you. ¹⁸If you are already circumcised, don't try to change it. If you are not circumcised, don't get circumcised. ¹⁹Being circumcised or uncircumcised isn't really what matters. The important thing is to obey God's commands. ²⁰So don't try to change what you were when God chose you. ²¹Are you a slave? Don't let that bother you. But if you can win your freedom, you should. ²²When the Lord chooses slaves, they become his free people. And when he chooses free people, they become slaves of Christ. ²³God paid a great price for you. So don't become slaves of anyone else. ²⁴Stay what you were when God chose you.

Syria Attacks Israel

1 Kings 20King Benhadad of Syria called his army together. He was joined by thirty-two other kings with their horses and chariots, and together they marched to Samaria and attacked. ²Benhadad sent a messenger to tell King Ahab of Israel, ³"Ahab, give me your silver and gold, your wives, and your strongest sons!"
⁴"Your Majesty," Ahab replied, "everything I have is yours, including me."
⁵Later, Benhadad sent another messenger to say to Ahab, "I already told you to give me your silver and gold, your wives, and your children. ⁶But tomorrow at this time, I will send my officials into your city to search your palace and the houses of your officials. They will take everything else that you own."
⁷Ahab called a meeting with the leaders of Israel and said, "Benhadad is causing real trouble. He told me to give him my wives and children, as well as my silver and gold. And I agreed."
⁸"Don't listen to him!" they answered. "You don't have to do what he says."
⁹So Ahab sent someone to tell Benhadad, "Your Majesty, I'll give you my silver and gold, and even my wives and children. But I won't let you have anything else."
When Benhadad got his answer, ¹⁰he replied, "I'll completely destroy Samaria! There won't even be enough of it left for my soldiers to carry back in their hands. If I don't do it, I pray that the gods will punish me terribly."
¹¹Ahab then answered, "Benhadad, don't brag before the fighting even begins. Wait and see if you live through it."
¹²Meanwhile, Benhadad and the other kings had been drinking in their tents. But when Ahab's reply came, he ordered his soldiers to prepare to attack Samaria, and they all got ready.
¹³At that very moment, a prophet ran up to Ahab and said, "You can see that Benhadad's army is very strong. But the LORD has promised to help you defeat them today. Then you will know that the LORD is in control."
¹⁴"Who will fight the battle?" Ahab asked.
The prophet answered, "The young bodyguards who serve the district officials."
"But who will lead them into battle?" Ahab asked.
"You will!" the prophet replied.
¹⁵So Ahab called together the two hundred thirty-two young soldiers and the seven thousand troops in Israel's army, and he got them ready to fight the Syrians.

Israel Defeats the Syrians

^16-17At noon, King Ahab and his Israelite army marched out of Samaria, with the young soldiers in front.
King Benhadad of Syria and the thirty-two kings with him were drunk when the scouts he had sent out ran up to his tent, shouting, "We just now saw soldiers marching out of Samaria!"
¹⁸"Take them alive!" Benhadad ordered. "I don't care if they have come out to fight or to surrender."
¹⁹The young soldiers led Israel's troops into battle, ²⁰and each of them attacked and killed an enemy soldier. The rest of the Syrian army turned and ran, and the Israelites went after them. Benhadad and some others escaped on horses, ²¹but Ahab and his soldiers followed them and captured their horses and chariots.
Ahab and Israel's army crushed the Syrians.
²²Later, the prophet went back and warned Ahab, "Benhadad will attack you again next spring. Build up your troops and make sure you have some good plans."

Syria Attacks Israel Again

²³Meanwhile, Benhadad's officials went to him and explained:

Israel's gods are mountain gods. We fought Israel's army in the hills, and that's why they defeated us. But if we fight them on flat land, there's no way we can lose.

²⁴Here's what you should do. First, get rid of those thirty-two kings and put army commanders in their places. ²⁵Then get more soldiers, horses, and chariots, so your army will be as strong as it was before. We'll fight Israel's army on flat land and wipe them out.

Benhadad agreed and did what they suggested.
²⁶In the spring, Benhadad got his army together, and they marched to the town of Aphek to attack Israel. ²⁷The Israelites also prepared to fight. They marched out to meet the Syrians, and the two armies camped across from each other. The Syrians covered the whole area, but the Israelites looked like two little flocks of goats.
²⁸The prophet went to Ahab and said, "The Syrians think the LORD is a god of the hills and not of the valleys. So he has promised to help you defeat their powerful army. Then you will know that the LORD is in control."
²⁹For seven days the two armies stayed in their camps, facing each other. Then on the seventh day the fighting broke out, and before sunset the Israelites had killed one hundred thousand Syrian troops. ³⁰The rest of the Syrian army ran back to Aphek, but the town wall fell and crushed twenty-seven thousand of them.
Benhadad also escaped to Aphek and hid in the back room of a house. ³¹His officials said, "Your Majesty, we've heard that Israel's kings keep their agreements. We will wrap sackcloth around our waists, put ropes around our heads, and ask Ahab to let you live."
³²They dressed in sackcloth and put ropes on their heads, then they went to Ahab and said, "Your servant Benhadad asks you to let him live."
"Is he still alive?" Ahab asked. "Benhadad is like a brother to me."
³³Benhadad's officials were trying to figure out what Ahab was thinking, and when he said "brother," they quickly replied, "You're right! You and Benhadad are like brothers."
"Go get him," Ahab said.
When Benhadad came out, Ahab had him climb up into his chariot.
³⁴Benhadad said, "I'll give back the towns my father took from your father. And you can have shops in Damascus, just as my father had in Samaria."
Ahab replied, "If you do these things, I'll let you go free." Then they signed a peace treaty, and Ahab let Benhadad go.

A Prophet Condemns Ahab

³⁵About this time the LORD commanded a prophet to say to a friend, "Hit me!" But the friend refused, ³⁶and the prophet told him, "You disobeyed the LORD, and as soon as you walk away, a lion will kill you." The friend left, and suddenly a lion killed him.
³⁷The prophet found someone else and said, "Hit me!" So this man beat him up.
³⁸The prophet left and put a bandage over his face to disguise himself. Then he went and stood beside the road, waiting for Ahab to pass by.
³⁹When Ahab went by, the prophet shouted, "Your Majesty, right in the heat of battle, someone brought a prisoner to me and told me to guard him. He said if the prisoner got away, I would either be killed or forced to pay seventy-five pounds of silver. ⁴⁰But I got busy doing other things, and the prisoner escaped."
Ahab answered, "You will be punished just as you have said."
⁴¹The man quickly tore the bandage off his face, and Ahab saw that he was one of the prophets. ⁴²The prophet said, "The LORD told you to kill Benhadad, but you let him go. Now you will die in his place, and your people will die in place of his people."
⁴³Ahab went back to Samaria, angry and depressed.

Israel Refuses To Obey

The LORD said:
Amos 4⁴Come to Bethel and Gilgal. Sin all you want!
Offer sacrifices the next morning
and bring a tenth of your crops on the third day.
⁵Bring offerings to show me how thankful you are.
Gladly bring more offerings than I have demanded.
You really love to do this.
I, the LORD God, have spoken!

How the LORD Warned Israel

⁶I, the LORD, took away the food
from every town and village,
but still you rejected me.
⁷Three months before harvest, I kept back the rain.
Sometimes I would let it fall on one town or field
but not on another, and pastures dried up.
⁸People from two or three towns would go to a town
that still had water, but it wasn't enough.
Even then you rejected me.
I, the LORD, have spoken!
⁹I dried up your grain fields;
your gardens and vineyards turned brown.
Locusts ate your fig trees and olive orchards,
but even then you rejected me.
I, the LORD, have spoken!

¹⁰I did terrible things to you, just as I did to Egypt--
I killed your young men in war; I let your horses be stolen,
and I made your camp stink with dead bodies.
Even then you rejected me.
I, the LORD, have spoken!

¹¹I destroyed many of you, just as I did the cities
of Sodom and Gomorrah.
You were a burning stick I rescued from the fire.
Even then you rejected me.
I, the LORD, have spoken!

¹²Now, Israel, I myself will deal with you.
Get ready to face your God!

¹³I created the mountains and the wind.
I let humans know what I am thinking.
I bring darkness at dawn and step over hills.
I am the LORD God All-Powerful!