The Rights of an Apostle

1 Corinthians 9 I am free. I am an apostle. I have seen the Lord Jesus and have led you to have faith in him. ²Others may think that I am not an apostle, but you are proof that I am an apostle to you.
³When people question me, I tell them ⁴that Barnabas and I have the right to our food and drink. ⁵We each have the right to marry one of the Lord's followers and to take her along with us, just as the other apostles and the Lord's brothers and Peter do. ⁶Are we the only ones who have to support ourselves by working at another job? ⁷Do soldiers pay their own salaries? Don't people who raise grapes eat some of what they grow? Don't shepherds get milk from their own goats?
^8-9I am not saying this on my own authority. The Law of Moses tells us not to muzzle an ox when it is grinding grain. But was God concerned only about an ox? ¹⁰No, he wasn't! He was talking about us. This was written in the Scriptures so that all who plow and all who grind the grain will look forward to sharing in the harvest.
¹¹When we told the message to you, it was like planting spiritual seed. So we have the right to accept material things as our harvest from you. ¹²If others have the right to do this, we have an even greater right. But we haven't used this right of ours. We are willing to put up with anything to keep from causing trouble for the message about Christ.
¹³Don't you know that people who work in the temple make their living from what is brought to the temple? Don't you know that a person who serves at the altar is given part of what is offered? ¹⁴In the same way, the Lord wants everyone who preaches the good news to make a living from preaching this message.
¹⁵But I have never used these privileges of mine, and I am not writing this because I want to start now. I would rather die than have someone rob me of the right to take pride in this. ¹⁶I don't have any reason to brag about preaching the good news. Preaching is something God told me to do, and if I don't do it, I am doomed. ¹⁷If I preach because I want to, I will be paid. But even if I don't want to, it is still something God has sent me to do. ¹⁸What pay am I given? It is the chance to preach the good news free of charge and not to use the privileges that are mine because I am a preacher.
¹⁹I am not anyone's slave. But I have become a slave to everyone, so that I can win as many people as possible. ²⁰When I am with the Jews, I live like a Jew to win Jews. They are ruled by the Law of Moses, and I am not. But I live by the Law to win them. ²¹And when I am with people who are not ruled by the Law, I forget about the Law to win them. Of course, I never really forget about the law of God. In fact, I am ruled by the law of Christ. ²²When I am with people whose faith is weak, I live as they do to win them. I do everything I can to win everyone I possibly can. ²³I do all this for the good news, because I want to share in its blessings.

A Race and a Fight

²⁴You know that many runners enter a race, and only one of them wins the prize. So run to win! ²⁵Athletes work hard to win a crown that cannot last, but we do it for a crown that will last forever. ²⁶I don't run without a goal. And I don't box by beating my fists in the air. ²⁷I keep my body under control and make it my slave, so I won't lose out after telling the good news to others.

2 KINGS

The LORD Condemns Ahaziah

2 Kings 1 ^1-2Soon after King Ahab of Israel died, the country of Moab rebelled against his son King Ahaziah.
One day, Ahaziah fell through the wooden slats around the porch on the flat roof of his palace in Samaria, and he was badly injured. So he sent some messengers to the town of Ekron with orders to ask the god Baalzebub if he would get well.
³About the same time, an angel from the LORD sent Elijah the prophet from Tishbe to say to the king's messengers, "Ahaziah has rejected Israel's own God by sending you to ask Baalzebub about his injury. ⁴Tell him that because he has done this, he's on his deathbed!" And Elijah did what he was told.
⁵When the messengers returned to Ahaziah, he asked, "Why are you back so soon?"
⁶"A man met us along the road with a message for you from the LORD," they answered. "The LORD wants to know why you sent us to ask Baalzebub about your injury and why you don't believe there's a God in Israel. The man also told us that the LORD says you're going to die."
⁷"What did the man look like?" Ahaziah asked.
⁸"He was hairy and had a leather belt around his waist," they answered.
"It must be Elijah!" replied Ahaziah. ⁹So at once he sent an army officer and fifty soldiers to meet Elijah.
Elijah was sitting on top of a hill at the time. The officer went up to him and said, "Man of God, the king orders you to come down and talk with him."
¹⁰"If I am a man of God," Elijah answered, "God will send down fire on you and your fifty soldiers." Fire immediately came down from heaven and burned up the officer and his men.
¹¹Ahaziah sent another officer and fifty more soldiers to Elijah. The officer said, "Man of God, the king orders you to come see him right now."
¹²"If I am a man of God," Elijah answered, "fire will destroy you and your fifty soldiers." And God sent down fire from heaven on the officer and his men.
¹³Ahaziah sent a third army officer and fifty more soldiers. This officer went up to Elijah, then he got down on his knees and begged, "Man of God, please be kind to me and these fifty servants of yours. Let us live! ¹⁴Fire has already wiped out the other officers and their soldiers. Please don't let it happen to me."
¹⁵The angel from the LORD said to Elijah, "Go with him and don't be afraid." So Elijah got up and went with the officer.
¹⁶When Elijah arrived, he told Ahaziah, "The LORD wants to know why you sent messengers to Ekron to ask Baalzebub about your injury. Don't you believe there's a God in Israel? Ahaziah, because you did that, the LORD says you will die."
¹⁷Ahaziah died, just as the LORD had said. But since Ahaziah had no sons, Joram his brother then became king. This happened in the second year that Jehoram son of Jehoshaphat was king of Judah. ¹⁸Everything else Ahaziah did while he was king is written in The History of the Kings of Israel.

The LORD Takes Elijah Away

2 Kings 2 Not long before the LORD took Elijah up into heaven in a strong wind, Elijah and Elisha were leaving Gilgal. ²Elijah said to Elisha, "The LORD wants me to go to Bethel, but you must stay here."
Elisha replied, "I swear by the living LORD and by your own life that I will stay with you no matter what!" And he went with Elijah to Bethel.
³A group of prophets who lived there asked Elisha, "Do you know that today the LORD is going to take away your master?"
"Yes, I do," Elisha answered. "But don't remind me of it."
⁴Elijah then said, "Elisha, now the LORD wants me to go to Jericho, but you must stay here."
Elisha replied, "I swear by the living LORD and by your own life, that I will stay with you no matter what!" And he went with Elijah to Jericho.
⁵A group of prophets who lived there asked Elisha, "Do you know that today the LORD is going to take away your master?"
"Yes, I do," Elisha answered. "But don't remind me of it."
⁶Elijah then said to Elisha, "Now the LORD wants me to go to the Jordan River, but you must stay here."
Elisha replied, "I swear by the living LORD and by your own life that I will never leave you!" So the two of them walked on together.
⁷Fifty prophets followed Elijah and Elisha from Jericho, then stood at a distance and watched as the two men walked toward the river. ⁸When they got there, Elijah took off his coat, then he rolled it up and struck the water with it. At once a path opened up through the river, and the two of them walked across on dry ground.
⁹After they had reached the other side, Elijah said, "Elisha, the LORD will soon take me away. What can I do for you before that happens?"
Elisha answered, "Please give me twice as much of your power as you give the other prophets, so I can be the one who takes your place as their leader."
¹⁰"It won't be easy," Elijah answered. "It can happen only if you see me as I am being taken away."
¹¹Elijah and Elisha were walking along and talking, when suddenly there appeared between them a flaming chariot pulled by fiery horses. Right away, a strong wind took Elijah up into heaven. ¹²Elisha saw this and shouted, "Israel's cavalry and chariots have taken my master away!" After Elijah had gone, Elisha tore his clothes in sorrow.
¹³Elijah's coat had fallen off, so Elisha picked it up and walked back to the Jordan River. ¹⁴He struck the water with the coat and wondered, "Will the LORD perform miracles for me as he did for Elijah?" As soon as Elisha did this, a dry path opened up through the water, and he walked across.
¹⁵When the prophets from Jericho saw what happened, they said to each other, "Elisha now has Elijah's power."
They walked over to him, bowed down, ¹⁶and said, "There are fifty strong men here with us. Please let them go look for your master. Maybe the Spirit of the LORD carried him off to some mountain or valley."
"No," Elisha replied, "they won't find him."
¹⁷They kept begging until he was embarrassed to say no. He finally agreed, and the prophets sent the men out. They looked three days for Elijah but never found him. ¹⁸They returned to Jericho, and Elisha said, "I told you that you wouldn't find him."

Elisha Makes the Water Pure at Jericho

¹⁹One day the people of Jericho said, "Elisha, you can see that our city is in a good spot. But the water from our spring is so bad that it even keeps our crops from growing."
²⁰He replied, "Put some salt in a new bowl and bring it to me."
They brought him the bowl of salt, ²¹and he carried it to the spring. He threw the salt into the water and said, "The LORD has made this water pure again. From now on you'll be able to grow crops, and no one will starve."
²²The water has been fine ever since, just as Elisha said.

Some Boys Make Fun of Elisha

²³Elisha left and headed toward Bethel. Along the way some boys started making fun of him by shouting, "Go away, baldy! Get out of here!"
²⁴Elisha turned around and stared at the boys. Then he cursed them in the name of the LORD. Right away two bears ran out of the woods and ripped to pieces forty-two of the boys.
²⁵Elisha went up to Mount Carmel, then returned to Samaria.

A Vision of Locusts

Amos 7 The LORD God showed me that he is going to send locusts to attack your crops. It will happen after the king has already been given his share of the grain and before the rest of the grain has been harvested. ²In my vision the locusts ate every crop in the land, and I said to the LORD, "Forgive me for asking, but how can the nation survive? It's so weak."
³Then the LORD felt sorry and answered, "I won't let it be destroyed."

A Vision of Fire

⁴The LORD showed me that he is going to send a ball of fire to burn up everything on earth, including the ocean. ⁵Then I said, "Won't you please stop? How can our weak nation survive?"
⁶Again the LORD felt sorry and answered, "I won't let it be destroyed."

A Vision of a Measuring Line

⁷The LORD showed me a vision of himself standing beside a wall and holding a string with a weight tied to the end of it. The string and weight had been used to measure the straightness of the wall. ⁸Then he asked, "Amos, what do you see?"
"A measuring line," I answered.
The LORD said, "I'm using this measuring line to show that my people Israel don't measure up, and I won't forgive them any more. ⁹Their sacred places will be destroyed, and I will send war against the nation of King Jeroboam."

Amos and Amaziah

¹⁰Amaziah the priest at Bethel sent this message to King Jeroboam of Israel, "Amos is plotting against you in the very heart of Israel. Our nation cannot put up with his message for very long. ¹¹Here is what he is saying:
'Jeroboam will be put to death,
and the people will be taken
to a foreign country.' "
¹²Then Amaziah told me, "Amos, take your visions and get out! Go back to Judah and earn your living there as a prophet. ¹³Don't do any more preaching at Bethel. The king worships here at our national temple."
¹⁴I answered:

I'm not a prophet! And I wasn't trained to be a prophet. I am a shepherd, and I take care of fig trees. ¹⁵But the LORD told me to leave my herds and preach to the people of Israel. ¹⁶And here you are, telling me not to preach! ¹⁷Now, listen to what the LORD says about you:

Your wife will become a prostitute in the city,
your sons and daughters will be killed in war,
and your land will be divided among others.
You will die in a country of foreigners,
and the people of Israel will be dragged
from their homeland.