Order in the Church

1 Corinthians 14 ²⁶This is what I mean, my friends. When you meet for worship, one person has a hymn, another a teaching, another a revelation from God, another a message in strange tongues, and still another the explanation of what is said. Everything must be of help to the church. ²⁷If someone is going to speak in strange tongues, two or three at the most should speak, one after the other, and someone else must explain what is being said. ²⁸But if no one is there who can explain, then the one who speaks in strange tongues must be quiet and speak only to himself and to God. ²⁹Two or three who are given God's message should speak, while the others are to judge what they say. ³⁰But if someone sitting in the meeting receives a message from God, the one who is speaking should stop. ³¹All of you may proclaim God's message, one by one, so that everyone will learn and be encouraged. ³²The gift of proclaiming God's message should be under the speaker's control, ³³because God does not want us to be in disorder but in harmony and peace.
As in all the churches of God's people, ³⁴the women should keep quiet in the meetings. They are not allowed to speak; as the Jewish Law says, they must not be in charge. ³⁵If they want to find out about something, they should ask their husbands at home. It is a disgraceful thing for a woman to speak in a church meeting.
³⁶Or could it be that the word of God came from you? Or are you the only ones to whom it came? ³⁷If anyone supposes he is God's messenger or has a spiritual gift, he must realize that what I am writing to you is the Lord's command. ³⁸But if he does not pay attention to this, pay no attention to him.
³⁹So then, my friends, set your heart on proclaiming God's message, but do not forbid the speaking in strange tongues. ⁴⁰Everything must be done in a proper and orderly way.

Jehu Is Anointed King of Israel

2 Kings 9 Meanwhile the prophet Elisha called one of the young prophets and said to him, "Get ready and go to Ramoth in Gilead. Take this jar of olive oil with you, ²and when you get there look for Jehu, the son of Jehoshaphat and grandson of Nimshi. Take him to a private room away from his companions, ³pour this olive oil on his head, and say, 'The LORD proclaims that he anoints you king of Israel.' Then leave there as fast as you can."
⁴So the young prophet went to Ramoth, ⁵where he found the army officers in a conference. He said, "Sir, I have a message for you."
Jehu asked, "Which one of us are you speaking to?"
"To you, sir," he replied. ⁶Then the two of them went indoors, and the young prophet poured the olive oil on Jehu's head and said to him, "The LORD, the God of Israel, proclaims: 'I anoint you king of my people Israel. ⁷You are to kill your master the king, that son of Ahab, so that I may punish Jezebel for murdering my prophets and my other servants. ⁸All of Ahab's family and descendants are to die; I will get rid of every male in his family, young and old alike. ⁹I will treat his family as I did the families of King Jeroboam of Israel and of King Baasha of Israel. ¹⁰Jezebel will not be buried; her body will be eaten by dogs in the territory of Jezreel.'" After saying this, the young prophet left the room and fled.
¹¹Jehu went back to his fellow officers, who asked him, "Is everything all right? What did that crazy fellow want with you?"
"You know what he wanted," Jehu answered.
¹²"No we don't!" they replied. "Tell us what he said!"
"He told me that the LORD proclaims: 'I anoint you king of Israel.'"
¹³At once Jehu's fellow officers spread their cloaks at the top of the steps for Jehu to stand on, blew trumpets, and shouted, "Jehu is king!"

King Joram of Israel Is Killed

^14-15Then Jehu plotted against King Joram, who was in Jezreel, where he had gone to recover from the wounds which he had received in the battle at Ramoth against King Hazael of Syria. So Jehu said to his fellow officers, "If you are with me, make sure that no one slips out of Ramoth to go and warn the people in Jezreel." ¹⁶Then he got into his chariot and set off for Jezreel. Joram had still not recovered, and King Ahaziah of Judah was there, visiting him.
¹⁷A guard on duty in the watchtower at Jezreel saw Jehu and his men approaching. "I see some men riding up!" he called out.
Joram replied, "Send a rider to find out if they are friends or enemies."
¹⁸The messenger rode out to Jehu and said to him, "The king wants to know if you come as a friend."
"That's none of your business!" Jehu answered. "Fall in behind me."
The guard on the watchtower reported that the messenger had reached the group but was not returning. ¹⁹Another messenger was sent out, who asked Jehu the same question. Again Jehu answered, "That's none of your business! Fall in behind me."
²⁰Once more the guard reported that the messenger had reached the group but was not returning. And he added, "The leader of the group is driving his chariot like a madman, just like Jehu!"
²¹"Get my chariot ready," King Joram ordered. It was done, and he and King Ahaziah rode out, each in his own chariot, to meet Jehu. They met him at the field which had belonged to Naboth. ²²"Are you coming in peace?" Joram asked him.
"How can there be peace," Jehu answered, "when we still have all the witchcraft and idolatry that your mother Jezebel started?"
²³"It's treason, Ahaziah!" Joram cried out, as he turned his chariot around and fled. ²⁴Jehu drew his bow, and with all his strength shot an arrow that struck Joram in the back and pierced his heart. Joram fell dead in his chariot, ²⁵and Jehu said to his aide Bidkar, "Get his body and throw it in the field that belonged to Naboth. Remember that when you and I were riding together behind King Joram's father Ahab, the LORD spoke these words against Ahab: ²⁶'I saw the murder of Naboth and his sons yesterday. And I promise that I will punish you here in this same field.' So take Joram's body," Jehu ordered his aide, "and throw it in the field that belonged to Naboth, so as to fulfill the LORD's promise."

King Ahaziah of Judah Is Killed

²⁷King Ahaziah saw what happened, so he fled in his chariot toward the town of Beth Haggan, pursued by Jehu. "Kill him too!" Jehu ordered his men, and they wounded him as he drove his chariot on the road up to Gur, near the town of Ibleam. But he managed to keep on going until he reached the city of Megiddo, where he died. ²⁸His officials took his body back to Jerusalem in a chariot and buried him in the royal tombs in David's City.
²⁹Ahaziah had become king of Judah in the eleventh year that Joram son of Ahab was king of Israel.

Queen Jezebel Is Killed

³⁰Jehu arrived in Jezreel. Jezebel, having heard what had happened, put on eye shadow, arranged her hair, and stood looking down at the street from a window in the palace. ³¹As Jehu came through the gate, she called out, "You Zimri! You assassin! Why are you here?"
³²Jehu looked up and shouted, "Who is on my side?" Two or three palace officials looked down at him from a window, ³³and Jehu said to them, "Throw her down!" They threw her down, and her blood spattered on the wall and on the horses. Jehu drove his horses and chariot over her body, ³⁴entered the palace, and had a meal. Only then did he say, "Take that cursed woman and bury her; after all, she is a king's daughter." ³⁵But the men who went out to bury her found nothing except her skull and the bones of her hands and feet. ³⁶When they reported this to Jehu, he said, "This is what the LORD said would happen, when he spoke through his servant Elijah: 'Dogs will eat Jezebel's body in the territory of Jezreel. ³⁷Her remains will be scattered there like dung, so that no one will be able to identify them.'"

Jonah's Anger and God's Mercy

Jonah 4 Jonah was very unhappy about this and became angry. ²So he prayed, "LORD, didn't I say before I left home that this is just what you would do? That's why I did my best to run away to Spain! I knew that you are a loving and merciful God, always patient, always kind, and always ready to change your mind and not punish. ³Now then, LORD, let me die. I am better off dead than alive."
⁴The LORD answered, "What right do you have to be angry?"
⁵Jonah went out east of the city and sat down. He made a shelter for himself and sat in its shade, waiting to see what would happen to Nineveh. ⁶Then the LORD God made a plant grow up over Jonah to give him some shade, so that he would be more comfortable. Jonah was extremely pleased with the plant. ⁷But at dawn the next day, at God's command, a worm attacked the plant, and it died. ⁸After the sun had risen, God sent a hot east wind, and Jonah was about to faint from the heat of the sun beating down on his head. So he wished he were dead. "I am better off dead than alive," he said.
⁹But God said to him, "What right do you have to be angry about the plant?"
Jonah replied, "I have every right to be angry--angry enough to die!"
¹⁰The LORD said to him, "This plant grew up in one night and disappeared the next; you didn't do anything for it and you didn't make it grow--yet you feel sorry for it! ¹¹How much more, then, should I have pity on Nineveh, that great city. After all, it has more than 120,000 innocent children in it, as well as many animals!"