The Resurrection of Christ

1 Corinthians 15 And now I want to remind you, my friends, of the Good News which I preached to you, which you received, and on which your faith stands firm. ²That is the gospel, the message that I preached to you. You are saved by the gospel if you hold firmly to it--unless it was for nothing that you believed.
³I passed on to you what I received, which is of the greatest importance: that Christ died for our sins, as written in the Scriptures; ⁴that he was buried and that he was raised to life three days later, as written in the Scriptures; ⁵that he appeared to Peter and then to all twelve apostles. ⁶Then he appeared to more than five hundred of his followers at once, most of whom are still alive, although some have died. ⁷Then he appeared to James, and afterward to all the apostles.
⁸Last of all he appeared also to me--even though I am like someone whose birth was abnormal. ⁹For I am the least of all the apostles--I do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted God's church. ¹⁰But by God's grace I am what I am, and the grace that he gave me was not without effect. On the contrary, I have worked harder than any of the other apostles, although it was not really my own doing, but God's grace working with me. ¹¹So then, whether it came from me or from them, this is what we all preach, and this is what you believe.

Our Resurrection

¹²Now, since our message is that Christ has been raised from death, how can some of you say that the dead will not be raised to life? ¹³If that is true, it means that Christ was not raised; ¹⁴and if Christ has not been raised from death, then we have nothing to preach and you have nothing to believe. ¹⁵More than that, we are shown to be lying about God, because we said that he raised Christ from death--but if it is true that the dead are not raised to life, then he did not raise Christ. ¹⁶For if the dead are not raised, neither has Christ been raised. ¹⁷And if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is a delusion and you are still lost in your sins. ¹⁸It would also mean that the believers in Christ who have died are lost. ¹⁹If our hope in Christ is good for this life only and no more, then we deserve more pity than anyone else in all the world.
²⁰But the truth is that Christ has been raised from death, as the guarantee that those who sleep in death will also be raised. ²¹For just as death came by means of a man, in the same way the rising from death comes by means of a man. ²²For just as all people die because of their union with Adam, in the same way all will be raised to life because of their union with Christ. ²³But each one will be raised in proper order: Christ, first of all; then, at the time of his coming, those who belong to him. ²⁴Then the end will come; Christ will overcome all spiritual rulers, authorities, and powers, and will hand over the Kingdom to God the Father. ²⁵For Christ must rule until God defeats all enemies and puts them under his feet. ²⁶The last enemy to be defeated will be death. ²⁷For the scripture says, "God put all things under his feet." It is clear, of course, that the words "all things" do not include God himself, who puts all things under Christ. ²⁸But when all things have been placed under Christ's rule, then he himself, the Son, will place himself under God, who placed all things under him; and God will rule completely over all.
²⁹Now, what about those people who are baptized for the dead? What do they hope to accomplish? If it is true, as some claim, that the dead are not raised to life, why are those people being baptized for the dead? ³⁰And as for us--why would we run the risk of danger every hour? ³¹My friends, I face death every day! The pride I have in you, in our life in union with Christ Jesus our Lord, makes me declare this. ³²If I have, as it were, fought "wild beasts" here in Ephesus simply from human motives, what have I gained? But if the dead are not raised to life, then, as the saying goes, "Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we will die."
³³Do not be fooled. "Bad companions ruin good character." ³⁴Come back to your right senses and stop your sinful ways. I declare to your shame that some of you do not know God.

The Descendants of Ahab Are Killed

2 Kings 10 There were seventy descendants of King Ahab living in the city of Samaria. Jehu wrote a letter and sent copies to the rulers of the city, to the leading citizens, and to the guardians of Ahab's descendants. The letter read: ²"You are in charge of the king's descendants, and you have at your disposal chariots, horses, weapons, and fortified cities. So then, as soon as you receive this letter, ³you are to choose the best qualified of the king's descendants, make him king, and fight to defend him."
⁴The rulers of Samaria were terrified. "How can we oppose Jehu," they said, "when neither King Joram nor King Ahaziah could?" ⁵So the officer in charge of the palace and the official in charge of the city, together with the leading citizens and the guardians, sent this message to Jehu: "We are your servants, and we are ready to do anything you say. But we will not make anyone king; do whatever you think best."
⁶Jehu wrote them another letter: "If you are with me and are ready to follow my orders, bring the heads of King Ahab's descendants to me at Jezreel by this time tomorrow."
The seventy descendants of King Ahab were under the care of the leading citizens of Samaria, who were bringing them up. ⁷When Jehu's letter was received, the leaders of Samaria killed all seventy of Ahab's descendants, put their heads in baskets, and sent them to Jehu at Jezreel.
⁸When Jehu was told that the heads of Ahab's descendants had been brought, he ordered them to be piled up in two heaps at the city gate and to be left there until the following morning. ⁹In the morning he went out to the gate and said to the people who were there, "I was the one who plotted against King Joram and killed him; you are not responsible for that. But who killed all these? ¹⁰This proves that everything that the LORD said about the descendants of Ahab will come true. The LORD has done what he promised through his prophet Elijah." ¹¹Then Jehu put to death all the other relatives of Ahab living in Jezreel, and all his officers, close friends, and priests; not one of them was left alive.

The Relatives of King Ahaziah Are Killed

¹²Jehu left Jezreel to go to Samaria. On the way, at a place called "Shepherds' Camp," ¹³he met some relatives of the late King Ahaziah of Judah and asked them, "Who are you?"
"Ahaziah's relatives," they answered. "We are going to Jezreel to pay our respects to the children of Queen Jezebel and to the rest of the royal family." ¹⁴Jehu ordered his men, "Take them alive!" They seized them, and he put them to death near a pit there. There were forty-two people in all, and not one of them was left alive.

All Remaining Relatives of Ahab Are Killed

¹⁵Jehu started out again, and on his way he was met by Jonadab son of Rechab. Jehu greeted him and said, "You and I think alike. Will you support me?"
"I will," Jonadab answered.
"Give me your hand, then," Jehu replied. They clasped hands, and Jehu helped him up into the chariot, ¹⁶saying, "Come with me and see for yourself how devoted I am to the LORD." And they rode on together to Samaria. ¹⁷When they arrived there, Jehu killed all of Ahab's relatives, not sparing even one. This is what the LORD had told Elijah would happen.

The Worshipers of Baal Are Killed

¹⁸Jehu called the people of Samaria together and said, "King Ahab served the god Baal a little, but I will serve him much more. ¹⁹Call together all the prophets of Baal, all his worshipers, and all his priests. No one is excused; I am going to offer a great sacrifice to Baal, and whoever is not present will be put to death." (This was a trick on the part of Jehu by which he meant to kill all the worshipers of Baal.) ²⁰Then Jehu ordered, "Proclaim a day of worship in honor of Baal!" The proclamation was made, ²¹and Jehu sent word throughout all the land of Israel. All who worshiped Baal came; not one of them failed to come. They all went into the temple of Baal, filling it from one end to the other. ²²Then Jehu ordered the priest in charge of the sacred robes to bring the robes out and give them to the worshipers. ²³After that, Jehu himself went into the temple with Jonadab son of Rechab and said to the people there, "Make sure that only worshipers of Baal are present and that no worshiper of the LORD has come in." ²⁴Then he and Jonadab went in to offer sacrifices and burnt offerings to Baal. He had stationed eighty men outside the temple and had instructed them: "You are to kill all these people; anyone who lets one of them escape will pay for it with his life!"
²⁵As soon as Jehu had presented the offerings, he said to the guards and officers, "Go in and kill them all; don't let anyone escape!" They went in with drawn swords, killed them all, and dragged the bodies outside. Then they went on into the inner sanctuary of the temple, ²⁶brought out the sacred pillar that was there, and burned it. ²⁷So they destroyed the sacred pillar and the temple, and turned the temple into a latrine--which it still is today.
²⁸That was how Jehu wiped out the worship of Baal in Israel. ²⁹But he imitated the sin of King Jeroboam, who led Israel into the sin of worshiping the gold bull-calves he set up in Bethel and in Dan. ³⁰The LORD said to Jehu, "You have done to Ahab's descendants everything I wanted you to do. So I promise you that your descendants, down to the fourth generation, will be kings of Israel." ³¹But Jehu did not obey with all his heart the Law of the LORD, the God of Israel; instead, he followed the example of Jeroboam, who led Israel into sin.

The Death of Jehu

³²At that time the LORD began to reduce the size of Israel's territory. King Hazael of Syria conquered all the Israelite territory ³³east of the Jordan, as far south as the town of Aroer on the Arnon River--this included the territories of Gilead and Bashan, where the tribes of Gad, Reuben, and East Manasseh lived.
³⁴Everything else that Jehu did, including his brave deeds, is recorded in The History of the Kings of Israel. ³⁵He died and was buried in Samaria, and his son Jehoahaz succeeded him as king. ³⁶Jehu had ruled in Samaria as king of Israel for twenty-eight years.

The Book of
MICAH

1 During the time that Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah were kings of Judah, the LORD gave this message to Micah, who was from the town of Moresheth. The LORD revealed to Micah all these things about Samaria and Jerusalem.

A Lament for Samaria and Jerusalem

²Hear this, all you nations;
listen to this, all who live on earth!
The Sovereign LORD will testify against you.
Listen! He speaks from his heavenly temple.
³The LORD is coming from his holy place;
he will come down and walk on the tops of the mountains.
⁴Then the mountains will melt under him
like wax in a fire;
they will pour down into the valleys
like water pouring down a hill.

⁵All this will happen because the people of Israel have sinned and rebelled against God. Who is to blame for Israel's rebellion? Samaria, the capital city itself ! Who is guilty of idolatry in Judah? Jerusalem itself ! ⁶So the LORD says, "I will make Samaria a pile of ruins in the open country, a place for planting grapevines. I will pour the rubble of the city down into the valley, and will lay bare the city's foundations. ⁷All its precious idols will be smashed to pieces, everything given to its temple prostitutes will be destroyed by fire, and all its images will become a desolate heap. Samaria acquired these things for its fertility rites, and now her enemies will carry them off for temple prostitutes elsewhere."
⁸Then Micah said, "Because of this I will mourn and lament. To show my sorrow, I will walk around barefoot and naked. I will howl like a jackal and wail like an ostrich. ⁹Samaria's wounds cannot be healed, and Judah is about to suffer in the same way; destruction has reached the gates of Jerusalem itself, where my people live."

The Enemy Approaches Jerusalem

¹⁰Don't tell our enemies in Gath about our defeat; don't let them see you weeping. People of Beth Leaphrah, show your despair by rolling in the dust! ¹¹You people of Shaphir, go into exile, naked and ashamed. Those who live in Zaanan do not dare to come out of their city. When you hear the people of Bethezel mourn, you will know that there is no refuge there. ¹²The people of Maroth anxiously wait for relief, because the LORD has brought disaster close to Jerusalem. ¹³You that live in Lachish, hitch the horses to the chariots. You imitated the sins of Israel and so caused Jerusalem to sin. ¹⁴And now, people of Judah, say good-bye to the town of Moresheth Gath. The kings of Israel will get no help from the town of Achzib.
¹⁵People of Mareshah, the LORD will hand you over to an enemy, who is going to capture your town. The leaders of Israel will go and hide in the cave at Adullam. ¹⁶People of Judah, cut off your hair in mourning for the children you love. Make yourselves as bald as vultures, because your children will be taken away from you into exile.