19 5 Elijah fleeing from Jezebel, is nourished by the Angel of God. 15 He is commanded to anoint Hazael, Jehu, and Elisha.

¹ Now Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and how he had slain all the ^[a]prophets with the sword.

² Then Jezebel sent a messenger unto Elijah, saying, ^[b]The gods do so to me and more also, if I make not thy life like one of their lives by tomorrow this time.

³ ¶ When he saw that, he arose, and went ^[c]for his life, and came to Beersheba, which is in Judah, and left his servant there.

⁴ But he went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a Juniper tree, and desired that he might die, and said, It is now enough: O Lord, ^[d]take my soul, for I am no better than my fathers.

⁵ And as he lay and slept under the Juniper tree, behold now, an Angel touched him, and said unto him, Up, and eat.

⁶ And when he looked about, behold, there was a cake baken on the coals, and a pot of water at his head: so he did eat and drink, and returned and slept.

⁷ And the Angel of the Lord came again the second time, and touched him, and said, Up, and eat: for ^[e]thou hast a great journey.

⁸ ¶ Then he arose, and did eat and drink, and walked in the strength of that meat forty days and forty nights, unto Horeb the mount of God.

⁹ And there he entered into a cave, and lodged there: and behold, the Lord spake to him, and said unto him, What doest thou here, Elijah?

¹⁰ And he answered, I have ^[f]been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts: for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, broken down thine altars, and slain thy Prophets with the sword, ^(A)and I only am left, and they seek my life to take it away.

¹¹ And he said, Come out, and stand upon the mount before the Lord. And behold, the Lord went by, and a mighty strong wind rent the mountains, and brake the rocks before the Lord: but the Lord was ^[g]not in the wind: and after the wind came an earthquake: but the Lord was not in the earthquake:

¹² And after the earthquake came fire: but the Lord was not in the fire: and after the fire came a still and soft voice.

¹³ And when Elijah heard it, he covered his face with his mantle, and went out, and stood in the entering of the cave: and behold, there came a voice unto him, and said, What doest thou here, Elijah?

¹⁴ And he answered, I have been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts, ^[h]because the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, cast down thine altars, and slain thy Prophets with the sword, and I only am left, and they seek my life to take it away.

¹⁵ And the Lord said unto him, Go, return by the wilderness unto Damascus, and when thou comest there, anoint Hazael king over ^[i]Aram.

¹⁶ And Jehu the son of Nimshi shalt thou anoint King over Israel: and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel Meholah shalt thou anoint to be Prophet in thy room.

¹⁷ And ^(B)him that escapeth from the sword of Hazael, shall Jehu slay: and him that escapeth from the sword of Jehu, shall Elisha slay.

¹⁸ Yet will ^(C)I leave seven thousand in Israel: even ^[j]all the knees that have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth that hath not kissed him.

¹⁹ ¶ So he departed thence, and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, who was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen before him, and was with the twelfth: and Elijah went towards him, and cast his mantel upon him.

²⁰ And he left the oxen, and ran after Elijah, and said, ^[k]Let me, I pray thee, kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow thee. Who answered him, Go, return: for what have I done to thee?

²¹ And when he went back again from him, he took a couple of oxen, and slew them, and sod their flesh with the ^[l]instruments of the oxen, and gave unto the people, and they did eat: then he arose and went after Elijah, and ministered unto him.

20 1 Samaria is besieged. 13 The Lord promiseth the victory to Ahab by a Prophet. 31 The King of Israel made peace with Ben-Hadad, and is reproved therefore by the Prophet.

¹ Then Ben-Hadad the king of ^[a]Aram assembled all his army, and two and thirty ^[b]kings with him, with horses, and chariots, and went up and besieged ^[c]Samaria, and fought against it.

² And he sent messengers to Ahab king of Israel, into the city,

³ And said unto him, Thus saith Ben-Hadad, Thy silver and thy gold is mine: also thy women, and thy fair children are mine.

⁴ And the king of Israel answered, and said, My lord king, according to thy saying, ^[d]I am thine, and all that I have.

⁵ And when the messengers came again, they said, Thus commandeth Ben-Hadad, and saith, When I shall send unto thee, and command, thou shalt deliver me thy silver and thy gold, and thy women, and thy children,

^6 [e]Or else I will send my servants unto thee by tomorrow this time, and they shall search thine house, and the houses of thy servants: and whatsoever is pleasant in thine eyes, they shall take it in their hands, and bring it away.

⁷ Then the King of Israel sent for all the Elders of the land, and said, Take heed, I pray you, and see how he seeketh mischief: for he sent unto me for my wives, and for my children, and for my silver, and for my gold, and I denied him not.

⁸ And all the Elders, and all the people said to him, Hearken ^[f]not unto him, nor consent.

⁹ Wherefore he said unto the messengers of Ben-Hadad, Tell my lord the king, All that thou didst send for to thy servant at the first time, that I will do, but this thing I may not do. And the messengers departed, and brought him an answer.

¹⁰ And Ben-Hadad sent unto him, and said, The gods do so to me and more also, if the ^[g]dust of Samaria be enough to all the people that follow me, for every man an handful.

¹¹ And the king of Israel answered, and said, Tell him, Let not him that girdeth his harness, boast himself, as he that ^[h]putteth it off.

¹² And when he heard that tidings, as he was with the kings drinking in the pavilions, he said unto the servants, ^[i]Bring forth your engines. And they set them against the city.

¹³ ¶ And behold, there came a Prophet unto Ahab king of Israel, saying, Thus saith the Lord, Hast thou seen all this great multitude? behold, I will deliver it into thine hand this day, that thou mayest know, ^[j]that I am the Lord.

¹⁴ And Ahab said, By whom? and he said, Thus saith the Lord, By the servants of the princes of the provinces. He said again, Who shall order the battle? and he answered, Thou.

¹⁵ ¶ Then he numbered the servants of the princes of the provinces, and they were two hundred, two and thirty: and after them he numbered the whole people of all the children of Israel, even seven thousand.

¹⁶ And they went out at noon: but Ben-Hadad did drink till he was drunken in the tents, both he and the kings: for two and thirty kings helped him.

¹⁷ So the ^[k]servants of the princes of the provinces went out first: and Ben-Hadad sent out, and they showed him, saying, There are men come out of Samaria.

¹⁸ And he said, Whether they be come out for peace, take them alive: or whether they be come out to fight, take them yet alive.

¹⁹ So they came out of the city, to wit, the servants of the princes of the provinces, and the host which followed them.

²⁰ And they slew everyone his ^[l]enemy: and the ^[m]Aramites fled, and Israel pursued them: but Ben-Hadad the king of Aram escaped on an horse with his ^[n]horsemen.

²¹ And the king of Israel went out, and smote the horses and chariots, and with a great slaughter slew the Aramites.

²² (For there had come a Prophet to the king of Israel, and had said unto him, Go, be of good courage, and consider, and take heed what thou doest: for when the year is gone about, the king of Aram will come up against thee.)

²³ ¶ Then the servants of the king of Aram said unto him, Their ^[o]gods are gods of the mountains, and therefore they overcame us: but let us fight against them in the plain, and doubtless we shall overcome them.

²⁴ And this do, Take the kings away, everyone out of his place, and place captains for them.

²⁵ And number thyself an army, like the army that thou hast lost, with such horses, and such chariots, and we will fight against them in the plain, and doubtless we shall overcome them: and he hearkened unto their voice, and did so.

²⁶ And after the year was gone about, Ben-Hadad numbered the Aramites, and went up to Aphek to fight against Israel.

²⁷ And the children of Israel were numbered, and were all ^[p]assembled, and went against them, and the children of Israel pitched before them like two little flocks of kids: but the Aramites filled the country.

²⁸ And there came a man of God, and spake unto the king of Israel, saying, Thus saith the Lord, Because the Aramites have said, The Lord is the God of the mountains, and not God of the valleys, therefore will I deliver all this great multitude into thine hand, and ye shall know that ^[q]I am the Lord.

²⁹ And they pitched one over against the other seven days, and in the seventh day the battle was joined: and the children of Israel slew of the Aramites an hundred thousand footmen in one day.

³⁰ But the rest fled to Aphek into the city: and there fell a wall upon seven and twenty thousand men that were left: and Ben-Hadad fled into the city, and came into ^[r]a secret chamber.

³¹ ¶ And his servants said unto him, Behold now, we have heard say that the Kings of the house of Israel are merciful Kings: we pray thee, let us put sackcloth about our ^[s]loins, and ropes about our heads, and go out to the King of Israel: it may be that he will save thy life.

³² Then they girded sackcloth about their loins, and put ropes about their heads, and came to the King of Israel, and said, Thy servant Ben-Hadad saith, I pray thee, let me live: and he said, Is he yet alive? he is my brother.

³³ Now the men took diligent heed, ^[t]if they could catch anything of him, and made haste, and said, Thy brother ^[u]Ben-Hadad. And he said, Go, bring him. So Ben-Hadad came out unto him, and he caused him to come up into the chariot.

³⁴ And Ben-Hadad said unto him, The cities which my father took from thy father, I will restore, and thou shalt make streets for thee in ^[v]Damascus, as my father did in Samaria. Then said Ahab, I will let thee go with this covenant. So he made a covenant with him, and let him go.

³⁵ ¶ Then a certain man of the ^[w]children of the Prophets said unto his neighbor by the commandment of the Lord, ^[x]Smite me, I pray thee. But the man refused to smite him.

³⁶ Then said he unto him, Because thou hast not obeyed the voice of the Lord, behold, as soon as thou art departed from me, a lion shall ^[y]slay thee. So when he was departed from him, a lion found him, and slew him.

³⁷ Then he found another man, and said, Smite me, I pray thee. And the man smote him, and in smiting wounded him.

³⁸ So the Prophet departed, and waited for the King by the way, and disguised himself with ashes upon his face.

³⁹ And when the King came by, he cried unto the King, and said, ^[z]Thy servant went into the midst of the battle, and behold, there went away a man, whom another man brought unto me, and said, Keep this man: if he be lost, and want, thy life shall go for his life, or else thou shalt pay a talent of silver.

⁴⁰ And as thy servant had here and there to do, he was gone: And the King of Israel said unto him, So shall thy judgment be: thou hast given sentence.

⁴¹ And he hasted, and took the ashes away from his face: and the King of Israel knew him that he was of the Prophets:

⁴² And he said unto him, Thus saith the Lord, ^(A)Because thou hast let go out of thine hands a man whom I appointed to die, thy life shall go for his life, and thy people for his people.

⁴³ And the King of Israel went to his house heavy and in displeasure, and came to ^[aa]Samaria.

3 1 Against earthly exercises, which the false apostles urged, 2 he setteth heavenly: 5 and beginneth with the mortifying of the flesh, 8 whence he draweth particular exhortations, 18 and particular duties which depend on each man’s calling.

¹ If ^[a]ye then ^[b]be ^[c]risen with Christ, ^[d]seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth at the right hand of God.

² Set your affections on things which are above, and not on things which are on the ^[e]earth.

^3 [f]For ye are dead, ^[g]and your life is hid with Christ in God.

⁴ When Christ which is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.

^5 (A)[h] Mortify therefore your ^[i]members which are on the earth, fornication, uncleanness, the inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness which is idolatry.

⁶ For the which things’ sake the wrath of God ^[j]cometh on the children of disobedience.

⁷ Wherein ye also walked once, when ye lived in them.

⁸ But now put ye away even all these things, wrath, anger, maliciousness, cursed speaking, filthy speaking, out of your mouth.

⁹ Lie not one to another: ^[k]seeing that ye have put off the old man with his works,

¹⁰ And have put on the new, ^[l]which is renewed in ^[m]knowledge after the image of him that created him,

^11 [n]Where is neither Grecian nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond, free: But Christ is all, and in all things.

¹² Now therefore as the elect of God, holy and beloved, ^[o]put on the ^[p]bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering:

¹³ Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel to another: even as Christ forgave, even so do ye.

¹⁴ And above all these things put on love, which is the ^[q]bond of perfectness.

¹⁵ And let the peace of God ^[r]rule in your hearts, to the which ye are called in ^[s]one body, and be ye thankful:

¹⁶ Let the word of Christ dwell in you plenteously in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing your own selves, in ^[t]Psalms, and hymns, and spiritual songs, singing with a grace in your hearts to the Lord,

^17 (B)And whatsoever ye shall do, in word or deed, do all in the ^[u]Name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God even the Father by him.

¹⁸ ¶ ^(C)[v]Wives, submit yourselves unto your husbands, as it is ^[w]comely in the Lord.

^19 (D)[x]Husbands, love your wives, and be not bitter unto them.

²⁰ ¶ ^(E)[y]Children, obey your parents in ^[z]all things: for that is well pleasing unto the Lord.

^21 [aa]Fathers, provoke not your children to anger, lest they be discouraged.

²² ¶ ^(F)[ab] Servants, be obedient unto them that are your masters according to the flesh, in all things, not with eye service as men pleasers, but in singleness of heart, fearing God.

²³ And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not to men,

²⁴ Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the ^[ac]reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ.

^25 [ad]But he that doeth wrong, shall receive for the wrong that he hath done: and there is no respect of persons.

4 2 He returneth to general exhortations, 3 touching prayer and gracious speech, 7and so endeth with greetings and commendations.

¹ Ye masters, do unto your servants, that which is just and equal, knowing that ye also have a master in heaven.

^2 (A)[a][b]Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving,

^3 (B)[c]Praying also for us, that God may open unto us the ^[d]door of utterance, to speak the mystery of Christ: wherefore I am also in bonds,

⁴ That I may utter it, as it becometh me to speak.

⁵ ¶ ^(C)[e]Walk ^[f]wisely toward them that are without, and redeem the ^[g]season.

^6 [h]Let your speech be ^[i]gracious always, and powdered with ^[j]salt, that ye may know how to answer every man.

⁷ ¶ Tychicus our beloved brother and faithful minister, and fellow servant in the Lord, shall declare unto you my whole state:

⁸ Whom I have sent unto you for the same purpose that he might know your state, and might comfort your hearts,

⁹ With Onesimus a faithful and a beloved brother, who is one of you. They shall show you of all things here.

¹⁰ Aristarchus my prison fellow saluteth you, and Marcus, Barnabas’s cousin (touching whom ye received commandments: If he come unto you, receive him.)

¹¹ And Jesus which is called Justus, which are of the circumcision. These ^[k]only are my work-fellows unto the ^[l]kingdom of God, which have been unto my consolation.

¹² Epaphras the servant of Christ, which is one of you, saluteth you, and always striveth for you in prayers, that ye may stand perfect, and full in all the will of God.

¹³ For I bear him record, that he hath a great zeal for you, and for them of Laodicea, and them of Hierapolis,

14 ^(D)Luke the beloved physician greeteth you, and Demas.

¹⁵ Salute the brethren which are of Laodicea, and Nymphas, and the Church which is in his house.

¹⁶ And when this Epistle is read of you, cause that it be read in the Church of the Laodiceans also, and that ye likewise read the Epistle written from Laodicea,

¹⁷ And say to Archippus, Take heed to the ministry, that thou hast received in the Lord, that thou fulfill it.

¹⁸ The salutation by the hand of me Paul. Remember my bands. Grace be with you, Amen.

¶ Written from Rome to the Colossians, and sent by Tychicus, and Onesimus.