Some people from Ziph went to Saul at Gibeah and said, "David is hiding out in our territory at Horesh on Mount Hachilah, in the southern part of the Judean wilderness.

Saul answered, "May the LORD bless you for being so kind to me!

The wicked are proud of their evil desires; the greedy curse and reject the LORD.

Even if someone is satisfied with this life and is praised because he is successful,

A terrible and shocking thing has happened in the land:

But Jesus answered him, "Let it be so for now. For in this way we shall do all that God requires." So John agreed.

"It isn't a man speaking, but a god!" they shouted.

Then Paul was called in, and Tertullus began to make his accusation, as follows: "Your Excellency! Your wise leadership has brought us a long period of peace, and many necessary reforms are being made for the good of our country.

I do not want to take up too much of your time, however, so I beg you to be kind and listen to our brief account.

They know that God's law says that people who live in this way deserve death. Yet, not only do they continue to do these very things, but they even approve of others who do them.

Those false prophets speak about matters of the world, and the world listens to them because they belong to the world.

Samuel asked, "Why, then, do I hear cattle mooing and sheep bleating?"

"Stop," Samuel ordered, "and I will tell you what the LORD said to me last night." "Tell me," Saul said.

and he sent you out with orders to destroy those wicked people of Amalek. He told you to fight until you had killed them all.

"I did obey the LORD," Saul replied. "I went out as he told me to, brought back King Agag, and killed all the Amalekites.

Samuel said, "Which does the LORD prefer: obedience or offerings and sacrifices? It is better to obey him than to sacrifice the best sheep to him.

"Yes, I have sinned," Saul replied. "I disobeyed the LORD's command and your instructions. I was afraid of my men and did what they wanted.

Ahimelech answered, "David is the most faithful officer you have! He is your own son-in-law, captain of your bodyguard, and highly respected by everyone in the royal court.

Yes, I consulted God for him, and it wasn't the first time. As for plotting against you, Your Majesty must not accuse me or anyone else in my family. I don't know anything about this matter!"

"I'm not the troublemaker," Elijah answered. "You are---you and your father. You are disobeying the LORD's commands and worshiping the idols of Baal.

Elijah went up to the people and said, "How much longer will it take you to make up your minds? If the LORD is God, worship him; but if Baal is God, worship him!" But the people didn't say a word.

The prophet tore the cloth from his face, and at once the king recognized him as one of the prophets.

The prophet then said to the king, "This is the word of the LORD: 'Because you allowed the man to escape whom I had ordered to be killed, you will pay for it with your life, and your army will be destroyed for letting his army escape.' "

Tell him that I, the LORD, say to him, 'After murdering the man, are you taking over his property as well?' Tell him that this is what I say: 'In the very place that the dogs licked up Naboth's blood they will lick up your blood!' "

When Ahab saw Elijah, he said, "Have you caught up with me, my enemy?" "Yes, I have," Elijah answered. "You have devoted yourself completely to doing what is wrong in the LORD's sight.

Micaiah went on: "Now listen to what the LORD says! I saw the LORD sitting on his throne in heaven, with all his angels standing beside him.

until a spirit stepped forward, approached the LORD, and said, 'I will deceive him.'

And Micaiah concluded: "This is what has happened. The LORD has made these prophets of yours lie to you. But he himself has decreed that you will meet with disaster!"

"You will find out when you go into some back room to hide," Micaiah replied.

Tell them to throw him in prison and to put him on bread and water until I return safely."

"Why should I help you?" Elisha said to the king of Israel. "Go and consult those prophets that your father and mother consulted." "No!" Joram replied. "It is the LORD who has put us three kings at the mercy of the king of Moab."

Elisha answered, "By the living LORD, whom I serve, I swear that I would have nothing to do with you if I didn't respect your ally, King Jehoshaphat of Judah.

and decided to act. I denounced the leaders and officials of the people and told them, "You are oppressing your own relatives!" I called a public assembly to deal with the problem

Then I said, "What you are doing is wrong! You ought to obey God and do what's right. Then you would not give our enemies, the Gentiles, any reason to ridicule us.

Cancel all the debts they owe you---money or grain or wine or olive oil. And give them back their fields, vineyards, olive groves, and houses right now!"

Then I took off the sash I was wearing around my waist and shook it out. "This is how God will shake any of you who don't keep your promise," I said. "God will take away your houses and everything you own, and will leave you with nothing." Everyone who was present said, "Amen!" and praised the LORD. And the leaders kept their promise.

I was furious and threw out all of Tobiah's belongings.

I also learned that the Temple musicians and other Levites had left Jerusalem and gone back to their farms, because the people had not been giving them enough to live on.

I reprimanded the Jewish leaders and told them, "Look at the evil you're doing! You're making the Sabbath unholy.

So I gave orders for the city gates to be shut at the beginning of every Sabbath, as soon as evening began to fall, and not to be opened again until the Sabbath was over. I stationed some of my men at the gates to make sure that nothing was brought into the city on the Sabbath.

At that time I also discovered that many of the Jewish men had married women from Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab.

I reprimanded the men, called down curses on them, beat them, and pulled out their hair. Then I made them take an oath in God's name that never again would they or their children intermarry with foreigners.

When John saw many Pharisees and Sadducees coming to him to be baptized, he said to them, "You snakes---who told you that you could escape from the punishment God is about to send?

For some time John the Baptist had told Herod, "It isn't right for you to be married to Herodias!"

Paul and Barnabas got into a fierce argument with them about this, so it was decided that Paul and Barnabas and some of the others in Antioch should go to Jerusalem and see the apostles and elders about this matter.

But some of them were stubborn and would not believe, and before the whole group they said evil things about the Way of the Lord. So Paul left them and took the believers with him, and every day he held discussions in the lecture hall of Tyrannus.

My companion Titus, even though he is Greek, was not forced to be circumcised,

but in order to keep the truth of the gospel safe for you, we did not give in to them for a minute.

Have nothing to do with the worthless things that people do, things that belong to the darkness. Instead, bring them out to the light.

You know how we had already been mistreated and insulted in Philippi before we came to you in Thessalonica. And even though there was much opposition, our God gave us courage to tell you the Good News that comes from him.

My dear friends, I was doing my best to write to you about the salvation we share in common, when I felt the need of writing at once to encourage you to fight on for the faith which once and for all God has given to his people.