1 Now Ahab had seventy sons in Samaria. And so Jehu wrote letters, and he sent to Samaria, to the nobles of the city, and to those greater by birth, and to those who had raised Ahab’s sons, saying:
2 Immediately when you receive these letters, you who have your lord’s sons, and chariots, and horses, and reinforced cities, and weapons,
3 choose him who is better and who pleases you from among the sons of your lord, and set him on the throne of his father, and fight for the house of your lord.”
4 But they were vehemently afraid, and they said: “Behold, two kings were not able to stand before him. So how will we be able to withstand him?”
5 Therefore, those who were in charge of the house, and the prefects of the city, and those greater by birth, and those who raised the sons, sent to Jehu, saying: “We are your servants. Whatever you will order, we will do. But we will not appoint a king for ourselves. Do whatever pleases you.”
6 Then he again wrote letters to them a second time, saying: “If you are mine, and if you obey me, take the heads of the sons of your lord, and come to me at Jezreel at this same hour tomorrow.” Now the sons of the king, being seventy men, were being raised with the nobles of the city.
7 And when the letters had arrived to them, they took the sons of the king, and they killed the seventy men. And they placed their heads in baskets, and they sent these to him at Jezreel.
8 Then a messenger arrived and reported to him, saying, “They have brought the heads of the king’s sons.” And he responded, “Place them in two piles, beside the entrance of the gate, until morning.”
9 And when it had become light, he went out. And standing there, he said to all the people: “You are just. If I have conspired against my lord, and if I have killed him, who has struck down all of these?
10 Now therefore, see that none of the words of the Lord has fallen to the ground, which the Lord spoke over the house of Ahab, and that the Lord has done what he spoke by the hand of his servant Elijah.”
11 And so, Jehu struck down all who had remained from the house of Ahab in Jezreel, and all his nobles and friends and priests, until no remnant of them was left behind.
12 And he rose up and went to Samaria. And when he had arrived at the shepherds’ cabin along the way,
13 he found the brothers of Ahaziah, the king of Judah, and he said to them, “Who are you?” And they responded, “We are the brothers of Ahaziah, and we are going down to greet the sons of the king, and the sons of the queen.”
14 And he said, “Take them alive.” And when they had taken them alive, they cut their throats at the cistern beside the cabin, forty-two men. And he did not leave any of them behind.
15 And when he had gone away from there, he found Jehonadab, the son of Rechab, coming to meet him, and he blessed him. And he said to him, “Is your heart upright, just as my heart is with your heart?” And Jehonadab said, “It is.” Then he said, “If it is, then give me your hand.” He gave his hand to him. And so he lifted him up to himself in the chariot.
16 And he said to him, “Come with me, and see my zeal for the Lord.” And he gave him a place in his chariot.
17 And he led him into Samaria. And he struck down all who were left behind of Ahab in Samaria, even to the last one, in accord with the word of the Lord, which he spoke through Elijah.
18 Then Jehu gathered together the entire people. And he said to them: “Ahab worshipped Baal a little, but I will worship him even more.
19 Now therefore, summon to me all the prophets of Baal, and all his servants, and all his priests. Let no one be permitted not to come, for great is the sacrifice from me to Baal. Whoever will fail to come, he shall not live.” Now Jehu was doing this treacherously, so that he might destroy the worshippers of Baal.
20 And he said: “Sanctify a day of solemnity for Baal.” And he summoned
21 and sent into all the borders of Israel. And all the servants of Baal came. There was left behind not even one who did not arrive. And they entered into the temple of Baal. And the house of Baal was filled, all the way from end to end.
22 And he said to those who were over the vestments, “Bring forth vestments for all the servants of Baal.” And they brought forth vestments for them.
23 And Jehu, upon entering the temple of Baal with Jehonadab, the son of Rechab, said to the worshippers of Baal, “Inquire and see that there is no one with you from the servants of the Lord, but only from the servants of Baal.”
24 Then they entered, so that they might offer victims and holocausts. But Jehu had prepared for himself eighty men outside. And he had said to them, “If anyone escapes from among these men, whom I have led into your hands, your life will take the place of his life.”
25 Then it happened that, when the holocaust had been completed, Jehu ordered his soldiers and officers, saying: “Enter and strike them down. Let no one escape.” And the soldiers and officers struck them down with the edge of the sword, and they cast them out. And they went into the city of the temple of Baal,
26 and they took away the statue from the shine of Baal, and they burned it up
27 and crushed it. They also tore down the temple of Baal, and they made it into a latrine, even to this day.
28 And thus did Jehu wipe away Baal from Israel.
29 Yet truly, he did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, who caused Israel to sin. Neither did he forsake the golden calves, which were in Bethel and Dan.
30 Then the Lord said to Jehu: “Since you have diligently carried out what was right and pleasing in my eyes, and since you have accomplished, against the house of Ahab, all that was in my heart, your sons shall sit upon the throne of Israel, even to the fourth generation.”
31 But Jehu did not take care, so that he might walk in the law of the Lord, the God of Israel, with all his heart. For he did not withdraw from the sins of Jeroboam, who had caused Israel to sin.
32 In those days, the Lord began to be weary of Israel. And Hazael struck them throughout all the parts of Israel,
33 from the Jordan opposite the eastern region, in all the land of Gilead, and Gad, and Reuben, and Manasseh, from Aroer, which is above the torrent Arnon, in both Gilead and Bashan.
34 But the rest of the words of Jehu, and all that he did, and his strength, have these not been written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Israel?
35 And Jehu slept with his fathers, and they buried him in Samaria. And Jehoahaz, his son, reigned in his place.
36 Now the days during which Jehu reigned over Israel, in Samaria, were twenty-eight years.
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36 Its chamber, and its front, and its vestibule, and its windows all around were fifty cubits in length, and twenty-five cubits in width.
37 And its vestibule looked toward the outer court. And an engraving of palm trees at its front was on one side and the other. And its ascent was by eight steps.
38 And at each one of the storerooms, there was a door at the front of the gates. There, they washed the holocaust.
39 And at the vestibule of the gate, there were two tables on one side, and two tables on the other side, so that the holocaust, and the offering for sin, and the offering for transgression could be immolated upon them.
40 And at the outer side, which ascends to the door of the gate that goes toward the north, there were two tables. And at the other side, before the vestibule of the gate, there were two tables.
41 Four tables were on one side, and four tables were on the other side; along the sides of the gate, there were eight tables, upon which they immolated.
42 Now the four tables for the holocausts were constructed of square stones: one and a half cubit in length, and one and a half cubits in width, and one cubit in height. Upon these, they placed the vessels, in which the holocaust and the victim were immolated.
43 And their edges were one palm in width, turned inward all around. And the flesh of the oblation was on the tables.
44 And outside the interior gate, there were storerooms for the cantors, in the inner court, which was beside the gate that looks toward the north. And their face was opposite the way to the south; one was beside the east gate, which looked toward the way of the north.
45 And he said to me: “This is the storeroom that looks toward the south; it shall be for the priests who keep watch for the protection of the temple.
46 Moreover, the storeroom that looks toward the north will be for the priests who keep watch over the ministry of the altar. These are the sons of Zadok, those among the sons of Levi who may draw near to the Lord, so that they may minister to him.”
47 And he measured the court to be one hundred cubits in length, and one hundred cubits in width, with four equal sides. And the altar was before the face of the temple.
48 And he led me into the vestibule of the temple. And he measured the vestibule to be five cubits on one side, and five cubits on the other side. And the width of the gate was three cubits on one side, and three cubits on the other side.
49 Now the length of the vestibule was twenty cubits, and the width was eleven cubits, and there were eight steps to ascend to it. And there were pillars at the front, one on this side and another on that side.
1 A prayer for David himself. Incline thy ear, O Lord, and hear me: for I am needy and poor.
2 Preserve my soul, for I am holy: save thy servant, O my God, that trusteth in thee.
3 Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I have cried to thee all the day.
4 Give joy to the soul of thy servant, for to thee, O Lord, I have lifted up my soul.
5 For thou, O Lord, art sweet and mild: and plenteous in mercy to all that call upon thee.
6 Give ear, O Lord, to my prayer: and attend to the voice of my petition.
7 I have called upon thee in the day of my trouble: because thou hast heard me.
8 There is none among the gods like unto thee, O Lord: and there is none according to thy works.
18 Now certain Epicurean and Stoic philosophers were arguing with him. And some were saying, “What does this sower of the Word want to say?” Yet others were saying, “He seems to be an announcer for new demons.” For he was announcing to them Jesus and the Resurrection.
19 And apprehending him, they brought him to the Areopagus, saying: “Are we able to know what this new doctrine is, about which you speak?
20 For you bring certain new ideas to our ears. And so we would like to know what these things mean.”
21 (Now all the Athenians, and arriving visitors, were occupying themselves with nothing other than speaking or hearing various new ideas.)
22 But Paul, standing in the middle of the Areopagus, said: “Men of Athens, I perceive that in all things you are rather superstitious.
23 For as I was passing by and noticing your idols, I also found an altar, on which was written: TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Therefore, what you worship in ignorance, this is what I am preaching to you:
24 the God who made the world and all that is in it, the One who is the Lord of heaven and earth, who does not live in temples made with hands.
25 Neither is he served by the hands of men, as if in need of anything, since it is he who gives to all things life and breath and all else.
26 And he has made, out of one, every family of man: to live upon the face of the entire earth, determining the appointed seasons and the limits of their habitation,
27 so as to seek God, if perhaps they may consider him or find him, though he is not far from each one of us.
28 ‘For in him we live, and move, and exist.’ Just as some of your own poets have said. ‘For we are also of his family.’
29 Therefore, since we are of the family of God, we must not consider gold or silver or precious stones, or the engravings of art and of the imagination of man, to be a representation of what is Divine.
30 And indeed, God, having looked down to see the ignorance of these times, has now announced to men that everyone everywhere should do penance.
31 For he has appointed a day on which he will judge the world in equity, through the man whom he has appointed, offering faith to all, by raising him from the dead.”
32 And when they had heard about the Resurrection of the dead, indeed, some were derisive, while others said, “We will listen to you about this again.”
33 So Paul departed from their midst.
34 Yet truly, certain men, adhering to him, did believe. Among these were also Dionysius the Areopagite, and a woman named Damaris, and others with them.
1 After these things, having departed from Athens, he arrived at Corinth.
2 And upon finding a certain Jew named Aquila, born in Pontus, who had recently arrived from Italy with Priscilla his wife, (because Claudius had ordered all Jews to depart from Rome,) he met with them.
3 And because he was of the same trade, he lodged with them and was working. (Now they were tentmakers by trade.)
4 And he was arguing in the synagogue on every Sabbath, introducing the name of the Lord Jesus. And he was persuading Jews and Greeks.
5 And when Silas and Timothy had arrived from Macedonia, Paul stood firm in the Word, testifying to the Jews that Jesus is the Christ.
6 But since they were contradicting him and blaspheming, he shook out his garments and said to them: “Your blood is on your own heads. I am clean. From now on, I will go to the Gentiles.”
7 And moving from that place, he entered into the house of a certain man, named Titus the Just, a worshiper of God, whose house was adjoined to the synagogue.
8 Now Crispus, a leader of the synagogue, believed in the Lord, with his entire house. And many of the Corinthians, upon hearing, believed and were baptized.
9 Then the Lord said to Paul, through a vision in the night: “Do not be afraid. Instead, speak out and do not be silent.
10 For I am with you. And no one will take hold of you, so as to do you harm. For many of the people in this city are with me.”
11 Then he settled there for a year and six months, teaching the Word of God among them.
12 But when Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews rose up with one accord against Paul. And they brought him to the tribunal,
