1 Kings 18:20-39
Psalm 16:1-2, 4-5,8, 11
Matthew 5: 17-19
1 Kings 18:20-39
20 So Ahab summoned all the Israelites and had the prophets gather on Mount Carmel. 21 Elijah approached all the people and said, “How long will you straddle the issue? If the LORD is God, follow him; if Baal, follow him.” But the people did not answer him. 22 So Elijah said to the people, “I am the only remaining prophet of the LORD, and there are four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal. 23 Give us two young bulls. Let them choose one, cut it into pieces, and place it on the wood, but start no fire. I shall prepare the other and place it on the wood, but shall start no fire. 24 You shall call upon the name of your gods, and I will call upon the name of the LORD. The God who answers with fire is God.” All the people answered, “We agree!”
25 Elijah then said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose one young bull and prepare it first, for there are more of you. Call upon your gods, but do not start the fire.” 26 Taking the young bull that was turned over to them, they prepared it and called upon Baal from morning to noon, saying, “Baal, answer us!” But there was no sound, and no one answering. And they hopped around the altar they had prepared. 27 When it was noon, Elijah taunted them: “Call louder, for he is a god; he may be busy doing his business, or may be on a journey. Perhaps he is asleep and must be awakened.” 28 They called out louder and slashed themselves with swords and spears according to their ritual until blood gushed over them. 29 Noon passed and they remained in a prophetic state until the time for offering sacrifice. But there was no sound, no one answering, no one listening.
30 Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come here to me.” When they drew near to him, he repaired the altar of the LORD which had been destroyed. 31 He took twelve stones, for the number of tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the LORD had said: Israel shall be your name. 32 He built the stones into an altar to the name of the LORD, and made a trench around the altar large enough for two measures of grain. 33 When he had arranged the wood, he cut up the young bull and laid it on the wood. 34 He said, “Fill four jars with water and pour it over the burnt offering and over the wood.” “Do it again,” he said, and they did it again. “Do it a third time,” he said, and they did it a third time. 35 The water flowed around the altar; even the trench was filled with the water.
36 At the time for offering sacrifice, Elijah the prophet came forward and said, “LORD, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command. 37 Answer me, LORD! Answer me, that this people may know that you, LORD, are God and that you have turned their hearts back to you.” 38 The LORD’s fire came down and devoured the burnt offering, wood, stones, and dust, and lapped up the water in the trench. 39 Seeing this, all the people fell prostrate and said, “The LORD is God! The LORD is God!”
Psalm 16:1-2, 4-5,8, 11
1 Keep me safe, O God; in you I take refuge.
2 I say to the LORD, you are my Lord, you are my only good.
4 They multiply their sorrows who court other gods. Blood libations to them I will not pour out, nor will I take their names upon my lips.
5 LORD, my allotted portion and my cup, you have made my destiny secure.
8 I keep the LORD always before me; with him at my right hand, I shall never be shaken.
11 You will show me the path to life, abounding joy in your presence, the delights at your right hand forever.
Matthew 5: 17-19
17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. 18 Amen, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or the smallest part of a letter will pass from the law, until all things have taken place. 19 Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do so will be called least in the kingdom of heaven. But whoever obeys and teaches these commandments will be called greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
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