The Misery of Limping Along (1 Kings 18:20-29)
This year in my read through of the Word, I am using the ESV (English Standard Version, 2011) instead of my normal study version I have used for many years (NASB, 1995). I have found the past few years that changing up the version (while making sure it is a reliable translation) I read from in my quiet time each day causes me to notice things that might have become so familiar in the wording as to pass me by in the NASB. As I finished reading through 1 Kings this morning, the ESV's stating of a verse caught my attention through the presentation of the struggle the people of Israel were having with their faithfulness towards God as an image : “And Elijah came near to all the people and said, 'How long will you go limping between two different opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.’ And the people did not answer him a word” (1 Kings 18:21). The NASB states Elijah’s question to the people in 1 Kings 18:21 a bit more straightforward, like this: “