Meanwhile the sky was covered with dark clouds, the wind blew, and there was a heavy rainstorm. Ahab rode toward ¹  Jezreel.

Who really knows if the human spirit ¹  ascends upward, and the animal’s spirit descends into the earth?

This is what the true God, ¹  the Lord, says – the one who created the sky and stretched it out, the one who fashioned the earth and everything that lives on it, ²  the one who gives breath to the people on it, and life to those who live on it: ³ 

I will give them one heart and I will put a new spirit within them; ¹  I will remove the hearts of stone from their bodies ²  and I will give them tender hearts, ³ 

Then a wind ¹  lifted me up and carried me to the exiles in Babylonia, ²  in the vision given to me by the Spirit of God. Then the vision I had seen went up from me.

Tell the ones who coat it with whitewash that it will fall. When there is a deluge of rain, hailstones ¹  will fall and a violent wind will break out. ² 

Throw away all your sins you have committed and fashion yourselves a new heart and a new spirit! ¹  Why should you die, O house of Israel?

But it was plucked up in anger; it was thrown down to the ground. The east wind ¹  dried up its fruit; its strong branches broke off and withered – a fire consumed them.

I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit within you. I will remove the heart of stone ¹  from your body and give you a heart of flesh. ² 

As I watched, I saw ¹  tendons on them, then muscles appeared, ²  and skin covered over them from above, but there was no breath ³  in them.

So Moses extended his staff over the land of Egypt, and then the Lord ¹  brought ²  an east wind on the land all that day and all night. ³  The morning came, ⁴  and the east wind had brought up ⁵  the locusts!

Now a wind ¹  went out ²  from the Lord and brought quail ³  from the sea, and let them fall ⁴  near the camp, about a day’s journey on this side, and about a day’s journey on the other side, all around the camp, and about three feet ⁵  high on the surface of the ground.

So whenever the spirit from God would come upon Saul, David would take his lyre and play it. This would bring relief to Saul and make him feel better. Then the evil spirit would leave him alone. ¹ 

But when I leave you, the Lord’s spirit will carry you away so I can’t find you. ¹  If I go tell Ahab I’ve seen you, he won’t be able to find you and he will kill me. ²  That would not be fair, ³  because your servant has been a loyal follower of ⁴  the Lord from my youth.

The Lord ¹  said, “Go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord. Look, the Lord is ready to pass by.” A very powerful wind went before the Lord, digging into the mountain and causing landslides, ²  but the Lord was not in the wind. After the windstorm there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake.

But a spirit ¹  empowered ²  Amasai, the leader of the thirty warriors, and he said: ³  “We are yours, O David! We support ⁴  you, O son of Jesse! May you greatly prosper! ⁵  May those who help you prosper! ⁶  Indeed ⁷  your God helps you!” So David accepted them and made them leaders of raiding bands.

God’s Spirit energized ¹  Zechariah son of Jehoiada the priest. He stood up before the people and said to them, “This is what God says: ‘Why are you violating the commands of the Lord? You will not be prosperous! Because you have rejected the Lord, he has rejected you!’”

For the fate of humans ¹  and the fate of animals are the same: As one dies, so dies the other; both have the same breath. There is no advantage for humans over animals, for both are fleeting.

Then I looked again and saw two women ¹  going forth with the wind in their wings (they had wings like those of a stork) and they lifted up the basket between the earth and the sky.