The Daily Audio Bible

The King Restores the Shunammite’s Land

8 Now Elisha had said to the [Shunammite] woman whose son he had restored to life, “Prepare and go, you and your household, and ^[a]stay temporarily wherever you can; for the Lord has called for a famine, and moreover, it will come on the land [and continue] for seven years.” ² So the woman set out and did everything in accordance with the word of the man of God. She and her household went and ^[b]stayed temporarily as foreigners in the land of the Philistines for seven years. ³ At the end of the seven years the woman returned from the land of the Philistines; and she went to appeal to the king [of Israel] for her house and for her land. ⁴ Now the king was talking with ^[c]Gehazi, the servant of the man of God, saying, “Tell me all the great things that Elisha has done.” ⁵ And [just] as Gehazi was telling the king how Elisha had restored the dead to life, behold, the woman whose son he had restored to life appealed to the king for her house and for her land. And Gehazi said, “My lord, O king, this is the woman and this is her son, whom Elisha restored to life.” ⁶ When the king asked the woman, she told him [everything]. So the king appointed for her a certain high official, saying, “Restore everything that was hers, including all the produce of the field since the day that she left the land until now.”

Elisha Predicts Evil from Hazael

⁷ Now Elisha came to Damascus, and Ben-hadad king of Aram (Syria) was sick; and he was told, “The man of God has come here.” ⁸ And the king said to Hazael, “Take a gift with you and go to meet the man of God, and inquire of the Lord by him, saying, ‘Will I recover from this illness?’” ⁹ So Hazael went to meet Elisha and took a gift with him of every good thing of Damascus, forty camels’ loads; and he came and stood before him and said, “Your son Ben-hadad king of Aram has sent me to you, asking, ‘Will I recover from this illness?’” ¹⁰ And Elisha said to him, “Go, say to him, ‘You will certainly recover,’ but the Lord has shown me that he will certainly die.” ¹¹ Elisha stared steadily at Hazael until he was embarrassed, and then the man of God wept. ¹² Hazael said, “Why are you weeping, my lord?” He answered, “Because I know the evil that you will do to the sons (descendants) of Israel. You will set their strongholds on fire, kill their young men with the sword, smash their children to pieces, and rip up their pregnant women.” ¹³ Then Hazael said, “Surely not! For what is your servant, who is nothing more than a dog, that he would do this monstrous thing?” And Elisha answered, “The Lord has shown me that you will be king over Aram.” ¹⁴ Then Hazael departed from Elisha and came to his master, who said to him, “What did Elisha say to you?” And he answered, “He told me you would certainly recover.” ¹⁵ But the next day Hazael took the bedspread and dipped it in water and covered the king’s face, so that he died. And Hazael became king in his place.

Another Jehoram Reigns in Judah

¹⁶ Now in the fifth year of ^[d]Joram (Jehoram) the son of Ahab king of Israel, when Jehoshaphat was king of Judah, Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat king of Judah became king. ¹⁷ He was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned for eight years in Jerusalem. ¹⁸ He walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, just as the house of Ahab had done, for [Athaliah] the daughter of Ahab became his wife. He did ^[e]evil in the sight of the Lord. ¹⁹ Yet for the sake of His servant David the Lord was not willing to destroy Judah, since He had promised to give him a lamp (enthroned descendant) through his sons always.

²⁰ In his days Edom revolted from the rule of Judah, and set up a king over themselves. ²¹ So Jehoram [king of Judah] went over to Zair [in Edom] with all his chariots. He set out by night and struck down the Edomites who had surrounded him and the captains of his chariots; but the people [of his army] fled to their tents. ²² So Edom revolted ^[f]against Judah to this day. Then Libnah revolted at the same time. ²³ The rest of the acts of Jehoram and everything that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah?

Ahaziah Succeeds Jehoram in Judah

²⁴ Jehoram slept with his fathers [in death] and was buried with them in the City of David. Ahaziah his son became king in his place.

²⁵ In the twelfth year of Joram (Jehoram) the son of Ahab king of Israel, Ahaziah the son of Jehoram king of Judah began to reign. ²⁶ Ahaziah was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Athaliah, the granddaughter of Omri king of Israel. ²⁷ He walked in the ways of the house of Ahab and did evil in the sight of the Lord, as did the house of Ahab, for he was a son-in-law of the house of Ahab.

²⁸ Ahaziah went with Joram the son of Ahab to battle against Hazael king of Aram (Syria) in Ramoth-gilead; and the Arameans wounded Joram. ²⁹ King Joram returned to Jezreel to be healed of the wounds which the Arameans had inflicted on him at Ramah when he fought against Hazael king of Aram. And Ahaziah the son of Jehoram king of Judah went down to see Joram the son of Ahab in Jezreel, because he was sick.

Jehu Reigns over Israel

9 Now Elisha the prophet called one of the sons of the prophets and said to him, “^[g]Gird up your loins (prepare for action), take this flask of oil in your hand and go to Ramoth-gilead. ² When you arrive there, look for Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat the son of Nimshi, and go in and have him arise from among his brothers, and take him into an inner room. ³ Then take the flask of oil and pour it on his head and say, ‘Thus says the Lord: “I have anointed you king over Israel.”’ Then open the door and flee and do not delay.”

⁴ So the young man, the servant of the prophet, went to Ramoth-gilead. ⁵ When he arrived, the captains of the army were sitting [outside]; and he said, “I have a message for you, O captain.” Jehu said, “To which one of us?” And he said, “For you, O captain.” ⁶ So Jehu got up, and they went into the house. And he poured the oil on Jehu’s head and said to him, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: ‘I have anointed you king over the people of the Lord, over Israel. ⁷ You shall strike the house of Ahab your master, so that I may avenge the blood of My servants the prophets, and the blood of all the servants of the Lord, [who have died] at the hands of Jezebel. ⁸ For the entire house of Ahab shall perish, and I will cut off from Ahab every male, both bond and free, in Israel. ⁹ I will make the house of Ahab like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah.^{(A) 10} And the dogs will eat Jezebel in the territory of Jezreel, and there will be no one to bury her.’” Then he opened the door and fled.^(B)

¹¹ When Jehu came out to the servants of his master, one said to him, “Is all well? Why did this madman come to you?” And he said to them, “You know [very well] the man and his talk.” ¹² And they said, “It is a lie; tell us now.” And he said, “Thus and thus he spoke to me, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord: “I have anointed you king over Israel.”’” ¹³ Then they hurried and each man took his garment and placed it [as a cushion] under Jehu on the top of the [outside] stairs, and blew the trumpet, saying, “Jehu is king!”

¹⁶ It happened that as we were on our way to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave-girl who had ^[a]a spirit of divination [that is, a demonic spirit claiming to foretell the future and discover hidden knowledge], and she brought her owners a good profit by fortune-telling. ¹⁷ She followed after Paul and us and kept screaming and shouting, “These men are servants of the Most High God! They are proclaiming to you the way of salvation!” ¹⁸ She continued doing this for several days. Then Paul, being greatly annoyed and worn out, turned and said to the spirit [inside her], “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ [as His representative] to come out of her!” And it came out at that very moment.

¹⁹ But when her owners saw that their hope of profit was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them before the authorities in the market place [where trials were held], ²⁰ and when they had brought them before the chief magistrates, they said, “These men, who are Jews, are throwing our city into confusion and causing trouble. ²¹ They are publicly teaching customs which are unlawful for us, as Romans, to accept or observe.”

Paul and Silas Imprisoned

²² The crowd also joined in the attack against them, and the chief magistrates tore their robes off them and ordered that Paul and Silas be beaten with rods.^{(A) 23} After striking them many times [with the rods], they threw them into prison, commanding the jailer to guard them securely. ²⁴ He, having received such a [strict] command, threw them into the inner prison (dungeon) and fastened their feet in the stocks [in an agonizing position].

²⁵ But about midnight when Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God, and the prisoners were listening to them; ²⁶ suddenly there was a great earthquake, so [powerful] that the very foundations of the prison were shaken and at once all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were unfastened. ²⁷ When the jailer, shaken out of sleep, saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, thinking that the prisoners had escaped. ²⁸ But Paul shouted, saying, “Do not hurt yourself, we are all here!” ²⁹ Then the jailer called for torches and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas, ³⁰ and after he brought them out [of the inner prison], he said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”

The Jailer Converted

³¹ And they answered, “Believe in the Lord Jesus [as your personal Savior and entrust yourself to Him] and you will be saved, you and your household [if they also believe].” ³² And they spoke the word of the Lord [concerning eternal salvation through faith in Christ] to him and to all who were in his house. ³³ And he took them that very hour of the night and washed their bloody wounds, and immediately he was baptized, he and all his household. ³⁴ Then he brought them into his house and set food before them, and rejoiced greatly, since he had believed in God with his entire family [accepting with joy what had been made known to them about the Christ].

³⁵ Now when day came, the chief magistrates sent their officers, saying, “Release those men.” ³⁶ And the jailer repeated the words to Paul, saying, “The chief magistrates have sent word to release you; so come out now and go in peace.” ³⁷ But Paul said to them, “They have beaten us in public without a trial, men who are Romans, and have thrown us into prison; and now they are sending us out secretly? No! Let them come here themselves and bring us out!” ³⁸ The officers reported this message to the chief magistrates, and ^[b]when they heard that the prisoners were Romans, they were frightened; ³⁹ so they came [to the prison] and appealed to them [with apologies], and when they brought them out, they kept begging them to leave the city. ⁴⁰ So they left the prison and went to Lydia’s house; and when they had seen the brothers and sisters, they encouraged and comforted them, and left.

Prayer for Help and Guidance.

A Psalm of David.