Moab Rebels Against Israel

3 ^(A)In the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, Jehoram the son of Ahab became king over Israel in Samaria, and he reigned for twelve years. ² He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, though not like his father and mother, for he put away the ^(B)pillar of Baal ^(C)that his father had made. ³ Nevertheless, he clung to ^(D)the sin of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, ^(E)which he made Israel to sin; he did not depart from it.

⁴ Now Mesha king of Moab was a sheep breeder, ^(F)and he had to deliver to the king of Israel 100,000 lambs and the wool of 100,000 rams. ⁵ But ^(G)when Ahab died, the king of Moab rebelled against the king of Israel. ⁶ So King Jehoram marched out of Samaria at that time and mustered all Israel. ⁷ And he went and sent word to Jehoshaphat king of Judah, “The king of Moab has rebelled against me. Will you go with me to battle against Moab?” And he said, “I will go. ^(H)I am as you are, my people as your people, my horses as your horses.” ⁸ Then he said, “By which way shall we march?” Jehoram answered, “By the way of the wilderness of Edom.”

⁹ So the king of Israel went with the king of Judah and ^(I)the king of Edom. And when they had made a circuitous march of seven days, there was no water for the army or for the animals that followed them. ¹⁰ Then the king of Israel said, “Alas! ^(J)The Lord has called these three kings to give them into the hand of Moab.” ^11 (K)And Jehoshaphat said, “Is there no prophet of the Lord here, through whom we may enquire of the Lord?” Then one of the king of Israel's servants answered, ^(L)“Elisha the son of Shaphat is here, ^(M)who poured water on the hands of Elijah.” ¹² And Jehoshaphat said, “The word of the Lord is with him.” So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat and the king of Edom went down to him.

¹³ And Elisha said to the king of Israel, ^(N)“What have I to do with you? Go to ^(O)the prophets of your father and to ^(P)the prophets of your mother.” But the king of Israel said to him, “No; it is ^(Q)the Lord who has called these three kings to give them into the hand of Moab.” ¹⁴ And Elisha said, ^(R)“As the Lord of hosts lives, before whom I stand, were it not that I have regard for Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, I would neither look at you nor see you. ¹⁵ But now ^(S)bring me a musician.” And when the musician played, ^(T)the hand of the Lord came upon him. ¹⁶ And he said, “Thus says the Lord, ‘I will make this dry streambed full of pools.’ ¹⁷ For thus says the Lord, ‘You shall not see wind or rain, but that streambed shall be filled with water, so that you shall drink, you, your livestock, and your animals.’ ¹⁸ This is a light thing in the sight of the Lord. He will also give the Moabites into your hand, ¹⁹ and you shall attack every fortified city and every choice city, and shall fell every good tree and stop up all springs of water ^(U)and ruin every good piece of land with stones.” ²⁰ The next morning, about the time of ^(V)offering the sacrifice, behold, water came from the direction of Edom, till the country was filled with water.

²¹ When all the Moabites heard that the kings had come up to fight against them, all who were able to put on armour, from the youngest to the oldest, were called out and were drawn up at the border. ²² And when they rose early in the morning and the sun shone on the water, the Moabites saw the water opposite them as red as blood. ²³ And they said, “This is blood; the kings have surely fought together and struck one another down. Now then, Moab, to the spoil!” ²⁴ But when they came to the camp of Israel, the Israelites rose and struck the Moabites, till they fled before them. And they went forward, striking the Moabites as they went.^{[a] 25} And they overthrew the cities, and ^(W)on every good piece of land every man threw a stone until it was covered. They stopped every spring of water and felled all the good trees, till only its stones were left in ^(X)Kir-hareseth, and the slingers surrounded and attacked it. ²⁶ When the king of Moab saw that the battle was going against him, he took with him 700 ^(Y)swordsmen to break through, opposite the king of Edom, but they could not. ²⁷ Then he took his oldest son who was to reign in his place ^(Z)and offered him for a burnt offering on the wall. And there came great wrath against Israel. And they withdrew from him and returned to their own land.

Elisha and the Widow's Oil

4 Now the wife of one of the ^(AA)sons of the prophets cried to Elisha, “Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that your servant feared the Lord, ^(AB)but the creditor has come to take my two children to be his slaves.” ² And Elisha said to her, “What shall I do for you? Tell me; what have you in the house?” And she said, “Your servant has nothing in the house except a jar of oil.” ³ Then he said, “Go outside, borrow vessels from all your neighbours, empty vessels and not too few. ⁴ Then go in and shut the door behind yourself and your sons and pour into all these vessels. And when one is full, set it aside.” ⁵ So she went from him and shut the door behind herself and her sons. And as she poured they brought the vessels to her. ⁶ When the vessels were full, she said to her son, “Bring me another vessel.” And he said to her, “There is not another.” Then the oil stopped flowing. ⁷ She came and told the ^(AC)man of God, and he said, “Go, sell the oil and pay your debts, and you and your sons can live on the rest.”

Elisha and the Shunammite Woman

⁸ One day Elisha went on to ^(AD)Shunem, where a ^(AE)wealthy woman lived, who urged him to eat some food. So whenever he passed that way, he would turn in there to eat food. ⁹ And she said to her husband, “Behold now, I know that this is a holy ^(AF)man of God who is continually passing our way. ¹⁰ Let us make a small room on the roof with walls and put there for him a bed, a table, a chair, and a lamp, so that whenever he comes to us, he can go in there.”

¹¹ One day he came there, and he turned into the chamber and rested there. ¹² And he said to ^(AG)Gehazi his servant, “Call this Shunammite.” When he had called her, she stood before him. ¹³ And he said to him, “Say now to her, ‘See, you have taken all this trouble for us; what is to be done for you? Would you have a word spoken on your behalf to the king or to ^(AH)the commander of the army?’” She answered, “I dwell among my own people.” ¹⁴ And he said, “What then is to be done for her?” Gehazi answered, “Well, she has no son, and her husband is old.” ¹⁵ He said, “Call her.” And when he had called her, she stood in the doorway. ¹⁶ And he said, “At this season, ^(AI)about this time next year, you shall embrace a son.” And she said, “No, my lord, ^(AJ)O man of God; ^(AK)do not lie to your servant.” ¹⁷ But the woman conceived, and she bore a son about that time ^(AL)the following spring, as Elisha had said to her.

Paul and Barnabas at Lystra

⁸ Now at Lystra there was a man sitting who could not use his feet. He was ^(A)crippled from birth and had never walked. ⁹ He listened to Paul speaking. And Paul, looking intently at him and ^(B)seeing that he had faith to be made well,^{[a] 10} said in a loud voice, “Stand upright on your feet.” And he ^(C)sprang up and began walking. ¹¹ And when the crowds saw what Paul had done, they lifted up their voices, saying in Lycaonian, ^(D)“The gods have come down to us in the likeness of men!” ¹² Barnabas they called ^(E)Zeus, and Paul, Hermes, because he was the chief speaker. ¹³ And the priest of ^(F)Zeus, whose temple was at the entrance to the city, brought oxen and garlands to the gates and ^(G)wanted to offer sacrifice with the crowds. ¹⁴ But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of it, they ^(H)tore their garments and rushed out into the crowd, crying out, ¹⁵ “Men, ^(I)why are you doing these things? We also are men, ^(J)of like nature with you, and we bring you good news, that ^(K)you should turn from these ^(L)vain things to ^(M)a living God, ^(N)who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them. ¹⁶ In past generations he ^(O)allowed all the nations ^(P)to walk in their own ways. ¹⁷ Yet ^(Q)he did not leave himself without witness, for he ^(R)did good by ^(S)giving you rains from heaven and ^(T)fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with ^(U)food and ^(V)gladness.” ¹⁸ Even with these words they scarcely restrained the people from offering sacrifice to them.

Paul Stoned at Lystra

^19 (W)But Jews came from Antioch and Iconium, and having persuaded the crowds, ^(X)they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing that he was dead. ²⁰ But when the disciples gathered about him, he rose up and entered the city, and on the next day he went on with Barnabas to Derbe. ²¹ When they had preached the gospel to that city and had ^(Y)made many disciples, they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch, ^22 (Z)strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them ^(AA)to continue in ^(AB)the faith, and saying that ^(AC)through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God. ²³ And when they had ^(AD)appointed ^(AE)elders for them in every church, with prayer and fasting ^(AF)they committed them to the Lord in whom they had believed.

Paul and Barnabas Return to Antioch in Syria

²⁴ Then they passed through Pisidia and came to Pamphylia. ²⁵ And when they had spoken the word in Perga, they went down to Attalia, ²⁶ and from there they sailed to Antioch, ^(AG)where they had been ^(AH)commended to the grace of God for the work that they had fulfilled. ²⁷ And when they arrived and gathered the church together, ^(AI)they declared all that God had done with them, and ^(AJ)how he had ^(AK)opened ^(AL)a door of faith to the Gentiles. ²⁸ And they remained no little time with the disciples.

Deliver Me, O Lord, from Evil Men

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.