Moab Rebels Against Israel

3 Now ^(A)Jehoram the son of Ahab became king over Israel at Samaria in the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and reigned twelve years. ² And he did evil in the sight of the Lord, but not like his father and mother; for he put away the sacred pillar of Baal ^(B)that his father had made. ³ Nevertheless he persisted in ^(C)the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who had made Israel sin; he did not depart from them.

⁴ Now Mesha king of Moab was a sheepbreeder, and he ^(D)regularly paid the king of Israel one hundred thousand ^(E)lambs and the wool of one hundred thousand rams. ⁵ But it happened, when ^(F)Ahab died, that the king of Moab rebelled against the king of Israel.

⁶ So King Jehoram went out of Samaria at that time and mustered all Israel. ⁷ Then he went and sent to Jehoshaphat king of Judah, saying, “The king of Moab has rebelled against me. Will you go with me to fight against Moab?”

And he said, “I will go up; ^(G)I am as you are, my people as your people, my horses as your horses.” ⁸ Then he said, “Which way shall we go up?”

And he answered, “By way of the Wilderness of Edom.”

⁹ So the king of Israel went with the king of Judah and the king of Edom, and they marched on that roundabout route seven days; and there was no water for the army, nor for the animals that followed them. ¹⁰ And the king of Israel said, “Alas! For the Lord has called these three kings together to deliver them into the hand of Moab.”

¹¹ But ^(H)Jehoshaphat said, “Is there no prophet of the Lord here, that we may inquire of the Lord by him?”

So one of the servants of the king of Israel answered and said, “Elisha the son of Shaphat is here, who ^(I)poured^[a] 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 ^(J)went down to him.

¹³ Then Elisha said to the king of Israel, ^(K)“What have I to do with you? ^(L)Go to ^(M)the prophets of your father and the ^(N)prophets of your mother.”

But the king of Israel said to him, “No, for the Lord has called these three kings together to deliver them into the hand of Moab.”

¹⁴ And Elisha said, ^(O)“As the Lord of hosts lives, before whom I stand, surely were it not that I regard the presence of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, I would not look at you, nor see you. ¹⁵ But now bring me ^(P)a musician.”

Then it happened, when the musician ^(Q)played, that ^(R)the hand of the Lord came upon him. ¹⁶ And he said, “Thus says the Lord: ^(S)‘Make this valley full of ^[b]ditches.’ ¹⁷ For thus says the Lord: ‘You shall not see wind, nor shall you see rain; yet that valley shall be filled with water, so that you, your cattle, and your animals may drink.’ ¹⁸ And this is a simple matter in the sight of the Lord; He will also deliver the Moabites into your hand. ¹⁹ Also you shall attack every fortified city and every choice city, and shall cut down every good tree, and stop up every spring of water, and ruin every good piece of land with stones.”

²⁰ Now it happened in the morning, when ^(T)the grain offering was offered, that suddenly water came by way of Edom, and the land was filled with water.

²¹ And when all the Moabites heard that the kings had come up to fight against them, all who were able to bear arms and older were ^[c]gathered; and they stood at the border. ²² Then they rose up early in the morning, and the sun was shining on the water; and the Moabites saw the water on the other side as red as blood. ²³ And they said, “This is blood; the kings have surely struck swords and have killed one another; now therefore, Moab, to the spoil!”

²⁴ So when they came to the camp of Israel, Israel rose up and attacked the Moabites, so that they fled before them; and they entered their land, killing the Moabites. ²⁵ Then they destroyed the cities, and each man threw a stone on every good piece of land and filled it; and they stopped up all the springs of water and cut down all the good trees. But they left the stones of ^(U)Kir Haraseth intact. However the slingers surrounded and attacked it.

²⁶ And when the king of Moab saw that the battle was too fierce for him, he took with him seven hundred men who drew swords, to break through to the king of Edom, but they could not. ²⁷ Then ^(V)he took his eldest son who would have reigned in his place, and offered him as a burnt offering upon the wall; and there was great ^[d]indignation against Israel. ^(W)So they departed from him and returned to their own land.

Elisha and the Widow’s Oil^(X)

4 A certain woman of the wives of ^(Y)the sons of the prophets cried out to Elisha, saying, “Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that your servant feared the Lord. And the creditor is coming ^(Z)to take my two sons to be his slaves.”

² So Elisha said to her, “What shall I do for you? Tell me, what do you have in the house?” And she said, “Your maidservant has nothing in the house but a jar of oil.”

³ Then he said, “Go, borrow vessels from everywhere, from all your neighbors—empty vessels; ^(AA)do not gather just a few. ⁴ And when you have come in, you shall shut the door behind you and your sons; then pour it into all those vessels, and set aside the full ones.”

⁵ So she went from him and shut the door behind her and her sons, who brought the vessels to her; and she poured it out. ⁶ Now it came to pass, when the vessels were full, that she said to her son, “Bring me another vessel.”

And he said to her, “There is not another vessel.” So the oil ceased. ⁷ Then she came and told the man of God. And he said, “Go, sell the oil and pay your debt; and you and your sons live on the rest.”

Elisha Raises the Shunammite’s Son^(AB)

⁸ Now it happened one day that Elisha went to ^(AC)Shunem, where there was a ^[e]notable woman, and she ^[f]persuaded him to eat some food. So it was, as often as he passed by, he would turn in there to eat some food. ⁹ And she said to her husband, “Look now, I know that this is a holy man of God, who passes by us regularly. ¹⁰ Please, let us make ^[g]a small upper room on the wall; and let us put a bed for him there, and a table and a chair and a lampstand; so it will be, whenever he comes to us, he can turn in there.”

¹¹ And it happened one day that he came there, and he turned in to the upper room and lay down there. ¹² Then he said to ^(AD)Gehazi his servant, “Call this Shunammite woman.” When he had called her, she stood before him. ¹³ And he said to him, “Say now to her, ‘Look, you have been concerned for us with all this care. What can I do for you? Do you want me to speak on your behalf to the king or to the commander of the army?’ ”

She answered, “I dwell among my own people.”

¹⁴ So he said, “What then is to be done for her?”

And Gehazi answered, “Actually, she has no son, and her husband is old.”

¹⁵ So he said, “Call her.” When he had called her, she stood in the doorway. ¹⁶ Then he said, ^[h]“About this time next year you shall embrace a son.”

And she said, “No, my lord. Man of God, ^(AE)do not lie to your maidservant!”

¹⁷ But the woman conceived, and bore a son when the appointed time had come, of which Elisha had told her.

Idolatry at Lystra

^8 (A)And in Lystra a certain man without strength in his feet was sitting, a cripple from his mother’s womb, who had never walked. ⁹ This man heard Paul speaking. ^[a]Paul, observing him intently and seeing that he had faith to be healed, ¹⁰ said with a loud voice, ^(B)“Stand up straight on your feet!” And he leaped and walked. ¹¹ Now when the people saw what Paul had done, they raised their voices, saying in the Lycaonian language, ^(C)“The gods have come down to us in the likeness of men!” ¹² And Barnabas they called ^[b]Zeus, and Paul, ^[c]Hermes, because he was the chief speaker. ¹³ Then the priest of Zeus, whose temple was in front of their city, brought oxen and garlands to the gates, ^(D)intending to sacrifice with the multitudes.

¹⁴ But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard this, ^(E)they tore their clothes and ran in among the multitude, crying out ¹⁵ and saying, “Men, ^(F)why are you doing these things? ^(G)We also are men with the same nature as you, and preach to you that you should turn from ^(H)these useless things ^(I)to the living God, ^(J)who made the heaven, the earth, the sea, and all things that are in them, ^16 (K)who in bygone generations allowed all nations to walk in their own ways. ^17 (L)Nevertheless He did not leave Himself without witness, in that He did good, ^(M)gave us rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with ^(N)food and gladness.” ¹⁸ And with these sayings they could scarcely restrain the multitudes from sacrificing to them.

Stoning, Escape to Derbe

^19 (O)Then Jews from Antioch and Iconium came there; and having persuaded the multitudes, ^(P)they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing him to be ^(Q)dead. ²⁰ However, when the disciples gathered around him, he rose up and went into the city. And the next day he departed with Barnabas to Derbe.

Strengthening the Converts

²¹ And when they had preached the gospel to that city ^(R)and made many disciples, they returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch, ²² strengthening the souls of the disciples, ^(S)exhorting them to continue in the faith, and saying, ^(T)“We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God.” ²³ So when they had ^(U)appointed elders in every church, and prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord in whom they had believed. ²⁴ And after they had passed through Pisidia, they came to Pamphylia. ²⁵ Now when they had preached the word in Perga, they went down to Attalia. ²⁶ From there they sailed to Antioch, where they had been commended to the grace of God for the work which they had completed.

²⁷ Now when they had come and gathered the church together, ^(V)they reported all that God had done with them, and that He had ^(W)opened the door of faith to the Gentiles. ²⁸ So they stayed there a long time with the disciples.

Prayer for Deliverance from Evil Men

To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.