The Daily Audio Bible

Azariah Reigns in Judah

15 ^(A)In the twenty-seventh year of Jeroboam king of Israel, ^(B)Azariah the son of Amaziah, king of Judah, began to reign. ² He was ^(C)sixteen years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty-two years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Jecoliah of Jerusalem. ³ And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, according to all that his father Amaziah had done. ^4 (D)Nevertheless, the high places were not taken away. The people still sacrificed and made offerings on the high places. ^5 (E)And the Lord touched the king, so that he was a leper^[a] to the day of his death, ^(F)and he lived in a separate house.^[b] And Jotham the king's son was over the household, governing the people of the land. ⁶ Now the rest of the acts of Azariah, and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? ⁷ And Azariah slept with his fathers, and they buried him with his fathers ^(G)in the city of David, and Jotham his son reigned in his place.

Zechariah Reigns in Israel

⁸ In the thirty-eighth year of Azariah king of Judah, Zechariah the son of Jeroboam reigned over Israel in Samaria six months. ⁹ And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, as his fathers had done. He did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, ^(H)which he made Israel to sin. ¹⁰ Shallum the son of Jabesh conspired against him and ^(I)struck him down at Ibleam and put him to death and reigned in his place. ¹¹ Now the rest of the deeds of Zechariah, behold, they are written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel. ¹² (This was ^(J)the promise of the Lord that he gave to Jehu, “Your sons shall sit on the throne of Israel to the fourth generation.” And so it came to pass.)

Shallum Reigns in Israel

¹³ Shallum the son of Jabesh began to reign in the thirty-ninth year of ^(K)Uzziah^[c] king of Judah, and he reigned one month in ^(L)Samaria. ¹⁴ Then Menahem the son of Gadi came up from ^(M)Tirzah and came to Samaria, and he struck down Shallum the son of Jabesh in Samaria and put him to death and reigned in his place. ¹⁵ Now the rest of the deeds of Shallum, and the conspiracy that he made, behold, they are written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel. ¹⁶ At that time Menahem sacked Tiphsah and all who were in it and its territory from Tirzah on, because they did not open it to him. Therefore he sacked it, ^(N)and he ripped open all the women in it who were pregnant.

Menahem Reigns in Israel

¹⁷ In the thirty-ninth year of Azariah king of Judah, Menahem the son of Gadi began to reign over Israel, and he reigned ten years in Samaria. ¹⁸ And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. He did not depart all his days from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which he made Israel to sin. ^19 (O)Pul^[d] the king of Assyria came against the land, and Menahem gave ^(P)Pul a thousand talents^[e] of silver, that he might help him ^(Q)to confirm his hold on the royal power. ²⁰ Menahem exacted the money from Israel, that is, from all the wealthy men, fifty shekels^[f] of silver from every man, to give to the king of Assyria. So the king of Assyria turned back and did not stay there in the land. ²¹ Now the rest of the deeds of Menahem and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? ²² And Menahem slept with his fathers, and Pekahiah his son reigned in his place.

Pekahiah Reigns in Israel

²³ In the fiftieth year of Azariah king of Judah, Pekahiah the son of Menahem began to reign over Israel in Samaria, and he reigned two years. ²⁴ And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. He did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, ^(R)which he made Israel to sin. ²⁵ And Pekah the son of Remaliah, his captain, conspired against him with fifty men of the people of Gilead, and struck him down in Samaria, in the citadel of the king's house with Argob and Arieh; he put him to death and reigned in his place. ²⁶ Now the rest of the deeds of Pekahiah and all that he did, behold, they are written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel.

Pekah Reigns in Israel

²⁷ In the fifty-second year of Azariah king of Judah, Pekah the son of Remaliah began to reign over Israel in Samaria, and he reigned twenty years. ²⁸ And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. He did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, ^(S)which he made Israel to sin.

²⁹ In the days of Pekah king of Israel, ^(T)Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria came and captured ^(U)Ijon, ^(V)Abel-beth-maacah, Janoah, ^(W)Kedesh, ^(X)Hazor, Gilead, and ^(Y)Galilee, all the land of Naphtali, and he carried the people captive to Assyria. ³⁰ Then Hoshea the son of Elah made a conspiracy against Pekah the son of Remaliah and struck him down and put him to death and reigned in his place, ^(Z)in the twentieth year of Jotham the son of Uzziah. ³¹ Now the rest of the acts of Pekah and all that he did, behold, they are written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel.

Jotham Reigns in Judah

³² In the second year of Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, Jotham the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, began to reign. ³³ He was ^(AA)twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Jerusha the daughter of Zadok. ³⁴ And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, ^(AB)according to all that his father Uzziah had done. ^35 (AC)Nevertheless, the high places were not removed. The people still sacrificed and made offerings on the high places. He built ^(AD)the upper gate of the house of the Lord. ³⁶ Now the rest of the acts of Jotham and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? ³⁷ In those days the Lord began to send ^(AE)Rezin the king of Syria and ^(AF)Pekah the son of Remaliah against Judah. ³⁸ Jotham slept with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of David his father, and Ahaz his son reigned in his place.

Ahaz Reigns in Judah

16 In the seventeenth year of Pekah the son of Remaliah, Ahaz the son of Jotham, king of Judah, began to reign. ² Ahaz was ^(AG)twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. And he did not do what was right in the eyes of the Lord his God, as his father David had done, ³ but he walked in the way of the kings of Israel. ^(AH)He even burned his son as an offering,^{[g] (AI)}according to the despicable practices of the nations whom the Lord drove out before the people of Israel. ^4 (AJ)And he sacrificed and made offerings ^(AK)on the high places and on the hills and under every green tree.

^5 (AL)Then Rezin king of Syria and ^(AM)Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, came up to wage war on Jerusalem, and they besieged Ahaz ^(AN)but could not conquer him. ⁶ At that time Rezin the king of Syria recovered ^(AO)Elath for Syria and drove the men of Judah from ^(AP)Elath, and the Edomites came to Elath, where they dwell to this day. ^7 (AQ)So Ahaz sent messengers to ^(AR)Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, saying, “I am your servant and your son. Come up and rescue me from the hand of the king of Syria and from the hand of the king of Israel, who are attacking me.” ⁸ Ahaz also ^(AS)took the silver and gold that was found in the house of the Lord and in the treasures of the king's house and sent a present to the king of Assyria. ^9 (AT)And the king of Assyria listened to him. The king of Assyria marched up against Damascus ^(AU)and took it, carrying its people captive to ^(AV)Kir, and he killed Rezin.

¹⁰ When King Ahaz went to Damascus to meet ^(AW)Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, he saw the altar that was at Damascus. And King Ahaz sent to ^(AX)Uriah the priest a model of the altar, and its pattern, exact in all its details. ¹¹ And Uriah the priest built the altar; in accordance with all that King Ahaz had sent from Damascus, so Uriah the priest made it, before King Ahaz arrived from Damascus. ¹² And when the king came from Damascus, the king viewed the altar. ^(AY)Then the king drew near to the altar and went up on it ¹³ and burned his burnt offering and his grain offering and poured his drink offering and threw the blood of his peace offerings on the altar. ¹⁴ And ^(AZ)the bronze altar that was before the Lord he removed ^(BA)from the front of the house, from the place between ^(BB)his altar and the house of the Lord, and put it on the north side of ^(BC)his altar. ¹⁵ And King Ahaz commanded Uriah the priest, saying, “On the great altar burn ^(BD)the morning burnt offering and the evening grain offering and the king's burnt offering and his grain offering, with the burnt offering of all the people of the land, and their grain offering and their drink offering. And throw on it all the blood of the burnt offering and all the blood of the sacrifice, but ^(BE)the bronze altar shall be for me to inquire by.” ¹⁶ Uriah the priest did all this, as King Ahaz commanded.

¹⁷ And King Ahaz cut off the frames of the stands and removed the basin from them, and he took down ^(BF)the sea^[h] from off the bronze oxen that were under it and put it on a stone pedestal. ¹⁸ And the covered way for the Sabbath that had been built inside the house and the outer entrance for the king he caused to go around the house of the Lord, because of the king of Assyria. ¹⁹ Now the rest of the acts of Ahaz that he did, are they not written ^(BG)in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? ²⁰ And Ahaz slept with his fathers and ^(BH)was buried with his fathers in the city of David, and Hezekiah his son reigned in his place.

¹³ Then some of the itinerant Jewish ^(A)exorcists ^(B)undertook to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, ^(C)“I adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul proclaims.” ¹⁴ Seven sons of a Jewish high priest named Sceva were doing this. ¹⁵ But the evil spirit answered them, ^(D)“Jesus I know, and Paul I recognize, but who are you?” ¹⁶ And the man in whom was the evil spirit leaped on them, mastered all^[a] of them and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. ¹⁷ And this became known to all the residents of Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks. And fear fell upon them all, and ^(E)the name of the Lord Jesus was extolled. ¹⁸ Also many of those who were now believers came, ^(F)confessing and divulging their practices. ¹⁹ And a number of those who had practiced magic arts brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted the value of them and found it came to fifty thousand pieces of silver. ²⁰ So the word of the Lord ^(G)continued to increase and prevail mightily.

A Riot at Ephesus

²¹ Now after these events Paul resolved in the Spirit ^(H)to pass through ^(I)Macedonia and Achaia and ^(J)go to Jerusalem, saying, “After I have been there, ^(K)I must also see Rome.” ²² And having sent into Macedonia two of ^(L)his helpers, ^(M)Timothy and Erastus, he himself stayed in Asia ^(N)for a while.

²³ About that time ^(O)there arose no little disturbance concerning ^(P)the Way. ²⁴ For a man named Demetrius, a silversmith, who made silver shrines of Artemis, ^(Q)brought no little business to the craftsmen. ^25 (R)These he gathered together, with the workmen in similar trades, and said, “Men, you know that from this business we have our wealth. ²⁶ And you see and hear that not only in Ephesus but in almost all of Asia this Paul has persuaded and turned away a great many people, ^(S)saying that ^(T)gods made with hands are not gods. ²⁷ And there is danger not only that this trade of ours may come into disrepute but also that the temple of the ^(U)great goddess Artemis may be counted as nothing, and that she may even be deposed from her magnificence, she whom all Asia and the world worship.”

²⁸ When they heard this they were enraged and were crying out, ^(V)“Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” ²⁹ So the city was filled with the confusion, and they rushed together into the theater, dragging with them Gaius and ^(W)Aristarchus, Macedonians who were Paul's ^(X)companions in travel. ³⁰ But when Paul wished to go in among the crowd, the disciples would not let him. ³¹ And even some of the Asiarchs,^[b] who were friends of his, sent to him and were urging him not to venture into the theater. ^32 (Y)Now some cried out one thing, some another, for the assembly was in confusion, and most of them did not know why they had come together. ³³ Some of the crowd prompted Alexander, whom the Jews had put forward. And Alexander, ^(Z)motioning with his hand, wanted to make a defense to the crowd. ³⁴ But when they recognized that he was a Jew, for about two hours they all cried out with one voice, ^(AA)“Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”

³⁵ And when the town clerk had quieted the crowd, he said, “Men of Ephesus, who is there who does not know that the city of the Ephesians is temple keeper of the great Artemis, and of the sacred stone that fell from ^(AB)the sky?^{[c] 36} Seeing then that these things cannot be denied, you ought to be quiet and do nothing rash. ³⁷ For you have brought ^(AC)these men here who are neither ^(AD)sacrilegious nor blasphemers of our goddess. ³⁸ If therefore Demetrius and the craftsmen with him have a complaint against anyone, the courts are open, and there are ^(AE)proconsuls. Let them bring charges against one another. ³⁹ But if you seek anything further,^[d] it shall be settled in the regular assembly. ⁴⁰ For we really are in danger of being charged with rioting today, since there is no cause that we can give to justify this commotion.” ⁴¹ And when he had said these things, he dismissed the assembly.

He Heals the Brokenhearted