The Daily Audio Bible

King Jehoahaz of Israel

13 In the twenty-third year of the reign of Joash son of Ahaziah as king of Judah, Jehoahaz son of Jehu became king of Israel, and he ruled in Samaria for seventeen years. ² Like King Jeroboam before him, he sinned against the Lord and led Israel into sin; he never gave up his evil ways. ³ So the Lord was angry with Israel, and he allowed King Hazael of Syria and his son Benhadad to defeat Israel time after time. ⁴ Then Jehoahaz prayed to the Lord, and the Lord, seeing how harshly the king of Syria was oppressing the Israelites, answered his prayer. ⁵ The Lord sent Israel a leader, who freed them from the Syrians, and so the Israelites lived in peace, as before. ⁶ But they still did not give up the sins into which King Jeroboam had led Israel, but kept on^[a] committing them; and the image of the goddess Asherah remained in Samaria.

⁷ Jehoahaz had no armed forces left except fifty cavalry troops, ten chariots, and ten thousand foot soldiers, because the king of Syria had destroyed the rest, trampling them down like dust.

⁸ Everything else that Jehoahaz did and all his brave deeds are recorded in The History of the Kings of Israel. ⁹ He died and was buried in Samaria, and his son Jehoash succeeded him as king.

King Jehoash of Israel

¹⁰ In the thirty-seventh year of the reign of King Joash of Judah, Jehoash son of Jehoahaz became king of Israel, and he ruled in Samaria for sixteen years. ¹¹ He too sinned against the Lord and followed the evil example of King Jeroboam, who had led Israel into sin. ¹² Everything else that Jehoash did, including his bravery in the war against King Amaziah of Judah, is recorded in The History of the Kings of Israel.

¹³ Jehoash died and was buried in the royal tombs in Samaria, and his son Jeroboam II succeeded him as king.

The Death of Elisha

^14 (A)The prophet Elisha was sick with a fatal disease, and as he lay dying, King Jehoash of Israel went to visit him. “My father, my father!” he exclaimed as he wept. “You have been the mighty defender of Israel!”

¹⁵ “Get a bow and some arrows,” Elisha ordered him. Jehoash got them, ¹⁶ and Elisha told him to get ready to shoot. The king did so, and Elisha placed his hands on the king's hands. ¹⁷ Then, following the prophet's instructions, the king opened the window that faced toward Syria. “Shoot the arrow!” Elisha ordered. As soon as the king shot the arrow, the prophet exclaimed, “You are the Lord's arrow, with which he will win victory over Syria. You will fight the Syrians in Aphek until you defeat them.”

¹⁸ Then Elisha told the king to take the other arrows and strike the ground with them. The king struck the ground three times, and then stopped. ¹⁹ This made Elisha angry, and he said to the king, “You should have struck five or six times, and then you would have won complete victory over the Syrians; but now you will defeat them only three times.”

²⁰ Elisha died and was buried.

Every year bands of Moabites used to invade the land of Israel. ²¹ One time during a funeral, one of those bands was seen, and the people threw the corpse into Elisha's tomb and ran off.^[b] As soon as the body came into contact with Elisha's bones, the man came back to life and stood up.

War between Israel and Syria

²² King Hazael of Syria oppressed the Israelites during all of Jehoahaz' reign, ²³ but the Lord was kind and merciful to them. He would not let them be destroyed, but helped them because of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He has never forgotten his people.

²⁴ At the death of King Hazael of Syria his son Benhadad became king. ²⁵ Then King Jehoash of Israel defeated Benhadad three times and recaptured the cities that had been taken by Benhadad during the reign of Jehoahaz, the father of Jehoash.

King Amaziah of Judah^(B)

14 In the second year of the reign of Jehoash son of Jehoahaz as king of Israel, Amaziah son of Joash became king of Judah ² at the age of twenty-five, and he ruled in Jerusalem for twenty-nine years. His mother was Jehoaddin from Jerusalem. ³ He did what was pleasing to the Lord, but he was not like his ancestor King David; instead, he did what his father Joash had done. ⁴ He did not tear down the pagan places of worship, and the people continued to offer sacrifices and burn incense there.

⁵ As soon as Amaziah was firmly in power, he executed the officials who had killed his father, the king. ^6 (C)However, he did not kill their children but followed what the Lord had commanded in the Law of Moses: “Parents are not to be put to death for crimes committed by their children, and children are not to be put to death for crimes committed by their parents; people are to be put to death only for a crime they themselves have committed.”

⁷ Amaziah killed ten thousand Edomite soldiers in Salt Valley; he captured the city of Sela in battle and called it Joktheel, the name it still has.

⁸ Then Amaziah sent messengers to King Jehoash of Israel, challenging him to fight.^{[c] 9} But King Jehoash sent back the following reply: “Once a thorn bush on the Lebanon Mountains sent a message to a cedar: ‘Give your daughter in marriage to my son.’ A wild animal passed by and trampled the bush down. ¹⁰ Now Amaziah, you have defeated the Edomites, and you are filled with pride. Be satisfied with your fame and stay at home. Why stir up trouble that will only bring disaster on you and your people?”

¹¹ But Amaziah refused to listen, so King Jehoash marched out with his men and fought against him at Beth Shemesh in Judah. ¹² Amaziah's army was defeated, and all his soldiers fled to their homes. ¹³ Jehoash took Amaziah prisoner, advanced on Jerusalem, and tore down the city wall from Ephraim Gate to the Corner Gate, a distance of two hundred yards. ¹⁴ He took all the silver and gold he could find, all the Temple equipment and all the palace treasures, and carried them back to Samaria. He also took hostages with him.

¹⁵ Everything else that Jehoash did, including his bravery in the war against King Amaziah of Judah, is recorded in The History of the Kings of Israel. ¹⁶ Jehoash died and was buried in the royal tombs in Samaria, and his son Jeroboam II succeeded him as king.

The Death of King Amaziah of Judah^(D)

¹⁷ King Amaziah of Judah lived fifteen years after the death of King Jehoash of Israel. ¹⁸ Everything else that Amaziah did is recorded in The History of the Kings of Judah.

¹⁹ There was a plot in Jerusalem to assassinate Amaziah, so he fled to the city of Lachish, but his enemies followed him there and killed him. ²⁰ His body was carried back to Jerusalem on a horse and was buried in the royal tombs in David's City. ²¹ The people of Judah then crowned his sixteen-year-old son Uzziah as king. ²² Uzziah reconquered and rebuilt Elath after his father's death.

King Jeroboam II of Israel

²³ In the fifteenth year of the reign of Amaziah son of Joash as king of Judah, Jeroboam son of Jehoash became king of Israel, and he ruled in Samaria for forty-one years. ²⁴ He sinned against the Lord, following the wicked example of his predecessor King Jeroboam son of Nebat, who led Israel into sin. ^25 (E)He reconquered all the territory that had belonged to Israel, from Hamath Pass in the north to the Dead Sea in the south. This was what the Lord, the God of Israel, had promised through his servant the prophet Jonah son of Amittai from Gath Hepher.

²⁶ The Lord saw the terrible^[d] suffering of the Israelites; there was no one at all to help them. ²⁷ But it was not the Lord's purpose to destroy Israel completely and forever, so he rescued them through King Jeroboam II.

²⁸ Everything else that Jeroboam II did, his brave battles, and how he restored Damascus and Hamath to Israel,^[e] are all recorded in The History of the Kings of Israel. ²⁹ Jeroboam died and was buried in the royal tombs, and his son Zechariah succeeded him as king.

²³ After spending some time there, he left and went through the region of Galatia and Phrygia, strengthening all the believers.

Apollos in Ephesus and Corinth

²⁴ At that time a Jew named Apollos, who had been born in Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was an eloquent speaker and had a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures. ²⁵ He had been instructed in the Way of the Lord, and with great enthusiasm he proclaimed and taught correctly the facts about Jesus. However, he knew only the baptism of John. ²⁶ He began to speak boldly in the synagogue. When Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him home with them and explained to him more correctly the Way of God. ²⁷ Apollos then decided to go to Achaia, so the believers in Ephesus helped him by writing to the believers in Achaia, urging them to welcome him. When he arrived, he was a great help to those who through God's grace had become believers. ²⁸ For with his strong arguments he defeated the Jews in public debates by proving from the Scriptures that Jesus is the Messiah.

Paul in Ephesus

19 While Apollos was in Corinth, Paul traveled through the interior of the province and arrived in Ephesus. There he found some disciples ² and asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you became believers?”

“We have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit,” they answered.

³ “Well, then, what kind of baptism did you receive?” Paul asked.

“The baptism of John,” they answered.

^4 (A)Paul said, “The baptism of John was for those who turned from their sins; and he told the people of Israel to believe in the one who was coming after him—that is, in Jesus.”

⁵ When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. ⁶ Paul placed his hands on them, and the Holy Spirit came upon them; they spoke in strange tongues and also proclaimed God's message. ⁷ They were about twelve men in all.

⁸ Paul went into the synagogue and for three months spoke boldly with the people, holding discussions with them and trying to convince them about the Kingdom of God. ⁹ But some of them were stubborn and would not believe, and before the whole group they said evil things about the Way of the Lord. So Paul left them and took the believers with him, and every day^[a] he held discussions in the lecture hall of Tyrannus. ¹⁰ This went on for two years, so that all the people who lived in the province of Asia, both Jews and Gentiles, heard the word of the Lord.

The Sons of Sceva

¹¹ God was performing unusual miracles through Paul. ¹² Even handkerchiefs and aprons he had used were taken to the sick, and their diseases were driven away, and the evil spirits would go out of them.

In Praise of God the Savior

² A fool does not care whether he understands a thing or not; all he wants to do is show how smart he is.

³ Sin and shame go together. Lose your honor, and you will get scorn in its place.