The Daily Audio Bible

17 It was in the twelfth year of Achaz king of Y’hudah that Hoshea the son of Elah began his reign over Isra’el in Shomron; he ruled for nine years. ² He did what was evil from Adonai’s perspective, although he wasn’t as bad as the kings of Isra’el who had preceded him.

³ Shalman’eser king of Ashur advanced against Hoshea, and Hoshea became his vassal and paid him tribute. ⁴ But the king of Ashur found that Hoshea was conspiring [against him] — he had sent messengers to So the king of Egypt and not paid his tribute to the king of Ashur, as he had previously done every year. For this the king of Ashur imprisoned him, putting him in chains. ⁵ Then the king of Ashur invaded all the land, advanced on Shomron and put it under siege for three years. ⁶ In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Ashur captured Shomron. He carried Isra’el away captive to Ashur, resettling them in Halach, in Havor on the Gozan River and in the cities of the Medes.

⁷ This came about because the people of Isra’el had sinned against Adonai their God, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt, out from under the domination of Pharaoh king of Egypt. They feared other gods ⁸ and lived by the customs of the nations that Adonai had expelled ahead of the people of Isra’el and by those of the kings of Isra’el. ⁹ The people of Isra’el secretly did things that were not right, according to Adonai their God. They built high places for themselves wherever they lived, from the watchtower to the fortified city. ¹⁰ They set up standing-stones and sacred poles for themselves on any high hill and under any green tree. ¹¹ Then they would make offerings on all the high places, like the nations Adonai had expelled ahead of them, and would do wicked things to provoke the anger of Adonai; ¹² moreover, they served idols, something Adonai had expressly told them not to do. ¹³ Adonai had warned Isra’el and Y’hudah in advance through every prophet and seer, “Turn from your evil ways; and obey my mitzvot and regulations, in accordance with the entire Torah which I ordered your ancestors to keep and which I sent to you through my servants the prophets.” ¹⁴ Nevertheless, they refused to listen but made themselves as stubborn as their ancestors, who did not put their trust in Adonai their God. ¹⁵ Thus they rejected his laws; his covenant, which he had made with their ancestors; and the solemn warnings he had given them. Instead they pursued worthless things and became worthless themselves, imitating the nations around them, whom Adonai had ordered them not to emulate. ¹⁶ They abandoned all the mitzvot of Adonai their God. They made cast metal images for themselves, two calves. They made an asherah. They worshipped the whole army of heaven. They served Ba‘al. ¹⁷ They had their sons and daughters pass through fire [as a sacrifice]. They used divination and magic spells. And they gave themselves over to do what was evil from Adonai’s perspective, thereby provoking him; ¹⁸ so that Adonai, by now very angry with Isra’el, removed them from his sight. None was left except the tribe of Y’hudah alone. ¹⁹ (However, neither did Y’hudah obey the mitzvot of Adonai their God; rather they lived according to the customs of Isra’el.)

²⁰ Yes, Adonai came to despise all the descendants of Isra’el. He caused them trouble and handed them over to plunderers, until finally he threw them out of his sight. ²¹ He tore Isra’el away from the house of David. They made Yarov‘am the son of N’vat king; and Yarov‘am drew Isra’el away from following Adonai and made them commit a great sin. ²² The people of Isra’el followed the example of all the sins that Yarov‘am had committed and did not turn away from them, ²³ until Adonai removed Isra’el out of his sight, as he had said he would through all his servants the prophets. Thus Isra’el was carried away captive from their own land to Ashur, and it remains so to this day.

²⁴ The king of Ashur brought people from Bavel, Kutah, ‘Ava, Hamat and S’farvayim and settled them in the cities of Shomron in place of the people of Isra’el; they took possession of Shomron and lived in its cities. ²⁵ When they first came to live there, they did not fear Adonai. Therefore Adonai sent lions among them, which killed some of them. ²⁶ So they said to the king of Ashur, “The nations you carried away and settled in the cities of Shomron are not familiar with the rules for worshipping the God of the land. Therefore he has sent lions among them; and they are there, killing them; because they’re not familiar with the rules for worshipping the God of the land.” ²⁷ In response, the king of Ashur gave this order: “Take back one of the cohanim you brought from there. Have him go and live there, and have him teach them the rules for worshipping the God of the land.” ²⁸ So one of the cohanim they had carried away captive from Shomron came and lived in Beit-El, and he taught them how they should fear Adonai.

²⁹ Nevertheless, every nation made gods of their own and put them in the temples on the high places which the Shomronim had made, every nation in the cities where they lived. ³⁰ Thus the people from Bavel made Sukkot-B’not, those from Kutah made Nergal, those from Hamat made Ashima, ³¹ the ‘Avim made Nivchaz and Tartak, and the S’farvim burned up their children in the fire as sacrifices to Adramelekh and ‘Anamelekh the gods of S’farvayim. ³² So they feared Adonai, while at the same time they appointed for themselves priests from among themselves to preside at the high places, and they would sacrifice for them in the temples on the high places. ³³ They both feared Adonai and served their own gods in the manner customary among the nations from which they had been taken away. ³⁴ To this day they continue to follow their former [pagan] customs. They do not fear Adonai. They do not follow the regulations, rulings, Torah or mitzvah which Adonai ordered the descendants of Ya‘akov, to whom he gave the name Isra’el, ³⁵ with whom Adonai had made a covenant and charged them, “Do not fear other gods or bow down to them, serve them or sacrifice to them. ³⁶ On the contrary, you are to fear Adonai, who brought you out of the land of Egypt with great power and an outstretched arm. Worship him, and sacrifice to him. ³⁷ You are to observe forever the laws, rulings, Torah and mitzvah which he wrote for you. You are not to fear other gods, ³⁸ and you are not to forget the covenant I made with you. No, you must not fear other gods ³⁹ but must fear Adonai your God; then he will rescue you from the power of all your enemies.” ⁴⁰ However, they didn’t listen, but followed their old [pagan] practices. ⁴¹ So these nations mixed fearing Adonai with serving their carved idols; likewise their children; and to this day, their descendants do the same as their ancestors did.

18 It was in the third year of Hoshea the son of Elah, king of Isra’el, that Hizkiyahu the son of Achaz, king of Y’hudah, began his reign. ² He was twenty-five years old when he began his reign, and he ruled for twenty-nine years in Yerushalayim. His mother’s name was Avi the daughter of Z’kharyah. ³ He did what was right from Adonai’s perspective, following the example of everything David his ancestor had done. ⁴ He removed the high places, smashed the standing-stones, cut down the asherah and broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moshe had made; because in those days the people of Isra’el were making offerings to it, calling it N’chushtan.* ⁵ He put his trust in Adonai the God of Isra’el; after him there was no one like him among all the kings of Y’hudah, nor had there been among those before him. ⁶ For he clung to Adonai and did not leave off following him, but obeyed his mitzvot, which Adonai had given Moshe. ⁷ So Adonai was with him. Wherever he went out to battle, he did well. He rebelled against the king of Ashur and refused to be his vassal. ⁸ He drove the P’lishtim back to ‘Azah and laid waste to their territory from the watchtower to the fortified city.

⁹ It was in the fourth year of King Hizkiyahu, which was the seventh year of Hoshea son of Elah, king of Isra’el, that Shalman’eser king of Ashur advanced against Shomron and laid siege to it. ¹⁰ At the end of three years they captured it — that is, Shomron was captured in the sixth year of Hizkiyahu, which was the ninth year of Hoshea king of Isra’el. ¹¹ The king of Ashur carried Isra’el away captive to Ashur and settled them in Halach, in Havor on the Gozan River and in the cities of the Medes. ¹² This happened because they did not heed the voice of Adonai their God, but violated his covenant, everything that Moshe the servant of Adonai had ordered them to do, and would neither hear it nor do it.

20 After the furor died down, Sha’ul sent for the talmidim and encouraged them, then took his leave and set out on his way to Macedonia. ² He went through that area, and, after saying much to encourage them, passed on to Greece, ³ where he spent three months. As he was preparing to set sail for Syria, he discovered a plot against him by the unbelieving Jews; so he changed his mind and decided to return by way of Macedonia. ⁴ Sopater from Berea, the son of Pyrrhus, accompanied him; as did Aristarchus and Secundus from Thessalonica, Gaius from Derbe, Timothy, and Tychicus and Trophimus from the province of Asia. ⁵ These men went on and waited for us in Troas, ⁶ while we sailed from Philippi after the Days of Matzah. Five days later, we met them in Troas, where we spent a week.

⁷ On Motza’ei-Shabbat, when we were gathered to break bread, Sha’ul addressed them. Since he was going to leave the next day, he kept talking until midnight. ⁸ Now there were many oil lamps burning in the upstairs room where we were meeting, ⁹ and there was a young fellow named Eutychus sitting on the window-sill. As Sha’ul’s drash went on and on, Eutychus grew sleepier and sleepier; until finally he went sound asleep and fell from the third story to the ground. When they picked him up, he was dead. ¹⁰ But Sha’ul went down, threw himself onto him, put his arms around him and said, “Don’t be upset, he’s alive!” ¹¹ Then he went back upstairs, broke the bread and ate. He continued talking with them till daylight, then left. ¹² So, greatly relieved, they brought the boy home alive.

¹³ We went on ahead to the ship and set sail for Assos, where we were planning to take Sha’ul aboard — he had arranged this because he wanted to go there by land. ¹⁴ After he met us at Assos, we took him aboard and went on to Mitylene. ¹⁵ The next day, we sailed from there and arrived off Chios; the following day, we crossed over to Samos; and the day after that, we reached Miletus. ¹⁶ For Sha’ul had decided to bypass Ephesus on his voyage, in order to avoid losing time in the province of Asia, because he was hurrying to get to Yerushalayim, if possible in time to celebrate Shavu‘ot.

¹⁷ But he did send from Miletus to Ephesus, summoning the elders of the Messianic community. ¹⁸ When they arrived, he said to them, “You yourselves know how, from the first day I set foot in the province of Asia, I was with you the whole time, ¹⁹ serving the Lord with much humility and with tears, in spite of the tests I had to undergo because of the plots of the unbelieving Jews. ²⁰ You know that I held back nothing that could be helpful to you, and that I taught you both in public and from house to house, ²¹ declaring with utmost seriousness the same message to Jews and Greeks alike: turn from sin to God; and put your trust in our Lord, Yeshua the Messiah.

²² “And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Yerushalayim. I don’t know what will happen to me there, ²³ other than that in every city the Ruach HaKodesh keeps warning me that imprisonment and persecution await me. ²⁴ But I consider my own life of no importance to me whatsoever, as long as I can finish the course ahead of me, the task I received from the Lord Yeshua — to declare in depth the Good News of God’s love and kindness.

²⁵ “Now, listen! I know that none of you people among whom I have gone about proclaiming the Kingdom will ever see me again. ²⁶ Therefore, I testify on this day that I am innocent of the blood of all. ²⁷ For I did not shrink from proclaiming to you the whole plan of God.

²⁸ “Watch out for yourselves, and for all the flock in which the Ruach HaKodesh has placed you as leaders, to shepherd God’s Messianic community, which he won for himself at the cost of his own Son’s blood. ²⁹ I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you; and they won’t spare the flock. ³⁰ Even from among your own number, men will arise and teach perversions of the truth, in order to drag away the talmidim after themselves. ³¹ So stay alert! Remember that for three years, night and day, with tears in my eyes, I never stopped warning you!

³² “And now I entrust you to the care of the Lord and to the message of his love and kindness, for it can build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who have been set apart for God.

³³ “I have not wanted for myself anyone’s silver or gold or clothing. ³⁴ You yourselves know that these hands of mine have provided not only for my own needs, but for the needs of my co-workers as well. ³⁵ In everything I have given you an example of how, by working hard like this, you must help the weak, remembering the words of the Lord Yeshua himself, ‘There is more happiness in giving than in receiving.’”

³⁶ When he had finished speaking, Sha’ul kneeled down with them all and prayed. ³⁷ They were all in tears as they threw their arms around his neck and kissed him farewell. ³⁸ What saddened them the most was his remark that they would never see him again. Then they accompanied him to the ship.