The Daily Audio Bible
Today's audio is from the NLT. Switch to the NLT to read along with the audio.
Nadab and Then Baasha Rule over Israel
25 Now (A)Nadab the son of Jeroboam became king over Israel in the second year of Asa king of Judah, and he reigned over Israel for two years. 26 He did evil in the sight of the Lord, and (B)walked in the way of his father and (C)in his sin into which he misled Israel. 27 Then (D)Baasha the son of Ahijah of the house of Issachar conspired against him, and Baasha struck and killed him at (E)Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines, while Nadab and all Israel were laying siege to Gibbethon.
28 So Baasha killed him in the third year of Asa king of Judah, and reigned in his place. 29 And as soon as he was king, he struck and killed all the household of Jeroboam. He did not leave Jeroboam any [a]persons alive, but kept killing until he had eliminated them, (F)in accordance with the word of the Lord which He spoke by His servant Ahijah the Shilonite, 30 and because of the sins of Jeroboam which he [b]committed, and into (G)which he misled Israel, because of his provocation with which he provoked the Lord God of Israel to anger.
31 (H)Now as for the rest of the acts of Nadab and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?
War with Judah
32 (I)And there was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all their days.
33 In the third year of Asa king of Judah, Baasha the son of Ahijah became king over all Israel at Tirzah, and he reigned for twenty-four years. 34 And he did evil in the sight of the Lord, and (J)walked in the way of Jeroboam and in his sin into which he misled Israel.
Prophecy against Baasha
16 Now the word of the Lord came to (K)Jehu the son of (L)Hanani against Baasha, saying, 2 “Since I (M)exalted you from the dust and made you leader over My people Israel, and (N)you have walked in the way of Jeroboam and have misled My people Israel into sin, provoking Me to anger with their sins, 3 behold, (O)I am going to [c]burn (P)Baasha and his house, and (Q)I will make your house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat. 4 (R)Anyone belonging to Baasha who dies in the city, the dogs will eat; and anyone belonging to him who dies in the field, the birds of the sky will eat.”
5 (S)Now as for the rest of the acts of Baasha and what he did and his might, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?
The Israelite Kings
6 And Baasha [d]lay down with his fathers and was buried in (T)Tirzah, and his son Elah became king in his place. 7 Moreover, the word of the Lord through (U)the prophet Jehu the son of Hanani came against Baasha and his household, both because of all the evil that he did in the sight of the Lord, provoking Him to anger with (V)the work of his hands, by being like the house of Jeroboam, and because (W)he struck [e]it.
8 In the twenty-sixth year of Asa king of Judah, Elah the son of Baasha became king over Israel at Tirzah, and reigned for two years. 9 And his servant (X)Zimri, commander of half his chariots, conspired against him. Now [f]Elah was in Tirzah drinking himself drunk in the house of Arza, (Y)who was in charge of the household in Tirzah. 10 Then Zimri came in and struck him and put him to death in the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah, and he became king in his place. 11 And when he became king, as soon as he sat on his throne, (Z)he [g]killed all the household of Baasha; he did not leave [h]a single male alive, either of his [i]relatives or of his friends.
12 So Zimri eliminated all the household of Baasha, (AA)in accordance with the word of the Lord which He spoke against Baasha through (AB)Jehu the prophet, 13 for all the sins of Baasha and the sins of his son Elah, which they [j]committed and into which they misled Israel, (AC)provoking the Lord God of Israel to anger with their [k]idols. 14 (AD)Now as for the rest of the acts of Elah and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?
15 In the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah, Zimri reigned for seven days in Tirzah. Now the people were camped against (AE)Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines. 16 And the people who were camped heard [l]it being said, “Zimri has conspired and has also struck and killed the king!” Therefore all Israel made Omri, the commander of the army, king over Israel that day in the camp. 17 Then Omri and all Israel with him went up from Gibbethon and besieged Tirzah. 18 When Zimri saw that the city was taken, he went into the citadel of the king’s house and burned the king’s house over himself with fire, and (AF)died, 19 because of his sins which he [m]committed, doing evil in the sight of the Lord, (AG)walking in the way of Jeroboam, and in his sin which he committed, misleading Israel into sin. 20 (AH)Now as for the rest of the acts of Zimri and his conspiracy which he [n]carried out, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?
21 Then the people of Israel were divided into two parts: half of the people followed Tibni the son of Ginath, to make him king; the other half followed Omri. 22 But the people who followed Omri prevailed over the people who followed Tibni the son of Ginath. And Tibni died and Omri became king. 23 In the thirty-first year of Asa king of Judah, Omri became king over Israel and reigned for twelve years; he reigned for six years at (AI)Tirzah. 24 And he purchased the hill [o]Samaria from Shemer for [p]two talents of silver; and he built on the hill, and named the city which he built [q](AJ)Samaria, after the name of Shemer, the owner of the hill.
25 Now (AK)Omri did evil in the sight of the Lord, and (AL)acted more wickedly than all who were before him. 26 For he (AM)walked [r]entirely in the way of Jeroboam the son of Nebat and in his sins into which he misled Israel, provoking the Lord God of Israel to anger with their [s]idols. 27 Now as for the rest of the acts of Omri which he did and his might which he [t]displayed, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? 28 And Omri [u]lay down with his fathers and was buried in Samaria; and his son Ahab became king in his place.
29 Now Ahab the son of Omri became king over Israel in the thirty-eighth year of Asa king of Judah, and Ahab the son of Omri reigned over Israel in Samaria for twenty-two years. 30 Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the Lord (AN)more than all who were before him.
31 And as though it had been a trivial thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, (AO)he married Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the (AP)Sidonians, and went and served Baal, and worshiped him. 32 So he erected an altar for Baal at (AQ)the house of Baal, which he built in Samaria. 33 Ahab also made (AR)the [v]Asherah. So (AS)Ahab did more to provoke the Lord God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel who were before him. 34 (AT)In his days Hiel the Bethelite rebuilt Jericho; he laid its foundations with the loss of Abiram his firstborn, and set up its gates with the loss of his youngest son Segub, in accordance with the word of the Lord, which He spoke by Joshua the son of Nun.
Elijah Predicts Drought
17 Now Elijah the Tishbite, who was of [w](AU)the settlers of Gilead, said to Ahab, “(AV)As the Lord, the God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, (AW)there shall certainly be neither dew nor rain during these years, except by my word.” 2 Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, 3 “Go away from here and turn eastward, and hide yourself by the brook Cherith, which is [x]east of the Jordan. 4 And it shall be that you will drink from the brook, and (AX)I have commanded the ravens to provide food for you there.” 5 So he went and did everything according to the word of the Lord, for he went and lived by the brook Cherith, which is [y]east of the Jordan. 6 And the ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening, and he would drink from the brook. 7 But it happened after a while that the brook dried up, because there was no rain in the land.
8 Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, 9 “Arise, go to (AY)Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and stay there; behold, (AZ)I have commanded a widow there to provide food for you.” 10 So he arose and went to Zarephath, and when he came to the entrance of the city, behold, a widow was there gathering sticks; and (BA)he called to her and said, “Please get me a little water in a [z]cup, so that I may drink.” 11 As she was going to get it, he called to her and said, “Please bring me a piece of bread in your hand.” 12 But she said, “(BB)As the Lord your God lives, (BC)I have no food, only a handful of flour in the [aa]bowl and a little oil in the jar; and behold, I am gathering [ab]a few sticks so that I may go in and prepare it for me and my son, so that we may [ac]eat it and (BD)die.” 13 However, Elijah said to her, “Do not fear; go, do as you have said. Just make me a little bread loaf from [ad]it first and bring it out to me, and afterward you may make one for yourself and for your son. 14 For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel says: ‘The [ae]bowl of flour shall not be used up, nor shall the jar of oil become empty, until the day that the Lord provides rain on the face of the earth.’” 15 So she went and did everything in accordance with the word of Elijah, and she and he and her household ate for many days. 16 The [af]bowl of flour was not used up, nor did the jar of oil become empty, in accordance with the word of the Lord which He spoke through Elijah.
Elijah Raises the Widow’s Son
17 Now it happened after these things that the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, became sick; and his [ag]condition became very grave, until at the end [ah]he was no longer breathing. 18 So she said to Elijah, “[ai](BE)Why is my business any of yours, you (BF)man of God? Yet you have come to me to bring my wrongdoing to remembrance, and to put my son to death!” 19 But he said to her, “Give me your son.” Then he took him from her [aj]arms and carried him up to the upstairs room where he was living, and laid him on his own bed. 20 And he called to the Lord and said, “Lord, my God, have You also brought catastrophe upon the widow with whom I am [ak]staying, by causing her son to die?” 21 (BG)Then he stretched himself out over the boy three times, and called to the Lord and said, “Lord, my God, please, let this boy’s life return [al]to him.” 22 And the Lord listened to the voice of Elijah, (BH)and the life of the boy returned [am]to him and he revived. 23 Elijah then took the boy and brought him down from the upstairs room into the house and gave him to his mother; and Elijah said, “See, your son is alive.” 24 Then the woman said to Elijah, “(BI)Now I know that you are a man of God, and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is truth.”
24 On the following day he entered (A)Caesarea. Now Cornelius was expecting them and had called together his relatives and close friends. 25 When Peter entered, Cornelius met him, and fell at his feet and [a](B)worshiped him. 26 But Peter helped him up, saying, “(C)Stand up; I, too, am just a man.” 27 As he talked with him, he entered and *found (D)many people assembled. 28 And he said to them, “You yourselves know that it is (E)forbidden for a Jewish man to associate with or visit a [b]foreigner; and yet (F)God has shown me that I am not to call any person [c]unholy or unclean. 29 That is why I came without even raising any objection when I was sent for. So I ask, for what reason did you send for me?”
30 Cornelius said, “(G)Four days ago to this hour, I was praying in my house during (H)the [d]ninth hour; and behold, (I)a man stood before me in shining clothing, 31 and he *said, ‘Cornelius, your prayer has been heard and your charitable gifts have been remembered before God. 32 Therefore send some men to (J)Joppa and invite Simon, who is also called Peter, to come to you; he is staying at the house of Simon the tanner, by the sea.’ 33 So I sent men to you immediately, and you have [e]been kind enough to come. Now then, we are all here present before God to hear everything that you have been commanded by the Lord.”
Gentiles Hear Good News
34 (K)Opening his mouth, Peter said:
“I most certainly understand now that (L)God is not one to show partiality, 35 but (M)in every nation the one who [f](N)fears Him and [g]does what is right is acceptable to Him. 36 The word which He sent to the sons of Israel, (O)preaching [h](P)peace through Jesus Christ (He is (Q)Lord of all)— 37 you yourselves know the thing that happened throughout Judea, starting from Galilee, after the baptism which John proclaimed. 38 [i]You know of (R)Jesus of Nazareth, how God (S)anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power, [j](T)and how He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for (U)God was with Him. 39 We are (V)witnesses of all the things that He did both in the [k]country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They also put Him to death by hanging Him on [l](W)a cross. 40 (X)God raised Him up on the third day and granted that He [m]be revealed, 41 (Y)not to all the people, but to (Z)witnesses who had been chosen beforehand by God, that is, to us (AA)who ate and drank with Him after He arose from the dead. 42 And He (AB)ordered us to [n]preach to the people, and to (AC)testify solemnly that this is the One who has been (AD)appointed by God as (AE)Judge of the living and the dead. 43 (AF)All the prophets testify of Him, that through (AG)His name everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins.”
44 While Peter was still speaking these words, (AH)the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who were listening to the [o]message. 45 (AI)All the [p]Jewish believers who came with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had also been (AJ)poured out on the Gentiles. 46 For they were hearing them (AK)speaking with tongues and exalting God. Then Peter responded, 47 “(AL)Surely no one can refuse the water for these to be baptized, who (AM)have received the Holy Spirit just as we did, can he?” 48 And he (AN)ordered them to be baptized (AO)in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to stay on for a few days.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.