The Daily Audio Bible
Today's audio is from the CEV. Switch to the CEV to read along with the audio.
The Axe Head Recovered
6 Now (A)the sons of the prophets said to Elisha, “Behold now, the place [a]before you where we are living is too cramped for us. 2 Please let us go to the Jordan, and let us each take from there a beam, and let us construct a place there for ourselves, to live there.” So he said, “Go.” 3 Then one of them said, “Please agree and go with your servants.” And he said, “I will go.” 4 So he went with them; and when they came to the Jordan, they cut down trees. 5 But it happened that as one of them was [b]cutting down a beam, [c]the axe head fell into the water; and he cried out and said, “Oh, my master! It was borrowed!” 6 Then the man of God said, “Where did it fall?” And when he showed him the place, (B)he cut off a stick and threw it in there, and made the iron float. 7 Then he said, “Pick it up for yourself.” So he reached out his hand and took it.
The Arameans Plot to Capture Elisha
8 Now the king of Aram was making war against Israel; and he consulted with his servants, saying, “In such and such a place shall be my camp.” 9 But (C)the man of God sent word to the king of Israel, saying, “Be careful that you do not pass this place, because the Arameans are coming down there.” 10 And the king of Israel sent scouts to the place about which the man of God had told him; so he warned him, so that he was on his guard there, [d]more than once or twice.
11 Now the heart of the king of Aram was enraged over this matter; and he called his servants and said to them, “Will you not tell me which of us is for the king of Israel?” 12 One of his servants said, “No, my lord, the king; but Elisha, the prophet who is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the words that you speak in your bedroom.” 13 So he said, “Go and see where he is, so that I may send men and take him.” And it was told to him, saying, “Behold, he is in (D)Dothan.” 14 So he sent horses and chariots and a substantial army there, and they came by night and surrounded the city.
15 Now when the attendant of the man of God had risen early and gone out, behold, an army with horses and chariots was circling the city. And his servant said to him, “This is hopeless, my master! [e]What are we to do?” 16 And he said, “(E)Do not be afraid, for (F)those who are with us are [f]greater than those who are with them.” 17 Then Elisha prayed and said, “(G)Lord, please, open his eyes so that he may see.” And the Lord opened the servant’s eyes, and he saw; and behold, the mountain was full of (H)horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. 18 And when they came down to him, Elisha prayed to the Lord and said, “Please strike this [g]people with blindness.” So He (I)struck them with blindness in accordance with the word of Elisha. 19 Then Elisha said to them, “This is not the way, nor is this the city; follow me and I will bring you to the man whom you seek.” And he brought them to Samaria.
20 When they had come into Samaria, Elisha said, “(J)Lord, open the eyes of these men, so that they may see.” So the Lord opened their eyes, and they saw; and behold, they were in the midst of Samaria. 21 Then the king of Israel when he saw them, said to Elisha, “(K)My father, shall I [h]kill them? Shall I [i]kill them?” 22 But he [j]answered, “You shall not [k]kill them. Would you [l](L)kill those whom you have taken captive with your sword and your bow? (M)Set bread and water before them, so that they may eat and drink, and go to their master.” 23 So he provided a large feast for them; and when they had eaten and drunk, he sent them away, and they went to their master. And (N)the marauding bands of Arameans did not come again into the land of Israel.
The Siege of Samaria—Cannibalism
24 Now it came about after this, that (O)Ben-hadad the king of Aram gathered all his army, and went up and besieged Samaria. 25 So there was a severe (P)famine in Samaria; and behold, they kept besieging it until a donkey’s head was sold for eighty shekels of silver, and a fourth of a [m]kab of dove’s dung for five shekels of silver. 26 And as the king of Israel was passing by on the wall, a woman cried out to him, saying, “Help, my lord the king!” 27 But he said, “[n]If the Lord does not help you, from where am I to help you? From the threshing floor, or from the wine press?” 28 Then the king said to her, “(Q)What [o]is on your mind?” And she said, “This woman said to me, ‘Give your son so that we may eat him today, and we will eat my son tomorrow.’ 29 (R)So we cooked my son and ate him; and I said to her on the next day, ‘Give your son, so that we may eat him’; but she has hidden her son.” 30 When the king heard the woman’s words, (S)he tore his clothes—and he was passing by on the wall—and the people looked, and behold, he had sackcloth [p]underneath on his [q]body. 31 Then he said, “May (T)God do so to me and more so, if the head of Elisha the son of Shaphat [r]remains on him today.”
32 Now Elisha was sitting in his house, and (U)the elders were sitting with him. And the king sent a man from his presence; but before the messenger came to him, he said to the elders, “Do you (V)see how this son of a murderer has sent a man to cut off my head? Look, when the messenger comes, shut the door and [s]hold the door shut against him. Is the sound of his master’s feet not behind him?” 33 While he was still talking with them, behold, the messenger came down to him and he said, “(W)Behold, this evil is from the Lord; why should I wait for the Lord any longer?”
Elisha Promises Food
7 Then Elisha said, “Listen to the word of the Lord; this is what the Lord says: ‘(X)About this time tomorrow a [t]measure of fine flour will be sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, at the gate of Samaria.’” 2 (Y)The royal officer on whose hand the king was leaning responded to the man of God and said, “(Z)Even if the Lord were to make [u]windows in heaven, could this thing happen?” Then he said, “Behold, you are going to see it with your own eyes, but you will not eat [v]any of it.”
Four Men with Leprosy Report Arameans’ Flight
3 Now there were four (AA)leprous men at the entrance of the gate; and they said to one another, “Why are we sitting here until we die? 4 If we say, ‘We will enter the city,’ then the famine is in the city and we will die there; but if we sit here, we will also die. Now then come, and let’s go over to (AB)the camp of the Arameans. If they spare us, we will live; and if they kill us, then we will die.” 5 So they got up at twilight to go to the camp of the Arameans; when they came to the outskirts of the camp of the Arameans, behold, there was no one there. 6 For (AC)the Lord had made the army of the Arameans hear a sound of chariots, a sound of horses, that is, the sound of a great army; and they said to one another, “Behold, the king of Israel has hired (AD)the kings of the Hittites and (AE)the kings of the Egyptians against us, to [w]attack us!” 7 So they (AF)got up and fled at twilight, and abandoned their tents, their horses, and their donkeys—indeed the camp itself, just as it was; and they fled for their lives. 8 When these men with leprosy came to the outskirts of the camp, they entered one tent and ate and drank, and (AG)carried from there silver, gold, and clothes, and they went and hid them; then they returned and entered another tent, and carried valuables from there also, and went and hid them.
9 Then they said to one another, “We are not doing the right thing. This day is a day of good news, but we are keeping silent about it; if we wait until the morning light, punishment will [x]overtake us. Now then come, let’s go and inform the king’s household.” 10 So they came and called to the gatekeepers of the city, and told them, saying, “We came to the camp of the Arameans, and behold, there was no one there, nor a human voice; only the horses tied and the donkeys tied, and the tents just as they were.” 11 And the gatekeepers called and announced it inside the king’s house. 12 Then the king got up in the night and said to his servants, “I will now tell you what the Arameans have done to us. They know that (AH)we are hungry; so they have left the camp (AI)to hide themselves in the field, saying, ‘When they come out of the city, we will capture them alive and get into the city.’” 13 One of his servants responded and said, “Please, have some men take five of the horses that remain, which are left [y]in the city. Behold, they will be in any case like all the multitude of Israel who are left in it; behold, they will be like all the multitude of Israel who have already perished, so let us send them and see.” 14 Therefore they took two chariots with horses, and the king sent them after the army of the Arameans, saying, “Go and see.”
The Promise Fulfilled
15 They went after them to the Jordan, and behold, all the way was full of clothes and equipment which the Arameans had thrown away when they fled in a hurry. Then the messengers returned and informed the king.
16 So the people went out and plundered the camp of the Arameans. Then a [z]measure of fine flour was sold for a shekel, and two [aa]measures of barley for a shekel, (AJ)in accordance with the word of the Lord. 17 Now the king appointed (AK)the royal officer on whose hand he leaned [ab]to be in charge of the gate; but the people trampled on him at the gate, and he died, just as the man of God had said, (AL)who spoke when the king came down to him. 18 So it happened just as the man of God had spoken to the king, saying, “(AM)Two [ac]measures of barley for a shekel and a [ad]measure of fine flour for a shekel, will be sold about this time tomorrow at the gate of Samaria.” 19 At that time the royal officer had responded to the man of God and said, “Now even if (AN)the Lord were to make windows in heaven, could such a thing as this happen?” And he had said, “Behold, you are going to see it with your own eyes, but you will not eat [ae]any of it.” 20 And this is what happened to him, for the people trampled on him at the gate and he died.
Second Missionary Journey
36 After some days Paul said to Barnabas, “Let’s return and visit the brothers and sisters in (A)every city in which we proclaimed (B)the word of the Lord, and see how they are.” 37 Barnabas wanted to take (C)John, called Mark, along with them also. 38 But Paul was of the opinion that they should not take along with them this man who had (D)deserted them [a]in Pamphylia and had not gone with them to the work. 39 Now it turned into such a sharp disagreement that they separated from one another, and Barnabas took (E)Mark with him and sailed away to (F)Cyprus. 40 But Paul chose (G)Silas, and left after being (H)entrusted by the brothers to the grace of the Lord. 41 And he was traveling through (I)Syria and (J)Cilicia, strengthening the churches.
The Macedonian Vision
16 Now Paul also came to (K)Derbe and to (L)Lystra. And a disciple was there, named (M)Timothy, the son of a (N)Jewish woman who was a believer, but his father was a Greek, 2 and he was well spoken of by (O)the brothers and sisters who were in (P)Lystra and (Q)Iconium. 3 Paul wanted this man to leave with him; and he (R)took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those parts, for they all knew that his father was a Greek. 4 Now while they were passing through the cities, they were delivering (S)the ordinances for them to follow which had been determined by (T)the apostles and (U)elders in Jerusalem. 5 So (V)the churches were being strengthened [b]in the faith, and were (W)increasing in number daily.
6 They passed through the [c](X)Phrygian and (Y)Galatian region, after being forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in [d](Z)Asia; 7 and after they came to (AA)Mysia, they were trying to go into (AB)Bithynia, and the (AC)Spirit of Jesus did not allow them; 8 and passing by (AD)Mysia, they went down to (AE)Troas. 9 (AF)And a vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of (AG)Macedonia was standing and pleading with him, and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” 10 When he had seen (AH)the vision, (AI)we immediately sought to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to (AJ)preach the gospel to them.
11 So after setting sail from (AK)Troas, we ran (AL)a straight course to Samothrace, and on the following day to Neapolis; 12 and from there to (AM)Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of (AN)Macedonia, (AO)a Roman colony; and we were spending some days in this city. 13 And on (AP)the Sabbath day we went outside the gate to a riverside, where we were thinking that there was a place of prayer; and we sat down and began speaking to the women who had assembled.
First Convert in Europe
14 A woman named Lydia was listening; she was a seller of purple fabrics from the city of (AQ)Thyatira, and (AR)a worshiper of God. [e]The Lord (AS)opened her heart to respond to the things spoken by Paul. 15 Now when she and (AT)her household had been baptized, she urged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house and stay.” And she prevailed upon us.
Prayer for Help in Trouble.
[a]Maskil of David, when he was [b]in the cave. A Prayer.
142 I (A)cry out with my voice to the Lord;
With my voice I (B)implore the Lord for compassion.
2 I (C)pour out my complaint before Him;
I declare my (D)trouble before Him.
3 When (E)my spirit felt weak within me,
You knew my path.
In the way where I walk
They have (F)hidden a trap for me.
4 Look to the right and see;
For there is (G)no one who regards me favorably;
[c]There is no (H)escape for me;
(I)No one cares for my soul.
5 I cried out to You, Lord;
I said, “You are (J)my refuge,
My (K)portion in the (L)land of the living.
6 (M)Give Your attention to my cry,
For I have been (N)brought very low;
Rescue me from my persecutors,
For they are too (O)strong for me.
7 (P)Bring my soul out of prison,
So that I may give thanks to Your name;
The righteous will surround me,
For You will (Q)look after me.”
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.