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Jehoram Restores the Shunammite’s Land
8 Now (A)Elisha spoke to the woman whose son he had restored to life, saying, “Arise and go [a]with your household, and live wherever you can live; for the (B)Lord has called for a famine, and (C)it will indeed come on the land for seven years.” 2 So the woman arose and acted in accordance with the word of the man of God: she went with her household and resided in the land of the Philistines for seven years. 3 Then at the end of seven years, the woman returned from the land of the Philistines; and she went to [b]appeal to the king for her house and for her field. 4 Now the king was speaking with (D)Gehazi, the servant of the man of God, saying, “Please report to me all the great things that Elisha has done.” 5 And as he was reporting to the king (E)how he had restored to life the one who was dead, behold, the woman whose son he had restored to life [c]appealed to the king for her house and for her field. And Gehazi said, “My lord the king, this is the woman and this is her son, whom Elisha restored to life.” 6 When the king asked the woman, she told everything to him. So the king appointed an officer for her, saying, “Restore all that was hers and all the produce of the field from the day that she left the land even until now.”
Elisha Predicts Evil from Hazael
7 Then Elisha came to (F)Damascus. Now (G)Ben-hadad, the king of Aram, was sick, and it was told to him, saying, “(H)The man of God has come here.” 8 And the king said to (I)Hazael, “(J)Take a gift in your hand and go to meet the man of God, and (K)inquire of the Lord by him, saying, ‘Will I recover from this sickness?’” 9 So Hazael went to meet him and took a gift in his hand, even every kind of good thing of Damascus, forty camels’ loads; and he came and stood before him and said, “(L)Your son Ben-hadad king of Aram has sent me to you, saying, ‘Will I recover from this sickness?’” 10 Then Elisha said to him, “(M)Go, say to him, ‘You will certainly recover’; but the (N)Lord has shown me that he will certainly die.” 11 And he [d]stared steadily at him (O)until Hazael was embarrassed, and then (P)the man of God wept. 12 And Hazael said, “Why is my lord weeping?” And he [e]answered, “Because (Q)I know the evil that you will do to the sons of Israel: you will set their fortified cities on fire, you will kill their young men with the sword, their little ones you (R)will smash to pieces, and you will rip up their pregnant women.” 13 Then Hazael said, “But what is your servant—(S)a lowly dog—that he could do this great thing?” And Elisha [f]answered, “(T)The Lord has shown me that you will be king over Aram.” 14 So he left Elisha and came to his master, who said to him, “What did Elisha say to you?” And he [g]answered, “He told me that (U)you would certainly recover.” 15 But on the following day, he took the [h]cover and dipped it in water, and spread it over his face, (V)so that he died. And Hazael became king in his place.
Another Jehoram Reigns in Judah
16 Now in the fifth year of (W)Joram the son of Ahab king of Israel, when Jehoshaphat was the king of Judah, Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat king of Judah became king. 17 He was (X)thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned for eight years in Jerusalem. 18 He walked in the way of the kings of Israel, just as the house of Ahab had done, for (Y)Ahab’s daughter was his wife; and he did evil in the sight of the Lord. 19 However, the Lord did not want to destroy Judah, for the sake of David His servant, (Z)since He had [i]promised him to give him a [j]lamp through his sons always.
20 In his days (AA)Edom broke away from the [k]rule of Judah, and appointed a king over themselves. 21 Then Joram crossed over to Zair, and all his chariots with him. And he got up at night and struck the Edomites who had surrounded him and the captains of the chariots; (AB)but [l]his army fled to their tents. 22 (AC)So Edom has broken away from [m]Judah to this day. Then (AD)Libnah broke away at the same time. 23 Now the rest of the acts of Joram and everything that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah?
Ahaziah Succeeds Jehoram in Judah
24 So Joram [n]lay down with his fathers and (AE)was buried with his fathers in the city of David; and his son (AF)Ahaziah became king in his place.
25 (AG)In the twelfth year of Joram the son of Ahab king of Israel, Ahaziah the son of Jehoram king of Judah began to reign. 26 (AH)Ahaziah was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned for one year in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Athaliah the granddaughter of Omri king of Israel. 27 (AI)He walked in the way of the house of Ahab and did evil in the sight of the Lord, like the house of Ahab, because he was a son-in-law of the house of Ahab.
28 Then he went with Joram the son of Ahab to war against (AJ)Hazael king of Aram at (AK)Ramoth-gilead, and the Arameans [o]wounded Joram. 29 So (AL)King Joram returned to have himself healed in Jezreel of the wounds which the Arameans had [p]inflicted on him at (AM)Ramah when he fought against Hazael king of Aram. Then (AN)Ahaziah the son of Jehoram king of Judah went down to see Joram the son of Ahab in Jezreel because he was sick.
Jehu Reigns over Israel
9 Now Elisha the prophet summoned one of (AO)the sons of the prophets and said to him, “[q](AP)Get ready and (AQ)take this flask of oil in your hand, and go to (AR)Ramoth-gilead. 2 When you arrive there, then look there for (AS)Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat the son of Nimshi, and go in and (AT)have him get up from among his brothers, and bring him to an inner room. 3 Then take the flask of oil and pour it on his head, and say, ‘This is what the Lord says: “(AU)I have anointed you king over Israel.”’ Then open the door and flee, and do not wait.”
4 So (AV)the young man, the servant of the prophet, went to Ramoth-gilead. 5 When he arrived, behold, the commanders of the army were sitting, and he said, “I have a word for you, commander.” And Jehu said, “[r]For which one of us?” And he said, “For you, commander.” 6 He then got up and went into the house, and the prophet’s servant poured the oil on his head and said to him, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel says: ‘(AW)I have anointed you king over the people of the Lord, over Israel. 7 And you shall strike the house of Ahab your master, (AX)so that I may avenge (AY)the blood of My servants the prophets, and the blood of all the servants of the Lord, (AZ)at the hand of Jezebel. 8 For the entire house of Ahab shall perish, and (BA)I will eliminate from Ahab (BB)every male person (BC)both [s]slave and free in Israel. 9 (BD)I will make the house of Ahab like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and (BE)like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah. 10 (BF)The dogs will eat Jezebel in the territory of Jezreel, and no one will bury her.’” Then he opened the door and fled.
11 Now Jehu went out to the servants of his master, and one said to him, “(BG)Is everything well? Why did this (BH)crazy fellow come to you?” And he said to them, “You know very well the man and his talk.” 12 And they said, “It is a lie; tell us now.” And he said, “Such and such he said to me, saying, ‘This is what the Lord says: “I have anointed you king over Israel.”’” 13 Then (BI)they hurried, and each man took his garment and put it under him on the bare steps, and (BJ)blew the trumpet, saying, “Jehu is king!”
16 It happened that as we were going to (A)the place of prayer, a slave woman who had (B)a spirit of divination met us, who was bringing great profit to her masters by fortune-telling. 17 She followed Paul and us and cried out repeatedly, saying, “These men are bond-servants of (C)the Most High God, who are proclaiming to you a way of salvation.” 18 Now she continued doing this for many days. But Paul was greatly annoyed, and he turned and said to the spirit, “I command you (D)in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her!” And it came out at that very [a]moment.
19 But when her masters saw that their hope of (E)profit was suddenly gone, they seized (F)Paul and Silas and (G)dragged them into the marketplace before the authorities, 20 and when they had brought them to the chief magistrates, they said, “These men, Jews as they are, are causing our city trouble, 21 and they (H)are proclaiming customs that are not lawful for us to accept or to practice, since we are (I)Romans.”
Paul and Silas Imprisoned
22 The crowd joined in an attack against them, and the chief magistrates tore their [b]robes off them and proceeded to order [c]them to be (J)beaten with rods. 23 When they had struck them with many blows, they threw them into prison, commanding (K)the jailer to guard them securely; 24 [d]and he, having received such a command, threw them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in (L)the [e]stocks.
25 Now about midnight (M)Paul and Silas were praying and (N)singing hymns of praise to God, and the prisoners were listening to them; 26 and suddenly (O)there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately (P)all the doors were opened, and everyone’s (Q)chains were unfastened. 27 When (R)the jailer awoke and saw the prison doors opened, he drew his sword and was about (S)to kill himself, thinking that the prisoners had escaped. 28 But Paul called out with a loud voice, saying, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here!” 29 And the jailer asked for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear, he fell down before (T)Paul and Silas; 30 and after he brought them out, he said, “Sirs, (U)what must I do to be saved?”
The Jailer Converted
31 They said, “(V)Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and (W)your household.” 32 And they spoke the word of God to him together with all who were in his house. 33 And he took them (X)that very hour of the night and washed their wounds, and immediately he was baptized, he and all his household. 34 And he brought them into his house and set [f]food before them, and was [g]overjoyed, since he had become a believer in God together with (Y)his whole household.
35 Now when day came, the chief magistrates sent their officers, saying, “Release those men.” 36 And (Z)the jailer reported these words to Paul, saying, “The chief magistrates have sent word that you be released. So come out now and go (AA)in peace.” 37 But Paul said to them, “After beating us in public without due process—(AB)men who are Romans—they threw us into prison; and now they are releasing us secretly? No indeed! On the contrary, let them come [h]in person and lead us out.” 38 The officers reported these words to the chief magistrates. (AC)And they became fearful when they heard that they were Romans, 39 and they came and pleaded with them, and when they had led them out, they repeatedly asked them (AD)to leave the city. 40 They left the prison and entered the house of (AE)Lydia, and when they saw (AF)the brothers and sisters, they [i]encouraged them and departed.
Prayer for Help and Guidance.
A Psalm of David.
143 Hear my prayer, Lord,
(A)Listen to my pleadings!
Answer me in Your (B)faithfulness, in Your (C)righteousness!
2 And (D)do not enter into judgment with Your servant,
For (E)no person living is righteous in Your sight.
3 For the enemy has persecuted my soul;
He has crushed my life (F)to the ground;
He (G)has made me dwell in dark places, like those who have long been dead.
4 Therefore (H)my spirit [a]feels weak within me;
My heart is [b](I)appalled within me.
5 I (J)remember the days of old;
I (K)meditate on all Your accomplishments;
I (L)reflect on the work of Your hands.
6 I (M)spread out my hands to You;
My (N)soul longs for You, like a weary land. Selah
7 (O)Answer me quickly, Lord, my (P)spirit fails;
(Q)Do not hide Your face from me,
Or I will be the same as (R)those who go down to the pit.
8 Let me hear Your (S)faithfulness (T)in the morning,
For I trust (U)in You;
Teach me the (V)way in which I should walk;
For to You I (W)lift up my soul.
9 (X)Save me, Lord, from my enemies;
[c]I take refuge in You.
10 (Y)Teach me to do Your will,
For You are my God;
Let (Z)Your good Spirit (AA)lead me on level [d]ground.
11 (AB)For the sake of Your name, Lord, (AC)revive me.
(AD)In Your righteousness bring my soul out of trouble.
12 And in Your faithfulness, [e](AE)destroy my enemies,
And (AF)eliminate all those who attack my soul,
For (AG)I am Your servant.
26 It is also not good to (A)fine the righteous,
Nor to strike the noble for their uprightness.
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