The Daily Audio Bible

Hoshea Reigns over Israel

17 In the twelfth year of Ahaz king of Judah, ^(A)Hoshea the son of Elah became king over Israel in Samaria, and reigned for nine years. ² He did evil in the sight of the Lord, only not as the kings of Israel who preceded him. ^3 (B)Shalmaneser the king of Assyria marched ^(C)against him, and Hoshea became his servant and paid him tribute. ⁴ But the king of Assyria uncovered a conspiracy by Hoshea, who had sent messengers to So, king of Egypt, and had then brought no tribute to the king of Assyria, as he had done year by year; so the king of Assyria arrested him and confined him in prison.

⁵ Then the king of Assyria invaded the entire land, and went up to ^(D)Samaria and besieged it for three years.

Israel Captive

⁶ In the ninth year of Hoshea, ^(E)the king of Assyria captured Samaria and ^(F)led the people of Israel into exile to Assyria, and ^(G)settled them in Halah and Habor, on the river of ^(H)Gozan, and ^(I)in the cities of the Medes.

Why Israel Fell

⁷ Now ^(J)this came about because the sons of Israel had sinned against the Lord their God, ^(K)who had brought them up from the land of Egypt, from under the hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt; ^(L)and they had ^[a]feared other gods. ⁸ They also ^[b](M)followed the ^[c]customs of the nations whom the Lord had driven out from the sons of Israel, and in the customs ^(N)of the kings of Israel which they had ^[d]introduced. ⁹ And the sons of Israel ^[e]did things secretly against the Lord their God which were not right. Moreover, they built for themselves high places in all their towns, from ^(O)watchtower to fortified city. ¹⁰ And ^(P)they set up for themselves memorial stones and ^[f](Q)Asherim on every high hill and under every green tree, ¹¹ and there they burned incense on all the high places as the nations did that the Lord had taken into exile before them; and they did evil things, provoking the Lord. ¹² They served idols, ^(R)concerning which the Lord had said to them, “You shall not do this thing.” ¹³ Yet the ^(S)Lord warned Israel and Judah ^[g](T)through all His prophets and ^(U)every seer, saying, “^(V)Turn back from your evil ways and keep My commandments and My statutes in accordance with all the Law which I commanded your fathers, and which I sent to you ^[h]through My servants the prophets.” ¹⁴ However, they did not listen, but ^(W)stiffened their neck ^[i]like their fathers, who did not believe in the Lord their God. ^15 (X)They rejected His statutes and ^(Y)His covenant which He made with their fathers, and His warnings which He ^[j]gave them. And ^(Z)they followed ^[k]idols and ^(AA)became empty, and followed the nations that surrounded them, about which the ^(AB)Lord had commanded them not to do as they did. ¹⁶ And they abandoned all the commandments of the Lord their God and made for themselves cast metal images: ^(AC)two calves. And they ^(AD)made an ^[l]Asherah, and ^(AE)worshiped all the heavenly ^[m]lights, and ^(AF)served Baal. ¹⁷ Then ^(AG)they made their sons and their daughters pass through the fire, and they ^(AH)practiced divination and interpreting omens, and ^(AI)gave themselves over to do evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking Him. ¹⁸ So the Lord was very angry with Israel, and He ^(AJ)removed them from His ^[n]sight; ^(AK)no one was left except the tribe of Judah.

^19 (AL)Judah did not keep the commandments of the Lord their God either, but they ^[o](AM)followed the ^[p]customs ^[q]which Israel had ^[r]introduced. ²⁰ So the Lord rejected all the ^[s]descendants of Israel and afflicted them and ^(AN)handed them over to plunderers, until He had cast them ^[t]out of His sight.

²¹ When ^(AO)He had torn Israel from the house of David, ^(AP)they made Jeroboam the son of Nebat king. Then ^(AQ)Jeroboam drove Israel away from following the Lord and misled them into a great sin. ²² And the sons of Israel walked in all the sins of Jeroboam which he committed; they did not desist from them ^23 (AR)until the Lord removed Israel from His sight, ^(AS)just as He had spoken through all His servants the prophets. ^(AT)So Israel went into exile from their own land to Assyria until this day.

Cities of Israel Filled with Strangers

^24 (AU)Then the king of Assyria brought people from Babylon, Cuthah, ^[u](AV)Avva, ^(AW)Hamath, and Sepharvaim, and settled them in the cities of Samaria in place of the sons of Israel. So they took possession of Samaria and lived in its cities. ²⁵ And at the beginning of their living there, they ^(AX)did not fear the Lord; therefore the Lord sent lions among them that were killing some of them. ²⁶ So they spoke to the king of Assyria, saying, “The nations whom you have taken into exile and settled in the cities of Samaria do not know the custom of the God of the land; so He has sent lions among them, and behold, they are killing them because they do not know the custom of the God of the land.”

²⁷ Then the king of Assyria issued commands, saying, “Take one of the priests there whom you led into ^[v]exile, and have ^[w]him go and live there; and have him teach them the custom of the God of the land.” ²⁸ So one of the priests whom they had led into exile from Samaria came and lived in Bethel, and taught them how they were to fear the Lord.

²⁹ But every nation was still making gods of its own, and they put them ^(AY)in the houses of the high places which the people of Samaria had made, every nation in their cities in which they lived. ^30 (AZ)The men of Babylon made Succoth-benoth, the men of Cuth made Nergal, the men of Hamath made Ashima, ³¹ and the Avvites made Nibhaz and Tartak; and ^(BA)the Sepharvites were burning their children in the fire to ^(BB)Adrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of ^(BC)Sepharvaim. ^32 (BD)They also feared the Lord and ^[x](BE)appointed from their entire population priests of the high places, who acted for them in the houses of the high places. ³³ They feared the Lord, yet they were serving their own gods in accordance with the custom of the nations from among whom they had been taken into exile.

³⁴ To this day they act in accordance with the earlier customs: they do not fear the Lord, nor do they ^[y]follow their statutes, their ordinances, the Law, or the commandments which the Lord commanded the sons of Jacob, ^(BF)whom He named Israel. ³⁵ The Lord made a covenant with them and commanded them, saying, “^(BG)You shall not fear other gods, nor ^(BH)bow down to them, nor ^(BI)serve them, nor sacrifice to them. ³⁶ But the Lord, ^(BJ)who brought you up from the land of Egypt with great power and with ^(BK)an outstretched arm, ^(BL)Him you shall fear, and to Him you shall bow down, and to Him you shall sacrifice. ³⁷ And the statutes, the ordinances, the Law, and the commandment which He wrote for you, ^(BM)you shall take care to do always; and you shall not fear other gods. ³⁸ The covenant that I have made with you, ^(BN)you shall not forget, nor shall you fear other gods. ³⁹ But you shall fear the Lord your God; and He will save you from the hand of all your enemies.” ⁴⁰ However, they did not listen, but they kept acting in accordance with their earlier custom. ^41 (BO)So while these nations feared the Lord, they also served their ^[z]idols; their children likewise and their grandchildren, just as their fathers did, they do to this day.

Hezekiah Reigns over Judah

18 Now it came about ^(BP)in the third year of Hoshea, the son of Elah king of Israel, that ^(BQ)Hezekiah the son of Ahaz king of Judah became king. ² He was ^(BR)twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned for twenty-nine years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Abi the daughter of Zechariah. ^3 (BS)He did what was right in the sight of the Lord, in accordance with everything that his father David had done. ^4 (BT)He removed the high places and smashed the memorial stones to pieces, and cut down the ^[aa]Asherah. He also crushed to pieces ^(BU)the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for until those days the sons of Israel had been burning incense to it; and it was called ^[ab]Nehushtan. ^5 (BV)He trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel; and ^(BW)after him there was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, nor among those who came before him. ⁶ For he ^(BX)clung to the Lord; he did not desist from following Him, but kept His commandments, which the Lord had commanded Moses.

Hezekiah Victorious

^7 (BY)And the Lord was with him; wherever he went he was successful. And ^(BZ)he revolted against the king of Assyria and did not serve him. ^8 (CA)He ^[ac]defeated the Philistines as far as Gaza and its territory, from ^(CB)watchtower to fortified city.

⁹ Now in the fourth year of King Hezekiah, which was the seventh year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, ^(CC)Shalmaneser king of Assyria marched against Samaria and besieged it. ¹⁰ And at the end of three years they captured it; in the sixth year of Hezekiah, which was ^(CD)the ninth year of Hoshea king of Israel, Samaria was captured. ¹¹ Then the king of Assyria led Israel into exile to Assyria, and put them in ^(CE)Halah and on the Habor, the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes. ¹² This happened because they ^(CF)did not obey the voice of the Lord their God, but violated His covenant, all that Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded; they would neither listen nor do it.

Paul in Macedonia and Greece

20 After the uproar had ceased, Paul sent for ^(A)the disciples, and when he had ^[a]encouraged them and taken his leave of them, he left ^(B)to go to ^(C)Macedonia. ² When he had gone through those regions and had given them much ^[b]encouragement, he came to Greece. ³ And there he spent three months, and when ^(D)a plot was formed against him by the Jews as he was about to set sail for ^(E)Syria, he decided to return through ^(F)Macedonia. ⁴ And ^[c]he was accompanied by Sopater of ^(G)Berea, the son of Pyrrhus, and by ^(H)Aristarchus and Secundus of the ^(I)Thessalonians, and ^(J)Gaius of ^(K)Derbe, and ^(L)Timothy, and ^(M)Tychicus and ^(N)Trophimus of ^[d](O)Asia. ⁵ Now these had gone on ahead and were waiting for ^(P)us at ^(Q)Troas. ^6 (R)We sailed from ^(S)Philippi after ^[e](T)the days of Unleavened Bread, and reached them at ^(U)Troas within five days; and we stayed there for seven days.

⁷ On ^(V)the first day of the week, when ^(W)we were gathered together to ^(X)break bread, Paul began talking to them, intending to leave the next day, and he prolonged his ^[f]message until midnight. ⁸ There were many ^(Y)lamps in the ^(Z)upstairs room where we were gathered together. ⁹ And there was a young man named ^[g]Eutychus sitting ^[h]on the window sill, sinking into a deep sleep; and as Paul kept on talking, Eutychus was overcome by sleep and fell down from the third floor, and was picked up dead. ¹⁰ But Paul went down and ^(AA)fell upon him, and after embracing him, he ^(AB)said, “^[i]Do not be troubled, for ^[j]he is still alive.” ¹¹ When Paul had gone back up and had ^(AC)broken the bread and ^[k]eaten, he talked with them a long while until daybreak, and then left. ¹² They took away the boy alive, and were ^[l]greatly comforted.

Troas to Miletus

¹³ But ^(AD)we went ahead to the ship and set sail for Assos, intending from there to take Paul on board; for that was what he had arranged, intending himself to go ^[m]by land. ¹⁴ And when he met us at Assos, we took him on board and came to Mitylene. ¹⁵ Sailing from there, we arrived the following day opposite Chios; and the next day we crossed over to Samos, and on the following day we came to ^(AE)Miletus. ¹⁶ For Paul had decided to sail past ^(AF)Ephesus so that he would not have to lose time in ^[n](AG)Asia; for he was hurrying, if it might be possible for him ^(AH)to be in Jerusalem ^(AI)the day of Pentecost.

Farewell to Ephesus

¹⁷ From Miletus he sent word to ^(AJ)Ephesus and called to himself ^(AK)the elders of the church. ¹⁸ And when they came to him, he said to them,

“You yourselves know, ^(AL)from the first day that I set foot in ^[o]Asia, how I was with you the whole time, ¹⁹ serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and trials which came upon me ^[p]through ^(AM)the plots of the Jews; ²⁰ how I ^(AN)did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was beneficial, and teaching you publicly and ^[q]from house to house, ²¹ solemnly ^(AO)testifying to both Jews and Greeks of ^(AP)repentance toward God and ^(AQ)faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. ²² And now, behold, bound by the ^[r]Spirit, ^(AR)I am on my way to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there, ²³ except that ^(AS)the Holy Spirit solemnly ^(AT)testifies to me in every city, saying that ^(AU)chains and afflictions await me. ²⁴ But ^(AV)I do not consider my life of any account as dear to myself, so that I may ^(AW)finish my course and ^(AX)the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to ^(AY)testify solemnly of the gospel of ^(AZ)God’s grace.

²⁵ “And now behold, I know that all of you, among whom I went about ^(BA)preaching the kingdom, will no longer see my face. ²⁶ Therefore, I ^[s]testify to you this day that ^(BB)I am ^[t]innocent of the blood of all people. ²⁷ For I ^(BC)did not shrink from declaring to you the whole ^(BD)purpose of God. ²⁸ Be on guard for yourselves and for all ^(BE)the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you ^[u]overseers, to shepherd ^(BF)the church of God which ^(BG)He ^[v]purchased ^[w]with His own blood. ²⁹ I know that after my departure ^(BH)savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing ^(BI)the flock; ³⁰ and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things to draw away ^(BJ)the disciples after them. ³¹ Therefore, be on the alert, remembering that night and day for a period of ^(BK)three years I did not cease to admonish each one ^(BL)with tears. ³² And now I ^(BM)entrust you to God and to ^(BN)the word of His grace, which is able to ^(BO)build you up and to give you ^(BP)the inheritance among all those who are sanctified. ^33 (BQ)I have coveted no one’s silver or gold or clothes. ³⁴ You yourselves know that ^(BR)these hands served my own needs and the ^(BS)men who were with me. ³⁵ In everything I showed you that by working hard in this way you must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He Himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”

³⁶ When he had said these things, he ^(BT)knelt down and prayed with them all. ³⁷ And ^[x]they all began to weep aloud and ^[y](BU)embraced Paul, and repeatedly kissed him, ^38 [z]grieving especially over ^(BV)the word which he had spoken, that they would not see his face again. And they were ^(BW)accompanying him to the ship.

The Whole Creation Invoked to Praise the Lord.