The Daily Audio Bible

²⁵ It was in the second year of Asa king of Y’hudah that Nadav the son of Yarov‘am began his reign over Isra’el, and he ruled Isra’el two years. ²⁶ He did what was evil from Adonai’s perspective, following the example of his father and the sin through which he had made Isra’el sin.

²⁷ Ba‘sha the son of Achiyah, from the descendants of Yissakhar, conspired against him; and Ba‘sha attacked him at Gib’ton, which belonged to the P’lishtim; for at the time Nadav and all Isra’el were besieging Gib’ton. ²⁸ It was in the third year of Asa king of Y’hudah that Ba‘sha killed Nadav and became king in his place.

²⁹ As soon as he had become king he killed off the entire house of Yarov‘am, destroying every living soul and leaving not one survivor. This was in keeping with what Adonai had said through his servant Achiyah from Shiloh; ³⁰ it was the punishment for the sins Yarov‘am had committed and through which he had made Isra’el sin, thereby angering Adonai the God of Isra’el.

³¹ Other activities of Nadav and all his accomplishments are recorded in the Annals of the Kings of Isra’el. ³² There was war between Asa and Ba‘sha king of Isra’el as long as they both lived.

³³ It was in the third year of Asa king of Y’hudah that Ba‘sha the son of Achiyah began his reign over all Isra’el in Tirtzah, and his rule lasted twenty-four years. ³⁴ He did what was wrong from Adonai’s perspective, following the example of Yarov‘am and committing the sin through which he had made Isra’el sin.

16 The word of Adonai came to Yehu the son of Hanani against Ba‘sha: ² “I raised you up out of the dust and made you prince over my people Isra’el. But you have lived in the same way as Yarov‘am and caused my people Isra’el to sin, so that their sinning has made me angry. ³ Therefore I will sweep away Ba‘sha and his house completely; I will make your house like the house of Yarov‘am the son of N’vat. ⁴ If someone from the line of Ba‘sha dies in the city, the dogs will eat him; if he dies in the countryside, the vultures will eat him.”

⁵ Other activities of Ba‘sha, his accomplishments and his power are recorded in the Annals of the Kings of Isra’el. ⁶ Ba‘sha slept with his ancestors, and Elah his son became king in his place. ⁷ Through the prophet Yehu the son of Hanani the word of Adonai was proclaimed against Ba‘sha and his house both because he did so much evil from Adonai’s perspective, angering him with his actions and becoming like the house of Yarov‘am, and because he killed [Nadav].

⁸ It was in the twenty-sixth year of Asa king of Y’hudah that Elah the son of Ba‘sha began his reign over all Isra’el in Tirtzah, and he ruled for two years. ⁹ His servant Zimri, commander of half of his chariots, plotted against him. Finally, one time when Elah was in Tirtzah, drinking himself senseless in the house of Artza, administrator of the palace in Tirtzah, ¹⁰ Zimri entered, struck him down and killed him. This was in the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Y’hudah; Zimri then took Elah’s place as king.

¹¹ At the beginning of his reign, as soon as he took over the throne, he killed off the entire house of Ba‘sha; he left not a single male, neither of his relatives nor of his friends. ¹² Thus Zimri eliminated all the house of Ba‘sha, in keeping with the word of Adonai spoken against Ba‘sha through Yehu the prophet. This word had been spoken ¹³ because of all of Ba‘sha’s sins and the sins of Elah his son, which they committed and with which they made Isra’el sin, thereby angering Adonai the God of Isra’el with their worthless idols. ¹⁴ Other activities of Elah and all his accomplishments are recorded in the Annals of the Kings of Isra’el.

¹⁵ It was in the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Y’hudah that Zimri ruled for seven days in Tirtzah. At that time, the army was besieging Gib’ton, which belonged to the P’lishtim. ¹⁶ The troops in their camp heard it said that Zimri had plotted and killed the king, whereupon that same day, there in the camp, all Isra’el made ‘Omri, the commander of the army, king over Isra’el. ¹⁷ ‘Omri and all Isra’el with him withdrew from Gib’ton and besieged Tirtzah. ¹⁸ When Zimri saw that the city had been captured, he went into the citadel of the royal palace and burned down the royal palace over him, so that he died. ¹⁹ This came about because of the sins he committed in doing what was evil from Adonai’s perspective, in living as Yarov‘am had lived, and in sinning by making Isra’el sin. ²⁰ Other activities of Zimri and his conspiracy are recorded in the Annals of the Kings of Isra’el.

²¹ At this point the people of Isra’el divided into two factions. Half of the people went after Tivni the son of Ginat to make him king, while the other half followed ‘Omri. ²² But the faction supporting ‘Omri won out over that of Tivni the son of Ginat; so Tivni died, and ‘Omri became king.

²³ It was in the thirty-first year of Asa king of Y’hudah that ‘Omri began his reign over Isra’el, and he ruled for twelve years, six of them in Tirtzah. ²⁴ He bought Mount Shomron from Shemer for 132 pounds of silver. On the mountain he built a city, which he named Shomron after Shemer, who had owned the mountain.

²⁵ ‘Omri did what was evil from Adonai’s perspective, outdoing all his predecessors in wickedness; ²⁶ for he lived entirely in the manner of Yarov‘am the son of N’vat, committing the sins with which he made Isra’el sin, thereby angering Adonai the God of Isra’el with their worthless idols. ²⁷ Other activities of ‘Omri and the power he demonstrated are recorded in the Annals of the Kings of Isra’el. ²⁸ Then ‘Omri slept with his ancestors and was buried in Shomron, and Ach’av his son became king in his place.

²⁹ It was in the thirty-eighth year of Asa king of Y’hudah that Ach’av the son of ‘Omri began his rule over Isra’el; Ach’av the son of ‘Omri ruled twenty-two years over Isra’el in Shomron. ³⁰ Ach’av the son of ‘Omri did what was evil from Adonai’s perspective, outdoing all his predecessors [in wickedness]. ³¹ But then, as if it had been a trifling thing for him to commit the sins of Yarov‘am the son of N’vat, he took as his wife Izevel the daughter of Etba‘al king of the Tzidonim, and went and served Ba‘al and worshipped him. ³² He erected an altar for Ba‘al in the house of Ba‘al, which he had built in Shomron. ³³ Ach’av also set up the asherah; indeed, Ach’av did more to anger Adonai the God of Isra’el, than all the kings of Isra’el preceding him. ³⁴ It was during his time that Hi’el of Beit-El rebuilt Yericho. He laid its foundation at the cost of his firstborn son Aviram and erected its gates at the cost of his youngest son S’guv. This was in keeping with the word of Adonai spoken through Y’hoshua the son of Nun.

17 Eliyahu from Tishbe, an inhabitant of Gil‘ad, said to Ach’av, “As Adonai the God of Isra’el lives, before whom I stand, there will be neither rain nor dew in the years ahead unless I say so.” ² Then the word of Adonai came to him: ³ “Leave here, turn to the east, and hide in Vadi K’rit near the Yarden. ⁴ You are to drink from the stream, and I have ordered the ravens to feed you there.” ⁵ So he went and acted according to the word of Adonai — he went and lived in Vadi K’rit near the Yarden. ⁶ The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening; and he drank from the stream. ⁷ After a while the stream dried up, because there was no rain in the land.

⁸ Then this word of Adonai came to him: ⁹ “Get up; go to Tzarfat, a village in Tzidon; and live there. I have ordered a widow there to provide for you.” ¹⁰ So he set out and went to Tzarfat. On reaching the gate of the city, he saw a widow there gathering sticks. He called out to her, “Please bring a little water in a container for me to drink.” ¹¹ As she was going to get it, he called after her, “Please bring me a piece of bread in your hand.” ¹² She answered, “As Adonai your God lives, I have nothing baked, only a handful of meal in a pot and a little oil in the jug. Here I am, gathering a couple sticks of wood, so that I can go and cook it for myself and my son. After we have eaten that, we will die.” ¹³ Eliyahu said to her, “Don’t be afraid. Go; and do what you said; but first, use a little of it to make me a small loaf of bread; and bring it out to me. After that, make food for yourself and your son. ¹⁴ For this is what Adonai the God of Isra’el, says: ‘The pot of meal will not get used up, nor will there fail to be oil in the jug, until the day Adonai sends rain down on the land.’” ¹⁵ She went and acted according to what Eliyahu had said; and she, he and her household had food to eat for a long time. ¹⁶ The pot of meal did not get used up, nor did there fail to be oil in the jug, in fulfillment of the word of Adonai spoken through Eliyahu.

¹⁷ A while later, the son of the woman whose house it was fell ill; his illness grew increasingly serious until his breathing stopped. ¹⁸ She said to Eliyahu, “What do you have against me, you man of God? Did you come to me just to remind me how sinful I am by killing my son?” ¹⁹ “Give me your son,” he said to her. Taking him from her lap, he carried him into the room upstairs where he was staying and laid him on his own bed. ²⁰ Then he cried out to Adonai: “Adonai my God! Have you brought also this misery on the widow I’m staying with by killing her son?” ²¹ He stretched himself out on the child three times and cried out to Adonai: “Adonai my God, please! Let this child’s soul come back into him!” ²² Adonai heard Eliyahu’s cry, the child’s soul came back into him, and he revived. ²³ Eliyahu took the child, brought him down from the upstairs room into the house and gave him to his mother; and Eliyahu said, “See? Your son is alive.” ²⁴ The woman replied to Eliyahu, “Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of Adonai that you speak is the truth.”

²⁴ and he arrived at Caesarea the day after that. Cornelius was expecting them — he had already called together his relatives and close friends. ²⁵ As Kefa entered the house, Cornelius met him and fell prostrate at his feet. ²⁶ But Kefa pulled him to his feet and said, “Stand up! I myself am just a man.”

²⁷ As he talked with him, Kefa went inside and found many people gathered. ²⁸ He said to them, “You are well aware that for a man who is a Jew to have close association with someone who belongs to another people, or to come and visit him, is something that just isn’t done. But God has shown me not to call any person common or unclean; ²⁹ so when I was summoned, I came without raising any questions. Tell me, then, why did you send for me?”

³⁰ Cornelius answered, “Three days ago around this time, I was at minchah prayers in my house, when suddenly a man in shining clothes stood in front of me ³¹ and said, ‘God has heard your prayer and remembered your acts of charity. ³² Now send to Yafo and ask for Shim‘on, known as Kefa; he is staying in the house of Shim‘on, a leather-tanner, by the sea.’ ³³ So I sent for you immediately, and you have been kind enough to come. Now all of us are here in the presence of God to hear everything the Lord has ordered you to say.”

³⁴ Then Kefa addressed them: “I now understand that God does not play favorites, ³⁵ but that whoever fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him, no matter what people he belongs to.

³⁶ “Here is the message that he sent to the sons of Isra’el announcing shalom through Yeshua the Messiah, who is Lord of everything. ³⁷ You know what has been going on throughout Y’hudah, starting from the Galil after the immersion that Yochanan proclaimed; ³⁸ how God anointed Yeshua from Natzeret with the Ruach HaKodesh and with power; how Yeshua went about doing good and healing all the people oppressed by the Adversary, because God was with him.

³⁹ “As for us, we are witnesses of everything he did, both in the Judean countryside and in Yerushalayim. They did away with him by hanging him on a stake;^{[a] 40} but God raised him up on the third day and let him be seen, ⁴¹ not by all the people, but by witnesses God had previously chosen, that is, by us, who ate and drank with him after he had risen again from the dead.

⁴² “Then he commanded us to proclaim and attest to the Jewish people that this man has been appointed by God to judge the living and the dead. ⁴³ All the prophets bear witness to him, that everyone who puts his trust in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”

⁴⁴ Kefa was still saying these things when the Ruach HaKodesh fell on all who were hearing the message. ⁴⁵ All the believers from the Circumcision faction who had accompanied Kefa were amazed that the gift of the Ruach HaKodesh was also being poured out ⁴⁶ on the Goyim, for they heard them speaking in tongues and praising God. Kefa’s response was, ⁴⁷ “Is anyone prepared to prohibit these people from being immersed in water? After all, they have received the Ruach HaKodesh, just as we did.” ⁴⁸ And he ordered that they be immersed in the name of Yeshua the Messiah. Then they asked Kefa to stay on with them for a few days.