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The woman from Shunem
8 Elisha spoke to the woman whose son he had brought back to life: “You and your household must go away and live wherever you can, because the Lord has called for a famine. It is coming to the land and will last seven years.”
2 So the woman went and did what the man of God asked. She and her household moved away, living in Philistia seven years. 3 When seven years had passed, the woman returned from Philistia. She went to appeal to the king for her house and her farmland. 4 The king was speaking to Gehazi, the man of God’s servant, asking him, “Tell me about all the great things Elisha has done.” 5 So Gehazi was telling the king how Elisha had brought the dead to life. At that very moment, the woman whose son he had brought back to life began to appeal to the king for her house and her farmland.
Gehazi said, “Your Majesty, this is the woman herself! And this is her son, the one Elisha brought to life!”
6 The king questioned the woman, and she told him her story. Then the king appointed an official to help her, saying, “Return everything that belongs to her, as well as everything that the farmland has produced, starting from the day she left the country until right now.”
Hazael becomes king
7 Now Elisha had gone to Damascus when Aram’s King Ben-hadad became sick. The king was told, “The man of God has come all this way.”
8 So the king said to Hazael, “Take a gift with you and go to meet the man of God. Question the Lord through him: ‘Will I recover from this sickness?’”
9 So Hazael went out to meet Elisha. He took along forty camel-loads of Damascus’ finest goods as a gift. He came and stood before Elisha and said, “Your son Ben-hadad, the king of Aram, sent me to you to ask, ‘Will I recover from this sickness?’”
10 Elisha said to him, “Go and tell him, ‘You will definitely recover,’ but actually the Lord has shown me that he will die.” 11 Elisha stared straight at Hazael until he felt uneasy.[a] Then the man of God began to cry.
12 Hazael said, “Master, why are you crying?”
“Because I know what violence you will do to the Israelites,” Elisha said. “You will drive them from their forts with fire. You will kill their young men with the sword. You will smash their children and rip open their pregnant women.”
13 Hazael replied, “How could your servant, who is nothing but a dog, do such mighty things?”
Elisha said, “The Lord has shown me that you will be king over Aram.” 14 Then Hazael left Elisha and returned to his master.
“What did Elisha say to you?” Ben-hadad asked.
“He told me that you will certainly live,” Hazael replied. 15 But the next day he took a blanket, soaked it in water, and put it over Ben-hadad’s face until he died. Hazael succeeded him as king.
Jehoram rules Judah
16 In the fifth year of Israel’s King Joram, Ahab’s son, Jehoram, the son of Judah’s King Jehoshaphat, became king.[b] 17 He was 32 years old when he became king, and he ruled for eight years in Jerusalem. 18 He walked in the ways of Israel’s kings, just as Ahab’s dynasty had done, because he married Ahab’s daughter. He did what was evil in the Lord’s eyes. 19 Nevertheless, because of his servant David, the Lord wasn’t willing to destroy Judah. The Lord had promised to preserve a lamp for David and his sons forever. 20 During Jehoram’s rule Edom rebelled against Judah’s power and appointed their own king. 21 Jehoram[c] along with all his chariots crossed over to Zair. He got up at night to attack the Edomites who had surrounded him and his chariot commanders,[d] but his army fled back home. 22 So Edom has been independent of Judah to this day. Libnah rebelled at the same time. 23 The rest of Jehoram’s deeds and all that he accomplished, aren’t they written in the official records of Judah’s kings? 24 Jehoram died and was buried with his ancestors in David’s City. His son Ahaziah succeeded him as king.
Ahaziah rules Judah
25 Ahaziah, the son of Judah’s king Jehoram, became king in the twelfth year of Israel’s King Joram,[e] Ahab’s son. 26 Ahaziah was 22 years old when he became king, and he ruled for one year in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Athaliah; she was the granddaughter of Israel’s King Omri. 27 He walked in the ways of Ahab’s dynasty, doing what was evil in the Lord’s eyes, just as Ahab’s dynasty had done, because he had married into Ahab’s family. 28 Ahaziah went with Joram, Ahab’s son, to fight against Aram’s King Hazael at Ramoth-gilead, where the Arameans wounded Joram. 29 King Joram returned to Jezreel to recover from the wounds the Arameans had given him at Ramah in his battle with Aram’s King Hazael. Then Judah’s King Ahaziah, the son of Jehoram, went down to visit Joram, Ahab’s son, at Jezreel because he had been wounded.
Jehu rules Israel
9 The prophet Elisha called to a member of the group of prophets, “Get ready, take this jug of oil with you, and go to Ramoth-gilead. 2 When you arrive there, look for Jehu, Jehoshaphat’s son and Nimshi’s grandson. Go to him, then pull him away from his associates, taking him to a private room. 3 Take the jug of oil and pour it on his head. Then say, ‘This is what the Lord has said: I anoint you king of Israel.’ Then open the door, and run out of there without stopping.”
4 So the young prophet went to Ramoth-gilead. 5 He came in, and the military commanders were sitting right there. He said, “Commander, I have a word for you.”
“For which one of us?” Jehu asked.
The young prophet said, “For you, Commander.”
6 So Jehu got up and went inside. The prophet then poured oil on his head and said to him, “This is what the Lord, Israel’s God, says: I anoint you king over the Lord’s people, over Israel. 7 You will strike down your master Ahab’s family. In this way I will take revenge for the violence done by Jezebel to my servants the prophets and to all the Lord’s servants. 8 Ahab’s whole family will die. I will eliminate from Ahab everyone who urinates on a wall, whether slave or free, in Israel. 9 I will make Ahab’s dynasty like the dynasty of Jeroboam, Nebat’s son, and like the dynasty of Baasha, Ahijah’s son. 10 And as for Jezebel: The dogs will devour her in the area of Jezreel. No one will bury her.” Then the young prophet opened the door and ran.
11 Jehu went out to his master’s officers. They said to him, “Is everything okay? Why did this fanatic come to you?”
Jehu said to them, “You know the man and the nonsense he talks.”
12 “That’s a lie!” they said. “Come on, tell us!”
Jehu replied, “This is what he said to me: ‘This is what the Lord says: I anoint you king of Israel.’”
13 Then each man quickly took his cloak and put it beneath Jehu on the paved steps.[f] They blew a trumpet and said, “Jehu has become king!”
Paul and Silas in prison
16 One day, when we were on the way to the place for prayer, we met a slave woman. She had a spirit that enabled her to predict the future. She made a lot of money for her owners through fortune-telling. 17 She began following Paul and us, shouting, “These people are servants of the Most High God! They are proclaiming a way of salvation to you!” 18 She did this for many days.
This annoyed Paul so much that he finally turned and said to the spirit, “In the name of Jesus Christ, I command you to leave her!” It left her at that very moment.
19 Her owners realized that their hope for making money was gone. They grabbed Paul and Silas and dragged them before the officials in the city center. 20 When her owners approached the legal authorities, they said, “These people are causing an uproar in our city. They are Jews 21 who promote customs that we Romans can’t accept or practice.” 22 The crowd joined in the attacks against Paul and Silas, so the authorities ordered that they be stripped of their clothes and beaten with a rod. 23 When Paul and Silas had been severely beaten, the authorities threw them into prison and ordered the jailer to secure them with great care. 24 When he received these instructions, he threw them into the innermost cell and secured their feet in stocks.
25 Around midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. 26 All at once there was such a violent earthquake that it shook the prison’s foundations. The doors flew open and everyone’s chains came loose. 27 When the jailer awoke and saw the open doors of the prison, he thought the prisoners had escaped, so he drew his sword and was about to kill himself. 28 But Paul shouted loudly, “Don’t harm yourself! We’re all here!”
29 The jailer called for some lights, rushed in, and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. 30 He led them outside and asked, “Honorable masters, what must I do to be rescued?”
31 They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your entire household.” 32 They spoke the Lord’s word to him and everyone else in his house. 33 Right then, in the middle of the night, the jailer welcomed them and washed their wounds. He and everyone in his household were immediately baptized. 34 He brought them into his home and gave them a meal. He was overjoyed because he and everyone in his household had come to believe in God.
35 The next morning the legal authorities sent the police to the jailer with the order “Release those people.”
36 So the jailer reported this to Paul, informing him, “The authorities sent word that you both are to be released. You can leave now. Go in peace.”
37 Paul told the police, “Even though we are Roman citizens, they beat us publicly without first finding us guilty of a crime, and they threw us into prison. And now they want to send us away secretly? No way! They themselves will have to come and escort us out.” 38 The police reported this to the legal authorities, who were alarmed to learn that Paul and Silas were Roman citizens. 39 They came and consoled Paul and Silas, escorting them out of prison and begging them to leave the city.
40 Paul and Silas left the prison and made their way to Lydia’s house where they encouraged the brothers and sisters. Then they left Philippi.
Psalm 143
A psalm of David.
143 Listen to my prayer, Lord!
Because of your faithfulness, hear my requests for mercy!
Because of your righteousness, answer me!
2 Please don’t bring your servant to judgment,
because no living thing is righteous before you.
3 The enemy is chasing me,[a]
crushing my life in the dirt,
forcing me to live in the dark
like those who’ve been dead forever.
4 My spirit is weak inside me—
inside, my mind is numb.
5 I remember the days long past;
I meditate on all your deeds;
I contemplate your handiwork.
6 I stretch out my hands to you;
my whole being is like dry dirt, thirsting for you.[b] Selah
7 Answer me, Lord—and quickly! My breath is fading.
Don’t hide your face from me
or I’ll be like those going down to the pit!
8 Tell me all about your faithful love come morning time,
because I trust you.
Show me the way I should go,
because I offer my life up to you.
9 Deliver me from my enemies, Lord!
I seek protection from you.[c]
10 Teach me to do what pleases you,
because you are my God.
Guide me by your good spirit
into good land.
11 Make me live again, Lord, for your name’s sake.
Bring me out of distress because of your righteousness.
12 Wipe out my enemies because of your faithful love.
Destroy everyone who attacks me,
because I am your servant.
26 It isn’t good to punish the righteous,
to strike the honorable for their integrity.
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible