The Daily Audio Bible

Nadab Reigns in Israel

^25 (A)Nadab the son of Jeroboam began to reign over Israel in the second year of Asa king of Judah, and he reigned over Israel two years. ²⁶ He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord ^(B)and walked in the way of his father, and in his sin ^(C)which he made Israel to sin.

^27 (D)Baasha the son of Ahijah, of the house of Issachar, conspired against him. And Baasha struck him down at ^(E)Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines, for Nadab and all Israel were laying siege to Gibbethon. ²⁸ So Baasha killed him in the third year of Asa king of Judah and reigned in his place. ²⁹ And as soon as he was king, he killed all the house of Jeroboam. He left to the house of Jeroboam not one that breathed, until he had destroyed it, ^(F)according to the word of the Lord that he spoke by his servant Ahijah the Shilonite. ³⁰ It was for the sins of Jeroboam that he sinned and ^(G)that he made Israel to sin, and because of the anger to which he provoked the Lord, the God of Israel.

³¹ Now the rest of the acts of Nadab and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? ^32 (H)And there was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all their days.

Baasha Reigns in Israel

³³ In the third year of Asa king of Judah, Baasha the son of Ahijah began to reign over all Israel at Tirzah, and he reigned twenty-four years. ³⁴ He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord ^(I)and walked in the way of Jeroboam and in his sin which he made Israel to sin.

16 And the word of the Lord came to ^(J)Jehu the son of ^(K)Hanani against Baasha, saying, ² “Since I ^(L)exalted you out of the dust and made you leader over my people Israel, and ^(M)you have walked in the way of Jeroboam and have made my people Israel to sin, provoking me to anger with their sins, ³ behold, I will utterly ^(N)sweep away ^(O)Baasha and his house, and I will make your house ^(P)like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat. ^4 (Q)Anyone belonging to Baasha who dies in the city the dogs shall eat, and anyone of his who dies in the field the birds of the heavens shall eat.”

⁵ Now the rest of the acts of Baasha and what he did, and his might, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? ⁶ And Baasha slept with his fathers and was buried at ^(R)Tirzah, and Elah his son reigned in his place. ⁷ Moreover, the word of the Lord came by the prophet ^(S)Jehu the son of Hanani against Baasha and his house, both because of all the evil that he did in the sight of the Lord, provoking him to anger with the work of his hands, in being like the house of Jeroboam, and also because ^(T)he destroyed it.

Elah Reigns in Israel

⁸ In the twenty-sixth year of Asa king of Judah, Elah the son of Baasha began to reign over Israel in Tirzah, and he reigned two years. ⁹ But his servant ^(U)Zimri, commander of half his chariots, conspired against him. When he was at Tirzah, drinking himself drunk in the house of Arza, ^(V)who was over the household in Tirzah, ¹⁰ Zimri came in and struck him down and killed him, in the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah, and reigned in his place.

¹¹ When he began to reign, as soon as he had seated himself on his throne, he struck down ^(W)all the house of Baasha. He ^(X)did not leave him a single male of his relatives or his friends. ¹² Thus Zimri destroyed all the house of Baasha, ^(Y)according to the word of the Lord, which he spoke against Baasha by ^(Z)Jehu the prophet, ¹³ for all the sins of Baasha and the sins of Elah his son, which they sinned and which they made Israel to sin, ^(AA)provoking the Lord God of Israel to anger with their idols. ¹⁴ Now the rest of the acts of Elah and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?

Zimri Reigns in Israel

¹⁵ In the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah, Zimri reigned seven days in Tirzah. Now the troops were encamped against ^(AB)Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines, ¹⁶ and the troops who were encamped heard it said, “Zimri has conspired, and he has killed the king.” Therefore all Israel made Omri, the commander of the army, king over Israel that day in the camp. ¹⁷ So Omri went up from Gibbethon, and all Israel with him, and they besieged Tirzah. ¹⁸ And when Zimri saw that the city was taken, he went into the citadel of the king's house and burned the king's house over him with fire and died, ¹⁹ because of his sins that he committed, doing evil in the sight of the Lord, ^(AC)walking in the way of Jeroboam, and for his sin which he committed, making Israel to sin. ²⁰ Now the rest of the acts of Zimri, and the conspiracy that he made, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?

Omri Reigns in Israel

²¹ Then the people of Israel were divided into two parts. Half of the people followed Tibni the son of Ginath, to make him king, and half followed Omri. ²² But the people who followed Omri overcame the people who followed Tibni the son of Ginath. So Tibni died, and Omri became king. ²³ In the thirty-first year of Asa king of Judah, Omri began to reign over Israel, and he reigned for twelve years; six years he reigned in Tirzah. ²⁴ He bought the hill of ^(AD)Samaria from Shemer for two talents^[a] of silver, and he fortified the hill and called the name of the city that he built ^(AE)Samaria, after the name of Shemer, the owner of the hill.

^25 (AF)Omri did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and did more evil ^(AG)than all who were before him. ²⁶ For ^(AH)he walked in all the way of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and in the sins that he made Israel to sin, ^(AI)provoking the Lord, the God of Israel, to anger by their idols. ²⁷ Now the rest of the acts of Omri that he did, and the might that he showed, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? ²⁸ And Omri slept with his fathers and was buried in Samaria, and Ahab his son reigned in his place.

Ahab Reigns in Israel

²⁹ In the thirty-eighth year of Asa king of Judah, Ahab the son of Omri began to reign over Israel, and Ahab the son of Omri reigned over Israel in Samaria twenty-two years. ³⁰ And Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the Lord, ^(AJ)more than all who were before him. ³¹ And as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, ^(AK)he took for his wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the ^(AL)Sidonians, ^(AM)and went and served Baal and worshiped him. ³² He erected an altar for Baal in ^(AN)the house of Baal, which he built in Samaria. ³³ And Ahab made an ^(AO)Asherah. Ahab did more to provoke the Lord, the God of Israel, to anger ^(AP)than all the kings of Israel who were before him. ^34 (AQ)In his days Hiel of Bethel built ^(AR)Jericho. He laid its foundation at the cost of Abiram his firstborn, and set up its gates at the cost of his youngest son Segub, according to the word of the Lord, which he spoke by Joshua the son of Nun.

Elijah Predicts a Drought

17 Now Elijah the Tishbite, of ^(AS)Tishbe^[b] in Gilead, said to Ahab, ^(AT)“As the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, ^(AU)before whom I stand, ^(AV)there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word.” ² And the word of the Lord came to him: ³ “Depart from here and turn eastward and hide yourself by the brook Cherith, which is east of the Jordan. ⁴ You shall drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.” ⁵ So he went and did according to the word of the Lord. He went and lived by the brook Cherith that is east of the Jordan. ⁶ And the ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook. ⁷ And after a while the brook dried up, because there was no rain in the land.

The Widow of Zarephath

⁸ Then the word of the Lord came to him, ⁹ “Arise, go to ^(AW)Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. Behold, I have commanded a widow there to feed you.” ¹⁰ So he arose and went to ^(AX)Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, a widow was there ^(AY)gathering sticks. And he called to her and said, “Bring me a little water in a vessel, that I may drink.” ¹¹ And as she was going to bring it, he called to her and said, “Bring me a morsel of bread in your hand.” ¹² And she said, ^(AZ)“As the Lord your God lives, I have nothing baked, only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. And now I am gathering a couple of sticks that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it and die.” ¹³ And Elijah said to her, “Do not fear; go and do as you have said. But first make me a little cake of it and bring it to me, and afterward make something for yourself and your son. ¹⁴ For thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘The jar of flour shall not be spent, and the jug of oil shall not be empty, until the day that the Lord sends rain upon the earth.’” ¹⁵ And she went and did as Elijah said. And she and he and her household ate for many days. ¹⁶ The jar of flour was not spent, neither did the jug of oil become empty, according to the word of the Lord that he spoke by Elijah.

Elijah Raises the Widow's Son

¹⁷ After this the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, became ill. And his illness was so severe that there was no breath left in him. ¹⁸ And she said to Elijah, ^(BA)“What have you against me, O ^(BB)man of God? You have come to me to bring my sin to remembrance and to cause the death of my son!” ¹⁹ And he said to her, “Give me your son.” And he took him from her arms and carried him up into the upper chamber where he lodged, and laid him on his own bed. ²⁰ And he cried to the Lord, “O Lord my God, have you brought calamity even upon the widow with whom I sojourn, by killing her son?” ^21 (BC)Then he stretched himself upon the child three times and cried to the Lord, “O Lord my God, let this child's life^[c] come into him again.” ²² And the Lord listened to the voice of Elijah. And the life of the child came into him again, and ^(BD)he revived. ²³ And Elijah took the child and brought him down from the upper chamber into the house and delivered him to his mother. And Elijah said, “See, your son lives.” ²⁴ And the woman said to Elijah, ^(BE)“Now I know that you are a man of God, and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is truth.”

²⁴ And on the following day they entered Caesarea. Cornelius was expecting them and had called together his relatives and close friends. ²⁵ When Peter entered, Cornelius met him and ^(A)fell down at his feet and ^(B)worshiped him. ²⁶ But Peter lifted him up, saying, ^(C)“Stand up; I too am a man.” ²⁷ And as he talked with him, he went in and found many persons gathered. ²⁸ And he said to them, “You yourselves know how unlawful it is for a Jew ^(D)to associate with or to visit anyone of another nation, but ^(E)God has shown me that I should not call any person common or unclean. ²⁹ So when I was sent for, I came without objection. I ask then why you sent for me.”

³⁰ And Cornelius said, ^(F)“Four days ago, about this hour, I was praying in my house at ^(G)the ninth hour,^[a] and behold, ^(H)a man stood before me in bright clothing ³¹ and said, ‘Cornelius, ^(I)your prayer has been heard and your alms have been remembered before God. ³² Send therefore to Joppa and ask for Simon who is called Peter. He is lodging in the house of Simon, a tanner, by the sea.’ ³³ So I sent for you at once, and you have been kind enough to come. Now therefore we are all here in the presence of God to hear all that you have been commanded by the Lord.”

Gentiles Hear the Good News

³⁴ So Peter opened his mouth and said: “Truly I understand that ^(J)God ^(K)shows no partiality, ³⁵ but ^(L)in every nation anyone who fears him and ^(M)does what is right is acceptable to him. ³⁶ As for ^(N)the word that he sent to Israel, ^(O)preaching good news of ^(P)peace through Jesus Christ (^(Q)he is Lord of all), ³⁷ you yourselves know what happened throughout all Judea, ^(R)beginning ^(S)from Galilee after the baptism that John proclaimed: ³⁸ how ^(T)God anointed Jesus of Nazareth ^(U)with the Holy Spirit and with ^(V)power. He went about doing good and healing all ^(W)who were oppressed by the devil, ^(X)for God was with him. ³⁹ And ^(Y)we are witnesses of all that he did both in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. ^(Z)They put him to death by hanging him on a tree, ⁴⁰ but ^(AA)God raised him on ^(AB)the third day and made him to ^(AC)appear, ^41 (AD)not to all the people but to us who had been chosen by God as ^(AE)witnesses, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. ⁴² And ^(AF)he commanded us to preach to the people and to testify ^(AG)that he is the one appointed by God to be judge ^(AH)of the living and the dead. ^43 (AI)To him ^(AJ)all the prophets bear witness that ^(AK)everyone who believes in him receives ^(AL)forgiveness of sins ^(AM)through his name.”

The Holy Spirit Falls on the Gentiles

⁴⁴ While Peter was still saying these things, ^(AN)the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the word. ⁴⁵ And the believers from among ^(AO)the circumcised who had come with Peter were amazed, because ^(AP)the gift of the Holy Spirit ^(AQ)was poured out even on the Gentiles. ⁴⁶ For they were hearing them ^(AR)speaking in tongues and extolling God. Then Peter declared, ^47 (AS)“Can anyone withhold water for baptizing these people, who have received the Holy Spirit ^(AT)just as we have?” ⁴⁸ And he ^(AU)commanded them ^(AV)to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to remain for some days.

Come, Bless the Lord

A Song of ^(A)Ascents.