The Daily Audio Bible
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War Between Israel and Moab
3 Joram son of Ahab became king over Israel at Samaria. He began to rule in Jehoshaphat’s eighteenth year as king of Judah. Joram ruled 12 years. 2 Joram did what the Lord said was wrong. But he was not like his father and mother. He removed the stone pillars his father had made for Baal. 3 But he continued to do the same sins Jeroboam son of Nebat had done. Jeroboam had caused the people of Israel to sin. And Joram did not stop doing these same sins.
4 Mesha king of Moab raised sheep. He had to give 100,000 lambs and the wool of 100,000 male sheep to the king of Israel. 5 But when Ahab died, the king of Moab turned against the king of Israel. 6 So King Joram went out from Samaria and gathered all Israel. 7 He sent messengers to Jehoshaphat king of Judah. He said, “The king of Moab has turned against me. Will you go with me against Moab in battle?”
Jehoshaphat said, “I will go with you. I am ready to join you. My soldiers and my horses are ready to join with your army.”
8 Jehoshaphat asked, “Which way should we go to attack?”
Joram answered, “Through the Desert of Edom.”
9 So the king of Israel went with the king of Judah and the king of Edom. They marched seven days. There was no more water for the army or for their animals that were with them. 10 The king of Israel said, “How terrible this is! Has the Lord called us three kings together so the Moabites can defeat us?”
11 But Jehoshaphat asked, “Is there a prophet of the Lord here? We can ask the Lord through a prophet.”
An officer of the king of Israel answered, “Elisha son of Shaphat is here. He was Elijah’s servant.”
12 Jehoshaphat said, “He speaks the Lord’s truth.” So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat and the king of Edom went down to see Elisha.
13 Elisha spoke to the king of Israel. He said, “I have nothing to do with you! Go to the prophets of your father and to the prophets of your mother!”
The king of Israel said to Elisha, “No. The Lord has called us three kings together to let the Moabites defeat us.”
14 Elisha said, “I serve the Lord of heaven’s armies. As surely as he lives, I tell you the truth. I wouldn’t even look at you or notice you if Jehoshaphat king of Judah were not here. I respect him! 15 Now bring me someone who plays the harp.”
While the harp was being played, the Lord gave Elisha power. 16 Then Elisha said, “The Lord says to dig holes in the valley. 17 He says that you won’t see wind or rain. But the valley will be filled with water. Then you, your cattle and other animals will drink. 18 This is easy for the Lord to do. He will also let you defeat Moab. 19 You will destroy every strong, walled city and every important town. You will cut down every good tree. You will stop up all springs of water. You will ruin every good field with rocks.”
20 The next morning, about the time the sacrifice was offered, there was water! It came from the direction of Edom and filled the valley.
21 All the Moabites had heard that the kings had come up to fight against them. They gathered everyone old enough to put on armor. And they waited at the border. 22 But when the Moabites got up early in the morning, the sun was shining on the water. They saw the water across from them. It looked as red as blood. 23 The Moabites said, “This is blood! Surely the kings have fought and killed each other! Come, Moabites, let’s take what is valuable from the dead bodies!”
24 The Moabites came to the camp of the Israelites. But the Israelites came out and fought them until they ran away. The Israelites went on into the land to fight the Moabites. 25 They tore down the cities. They threw rocks on every good field and filled it. They stopped up all the springs of water. And they cut down all the good trees. Kir Hareseth was the only city with its stones still in place. But the men with slings surrounded Kir Hareseth and conquered it, too.
26 The king of Moab saw that the battle was too strong for him. So he took 700 men with swords to break through to the king of Edom. But they could not break through. 27 Then the king of Moab took his oldest son, who would have become king after him. And he offered his son as a burnt offering on the wall. So there was great anger against the Israelites. They left and went back to their own land.
A Widow Asks Elisha for Help
4 The wife of a man from a group of the prophets came to Elisha. She said, “Your servant, my husband, is dead! You know he honored the Lord. But now the man he owes money to is coming to take my two boys. He will make them his slaves!”
2 Elisha answered, “How can I help you? Tell me, what do you have in your house?”
The woman said, “I don’t have anything there except a pot of oil.”
3 Then Elisha said, “Go and get empty jars from all your neighbors. Don’t ask for just a few. 4 Then you must go into your house and close the door. Only you and your sons will be there. Then pour oil into all the jars. Set the full ones to one side.”
5 She left Elisha and shut the door. Only she and her sons were in the house. As they brought the jars to her, she poured the oil. 6 When the jars were all full, she said to her son, “Bring me another jar.”
But he said, “There are no more jars.” Then the oil stopped flowing.
7 She went and told Elisha. Elisha said to her, “Go. Sell the oil and pay what you owe. You and your sons can live on what is left.”
The Shunammite Woman
8 One day Elisha went to Shunem. An important woman lived there. She begged Elisha to stay and eat. So every time Elisha passed by, he stopped there to eat. 9 The woman said to her husband, “I know that Elisha is a holy man of God. He passes by our house all the time. 10 Let’s make a small room on the roof.[a] Let’s put a bed in the room for Elisha. And we can put a table, a chair and a lampstand there. Then when he comes by, he can stay there.”
11 One day Elisha came to the woman’s house. He went to his room and rested. 12 He said to his servant Gehazi, “Call the Shunammite.”
When the servant called her, she stood in front of him. 13 Elisha told his servant, “Now say to her, ‘You have gone to all this trouble for us. What can I do for you? Do you want me to speak to the king or the commander of the army for you?’”
The woman answered, “I live among my own people.”
14 Elisha said, “But what can we do for her?”
Gehazi answered, “She has no son, and her husband is old.”
15 Then Elisha said, “Call her.” So he called her, and she stood in the doorway. 16 Then Elisha said, “About this time next year, you will hold a son in your arms.”
The woman said, “No, master, man of God. Don’t lie to me!”
17 But the woman became pregnant. And she gave birth to a son at that time the next year as Elisha had told her.
Paul in Lystra and Derbe
8 In Lystra there sat a man who had been born crippled; he had never walked. 9 This man was listening to Paul speak. Paul looked straight at him and saw that the man believed God could heal him. 10 So he cried out, “Stand up on your feet!” The man jumped up and began walking around. 11 When the crowds saw what Paul did, they shouted in their own Lycaonian language. They said, “The gods have become like men! They have come down to us!” 12 And the people began to call Barnabas “Zeus.”[a] They called Paul “Hermes,”[b] because he was the main speaker. 13 The temple of Zeus was near the city. The priest of this temple brought some bulls and flowers to the city gates. The priest and the people wanted to offer a sacrifice to Paul and Barnabas. 14 But when the apostles, Barnabas and Paul, understood what they were about to do, they tore their clothes in anger. Then they ran in among the people and shouted, 15 “Men, why are you doing these things? We are only men, human beings like you! We are bringing you the Good News. We are telling you to turn away from these worthless things and turn to the true living God. He is the One who made the sky, the earth, the sea, and everything that is in them. 16 In the past, God let all the nations do what they wanted. 17 Yet he did things to prove he is real: He shows kindness to you. He gives you rain from heaven and crops at the right times. He gives you food and fills your hearts with joy.” 18 Even with these words, they were barely able to keep the crowd from offering sacrifices to them.
19 Then some Jews came from Antioch and Iconium. They persuaded the people to turn against Paul. And so they threw stones at Paul and dragged him out of town. They thought that they had killed him. 20 But the followers gathered around him, and he got up and went back into the town. The next day, he and Barnabas left and went to the city of Derbe.
The Return to Antioch in Syria
21 Paul and Barnabas told the Good News in Derbe and many became followers. Paul and Barnabas returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch. 22 In those cities they made the followers of Jesus stronger. They helped them to stay in the faith. They said, “We must suffer many things to enter God’s kingdom.” 23 They chose elders for each church, by praying and giving up eating.[c] These elders were men who had trusted the Lord. So Paul and Barnabas put them in the Lord’s care.
24 Then they went through Pisidia and came to Pamphylia. 25 They preached the message in Perga, and then they went down to Attalia. 26 And from there they sailed away to Antioch. This is where the believers had put them into God’s care and had sent them out to do this work. And now they had finished the work.
27 When they arrived in Antioch, they gathered the church together. Paul and Barnabas told them all about what God had done with them. They told how God had made it possible for the non-Jews to believe! 28 And they stayed there a long time with the followers.
A Prayer for Protection
For the director of music. A song of David.
140 Lord, rescue me from evil people.
Save me from cruel men.
2 They make evil plans.
They always start fights.
3 They make their tongues sharp as a snake’s.
Their words are like snake poison. Selah
4 Lord, guard me from the power of wicked people.
Save me from cruel men
who plan to trip me up.
5 Proud men have hidden a trap for me.
They have spread out a net beside the road.
They have set traps for me. Selah
6 I said to the Lord, “You are my God.”
Lord, listen to my prayer for help.
7 Lord God, my mighty savior,
you protect me in battle.
8 Lord, do not give the wicked what they want.
Don’t let their plans succeed,
or they will become proud. Selah
9 Those around me have planned trouble.
Now let it come to them.
10 Let burning coals fall on them.
Throw them into the fire
or into pits from which they cannot escape.
11 Don’t let liars settle in the land.
Let evil quickly hunt down cruel men.
12 I know the Lord will get justice for the poor.
He will defend the needy in court.
13 Good people will praise his name.
Honest people will live in his presence.
22 A happy heart is like good medicine.
But a broken spirit drains your strength.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.