The Daily Audio Bible

Hoshea, Last King of Israel

17 Hoshea son of Elah became king over Israel during Ahaz’s twelfth year as king of Judah. Hoshea ruled in Samaria nine years. ² He did what the Lord said was wrong, but he was not as bad as the kings of Israel who had ruled before him.

³ Shalmaneser king of Assyria came to attack Hoshea. Hoshea had been Shalmaneser’s servant and had made the payments to Shalmaneser that he had demanded. ⁴ But the king of Assyria found out that Hoshea had made plans against him by sending messengers to So, the king of Egypt. Hoshea had also stopped giving Shalmaneser the payments, which he had paid every year in the past. For that, the king put Hoshea in prison. ⁵ Then the king of Assyria came and attacked all the land of Israel. He surrounded Samaria and attacked it for three years. ⁶ He defeated Samaria in the ninth year Hoshea was king, and he took the Israelites away to Assyria. He settled them in Halah, in Gozan on the Habor River, and in the cities of the Medes.

Israelites Punished for Sin

⁷ All these things happened because the Israelites had sinned against the Lord their God. He had brought them out of Egypt and had rescued them from the power of the king of Egypt, but the Israelites had honored other gods. ⁸ They lived like the nations the Lord had forced out of the land ahead of them. They lived as their evil kings had shown them, ⁹ secretly sinning against the Lord their God. They built places to worship gods in all their cities, from the watchtower to the strong, walled city. ¹⁰ They put up stone pillars to gods and Asherah idols on every high hill and under every green tree. ¹¹ The Israelites burned incense everywhere gods were worshiped, just as the nations who lived there before them had done, whom the Lord had forced out of the land. The Israelites did wicked things that made the Lord angry. ¹² They served idols when the Lord had said, “You must not do this.” ¹³ The Lord used every prophet and seer to warn Israel and Judah. He said, “Stop your evil ways and obey my commands and laws. Follow all the teachings that I commanded your ancestors, the teachings that I gave you through my servants the prophets.”

¹⁴ But the people would not listen. They were stubborn, just as their ancestors had been who did not believe in the Lord their God. ¹⁵ They rejected the Lord’s laws and the agreement he had made with their ancestors. And they refused to listen to his warnings. They worshiped useless idols and became useless themselves. They did what the nations around them did, which the Lord had warned them not to do.

¹⁶ The people rejected all the commands of the Lord their God. They molded statues of two calves, and they made an Asherah idol. They worshiped all the stars of the sky and served Baal. ¹⁷ They made their sons and daughters pass through fire and tried to find out the future by magic and witchcraft. They always chose to do what the Lord said was wrong, which made him angry. ¹⁸ Because he was very angry with the people of Israel, he removed them from his presence. Only the tribe of Judah was left.

Judah Is Also Guilty

¹⁹ But even Judah did not obey the commands of the Lord their God. They did what the Israelites had done, ²⁰ so the Lord rejected all the people of Israel. He punished them and let others destroy them; he threw them out of his presence. ²¹ When the Lord separated them from the family of David, the Israelites made Jeroboam son of Nebat their king. Jeroboam led the Israelites away from the Lord and led them to sin greatly. ²² So they continued to do all the sins Jeroboam did. They did not stop doing these sins ²³ until the Lord removed the Israelites from his presence, just as he had said through all his servants the prophets. So the Israelites were taken out of their land to Assyria, and they have been there to this day.

The Beginning of the Samaritan People

²⁴ The king of Assyria brought people from Babylon, Cuthah, Avva, Hamath, and Sepharvaim and put them in the cities of Samaria to replace the Israelites. These people took over Samaria and lived in the cities. ²⁵ At first they did not worship the Lord, so he sent lions among them which killed some of them. ²⁶ The king of Assyria was told, “You sent foreigners into the cities of Samaria who do not know the law of the god of the land. This is why he has sent lions among them. The lions are killing them because they don’t know what the god wants.”

²⁷ Then the king of Assyria commanded, “Send back one of the priests you took away. Let him live there and teach the people what the god wants.” ²⁸ So one of the priests who had been carried away from Samaria returned to live in Bethel. And he taught the people how to honor the Lord.

²⁹ But each nation made gods of its own and put them in the cities where they lived and in the temples where gods were worshiped. These temples had been built by the Samaritans. ³⁰ The people from Babylon made Succoth Benoth their god. The people from Cuthah worshiped Nergal. The people of Hamath worshiped Ashima. ³¹ The Avvites worshiped Nibhaz and Tartak. The Sepharvites burned their children in the fire, sacrificing them to Adrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of Sepharvaim. ³² They also honored the Lord, but they chose priests for the places where gods were worshiped. The priests were chosen from among themselves, and they made sacrifices for the people. ³³ The people honored the Lord but also served their own gods, just as the nations did from which they had been brought. ³⁴ Even today they do as they did in the past. They do not worship the Lord nor obey his rules and commands. They do not obey the teachings or the commands of the Lord, which he gave to the children of Jacob, whom he had named Israel. ³⁵ The Lord had made an agreement with them and had commanded them, “Do not honor other gods. Do not bow down to them or worship them or offer sacrifices to them. ³⁶ Worship the Lord who brought you up out of the land of Egypt with great power and strength. Bow down to him and offer sacrifices to him. ³⁷ Always obey the rules, orders, teachings, and commands he wrote for you. Do not honor other gods. ³⁸ Do not forget the agreement I made with you, and do not honor other gods. ³⁹ Instead worship the Lord your God, who will save you from all your enemies.”

⁴⁰ But the Israelites did not listen. They kept on doing the same things they had done before. ⁴¹ So these nations honored the Lord but also worshiped their idols, and their children and grandchildren still do as their ancestors did.

Hezekiah King of Judah

18 Hezekiah son of Ahaz king of Judah became king during the third year Hoshea son of Elah was king of Israel. ² Hezekiah was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he ruled twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Abijah daughter of Zechariah. ³ Hezekiah did what the Lord said was right, just as his ancestor David had done. ⁴ He removed the places where gods were worshiped. He smashed the stone pillars and cut down the Asherah idols. Also the Israelites had been burning incense to Nehushtan, the bronze snake Moses had made. But Hezekiah broke it into pieces.

⁵ Hezekiah trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel. There was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, either before him or after him. ⁶ Hezekiah was loyal to the Lord and did not stop following him; he obeyed the commands the Lord had given Moses. ⁷ And the Lord was with Hezekiah, so he had success in everything he did. He turned against the king of Assyria and stopped serving him. ⁸ Hezekiah defeated the Philistines all the way to Gaza and its borders, including the watchtowers and the strong, walled cities.

The Assyrians Capture Samaria

⁹ Shalmaneser king of Assyria surrounded Samaria and attacked it in the fourth year Hezekiah was king. This was the seventh year Hoshea son of Elah was king of Israel. ¹⁰ After three years the Assyrians captured Samaria. This was in the sixth year Hezekiah was king, which was Hoshea’s ninth year as king of Israel. ¹¹ The king of Assyria took the Israelites away to Assyria and settled them in Halah, in Gozan on the Habor River, and in the cities of the Medes. ¹² This happened because they did not obey the Lord their God. They broke his agreement and did not obey all that Moses, the Lord’s servant, had commanded. They would not listen to the commands or do them.

Paul in Macedonia and Greece

20 When the trouble stopped, Paul sent for the followers to come to him. After he encouraged them and then told them good-bye, he left and went to the country of Macedonia. ² He said many things to strengthen the followers in the different places on his way through Macedonia. Then he went to Greece, ³ where he stayed for three months. He was ready to sail for Syria, but some evil people were planning something against him. So Paul decided to go back through Macedonia to Syria. ⁴ The men who went with him were Sopater son of Pyrrhus, from the city of Berea; Aristarchus and Secundus, from the city of Thessalonica; Gaius, from Derbe; Timothy; and Tychicus and Trophimus, two men from Asia. ⁵ These men went on ahead and waited for us at Troas. ⁶ We sailed from Philippi after the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Five days later we met them in Troas, where we stayed for seven days.

Paul’s Last Visit to Troas

⁷ On the first day of the week,^[a] we all met together to break bread,^[b] and Paul spoke to the group. Because he was planning to leave the next day, he kept on talking until midnight. ⁸ We were all together in a room upstairs, and there were many lamps in the room. ⁹ A young man named Eutychus was sitting in the window. As Paul continued talking, Eutychus was falling into a deep sleep. Finally, he went sound asleep and fell to the ground from the third floor. When they picked him up, he was dead. ¹⁰ Paul went down to Eutychus, knelt down, and put his arms around him. He said, “Don’t worry. He is alive now.” ¹¹ Then Paul went upstairs again, broke bread, and ate. He spoke to them a long time, until it was early morning, and then he left. ¹² They took the young man home alive and were greatly comforted.

The Trip from Troas to Miletus

¹³ We went on ahead of Paul and sailed for the city of Assos, where he wanted to join us on the ship. Paul planned it this way because he wanted to go to Assos by land. ¹⁴ When he met us there, we took him aboard and went to Mitylene. ¹⁵ We sailed from Mitylene and the next day came to a place near Kios. The following day we sailed to Samos, and the next day we reached Miletus. ¹⁶ Paul had already decided not to stop at Ephesus, because he did not want to stay too long in Asia. He was hurrying to be in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost, if that were possible.

The Elders from Ephesus

¹⁷ Now from Miletus Paul sent to Ephesus and called for the elders of the church. ¹⁸ When they came to him, he said, “You know about my life from the first day I came to Asia. You know the way I lived all the time I was with you. ¹⁹ The evil people made plans against me, which troubled me very much. But you know I always served the Lord unselfishly, and I often cried. ²⁰ You know I preached to you and did not hold back anything that would help you. You know that I taught you in public and in your homes. ²¹ I warned both Jews and Greeks to change their lives and turn to God and believe in our Lord Jesus. ²² But now I must obey the Holy Spirit and go to Jerusalem. I don’t know what will happen to me there. ²³ I know only that in every city the Holy Spirit tells me that troubles and even jail wait for me. ²⁴ I don’t care about my own life. The most important thing is that I complete my mission, the work that the Lord Jesus gave me—to tell people the Good News about God’s grace.

²⁵ “And now, I know that none of you among whom I was preaching the kingdom of God will ever see me again. ²⁶ So today I tell you that if any of you should be lost, I am not responsible, ²⁷ because I have told you everything God wants you to know. ²⁸ Be careful for yourselves and for all the people the Holy Spirit has given to you to oversee. You must be like shepherds to the church of God,^[c] which he bought with the death of his own son. ²⁹ I know that after I leave, some people will come like wild wolves and try to destroy the flock. ³⁰ Also, some from your own group will rise up and twist the truth and will lead away followers after them. ³¹ So be careful! Always remember that for three years, day and night, I never stopped warning each of you, and I often cried over you.

³² “Now I am putting you in the care of God and the message about his grace. It is able to give you strength, and it will give you the blessings God has for all his holy people. ³³ When I was with you, I never wanted anyone’s money or fine clothes. ³⁴ You know I always worked to take care of my own needs and the needs of those who were with me. ³⁵ I showed you in all things that you should work as I did and help the weak. I taught you to remember the words Jesus said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ”

³⁶ When Paul had said this, he knelt down with all of them and prayed. ^37-38 And they all cried because Paul had said they would never see him again. They put their arms around him and kissed him. Then they went with him to the ship.

The World Should Praise the Lord