The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Monday June 25, 2018 (NIV)

Elisha Helps a Shunem Woman Get Her Land Back

8 Elisha had told the woman whose son he had brought back to life, “Go away with your family. Stay wherever you can. The Lord has decided to send a famine on this country, and it will last seven years.”

² The woman did what the man of God told her. She and her family went to live in Philistine territory for seven years. ³ At the end of seven years, the woman came home from Philistine territory but left again to make an appeal to the king about her house and land.

⁴ The king was talking to Gehazi, the servant of the man of God. He said, “Please tell me about all the great things Elisha has done.” ⁵ While Gehazi was telling the king how Elisha brought a dead child back to life, the mother came to make an appeal to the king about her house and land.

Gehazi said, “Your Majesty, this is the woman, and this is her son whom Elisha brought back to life.”

⁶ When the king asked the woman about this, she told him the story. So the king assigned to her an attendant to whom he said, “Restore all that is hers, including whatever her property produced from the day she left the country until now.”

Elisha Prophesies to Hazael

⁷ Elisha went to Damascus. King Benhadad of Aram, who was sick, was told, “The man of God has come here.”

⁸ The king told Hazael, “Take a present, and meet the man of God. Ask the Lord through him, ‘Will I recover from this illness?’”

⁹ Hazael went to meet Elisha. He took with him a present and all kinds of goods from Damascus. He had loaded the goods on 40 camels. He stood in front of Elisha and said, “Your humble servant King Benhadad of Aram has sent me to you. He asks whether he will recover from this illness.”

¹⁰ Elisha replied, “Tell him that he will get better, although the Lord has shown me that he is actually going to die.” ¹¹ He stared at him until he became embarrassed. Then the man of God began to cry.

¹² “Sir, why are you crying?” Hazael asked.

Elisha answered, “I know the evil you will do to the Israelites: You will set their fortresses on fire, kill their best young men, smash their little children, and rip open their pregnant women.”

¹³ But Hazael asked, “How can a dog like me do such a significant thing?”

Elisha answered, “The Lord has shown me that you will become king of Aram.” ¹⁴ Hazael left Elisha and went to his master Benhadad, who asked him what Elisha had said.

Hazael answered, “He told me that you will get better.”

¹⁵ But the next day Hazael took a blanket, soaked it in water, and smothered the king with it. Hazael ruled as king in his place.

King Jehoram of Judah^(A)

¹⁶ Joram (Ahab’s son) was in his fifth year as king of Israel when Jehoram,^[a] son of King Jehoshaphat of Judah, began to rule. Jehoram ruled while Jehoshaphat was still king of Judah. ¹⁷ He was 32 years old when he began to rule, and he ruled for 8 years in Jerusalem. ¹⁸ He followed the ways of the kings of Israel, as Ahab’s family had done, because his wife was Ahab’s daughter. So he did what the Lord considered evil. ¹⁹ But for David’s sake the Lord didn’t want to destroy Judah. The Lord had told David that he would always give him and his descendants a shining lamp.

²⁰ During Jehoram’s time Edom rebelled against Judah and chose its own king. ²¹ Jehoram took all his chariots to attack Zair. The Edomites and their chariot commanders surrounded him, but he got up at night, broke through their lines, and his troops fled home. ²² So Edom rebelled against Judah’s rule and is still independent today. At that time Libnah also rebelled. ²³ Isn’t everything else about Jehoram—everything he did—written in the official records of the kings of Judah? ²⁴ Jehoram lay down in death with his ancestors and was buried with them in the City of David. His son Ahaziah succeeded him as king.

King Ahaziah of Judah^(B)

²⁵ Joram (Ahab’s son) was in his twelfth year as king of Israel when Jehoram’s son Ahaziah became king of Judah. ²⁶ Ahaziah was 22 years old when he began to rule, and he ruled for one year in Jerusalem. His mother was Athaliah, the granddaughter of King Omri of Israel. ²⁷ Ahaziah followed the ways of Ahab’s family. He did what the Lord considered evil, as Ahab’s family had done, because he was related to Ahab’s family by marriage.

²⁸ Ahaziah went with Ahab’s son Joram to fight against King Hazael of Aram at Ramoth Gilead. There the Arameans wounded Joram. ²⁹ King Joram returned to Jezreel to let his wounds heal. (He had been wounded by the Arameans at Ramah when he fought against King Hazael of Aram.) Then Jehoram’s son Ahaziah went to Jezreel to see Ahab’s son Joram, who was sick.

Jehu Is Anointed King of Israel

9 The prophet Elisha called one of the disciples of the prophets. He said, “Put on your belt. Take this flask of olive oil, and go to Ramoth Gilead. ² When you arrive there, look for Jehu, son of Jehoshaphat and grandson of Nimshi. Go inside, and have him get up and leave his companions. Take him into an inner room. ³ Take the flask of oil, pour it on his head, and say, ‘This is what the Lord says: I have anointed you king of Israel.’ Then open the door and leave immediately.”

⁴ The young man, the servant of the prophet, went to Ramoth Gilead. ⁵ When he arrived there, the army’s generals were sitting together. He said, “I have something to tell you, General.”

Jehu asked, “Which one of us?”

He answered, “You, General!”

⁶ Jehu got up and went into the house. The prophet poured olive oil on his head and told him, “This is what the Lord God of Israel says: I have anointed you king of the Lord’s people, king of Israel. ⁷ You will destroy the family of your master Ahab. I will get revenge on Jezebel for shedding the blood of my servants the prophets and all the Lord’s other servants. ⁸ Ahab’s entire family will die. I will destroy every male^[b] from Ahab’s family, whether slave or freeman in Israel. ⁹ I will make Ahab’s family like the family of Jeroboam (Nebat’s son) and like the family of Baasha, son of Ahijah. ¹⁰ Dogs will eat Jezebel inside the walls of Jezreel, and no one will bury her.” Then he opened the door and left.

¹¹ Jehu came out to his master’s officials. One of them asked him, “Is everything alright? Why did this lunatic come to you?”

He answered, “You know the man and the kind of things he says.”

¹² They said, “That’s not an answer. Please tell us.”

Jehu replied, “We talked for a while, and he said to me, ‘This is what the Lord says: I have anointed you king of Israel.’”

¹³ Then each one of them immediately took off his coat and laid it on the stairs below him. They blew a ram’s horn and said, “Jehu is king!”

¹⁶ One day when we were going to the place of prayer, a female servant met us. She was possessed by an evil spirit that told fortunes. She made a lot of money for her owners by telling fortunes. ¹⁷ She used to follow Paul and shout, “These men are servants of the Most High God. They’re telling you how you can be saved.” ¹⁸ She kept doing this for many days. Paul became annoyed, turned to the evil spirit, and said, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her!”

As Paul said this, the evil spirit left her. ¹⁹ When her owners realized that their hope of making money was gone, they grabbed Paul and Silas and dragged them to the authorities in the public square. ²⁰ In front of the Roman officials, they said, “These men are stirring up a lot of trouble in our city. They’re Jews, ²¹ and they’re advocating customs that we can’t accept or practice as Roman citizens.”

²² The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas. Then the officials tore the clothes off Paul and Silas and ordered the guards to beat them with sticks. ²³ After they had hit Paul and Silas many times, they threw them in jail and ordered the jailer to keep them under tight security. ²⁴ So the jailer followed these orders and put Paul and Silas into solitary confinement with their feet in leg irons.

²⁵ Around midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God. The other prisoners were listening to them. ²⁶ Suddenly, a violent earthquake shook the foundations of the jail. All the doors immediately flew open, and all the prisoners’ chains came loose.

²⁷ The jailer woke up and saw the prison doors open. Thinking the prisoners had escaped, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself. ²⁸ But Paul shouted as loudly as he could, “Don’t hurt yourself! We’re all here!”

²⁹ The jailer asked for torches and rushed into the jail. He was trembling as he knelt in front of Paul and Silas. ³⁰ Then he took Paul and Silas outside and asked, “Sirs, what do I have to do to be saved?”

³¹ They answered, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you and your family will be saved.” ³² They spoke the Lord’s word to the jailer and everyone in his home.

³³ At that hour of the night, the jailer washed Paul and Silas’ wounds. The jailer and his entire family were baptized immediately. ³⁴ He took Paul and Silas upstairs into his home and gave them something to eat. He and his family were thrilled to be believers in God.

³⁵ In the morning the Roman officials sent guards who told the jailer, “You can release those men now.”

³⁶ The jailer reported this order to Paul by saying, “The officials have sent word to release you. So you can leave peacefully now.”

³⁷ But Paul told the guards, “Roman officials have had us beaten publicly without a trial and have thrown us in jail, even though we’re Roman citizens. Now are they going to throw us out secretly? There’s no way they’re going to get away with that! Have them escort us out!”

³⁸ The guards reported to the officials what Paul had said. When the Roman officials heard that Paul and Silas were Roman citizens, they were afraid. ³⁹ So the officials went to the jail and apologized to Paul and Silas. As the officials escorted Paul and Silas out of the jail, they asked them to leave the city.

⁴⁰ After Paul and Silas left the jail, they went to Lydia’s house. They met with the believers, encouraged them, and then left.

Psalm 144

By David.