The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Friday June 14, 2019 (NIV)

²⁰ And when all Israel heard that Jeroboam had returned, they sent and called him to the assembly and made him king over all Israel. There was none that followed the house of David but ^(A)the tribe of Judah only.

^21 (B)When Rehoboam came to Jerusalem, he assembled all the house of Judah and the tribe of Benjamin, 180,000 chosen warriors, to fight against the house of Israel, to restore the kingdom to Rehoboam the son of Solomon. ²² But the word of God came to ^(C)Shemaiah the man of God: ²³ “Say to Rehoboam the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and to all the house of Judah and Benjamin, and to the ^(D)rest of the people, ²⁴ ‘Thus says the Lord, You shall not go up or fight against your relatives the people of Israel. Every man return to his home, ^(E)for this thing is from me.’” So they listened to the word of the Lord and went home again, according to the word of the Lord.

Jeroboam's Golden Calves

²⁵ Then Jeroboam ^(F)built Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim and lived there. And he went out from there and ^(G)built Penuel. ²⁶ And Jeroboam said in his heart, “Now the kingdom will turn back to the house of David. ²⁷ If this people ^(H)go up to offer sacrifices in the temple of the Lord at Jerusalem, then the heart of this people will turn again to their lord, to Rehoboam king of Judah, and they will kill me and return to Rehoboam king of Judah.” ²⁸ So the king took counsel and ^(I)made two calves of gold. And he said to the people, “You have gone up to Jerusalem long enough. ^(J)Behold your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.” ²⁹ And he set one in Bethel, and the other he put in Dan. ³⁰ Then ^(K)this thing became a sin, for the people went as far as Dan to be before one.^{[a] 31} He also made ^(L)temples on high places and ^(M)appointed priests from among all the people, who were not of the Levites. ³² And Jeroboam appointed a feast on the fifteenth day of the eighth month like ^(N)the feast that was in Judah, and he offered sacrifices on the altar. So he did in Bethel, sacrificing to the calves that he made. And he placed in Bethel ^(O)the priests of the high places that he had made. ³³ He went up to the altar that he had made in Bethel on the fifteenth day in the eighth month, in the month that he had devised from his own heart. And he instituted a feast for the people of Israel and went up to the altar ^(P)to make offerings.

A Man of God Confronts Jeroboam

13 And behold, ^(Q)a man of God came out of Judah by the word of the Lord to Bethel. Jeroboam was standing by the altar ^(R)to make offerings. ^2 (S)And the man cried against the altar by the word of the Lord and said, “O altar, altar, thus says the Lord: ‘Behold, a son shall be born to the house of David, ^(T)Josiah by name, and he shall sacrifice on you the priests of the high places who make offerings on you, and human bones shall be burned on you.’” ³ And he gave ^(U)a sign the same day, saying, “This is the sign that the Lord has spoken: ‘Behold, the altar shall be torn down, and the ashes that are on it shall be poured out.’” ⁴ And when the king heard the saying of the man of God, which he cried against the altar at Bethel, Jeroboam stretched out his hand from the altar, saying, “Seize him.” And his hand, which he stretched out against him, dried up, so that he could not draw it back to himself. ⁵ The altar also was torn down, and the ashes poured out from the altar, according to the sign that the man of God had given by the word of the Lord. ⁶ And the king said to the man of God, ^(V)“Entreat now the favor of the Lord your God, and pray for me, that my hand may be restored to me.” And the man of God entreated the Lord, and the king's hand was restored to him and became as it was before. ⁷ And the king said to the man of God, “Come home with me, and refresh yourself, and ^(W)I will give you a reward.” ⁸ And the man of God said to the king, ^(X)“If you give me half your house, ^(Y)I will not go in with you. And I will not eat bread or drink water in this place, ⁹ for so was it commanded me by the word of the Lord, saying, ‘You shall neither eat bread nor drink water nor return by the way that you came.’” ¹⁰ So he went another way and did not return by the way that he came to Bethel.

The Prophet's Disobedience

¹¹ Now ^(Z)an old prophet lived in Bethel. And his sons^[b] came and told him all that the man of God had done that day in Bethel. They also told to their father the words that he had spoken to the king. ¹² And their father said to them, “Which way did he go?” And his sons showed him the way that the man of God who came from Judah had gone. ¹³ And he said to his sons, “Saddle the donkey for me.” So they saddled the donkey for him and he mounted it. ¹⁴ And he went after the man of God and found him sitting under an oak. And he said to him, “Are you the man of God who came from Judah?” And he said, “I am.” ¹⁵ Then he said to him, “Come home with me and eat bread.” ¹⁶ And he said, ^(AA)“I may not return with you, or go in with you, neither will I eat bread nor drink water with you in this place, ¹⁷ for it was said to me ^(AB)by the word of the Lord, ‘You shall neither eat bread nor drink water there, nor return by the way that you came.’” ¹⁸ And he said to him, “I also am a prophet as you are, and an angel spoke to me by the word of the Lord, saying, ‘Bring him back with you into your house that he may eat bread and drink water.’” But he lied to him. ¹⁹ So he went back with him and ate bread in his house and drank water.

²⁰ And as they sat at the table, the word of the Lord came to the prophet who had brought him back. ²¹ And he cried to the man of God who came from Judah, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Because you have disobeyed the word of the Lord and have not kept the command that the Lord your God commanded you, ²² but have come back and have eaten bread and drunk water in the place of which he said to you, “Eat no bread and drink no water,” your body shall not come to the tomb of your fathers.’” ²³ And after he had eaten bread and drunk, he saddled the donkey for the prophet whom he had brought back. ²⁴ And as he went away ^(AC)a lion met him on the road and killed him. And his body was thrown in the road, and the donkey stood beside it; the lion also stood beside the body. ²⁵ And behold, men passed by and saw the body thrown in the road and the lion standing by the body. And they came and told it in the city where ^(AD)the old prophet lived.

²⁶ And when the prophet who had brought him back from the way heard of it, he said, “It is the man of God who disobeyed the word of the Lord; therefore the Lord has given him to the lion, which has torn him and killed him, according to the word that the Lord spoke to him.” ²⁷ And he said to his sons, “Saddle the donkey for me.” And they saddled it. ²⁸ And he went and found his body thrown in the road, and the donkey and the lion standing beside the body. The lion had not eaten the body or torn the donkey. ²⁹ And the prophet took up the body of the man of God and laid it on the donkey and brought it back to the city^[c] to mourn and to bury him. ³⁰ And he laid the body in his own grave. And they mourned over him, saying, ^(AE)“Alas, my brother!” ³¹ And after he had buried him, he said to his sons, “When I die, bury me in the grave in which the man of God is buried; ^(AF)lay my bones beside his bones. ^32 (AG)For the saying that he called out by the word of the Lord against the altar in Bethel and against ^(AH)all the houses of the high places that are in the cities of ^(AI)Samaria shall surely come to pass.”

³³ After this thing Jeroboam did not turn from his evil way, but made priests for the high places again from among all the people. Any who would, he ordained to be priests of the high places. ^34 (AJ)And this thing became sin to the house of Jeroboam, ^(AK)so as to cut it off and to destroy it from the face of the earth.

Saul in Jerusalem

²⁶ And ^(A)when he had come to Jerusalem, he attempted to join the disciples. And they were all afraid of him, for they did not believe that he was a disciple. ²⁷ But ^(B)Barnabas took him and ^(C)brought him to the apostles and declared to them ^(D)how on the road he had seen the Lord, who spoke to him, and ^(E)how at Damascus he had ^(F)preached boldly in the name of Jesus. ²⁸ So he went ^(G)in and out among them at Jerusalem, preaching boldly in the name of the Lord. ²⁹ And he spoke and disputed against ^(H)the Hellenists.^[a] But ^(I)they were seeking to kill him. ³⁰ And when ^(J)the brothers learned this, they brought him down to Caesarea and sent him off ^(K)to Tarsus.

³¹ So ^(L)the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up. And ^(M)walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, ^(N)it multiplied.

The Healing of Aeneas

³² Now ^(O)as Peter went here and there among them all, he came down also to the saints who lived at Lydda. ³³ There he found a man named Aeneas, bedridden for eight years, who was paralyzed. ³⁴ And Peter said to him, “Aeneas, ^(P)Jesus Christ heals you; rise and make your bed.” And immediately he rose. ^35 (Q)And all the residents of Lydda and ^(R)Sharon saw him, and ^(S)they turned to the Lord.

Dorcas Restored to Life

³⁶ Now there was in ^(T)Joppa a disciple named Tabitha, which, translated, means Dorcas.^[b] She was full of ^(U)good works and acts of charity. ³⁷ In those days she became ill and died, and when they had washed her, they laid her in ^(V)an upper room. ³⁸ Since Lydda was near Joppa, the disciples, hearing that Peter was there, sent two men to him, urging him, ^(W)“Please come to us without delay.” ³⁹ So Peter rose and went with them. And when he arrived, they took him to ^(X)the upper room. All the widows stood beside him weeping and showing tunics^[c] and other garments that Dorcas made while she was with them. ⁴⁰ But Peter ^(Y)put them all outside, and ^(Z)knelt down and prayed; and turning to the body ^(AA)he said, “Tabitha, arise.” And she opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter she sat up. ⁴¹ And he gave her his hand and raised her up. Then, calling the saints and widows, he presented her alive. ⁴² And it became known throughout all Joppa, and ^(AB)many believed in the Lord. ⁴³ And he stayed in Joppa for many days ^(AC)with one Simon, a tanner.

The Lord Has Chosen Zion

A Song of ^(A)Ascents.