The Daily Audio Bible
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3 Joram son of Ahab began to reign over Israel in Samaria in the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and reigned twelve years.
2 He did evil in the sight of the Lord, but not like his father and mother; for he put away the pillar of Baal that his father had made.
3 Yet he clung to the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which made Israel to sin; he departed not from them.
4 [a]Mesha king of Moab was a sheepmaster, and paid in tribute to the king of Israel [annually] 100,000 lambs and 100,000 rams, with the wool.
5 But when Ahab died, the king of Moab rebelled against the king of Israel.
6 So King Joram went out of Samaria at that time and mustered all Israel.
7 And he sent to Jehoshaphat king of Judah, saying, The king of Moab has rebelled against me. Will you go with me to war against Moab? And he said, I will go; I am as you are, my people as your people, my horses as your horses.
8 Joram said, Which way shall we go up? Jehoshaphat answered, The way through the Wilderness of Edom.
9 So the king of Israel went with the king of Judah and the king of Edom. They made a circuit of seven days’ journey, but there was no water for the army or for the animals following them.
10 Then the king of Israel said, Alas! The Lord has called [us] three kings together to be delivered into Moab’s hand!
11 But Jehoshaphat said, Is there no prophet of the Lord here by whom we may inquire of the Lord? One of the king of Israel’s servants answered, Elisha son of Shaphat, who served Elijah, is here.
12 Jehoshaphat said, The word of the Lord is with him. So Joram king of Israel and Jehoshaphat and the king of Edom went down to Elisha.
13 And Elisha said to the king of Israel, What have I to do with you? Go to the prophets of your [wicked] father Ahab and your [wicked] mother Jezebel. But the king of Israel said to him, No, for the Lord has called [us] three kings together to be delivered into the hand of Moab.
14 And Elisha said, As the Lord of hosts lives, before Whom I stand, surely, were it not that I respect the presence of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, I would neither look at you nor see you [King Joram].
15 But now bring me a minstrel. And while the minstrel played, the hand and power of the Lord came upon [Elisha].
16 And he said, Thus says the Lord: Make this [dry] brook bed full of trenches.
17 For thus says the Lord: You shall not see wind or rain, yet that ravine shall be filled with water, so you, your cattle, and your beasts [of burden] may drink.
18 This is but a light thing in the sight of the Lord. He will deliver the Moabites also into your hands.
19 You shall smite every fenced city and every choice city, and shall fell every good tree and stop all wells of water and mar every good piece of land with stones.
20 In the morning, when the sacrifice was offered, behold, there came water by the way of Edom, and the country was filled with water.
21 When all the Moabites heard that the kings had come up to fight against them, all who were able to put on armor, young and old, gathered and drew up at the border.
22 When they rose up early next morning, and the sun shone upon the water, the Moabites saw the water across from them as red as blood.
23 And they said, This is blood; the kings have surely been fighting and have slain one another. Now then, Moab, to the spoil!
24 But when they came to the camp of Israel, the Israelites rose up and smote the Moabites, so that they fled before them. And they went forward, slaying the Moabites as they went.
25 They beat down the cities [walls], and on every good piece of land every man cast a stone, covering it [with stones]. And they stopped all the springs of water and felled all the good trees, until only the stones [of the walls of Moab’s capital city] of Kir-hareseth were left standing, and the slingers surrounded and took it.
26 And when the king of Moab saw that the battle was against him, he took with him 700 swordsmen to break through to the king of Edom, but they could not.
27 Then he [Moab’s king] took his eldest son, who was to reign in his stead, and offered him for a burnt offering on the wall [in full view of the horrified enemy kings]. And there was great indignation, wrath, and bitterness against Israel; and they [his allies Judah and Edom] withdrew from [Joram] and returned to their own land.
4 Now the wife of a son of the prophets cried to Elisha, Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that your servant feared the Lord. But the creditor has come to take my two sons to be his slaves.
2 Elisha said to her, What shall I do for you? Tell me, what have you [of sale value] in the house? She said, Your handmaid has nothing in the house except a jar of oil.
3 Then he said, Go around and borrow vessels from all your neighbors, empty vessels—and not a few.
4 And when you come in, shut the door upon you and your sons. Then pour out [the oil you have] into all those vessels, setting aside each one when it is full.
5 So she went from him and shut the door upon herself and her sons, who brought to her the vessels as she poured the oil.
6 When the vessels were all full, she said to her son, Bring me another vessel. And he said to her, There is not a one left. Then the oil stopped multiplying.
7 Then she came and told the man of God. He said, Go, sell the oil and pay your debt, and you and your sons live on the rest.
8 One day Elisha went on to Shunem, where a rich and influential woman lived, who insisted on his eating a meal. Afterward, whenever he passed by, he stopped there for a meal.
9 And she said to her husband, Behold now, I perceive that this is a holy man of God who passes by continually.
10 Let us make a small chamber on the [housetop] and put there for him a bed, a table, a chair, and a lamp. Then whenever he comes to us, he can go [up the outside stairs and rest] here.
11 One day he came and turned into the chamber and lay there.
12 And he said to Gehazi his servant, Call this Shunammite. When he had called her, she stood before him.
13 And he said to Gehazi, Say now to her, You have been most painstakingly and reverently concerned for us; what is to be done for you? Would you like to be spoken for to the king or to the commander of the army? She answered, I dwell among my own people [they are sufficient].
14 Later Elisha said, What then is to be done for her? Gehazi answered, She has no child and her husband is old.
15 He said, Call her. [Gehazi] called her, and she stood in the doorway.
16 Elisha said, At this season when the time comes round, you shall embrace a son. She said, No, my lord, you man of God, do not lie to your handmaid.
17 But the woman conceived and bore a son at that season the following year, as Elisha had said to her.
8 Now at Lystra a man sat who found it impossible to use his feet, for he was a cripple from birth and had never walked.
9 He was listening to Paul as he talked, and [Paul] gazing intently at him and observing that he had faith to be healed,
10 Shouted at him, saying, Stand erect on your feet! And he leaped up and walked.
11 And the crowds, when they saw what Paul had done, lifted up their voices, shouting in the Lycaonian language, The gods have come down to us in human form!
12 They called Barnabas Zeus, and they called Paul, because he led in the discourse, Hermes [god of speech].
13 And the priest of Zeus, whose [temple] was at the entrance of the town, brought bulls and garlands to the [city’s] gates and wanted to join the people in offering sacrifice.
14 But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of it, they tore their clothing and dashed out among the crowd, shouting,
15 Men, why are you doing this? We also are [only] human beings, of nature like your own, and we bring you the good news (Gospel) that you should turn away from these foolish and vain things to the living God, Who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything that they contain.(A)
16 In generations past He permitted all the nations to walk in their own ways;
17 Yet He did not neglect to leave some witness of Himself, for He did you good and [showed you] kindness and gave you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with nourishment and happiness.
18 Even in [the light of] these words they with difficulty prevented the people from offering sacrifice to them.
19 But some Jews arrived there from Antioch and Iconium; and having persuaded the people and won them over, they stoned Paul and [[a]afterward] dragged him out of the town, thinking that he was dead.
20 But the disciples formed a circle about him, and he got up and went back into the town; and on the morrow he went on with Barnabas to Derbe.
21 When they had preached the good news (Gospel) to that town and made disciples of many of the people, they went back to Lystra and Iconium and Antioch,
22 Establishing and strengthening the souls and the hearts of the disciples, urging and warning and encouraging them to stand firm in the faith, and [telling them] that it is through many hardships and tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.
23 And when they had appointed and ordained elders for them in each church with prayer and fasting, they committed them to the Lord in Whom they had come to believe [being full of joyful trust that He is the Christ, the Messiah].
24 Then they went through Pisidia and arrived at Pamphylia.
25 And when they had spoken the Word in Perga [the doctrine concerning the attainment through Christ of salvation in the kingdom of God], they went down to Attalia;
26 And from there they sailed back to Antioch, where they had [first] been commended to the grace of God for the work which they had [now] completed.
27 Arriving there, they gathered the church together and declared all that God had accomplished with them and how He had opened to the Gentiles a door of faith [in Jesus as the Messiah, through Whom we obtain salvation in the kingdom of God].
28 And there they stayed no little time with the disciples.
Psalm 140
To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.
1 Deliver me, O Lord, from evil men; preserve me from violent men;
2 They devise mischiefs in their heart; continually they gather together and stir up wars.
3 They sharpen their tongues like a serpent’s; adders’ poison is under their lips. Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]!(A)
4 Keep me, O Lord, from the hands of the wicked; preserve me from the violent men who have purposed to thrust aside my steps.
5 The proud have hidden a snare for me; they have spread cords as a net by the wayside, they have set traps for me. Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]!
6 I said to the Lord, You are my God; give ear to the voice of my supplications, O Lord.
7 O God the Lord, the Strength of my salvation, You have covered my head in the day of battle.
8 Grant not, O Lord, the desires of the wicked; further not their wicked plot and device, lest they exalt themselves. Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]!
9 Those who are fencing me in raise their heads; may the mischief of their own lips and the very things they desire for me come upon them.
10 Let burning coals fall upon them; let them be cast into the fire, into floods of water or deep water pits, from which they shall not rise.
11 Let not a man of slanderous tongue be established in the earth; let evil hunt the violent man to overthrow him [let calamity follow his evildoings].
12 I know and rest in confidence upon it that the Lord will maintain the cause of the afflicted, and will secure justice for the poor and needy [of His believing children].
13 Surely the [uncompromisingly] righteous shall give thanks to Your name; the upright shall dwell in Your presence (before Your very face).
22 A happy heart is good medicine and a cheerful mind works healing, but a broken spirit dries up the bones.(A)
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