The Daily Audio Bible
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6 The sons of the prophets said to Elisha, Look now, the place where we live before you is too small for us.
2 Let us go to the Jordan, and each man get there a [house] beam; and let us make us a place there where we may dwell. And he answered, Go.
3 One said, Be pleased to go with your servants. He answered, I will go.
4 So he went with them. And when they came to the Jordan, they cut down trees.
5 But as one was felling his beam, the axhead fell into the water; and he cried, Alas, my master, for it was borrowed!
6 The man of God said, Where did it fall? When shown the place, Elisha cut off a stick and threw it in there, and the iron floated.
7 He said, Pick it up. And he put out his hand and took it.
8 When the king of Syria was warring against Israel, after counseling with his servants, he said, In such and such a place shall be my camp.
9 Then the man of God sent to the king of Israel, saying, Beware that you pass not such a place, for the Syrians are coming down there.
10 Then the king of Israel sent to the place of which [Elisha] told and warned him; and thus he protected and saved himself there repeatedly.
11 Therefore the mind of the king of Syria was greatly troubled by this thing. He called his servants and said, Will you show me who of us is for the king of Israel?
12 One of his servants said, None, my lord O king; but Elisha, the prophet who is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the words that you speak in your bedchamber.
13 He said, Go and see where he is, that I may send and seize him. And it was told him, He is in Dothan.
14 So [the Syrian king] sent there horses, chariots, and a great army. They came by night and surrounded the city.
15 When the servant of the man of God rose early and went out, behold, an army with horses and chariots was around the city. Elisha’s servant said to him, Alas, my master! What shall we do?
16 [Elisha] answered, Fear not; for those with us are more than those with them.
17 Then Elisha prayed, Lord, I pray You, open his eyes that he may see. And the Lord opened the young man’s eyes, and he saw, and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha.
18 And when the Syrians came down to him, Elisha prayed to the Lord, Smite this people with blindness, I pray You. And God smote them with blindness, as Elisha asked.
19 Elisha said to the Syrians, This is not the way or the city. Follow me, and I will bring you to the man whom you seek. And he led them to Samaria.
20 And when they had come into Samaria, Elisha said, Lord, open the eyes of these men that they may see. And the Lord opened their eyes, and they saw. Behold, they were in the midst of Samaria!
21 When the king of Israel saw them, he said to Elisha, My father, shall I slay them? Shall I slay them?
22 [Elisha] answered, You shall not slay them. Would you slay those you have taken captive with your sword and bow? Set bread and water before them, that they may eat and drink and return to their master.
23 So [the king] prepared great provision for them, and when they had eaten and drunk, he sent them away, and they went to their master. And the bands of Syria came no more into the land of Israel.
24 Afterward, Ben-hadad king of Syria gathered his whole army and went up and besieged Samaria,
25 And a great famine came to Samaria. They besieged it until a donkey’s head was sold for eighty shekels of silver, and a fourth of a kab of dove’s dung [a wild vegetable] for five shekels of silver.
26 As the king of Israel was passing by upon the wall, a woman cried to him, Help, my lord, O king!
27 He said, [For] if he does not help you [No, let the Lord help you!], from where can I get you help? Out of the threshing floor, or out of the winepress?
28 And the king said to her, What ails you? She answered, This woman said to me, Give me your son so we may eat him today, and we will eat my son tomorrow.
29 So we boiled my son and ate him. The next day I said to her, Give your son so we may eat him, but she had hidden her son.
30 When the king heard the woman’s words, he rent his clothes. As he went on upon the wall, the people looked, and behold, he wore sackcloth inside on his flesh.
31 Then he said, May God do so to me, and more also, if the head of Elisha son of Shaphat shall stand on him this day!
32 Now Elisha sat in his house, and the elders sat with him. And the king sent a man from before him [to behead Elisha]. But before the messenger arrived, Elisha said to the elders, See how this son of [Jezebel] a murderer is sending to remove my head? Look, when the messenger comes, shut the door and hold it fast against him. Is not the sound of his master’s feet [just] behind him?
33 And while Elisha was talking with them, behold, [the messenger] came to him [and then the king came also]. And [the relenting king] said, This evil is from the Lord! Why should I any longer wait [expecting Him to withdraw His punishment? What, Elisha, can be done now]?
7 Then Elisha said, Hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord: Tomorrow about this time a measure of fine flour will sell for a shekel and two measures of barley for a shekel in the gate of Samaria!
2 Then the captain on whose hand the king leaned answered the man of God and said, If the Lord should make windows in heaven, could this thing be? But Elisha said, You shall see it with your own eyes, but you shall not eat of it.
3 Now four men who were lepers were at the entrance of the city’s gate; and they said to one another, Why do we sit here until we die?
4 If we say, We will enter the city—then the famine is in the city, and we shall die there; and if we sit still here, we die also. So now come, let us go over to the army of the Syrians. If they spare us alive, we shall live; and if they kill us, we shall but die.
5 So they arose in the twilight and went to the Syrian camp. But when they came to the edge of the camp, no man was there.
6 For the Lord had made the Syrian army hear a noise of chariots and horses, the noise of a great army. They had said to one another, The king of Israel has hired the Hittite and Egyptian kings to come upon us.
7 So the Syrians arose and fled in the twilight and left their tents, horses, donkeys, even the camp as it was, and fled for their lives.
8 And when these lepers came to the edge of the camp, they went into one tent and ate and drank, and carried away silver, gold, and clothing, and went and hid them [in the darkness]. Then they entered another tent and carried from there also and went and hid it.
9 Then they said one to another, We are not doing right. This is a day of [glad] good news and we are silent and do not speak up! If we wait until daylight, some punishment will come upon us [for not reporting at once]. So now come, let us go and tell the king’s household.
10 So they came and called to the gatekeepers of the city. They told them, We came to the camp of the Syrians, and behold, there was neither sight nor sound of man there—only the horses and donkeys tied, and the tents as they were.
11 Then the gatekeepers called out, and it was told to the king’s household within.
12 And the king rose in the night and said to his servants, I will tell you what the Syrians have done to us. They know that we are hungry; therefore they have gone out of the camp to hide themselves in the open country, thinking, When they come out of the city, we shall take them alive and get into the city.
13 One of his servants said, Let some men take five of the remaining horses; [if they are caught and killed] they will be no worse off than all the multitude of Israel left in the city to be consumed. Let us send and see.
14 So they took two chariot horses, and the king sent them after the Syrian army, saying, Go and see.
15 They went after them to the Jordan. All the way was strewn with clothing and equipment which the Syrians had cast away in their flight. And the messengers returned and told the king.
16 Then the people went out and plundered the tents of the Syrians. So a measure of fine flour was sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, as the Lord had spoken [through Elisha].(A)
17 The king had appointed the captain on whose hand he leaned to have charge of the gate, and the [starving] people trampled him in the gate [as they struggled to get through for food], and he died, as the man of God had foretold when the king came down to him.
18 When the man of God had told the king, Two measures of barley shall sell for a shekel and a measure of fine flour for a shekel tomorrow about this time in the gate of Samaria,
19 The captain had told the man of God, If the Lord should make windows in heaven, could such a thing be? And he said, You shall see it with your own eyes, but you shall not eat of it.(B)
20 And so it was fulfilled to him, for the people trampled on him in the gate, and he died.
36 And after some time Paul said to Barnabas, Come, let us go back and again visit and help and minister to the brethren in every town where we made known the message of the Lord, and see how they are getting along.
37 Now Barnabas wanted to take with them John called Mark [his near relative].
38 But Paul did not think it best to have along with them the one who had quit and deserted them in Pamphylia and had not gone on with them to the work.
39 And there followed a sharp disagreement between them, so that they separated from each other, and Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus.
40 But Paul selected Silas and set out, being commended by the brethren to the grace (the favor and mercy) of the Lord.
41 And he passed through Syria and Cilicia, establishing and strengthening the churches.
16 And [Paul] went down to Derbe and also to Lystra. A disciple named Timothy was there, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer [she had become [a]convinced that Jesus is the Messiah and the Author of eternal salvation, and yielded obedience to Him]; but [Timothy’s] father was a Greek.
2 He [Timothy] had a good reputation among the brethren at Lystra and Iconium.
3 Paul desired Timothy to go with him [[b]as a missionary]; and he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews that were in those places, all of whom knew that his father was a Greek.
4 As they went on their way from town to town, they delivered over [to the assemblies] for their observance the regulations decided upon by the apostles and elders who were at Jerusalem.
5 So the churches were strengthened and made firm in the faith, and they increased in number day after day.
6 And Paul and Silas passed through the territory of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to proclaim the Word in [the province of] Asia.
7 And when they had come opposite Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not permit them.
8 So passing by Mysia, they went down to Troas.
9 [There] a vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man from Macedonia stood pleading with him and saying, Come over to Macedonia and help us!
10 And when he had seen the vision, we [including Luke] at once endeavored to go on into Macedonia, confidently inferring that God had called us to proclaim the glad tidings (Gospel) to them.
11 Therefore, setting sail from Troas, we came in a direct course to Samothrace, and the next day went on to Neapolis.
12 And from there [we came] to Philippi, which is the chief city of the district of Macedonia and a [Roman] colony. We stayed on in this place some days;
13 And on the Sabbath day we went outside the [city’s] gate to the bank of the river where we supposed there was an [accustomed] place of prayer, and we sat down and addressed the women who had assembled there.
14 One of those who listened to us was a woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a dealer in fabrics dyed in purple. She was [already] a worshiper of God, and the Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul.
15 And when she was baptized along with her household, she earnestly entreated us, saying, If in your opinion I am one really convinced [that Jesus is the Messiah and the Author of salvation] and that I will be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay. And she induced us [to do it].
Psalm 142
A skillful song, or a didactic or reflective poem, of David; when he was in the cave. A Prayer.
1 I cry to the Lord with my voice; with my voice to the Lord do I make supplication.
2 I pour out my complaint before Him; I tell before Him my trouble.
3 When my spirit was overwhelmed and fainted [throwing all its weight] upon me, then You knew my path. In the way where I walk they have hidden a snare for me.
4 Look on the right hand [the point of attack] and see; for there is no man who knows me [to appear for me]. Refuge has failed me and I have no way to flee; no man cares for my life or my welfare.
5 I cried to You, O Lord; I said, You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living.
6 Attend to my loud cry, for I am brought very low; deliver me from my persecutors, for they are stronger than I.
7 Bring my life out of prison, that I may confess, praise, and give thanks to Your name; the righteous will surround me and crown themselves because of me, for You will deal bountifully with me.
24 A man of understanding sets skillful and godly Wisdom before his face, but the eyes of a [self-confident] fool are on the ends of the earth.
25 A self-confident and foolish son is a grief to his father and bitterness to her who bore him.
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