The Daily Audio Bible

The Ax Head That Was Not Lost

6 Now the sons of the men who tell what will happen in the future said to Elisha, “See, the place where we are living under your care is too small for us. ² Let us go to the Jordan and each of us cut down a tree there. And let us make a place for us to live there.” So Elisha said, “Go.” ³ Then one of them said, “Be pleased to go with your servants.” And Elisha answered, “I will go.” ⁴ So he went with them. When they came to the Jordan, they cut down trees. ⁵ But as one of them was cutting a tree, the ax head fell into the water. The man cried out, “It is bad, sir! The ax belongs to another man, and I was to return it.” ⁶ The man of God said, “Where did it fall?” And when he showed him the place, Elisha cut off a stick and threw it in, and the iron came to the top of the water. ⁷ He said, “Pick it up.” So his servant put out his hand and took it.

Syrian Army Loses the Battle

⁸ Now the king of Syria was fighting a war against Israel. He had a meeting with his servants, and said, “This is the place where I will be staying.” ⁹ The man of God sent news to the king of Israel, saying, “Be careful that you do not pass this place. For the Syrians are coming down there.” ¹⁰ The king of Israel sent men to the place where the man of God said there would be danger. So he saved himself there more than once or twice. ¹¹ The heart of the king of Syria was angry because of this. He called his servants and said to them, “Will you show me which one of us is helping the king of Israel?” ¹² And one of his servants said, “None, my lord, O king. Elisha, the man of God who is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the very words you say in your bedroom.” ¹³ So he said, “Go and see where Elisha is, that I may send men to take him.” And he was told, “See, he is in Dothan.” ¹⁴ So the king of Syria sent horses and war-wagons and an army of many soldiers there. They came during the night and gathered around the city.

¹⁵ The servant of the man of God got up early and went out. And he saw an army with horses and war-wagons around the city. The servant said to Elisha, “It is bad, sir! What should we do?” ¹⁶ He answered, “Do not be afraid. For those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” ¹⁷ Then Elisha prayed and said, “O Lord, I pray, open his eyes, that he may see.” And the Lord opened the servant’s eyes, and he saw. He saw that the mountain was full of horses and war-wagons of fire all around Elisha. ¹⁸ When the Syrians came against him, Elisha prayed to the Lord, saying, “Make these people blind, I pray.” So the Lord made them blind, as Elisha had said. ¹⁹ Then Elisha said to them, “This is not the way. This is not the city. Follow me and I will bring you to the man you are looking for.” And he brought them to Samaria.

²⁰ When they had come to Samaria, Elisha said, “O Lord, open the eyes of these men. Let them see.” So the Lord opened their eyes, and they saw. They saw they were in the center of Samaria. ²¹ When the king of Israel saw them, he said to Elisha, “My father, should I kill them? Should I kill them?” ²² He answered, “Do not kill them. Would you kill those you have taken against their will with your sword and bow? Give them bread and water. Let them eat and drink and return to their owner.” ²³ So he made a big supper for them. When they had eaten and drunk, he sent them away. And they went to their owner. The Syrians sent no more small groups of soldiers into the land of Israel.

Samaria’s Trouble

²⁴ After this, Ben-hadad the king of Syria gathered all his army and went up against Samaria. ²⁵ There was a time of no food in Samaria. The Syrian army gathered around it, until a donkey’s head sold for eighty pieces of silver. A half cup of dove’s waste sold for five pieces of silver. ²⁶ As the king of Israel was passing by on the wall, a woman cried out to him, “Help, my lord, O king!” ²⁷ And he said, “If the Lord does not help you, from where can I help you? From the grain-floor, or from the grape-crusher?” ²⁸ Then the king said to her, “What is your trouble?” And she answered, “This woman said to me, ‘Give your son, so we may eat him today. And we will eat my son tomorrow.’ ²⁹ So we made my son ready to eat over the fire, and ate him. The next day I said to her, ‘Give your son, so we may eat him.’ But she has hidden her son.” ³⁰ When the king heard the words of the woman, he tore his clothes. He was passing by on the wall, and the people looked. They saw that he wore cloth made from hair under his clothes. ³¹ Then he said, “May God do so to me and more also, if the head of Elisha the son of Shaphat stays on him today.”

³² Now Elisha was sitting in his house. And the leaders were sitting with him. The king sent a man, but before the man came to him, Elisha said to the leaders, “Do you see how this son of a killer has sent to take off my head? See, when the king’s man comes, shut the door. Hold the door shut against him. Is not the sound of his owner’s feet behind him?” ³³ While he was still talking with them, the king came down to him and said, “See, this trouble is from the Lord. Why should I wait for the Lord any longer?”

7 Then Elisha said, “Listen to the word of the Lord. The Lord says, ‘Tomorrow about this time, a basket of fine flour will be sold for one piece of silver in the gate of Samaria. And two baskets of barley will be sold for a piece of silver.’” ² The captain on whose arm the king rested said to the man of God, “See, if the Lord should make windows in heaven, could this thing be?” Elisha said, “You will see it with your own eyes. But you will not eat of it.”

The Syrians Leave

³ Now there were four men at the city gate with a bad skin disease. They said to one another, “Why do we sit here until we die? ⁴ If we go into the city, there is no food there and we will die. And if we sit here, we will die also. So now come, let us go over to the tents of the Syrians. If they do not kill us, we will live. And if they kill us, we will die there.” ⁵ So they got up in the evening to go to the Syrians. When they came to the tents of the Syrians, there was no one there. ⁶ For the Lord had made the Syrian army hear a sound of war-wagons and horses and an army of many soldiers. So they said to one another, “The king of Israel has paid the kings of the Hittites and the kings of the Egyptians to fight against us.” ⁷ And they ran away in the evening. They left their tents and their horses and donkeys. They left everything just as it was, and ran for their lives. ⁸ Then the men with a bad skin disease came to the tents. They went into one tent and ate and drank. They carried away silver and gold and clothing, and hid them. Then they returned and went into another tent and carried things away from it, and hid them.

⁹ They said to one another, “We are not doing right. This is a day of good news, but we are keeping quiet. We will be punished if we wait until morning. So now let us go and tell those of the king’s house.” ¹⁰ And they came and called the men who watched the city gate. They said to them, “We went to the tents of the Syrians. But there was no one to be seen or heard there. Only the horses and donkeys were tied there. The tents were left just as they were.” ¹¹ So the men at the gate called out, and the news was heard in the king’s house. ¹² The king got up 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. So they have left the tents to hide themselves in the field. They are saying, ‘When they come out of the city, we will take them alive and get into the city.’” ¹³ One of his servants said, “Let some men take five of the horses that are left. Those who are left in the city are not doing better than all those who have died. So let us send men out to see.” ¹⁴ So they took two war-wagons with 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 covered with clothes and objects which the Syrians had thrown away in their hurry. Then the men returned and told the king.

¹⁶ So the people went out and took what the Syrians had left. Then a basket of fine flour was sold for a piece of silver. And two baskets of barley sold for a piece of silver, just as the word of the Lord had said. ¹⁷ Now the king chose the captain on whose arm he rested to watch the gate. But the people stepped on him at the gate. He died just as the man of God had said when the king came down to him. ¹⁸ It happened just as the man of God had told the king, saying, “About this time tomorrow at the gate of Samaria, two baskets of barley will sell for a piece of silver. And a basket of fine flour will sell for a piece of silver.” ¹⁹ Then the captain had said to the man of God, “See, if the Lord should make windows in heaven, could such a thing be?” And Elisha had said, “You will see it with your own eyes. But you will not eat of it.” ²⁰ So it happened to him. The people stepped on him at the gate, and he died.

Paul Starts Out the Second Time

³⁶ After awhile, Paul said to Barnabas, “Let us go back and visit the Christians in every city where we have preached the Word of God. Let us see how they are doing.” ³⁷ Barnabas wanted to take John Mark with them. ³⁸ Paul did not think it was good to take him because he had left them while they were in Pamphylia. He had not helped them in the work. ³⁹ They argued so much that they left each other. Barnabas took John Mark with him and went by ship to the island of Cyprus. ⁴⁰ Paul chose Silas. After the Christians asked for the Lord’s favor to be on Paul and Silas, they went on their way. ⁴¹ They went through Syria and Cilicia making the churches stronger in the faith.

Timothy Starts to Work with Paul

16 Paul went down to the cities of Derbe and Lystra. There was a follower there named Timothy. His mother was a Jewish Christian and his father was a Greek. ² The Christians in the city of Lystra and Iconium respected Timothy. ³ Paul wanted Timothy to go with him as a missionary. He took him and had Timothy go through the religious act of becoming a Jew because of the Jews who were in those places. Everyone knew his father was a Greek.

⁴ They went from city to city and told the Christians what the missionaries and the church leaders in Jerusalem had written for the Christians to do. ⁵ The churches were made stronger in the faith. More people were added each day.

Paul Is Called to Macedonia in a Dream

⁶ They went through the countries of Phrygia and Galatia. The Holy Spirit kept them from preaching the Word of God in the countries of Asia. ⁷ When they came to the city of Mysia, they tried to go on to the city of Bithynia but the Holy Spirit would not let them go. ⁸ From Mysia they went down to the city of Troas.

⁹ That night Paul had a dream. A man was standing in front of him crying out, “Come over to the country of Macedonia and help us!” ¹⁰ After he had seen this, we agreed that God told us to go to Macedonia to tell them the Good News.

Lydia, the First Christian in Europe

¹¹ We took a ship from the city of Troas to the city of Samothracia. The next day we went to the city of Neapolis. ¹² From there we went to the city of Philippi. This was an important city in Macedonia. It was ruled by the leaders of the country of Rome. We stayed here for some days. ¹³ On the Day of Rest we went outside the city to a place down by the river. We thought people would be gathering there for prayer. Some women came and we sat down and talked to them. ¹⁴ One of the women who listened sold purple cloth. She was from the city of Thyatira. Her name was Lydia and she was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to hear what Paul said. ¹⁵ When she and her family had been baptized, she said to us, “If you think I am faithful to the Lord, come and stay at my house.” She kept on asking. Then we went with her.

A Prayer for Help

142 I cry with a loud voice to the Lord. I pray with my voice to the Lord. ² I talk and complain to Him. I tell Him all my trouble. ³ When my spirit had grown weak within me, You knew my path. They have hidden a trap for me in the way where I walk. ⁴ Look to the right and see. For there is no one who thinks about me. There is no place for me to go to be safe. No one cares about my soul.

⁵ I cried out to You, O Lord. I said, “You are my safe place, my share in the land of the living. ⁶ Listen to my cry, for I am brought down. Save me from those who make it hard for me. For they are too strong for me. ⁷ Bring my soul out of prison, so that I may give thanks to Your name. Those who are right and good will gather around me. For You will give much to me.”

²⁴ Wisdom is with the one who has understanding, but the eyes of a fool are on the ends of the earth.

²⁵ A foolish son is a sorrow to his father, and trouble to her who gave birth to him.