The Daily Audio Bible

Hoshea Rules Israel

17 In the twelfth year of Ahaz king of Judah, Hoshea the son of Elah became the king of Israel in Samaria. He ruled for nine years. ² Hoshea did what was sinful in the eyes of the Lord, but not as bad as the kings of Israel before him. ³ King Shalmaneser of Assyria came up against him. And Hoshea became his servant and paid taxes to him. ⁴ But the king of Assyria found that Hoshea had been making plans against him. Hoshea had sent men to King So of Egypt, instead of giving taxes to the king of Assyria. He had done this year after year. So the king of Assyria shut him up and put him in chains in prison.

Israel Carried Away to Assyria

⁵ Then the king of Assyria came against all the land. He went up to Samaria and kept soldiers around it for three years. ⁶ In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria took Samaria in battle, and took the people of Israel away to Assyria. He had them live in Halah and Habor, by the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.

⁷ This happened because the people of Israel had sinned against the Lord their God. He had brought them up from the land of Egypt from under the power of Pharaoh, king of Egypt. But they worshiped other gods. ⁸ They walked in the ways of the nations the Lord had driven out from the people of Israel. And they walked in the ways the kings of Israel had started. ⁹ The people of Israel did things in secret which were not right, against the Lord their God. They built high places for themselves in all their towns, from the smallest town to the strongest city. ¹⁰ They set up holy objects of the false goddess Asherim on every high hill and under every green tree. ¹¹ There they burned special perfume on all the high places, as the nations did which the Lord carried away from them. They did what was bad and made the Lord angry. ¹² They worshiped false gods, about which the Lord had told them, “You must not do this.” ¹³ The Lord told Israel and Judah of the danger, through all His men who told what would happen in the future. He said, “Turn from your sinful ways and obey My Laws. Keep all the Laws which I gave your fathers, and which I gave to you through My servants and men of God.” ¹⁴ But they did not listen. They were strong-willed like their fathers, who did not believe in the Lord their God. ¹⁵ They turned away from His Laws and His agreement which He made with their fathers. They turned away when He told them of danger. They followed false gods, and became empty. They followed the nations around them. But the Lord had told them not to act like them. ¹⁶ They turned away from all the Laws of the Lord their God and made objects to look like false gods. They made two calves and an object to look like the false goddess Asherah. And they worshiped all the stars of heaven and worked for Baal. ¹⁷ Then they gave their sons and daughters as burnt gifts. They told the future and used witchcraft. They sold themselves to do what is sinful in the eyes of the Lord. And they made Him angry. ¹⁸ The Lord was very angry with Israel, and put them away from his eyes. None was left except the family of Judah.

¹⁹ Even Judah did not keep the Laws of the Lord their God. They walked in the ways which Israel had started. ²⁰ And the Lord turned away from all the children of Israel, and sent trouble upon them. He gave them over to those who destroyed the land, until He had put them away from His eyes. ²¹ When He had torn Israel from the family of David, they made Jeroboam the son of Nebat king. Then Jeroboam drove Israel away from following the Lord. He led them into sin. ²² And the people of Israel walked in all the sins of Jeroboam. They did not turn away from them, ²³ until the Lord put Israel away from His eyes. He spoke through all His servants who tell what will happen in the future that He would do this. So Israel was carried away from their own land to Assyria until this day.

Assyrians Live in Israel

²⁴ The king of Assyria brought people from Babylon, Cuthah, Avva, Hamath and Sephar-vaim. He had them live in the cities of Samaria in place of the people of Israel. So they took Samaria for their own, and lived in its cities. ²⁵ At the beginning of their living there, they did not fear the Lord. So the Lord sent lions among them, which killed some of them. ²⁶ They said to the king of Assyria, “The nations you have carried away to the cities of Samaria do not know the way of the god of the land. So He has sent lions among them to kill them because they do not know the way of the god of the land.”

²⁷ Then the king of Assyria told them, “Take to Samaria one of the religious leaders you brought from there. Let him go and live in Samaria. And let him teach them the way of the god of the land.” ²⁸ So one of the religious leaders they had taken away from Samaria came and lived at Bethel. And he taught them how they should worship the Lord.

²⁹ But every nation still made gods of its own. They put them in the houses of the high places which the people of Samaria had made. The people of every nation did this in the cities where they lived. ³⁰ The men of Babylon made the false god Succoth-benoth. The men of Cuth made the false god Nergal. The men of Hamath made the false god Ashima. ³¹ The Avvites made the false gods Nibhaz and Tartak. And the Sepharvites burned their children in the fire to Adram-melech and Anammelech, the gods of Sepharvaim. ³² They feared the Lord also, and yet they chose from among themselves religious leaders of the high places. These leaders gave the gifts for them in the houses of the high places. ³³ So the people feared the Lord, but they worshiped their own gods also. They followed the way of the nations from which they had been taken away.

³⁴ To this day, they follow the ways of times past. They do not honor the Lord. They do not follow the Laws or the Word which the Lord told the sons of Jacob, whom He gave the name Israel. ³⁵ The Lord had made an agreement and told them, “You must not fear other gods. You must not put your faces to the ground in front of them, or worship them, or give gifts to them. ³⁶ But fear the Lord, Who brought you up from the land of Egypt with great power and with a strong arm. Put your faces to the ground before Him. And give Him your gifts. ³⁷ Obey forever the Laws and the Word which He wrote for you. Do not fear other gods. ³⁸ Do not forget the agreement I have made with you. And do not honor other gods with fear. ³⁹ Fear the Lord your God and He will save you from those who hate you.” ⁴⁰ But they did not listen. They followed the ways of times past. ⁴¹ These nations feared the Lord, but they worshiped their false gods also. Their children and grandchildren did the same, and they do as their fathers did to this day.

Hezekiah Rules Judah

18 In the third year of Hoshea the son of Elah king of Israel, Hezekiah the son of Ahaz, king of Judah, began to rule. ² He was twenty-five years old when he became king. And he ruled for twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Abi the daughter of Zechariah. ³ Hezekiah did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, just as his father David had done. ⁴ He took away the high places. He broke down the holy pillars used in worship and cut down the Asherah. And he broke in pieces the brass snake that Moses had made. For until those days the people of Israel burned special perfume to it. It was called Nehushtan. ⁵ Hezekiah trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel. There was no one like him among all the kings of Judah before him or after him. ⁶ For he held to the Lord and did not stop following Him. He kept His Laws which the Lord had given Moses. ⁷ And the Lord was with him. Hezekiah did well in every place he went. He turned against the king of Assyria and did not work for him. ⁸ He destroyed the Philistines as far as Gaza and its land, from the smallest town to the strongest city.

⁹ In the fourth year of King Hezekiah, the seventh year of Elah’s son Hoshea king of Israel, King Shalmaneser of Assyria came to fight against Samaria. His army gathered around it. ¹⁰ At the end of three years they took the city. Samaria was taken by Assyria in the sixth year of Hezekiah and the ninth year of King Hoshea of Israel. ¹¹ Then the king of Assyria carried the people of Israel away against their will to Assyria. He had them live in Halah and on the Habor, the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes. ¹² Because the people of Israel did not obey the voice of the Lord their God. They sinned against His agreement and even all that the Lord’s servant Moses told them. They would not listen or obey.

Paul Goes to Greece and Macedonia

20 When the noise had come to an end, Paul called the followers to him. He spoke words of comfort and then said good-bye. He left to go to the country of Macedonia. ² As he went through those parts of the country, he spoke words of comfort and help to the Christians. Then he went on to the country of Greece. ³ He stayed there three months. As he was about to get on a ship for the country of Syria, he learned that the Jews had made a plan to take him. He changed his plans and went back through Macedonia. ⁴ Some men were going along with him. They were Sopater of the city of Berea, Aristarchus and Secundus of the city of Thessalonica, Gaius of the city of Derbe, and Timothy and Tychicus and Trophimus of the countries of Asia. ⁵ They went on to the city of Troas and waited there for us. ⁶ After the supper of bread without yeast we got on a ship in the city of Philippi. We met these men at Troas. It took five days to get there and we stayed one week.

Eutychus Falls from a Building While Paul Preaches

⁷ On the first day of the week we met together to eat the Lord’s supper. Paul talked to them. He thought he would leave the next day, so he kept on talking until twelve o’clock at night. ⁸ There were many lights in the room on the third floor where we had our meeting. ⁹ A young man named Eutychus sat in the window. As Paul kept on preaching, this man started to go to sleep. At last he went to sleep. He fell from the third floor to the ground and was picked up dead. ¹⁰ Paul went down and stood over him. Then he took him in his arms and said, “Do not be worried. He is alive!” ¹¹ Paul went up again to the meeting and ate with them. He talked with them until the sun came up. Then he left. ¹² They were happy they could take the young man home alive.

¹³ We went on ahead by ship to the city of Assos. There we were to pick up Paul. He had planned it that way. He wanted to walk by land that far. ¹⁴ We got to Assos and met him there. We picked him up and went on to the city of Mitylene. ¹⁵ The next day we went by ship to a place beside the island of Chios. The next day we crossed over to the island of Samos. Then the next day we came to the city of Miletus. ¹⁶ Paul planned to pass by the city of Ephesus so he would not lose more time in Asia. He wanted to be in Jerusalem if he could be on the day to remember how the Holy Spirit came on the church.

Paul Meets with the Leaders of the Church of Ephesus

¹⁷ From Miletus he sent word to Ephesus. He asked the leaders of the church to come to him. ¹⁸ When they got there, he said to them, “From the first day that I came to Asia you have seen what my life has been like. ¹⁹ I worked for the Lord without pride. Because of the trouble the Jews gave me, I have had many tears. ²⁰ I always told you everything that would be a help to you. I taught you in open meetings and from house to house. ²¹ I preached to the Jews and to the Greeks. I told them to turn from their sin to God and to put their trust in our Lord Jesus Christ.

²² “As you see, I am on my way to Jerusalem. The Holy Spirit makes me go. I do not know what will happen to me there. ²³ But in every city I have been, the Holy Spirit tells me that trouble and chains will be waiting for me there. ²⁴ But I am not worried about this. I do not think of my life as worth much, but I do want to finish the work the Lord Jesus gave me to do. My work is to preach the Good News of God’s loving-favor.

²⁵ “All of you have heard me preach the Good News. I am sure that none of you will ever see my face again. ²⁶ I tell you this day that I am clean and free from the blood of all men. ²⁷ I told you all the truth about God. ²⁸ Keep a careful watch over yourselves and over the church. The Holy Spirit has made you its leaders. Feed and care for the church of God. He bought it with His own blood.

²⁹ “Yes, I know that when I am gone, hungry wolves will come in among you. They will try to destroy the church. ³⁰ Also men from your own group will begin to teach things that are not true. They will get men to follow them. ³¹ I say again, keep watching! Remember that for three years I taught everyone of you night and day, even with tears.

³² “And now, my brothers, I give you over to God and to the word of His love. It is able to make you strong and to give you what you are to have, along with all those who are set apart for God. ³³ I have not tried to get anyone’s money or clothes. ³⁴ You all know that these hands worked for what I needed and for what those with me needed. ³⁵ In every way I showed you that by working hard like this we can help those who are weak. We must remember what the Lord Jesus said, ‘We are more happy when we give than when we receive.’ ”

³⁶ As he finished talking, he got down on his knees and prayed with them all. ³⁷ They cried and put their arms around Paul and kissed him. ³⁸ What made them sad most of all was he said that they would never see his face again. Then they went with him to the ship.

The Whole World Should Praise the Lord

148 Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord from the heavens! Praise Him on high! ² Praise Him, all His angels! Praise Him, all His army! ³ Praise Him, sun and moon! Praise Him, all you shining stars! ⁴ Praise Him, you highest heavens, and you waters above the heavens! ⁵ Let them praise the name of the Lord! For He spoke and they came into being. ⁶ He has made them last forever and ever. He has set a Law which will not pass away.

⁷ Praise the Lord from the earth, you large sea animals and all seas, ⁸ fire and hail, snow and clouds, and wind storms, obeying His Word. ⁹ Praise the Lord, you mountains and all hills, fruit trees and all tall trees, ¹⁰ wild animals and all cattle, small animals that move on the ground and birds that fly, ¹¹ kings of the earth and all people, princes and all leaders of the earth, ¹² both young men and women who have never had men, and old men and children.

¹³ Let them praise the name of the Lord. For His name alone is honored. His shining-greatness is above earth and heaven. ¹⁴ He has raised up a horn for His people, praise for all who belong to Him, for the people of Israel, who are near to Him. Praise the Lord!

⁶ The lips of a fool bring fighting, and his mouth calls for a beating.

⁷ The mouth of a fool is what destroys him, and his lips are a trap to his soul.