Read The One Year Bible TLB Online
Authors: Tyndale
The One Year Bible TLB (138 page)
June 25Elisha had told the woman whose son he had brought back to life, “Take your family and move to some other country, for the Lord has called down a famine on Israel that will last for seven years.”
2
So the woman took her family and lived in the land of the Philistines for seven years.
3
After the famine ended, she returned to the land of Israel and went to see the king about getting back her house and land.
4
Just as she came in, the king was talking with Gehazi, Elisha’s servant, and saying, “Tell me some stories of the great things Elisha has done.”
5
And Gehazi was telling the king about the time when Elisha brought a little boy back to life. At that very moment, the mother of the boy walked in!
“Oh, sir!” Gehazi exclaimed. “Here is the woman now, and this is her son—the very one Elisha brought back to life!”
6
“Is this true?” the king asked her. And she told him that it was. So he directed one of his officials to see to it that everything she had owned was restored to her, plus the value of any crops that had been harvested during her absence.
7
Afterwards Elisha went to Damascus (the capital of Syria), where King Ben-hadad lay sick. Someone told the king that the prophet had come.
8-9
When the king heard the news, he said to Hazael, “Take a present to the man of God and tell him to ask the Lord whether I will get well again.”
So Hazael took forty camel-loads of the best produce of the land as presents for Elisha and said to him, “Your son Ben-hadad, the king of Syria, has sent me to ask you whether he will recover.”
10
And Elisha replied, “Tell him, ‘Yes.’ But the Lord has shown me that he will surely die!”
11
Elisha stared at Hazael until he became embarrassed, and then Elisha started crying.
12
“What’s the matter, sir?” Hazael asked him.
Elisha replied, “I know the terrible things you will do to the people of Israel: you will burn their forts, kill the young men, dash their babies against the rocks, and rip open the bellies of the pregnant women!”
13
“Am I a dog?” Hazael asked him. “I would
never
do that sort of thing.”
But Elisha replied, “The Lord has shown me that you are going to be the king of Syria.”
14
When Hazael went back, the king asked him, “What did he tell you?”
And Hazael replied, “He told me that you would recover.”
15
But the next day Hazael took a blanket and dipped it in water and held it over the king’s face until he smothered to death. And Hazael became king instead.
16
King Jehoram, the son of King Jehoshaphat of Judah, began his reign during the fifth year of the reign of King Joram of Israel, the son of Ahab.
17
Jehoram was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem for eight years.
18
But he was as wicked as Ahab and the other kings of Israel; he even married one of Ahab’s daughters.
19
Nevertheless, because God had promised his servant David that he would watch over and guide his descendants, he did not destroy Judah.
20
During Jehoram’s reign, the people in Edom revolted from Judah and appointed their own king.
21
King Jehoram
*
tried unsuccessfully to crush the rebellion: he crossed the Jordan River and attacked the city of Zair, but was quickly surrounded by the army of Edom. Under cover of night he broke through their ranks, but his army deserted him and fled.
22
So Edom has maintained its independence to this day. Libnah also rebelled at that time.
23
The rest of the history of King Jehoram is written in
The Annals of the Kings of Judah.
24-25
He died and was buried in the royal cemetery in the City of David—the old section of Jerusalem.
Then his son Ahaziah
*
became the new king during the twelfth year of the reign of King Joram of Israel, the son of Ahab.
26
Ahaziah was twenty-two years old when he began to reign, but he reigned only one year in Jerusalem. His mother was Athaliah, the granddaughter of King Omri of Israel.
27
He was an evil king, just as all of King Ahab’s descendants were—for he was related to Ahab by marriage.
28
He joined King Joram of Israel (son of Ahab) in his war against Hazael, the king of Syria, at Ramoth-gilead. King Joram was wounded in the battle,
29
so he went to Jezreel to rest and recover from his wounds. While he was there, King Ahaziah of Judah (son of Jehoram) came to visit him.
9:
1
Meanwhile Elisha had summoned one of the young prophets.
“Get ready to go to Ramoth-gilead,” he told him. “Take this vial of oil with you
2
and find Jehu (the son of Jehoshaphat, the son of Nimshi). Call him into a private room away from his friends,
3
and pour the oil over his head. Tell him that the Lord has anointed him to be the king of Israel; then run for your life!”
4
So the young prophet did as he was told. When he arrived in Ramoth-gilead,
5
he found Jehu sitting around with the other army officers.
“I have a message for you, sir,” he said.
“For which one of us?” Jehu asked.
“For you,” he replied.
6
So Jehu left the others and went into the house, and the young man poured the oil over his head and said, “The Lord God of Israel says, ‘I anoint you king of the Lord’s people, Israel.
7
You are to destroy the family of Ahab; you will avenge the murder of my prophets and of all my other people who were killed by Jezebel.
8
The entire family of Ahab must be wiped out—every male, no matter who.
9
I will destroy the family of Ahab as I destroyed the families of Jeroboam (son of Nebat) and of Baasha (son of Ahijah).
10
Dogs shall eat Ahab’s wife Jezebel at Jezreel, and no one will bury her.’”
Then he opened the door and ran.
11
Jehu went back to his friends and one of them asked him, “What did that crazy fellow want? Is everything all right?”
“You know very well who he was and what he wanted,” Jehu replied.
12
“No, we don’t,” they said. “Tell us.”
So he told them what the man had said and that he had been anointed king of Israel!
13
They quickly carpeted the bare steps with their coats and blew a trumpet, shouting, “Jehu is king!”
One day as we were going down to the place of prayer beside the river, we met a demon-possessed slave girl, who was a fortune-teller and earned much money for her masters.
17
She followed along behind us shouting, “These men are servants of God, and they have come to tell you how to have your sins forgiven.”
18
This went on day after day until Paul, in great distress, turned and spoke to the demon within her. “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her,” he said. And instantly it left her.
19
Her masters’ hopes of wealth were now shattered; they grabbed Paul and Silas and dragged them before the judges at the marketplace.
20-21
“These Jews are corrupting our city,” they shouted. “They are teaching the people to do things that are against the Roman laws.”
22
A mob was quickly formed against Paul and Silas, and the judges ordered them stripped and beaten with wooden whips.
23
Again and again the rods slashed down across their bared backs; and afterwards they were thrown into prison. The jailer was threatened with death if they escaped,
*
24
so he took no chances, but put them into the inner dungeon and clamped their feet into the stocks.
25
Around midnight, as Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to the Lord—and the other prisoners were listening—
26
suddenly there was a great earthquake; the prison was shaken to its foundations, all the doors flew open—and the chains of every prisoner fell off!
27
The jailer wakened to see the prison doors wide open, and assuming the prisoners had escaped, he drew his sword to kill himself.
28
But Paul yelled to him, “Don’t do it! We are all here!”
29
Trembling with fear, the jailer called for lights and ran to the dungeon and fell down before Paul and Silas.
30
He brought them out and begged them, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
31
They replied, “Believe on the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, and your entire household.”
32
Then they told him and all his household the Good News from the Lord.
33
That same hour he washed their stripes, and he and all his family were baptized.
34
Then he brought them up into his house and set a meal before them. How he and his household rejoiced because all were now believers!
35
The next morning the judges sent police officers over to tell the jailer, “Let those men go!”
36
So the jailer told Paul they were free to leave.
37
But Paul replied, “Oh no they don’t! They have publicly beaten us without trial and jailed us—and we are Roman citizens! So now they want us to leave secretly? Never! Let them come themselves and release us!”
38
The police officers reported to the judges, who feared for their lives when they heard Paul and Silas were Roman citizens.
39
So they came to the jail and begged them to go, and brought them out and pled with them to leave the city.
40
Paul and Silas then returned to the home of Lydia, where they met with the believers and preached to them once more before leaving town.
Hear my prayer, O Lord; answer my plea because you are faithful to your promises.
*
2
Don’t bring me to trial! For as compared with you, no one is perfect.
3
My enemies chased and caught me. They have knocked me to the ground. They force me to live in the darkness like those in the grave.
4
I am losing all hope; I am paralyzed with fear.
5
I remember the glorious miracles you did in days of long ago.
6
I reach out for you. I thirst for you as parched land thirsts for rain.
7
Come quickly, Lord, and answer me, for my depression deepens; don’t turn away from me or I shall die.
8
Let me see your kindness to me in the morning, for I am trusting you. Show me where to walk, for my prayer is sincere.
9
Save me from my enemies. O Lord, I run to you to hide me.
10
Help me to do your will, for you are my God. Lead me in good paths, for your Spirit is good.
11
Lord, saving me will bring glory to your name. Bring me out of all this trouble because you are true to your promises.
12
And because you are loving and kind to me, cut off all my enemies and destroy those who are trying to harm me; for I am your servant.
How shortsighted to fine the godly for being good! And to punish nobles for being honest!
June 26That is how Jehu (son of Jehoshaphat, son of Nimshi) rebelled against King Joram. (King Joram had been with the army at Ramoth-gilead, defending Israel against the forces of King Hazael of Syria.
15
But he had returned to Jezreel to recover from his wounds.)
“Since you want me to be king,” Jehu told the men who were with him, “don’t let anyone escape to Jezreel to report what we have done.”
16
Then Jehu jumped into a chariot and rode to Jezreel himself to find King Joram, who was lying there wounded. (King Ahaziah of Judah was there too, for he had gone to visit him.)
17
The watchman on the Tower of Jezreel saw Jehu and his company approaching and shouted, “Someone is coming.”
“Send out a rider and find out if he is friend or foe,” King Joram shouted back.
18
So a soldier rode out to meet Jehu.
“The king wants to know whether you are friend or foe,” he demanded. “Do you come in peace?”
Jehu replied, “What do you know about peace? Get behind me!”
The watchman called out to the king that the messenger had met them but was not returning.
19
So the king sent out a second rider. He rode up to them and demanded in the name of the king to know whether their intentions were friendly or not.
Jehu answered, “What do you know about friendliness? Get behind me!”
20
“He isn’t returning either!” the watchman exclaimed. “It must be Jehu, for he is driving so furiously.”
21
“Quick! Get my chariot ready!” King Joram commanded.
Then he and King Ahaziah of Judah rode out to meet Jehu. They met him at the field of Naboth,
22
and King Joram demanded, “Do you come as a friend, Jehu?”
Jehu replied, “How can there be friendship as long as the evils of your mother Jezebel are all around us?”
23
Then King Joram reined the chariot horses around and fled, shouting to King Ahaziah, “There is treachery, Ahaziah! Treason!”
24
Then Jehu drew his bow with his full strength and shot Joram between the shoulders; and the arrow pierced his heart, and he sank down dead in his chariot.
25
Jehu said to Bidkar, his assistant, “Throw him into the field of Naboth, for once when you and I were riding along behind his father Ahab, the Lord revealed this prophecy to me:
26
‘I will repay him here on Naboth’s property for the murder of Naboth and his sons.’ So throw him out on Naboth’s field, just as the Lord said.”
27
Meanwhile, King Ahaziah of Judah had fled along the road to Beth-haggan. Jehu rode after him, shouting, “Shoot him too.”
So they shot him in his chariot at the place where the road climbs to Gur, near Ibleam. He was able to go on as far as Megiddo, but died there.
28
His officials took him by chariot to Jerusalem where they buried him in the royal cemetery.
29
(Ahaziah’s reign over Judah had begun in the twelfth year
*
of the reign of King Joram of Israel.)
30
When Jezebel heard that Jehu had come to Jezreel, she painted her eyelids and fixed her hair and sat at a window.
31
When Jehu entered the gate of the palace, she shouted at him, “How are you today, you murderer! You son of a Zimri who murdered his master!”
32
He looked up and saw her at the window and shouted, “Who is on my side?” And two or three eunuchs looked out at him.
33
“Throw her down!” he yelled.
So they threw her out the window, and her blood spattered against the wall and on the horses; and she was trampled by the horses’ hoofs.
34
Then Jehu went into the palace for lunch. Afterwards he said, “Someone go and bury this cursed woman, for she is the daughter of a king.”
35
But when they went out to bury her, they found only her skull, her feet, and her hands.
36
When they returned and told him, he remarked, “That is just what the Lord said would happen. He told Elijah the prophet that dogs would eat her flesh
37
and that her body would be scattered like manure upon the field, so that no one could tell whose it was.”
10:
1
Then Jehu wrote a letter to the city council of Samaria and to the guardians of Ahab’s seventy sons—all of whom were living there.
2-3
“Upon receipt of this letter, select the best one of Ahab’s sons to be your king, and prepare to fight for his throne. For you have chariots and horses and a fortified city and an armory.”
4
But they were too frightened to do it. “Two kings couldn’t stand against this man! What can we do?” they said.
5
So the manager of palace affairs and the city manager, together with the city council and the guardians of Ahab’s sons, sent him this message:
“Jehu, we are your servants and will do anything you tell us to. We have decided that you should be our king instead of one of Ahab’s sons.”
6
Jehu responded with this message: “If you are on my side and are going to obey me, bring the heads of your master’s sons to me at Jezreel at about this time tomorrow.”
(These seventy sons of King Ahab were living in the homes of the chief men of the city, where they had been raised since childhood.)
7
When the letter arrived, all seventy of them were murdered, and their heads were packed into baskets and presented to Jehu at Jezreel.
8
When a messenger told Jehu that the heads of the king’s sons had arrived, he said to pile them in two heaps at the entrance of the city gate, and to leave them there until the next morning.
9-10
In the morning he went out and spoke to the crowd that had gathered around them. “You aren’t to blame,” he told them. “I conspired against my master and killed him, but I didn’t kill his sons! The Lord has done that, for everything he says comes true. He declared through his servant Elijah that this would happen to Ahab’s descendants.”
11
Jehu then killed all the rest of the members of the family of Ahab who were in Jezreel, as well as all of his important officials, personal friends, and private chaplains. Finally, no one was left who had been close to him in any way.
*
12
Then he set out for Samaria and stayed overnight at a shepherd’s inn along the way.
13
While he was there he met the brothers of King Ahaziah of Judah.
“Who are you?” he asked them.
And they replied, “We are brothers
*
of King Ahaziah. We are going to Samaria to visit the sons of King Ahab and of the Queen Mother, Jezebel.”
14
“Grab them!” Jehu shouted to his men. And he took them out to the cistern and killed all forty-two of them.
15
As he left the inn, he met Jehonadab, the son of Rechab, who was coming to meet him. After they had greeted each other, Jehu said to him, “Are you as loyal to me as I am to you?”
“Yes,” Jehonadab replied.
“Then give me your hand,” Jehu said, and he helped him into the royal chariot.
16
“Now come along with me,” Jehu said, “and see how much I have done for the Lord.” So Jehonadab rode along with him.
17
When he arrived in Samaria he butchered all of Ahab’s friends and relatives, just as Elijah, speaking for the Lord, had predicted.
Then Jehu called a meeting of all the people of the city and said to them, “Ahab hardly worshiped Baal at all in comparison to the way I am going to!
18-19
Summon all the prophets and priests of Baal, and call together all his worshipers. See to it that every one of them comes, for we worshipers of Baal are going to have a great celebration to praise him. Any of Baal’s worshipers who don’t come will be put to death.”
But Jehu’s plan was to exterminate them.
20-21
He sent messengers throughout all Israel summoning those who worshiped Baal; and they all came and filled the temple of Baal from one end to the other.
22
He instructed the head of the robing room, “Be sure that every worshiper wears one of the special robes.”
23
Then Jehu and Jehonadab (son of Rechab) went into the temple to address the people: “Check to be sure that only those who worship Baal are here; don’t let anyone in who worships the Lord!”
24
As the priests of Baal began offering sacrifices and burnt offerings, Jehu surrounded the building with eighty of his men and told them, “If you let anyone escape, you’ll pay for it with your own life.”
25
As soon as he had finished sacrificing the burnt offering, Jehu went out and told his officers and men, “Go in and kill the whole bunch of them. Don’t let a single one escape.”
So they slaughtered them all and dragged their bodies outside. Then Jehu’s men went into the inner temple,
26
dragged out the pillar used for the worship of Baal, and burned it.
27
They wrecked the temple and converted it into a public toilet, which it still is today.
28
Thus Jehu destroyed every trace of Baal from Israel.
29
However, he didn’t destroy the gold calves at Bethel and Dan—this was the great sin of Jeroboam (son of Nebat), for it resulted in all Israel sinning.
30
Afterwards the Lord said to Jehu, “You have done well in following my instructions to destroy the dynasty of Ahab. Because of this I will cause your son, your grandson, and your great-grandson to be the kings of Israel.”
31
But Jehu didn’t follow the Lord God of Israel with all his heart, for he continued to worship Jeroboam’s gold calves that had been the cause of such great sin in Israel.
Now they [Paul and Silas] traveled through the cities of Amphipolis and Apollonia and came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue.
2
As was Paul’s custom, he went there to preach, and for three Sabbaths in a row he opened the Scriptures to the people,
3
explaining the prophecies about the sufferings of the Messiah and his coming back to life, and proving that Jesus is the Messiah.
4
Some who listened were persuaded and became converts—including a large number of godly Greek men and also many important women of the city.
*
5
But the Jewish leaders were jealous and incited some worthless fellows from the streets to form a mob and start a riot. They attacked the home of Jason, planning to take Paul and Silas to the City Council for punishment.
6
Not finding them there, they dragged out Jason and some of the other believers, and took them before the Council instead. “Paul and Silas have turned the rest of the world upside down, and now they are here disturbing our city,” they shouted,
7
“and Jason has let them into his home. They are all guilty of treason, for they claim another king, Jesus, instead of Caesar.”
8-9
The people of the city, as well as the judges, were concerned at these reports and let them go only after they had posted bail.
10
That night the Christians hurried Paul and Silas to Berea, and, as usual,
*
they went to the synagogue to preach.
11
But the people of Berea were more open-minded than those in Thessalonica, and gladly listened to the message. They searched the Scriptures day by day to check up on Paul and Silas’ statements to see if they were really so.
12
As a result, many of them believed, including several prominent Greek women and many men also.
13
But when the Jews in Thessalonica learned that Paul was preaching in Berea, they went over and stirred up trouble.
14
The believers acted at once, sending Paul on to the coast, while Silas and Timothy remained behind.
15
Those accompanying Paul went on with him to Athens and then returned to Berea with a message for Silas and Timothy to hurry and join him.
16
While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was deeply troubled by all the idols he saw everywhere throughout the city.
17
He went to the synagogue for discussions with the Jews and the devout Gentiles, and spoke daily in the public square to all who happened to be there.
18
He also had an encounter with some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers. Their reaction, when he told them about Jesus and his resurrection, was, “He’s a dreamer,” or, “He’s pushing some foreign religion.”
19
But they invited him to the forum at Mars Hill. “Come and tell us more about this new religion,” they said,
20
“for you are saying some rather startling things and we want to hear more.”
21
(I should explain that all the Athenians as well as the foreigners in Athens seemed to spend all their time discussing the latest new ideas!)
22
So Paul, standing before them at the Mars Hill forum, addressed them as follows:
“Men of Athens, I notice that you are very religious,
23
for as I was out walking I saw your many altars, and one of them had this inscription on it—‘To the Unknown God.’ You have been worshiping him without knowing who he is, and now I wish to tell you about him.
24
“He made the world and everything in it, and since he is Lord of heaven and earth, he doesn’t live in man-made temples;
25
and human hands can’t minister to his needs—for he has no needs! He himself gives life and breath to everything, and satisfies every need there is.
26
He created all the people of the world from one man, Adam,
*
and scattered the nations across the face of the earth. He decided beforehand which should rise and fall, and when. He determined their boundaries.
27
“His purpose in all of this is that they should seek after God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him—though he is not far from any one of us.
28
For in him we live and move and are! As one of your own poets says it, ‘We are the sons of God.’
29
If this is true, we shouldn’t think of God as an idol made by men from gold or silver or chipped from stone.
30
God tolerated man’s past ignorance about these things, but now he commands everyone to put away idols and worship only him.
31
For he has set a day for justly judging the world by the man he has appointed, and has pointed him out by bringing him back to life again.”
32
When they heard Paul speak of the resurrection of a person who had been dead, some laughed, but others said, “We want to hear more about this later.”
33
That ended Paul’s discussion with them,
34
but a few joined him and became believers. Among them was Dionysius, a member of the City Council, and a woman named Damaris, and others.