Today's Reading

¹Now Jehoram the son of Ahab began to reign over Israel in Samaria in the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and reigned twelve years.

²He did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, but not like his father, and like his mother; for he put away the pillar of Baal that his father had made.

³Nevertheless he held to the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, with which he made Israel to sin; he did not depart from it.

⁴Now Mesha king of Moab was a sheep breeder; and he rendered to the king of Israel the wool of one hundred thousand lambs, and of one hundred thousand rams.

⁵But it happened, when Ahab was dead, that the king of Moab rebelled against the king of Israel.

⁶King Jehoram went out of Samaria at that time, and mustered all Israel.

⁷He went and sent to Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, saying, "The king of Moab has rebelled against me. Will you go with me against Moab to battle?" He said, "I will go up. I am as you are, my people as your people, my horses as your horses."

⁸He said, "Which way shall we go up?" He answered, "The way of the wilderness of Edom."

⁹So the king of Israel went, and the king of Judah, and the king of Edom; and they made a circuit of seven days' journey. There was no water for the army, nor for the animals that followed them.

¹⁰The king of Israel said, "Alas! For the Lord has called these three kings together to deliver them into the hand of Moab."

¹¹But Jehoshaphat said, "Isn't there here a prophet of the Lord, that we may inquire of the Lord by him?" One of the king of Israel's servants answered, "Elisha the son of Shaphat is here, who poured water on the hands of Elijah."

¹²Jehoshaphat said, "The word of the Lord is with him." So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat and the king of Edom went down to him.

¹³Elisha said to the king of Israel, "What have I to do with you? Go to the prophets of your father, and to the prophets of your mother." The king of Israel said to him, "No; for the Lord has called these three kings together to deliver them into the hand of Moab."

¹⁴Elisha said, "As the Lord of hosts lives, before whom I stand, surely, were it not that I respect the presence of Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, I would not look toward you, nor see you.

¹⁵But now bring me a minstrel." It happened, when the minstrel played, that the hand of the Lord came on him.

¹⁶He said, "Thus says the Lord, 'Make this valley full of trenches.'

¹⁷For thus says the Lord, 'You will not see wind, neither will you see rain; yet that valley shall be filled with water, and you will drink, both you and your livestock and your animals.

¹⁸This is but a light thing in the sight of the Lord. He will also deliver the Moabites into your hand.

¹⁹You shall strike every fortified city, and every choice city, and shall fell every good tree, and stop all springs of water, and mar every good piece of land with stones.'"

²⁰It happened in the morning, about the time of offering the offering, that behold, water came by the way of Edom, and the country was filled with water.

²¹Now when all the Moabites heard that the kings had come up to fight against them, they gathered themselves together, all who were able to put on armor, and upward, and stood on the border.

²²They rose up early in the morning, and the sun shone on the water, and the Moabites saw the water over against them as red as blood.

²³They said, "This is blood. The kings are surely destroyed, and they have struck each other. Now therefore, Moab, to the spoil!"

²⁴When they came to the camp of Israel, the Israelites rose up and struck the Moabites, so that they fled before them; and they went forward into the land smiting the Moabites.

²⁵They beat down the cities; and on every good piece of land they cast every man his stone, and filled it; and they stopped all the springs of water, and felled all the good trees, until in Kir Hareseth only they left its stones; however the men armed with slings went about it, and struck it.

²⁶When the king of Moab saw that the battle was too severe for him, he took with him seven hundred men who drew sword, to break through to the king of Edom; but they could not.

²⁷Then he took his eldest son who would have reigned in his place, and offered him for a burnt offering on the wall. There was great wrath against Israel: and they departed from him, and returned to their own land.

¹Now there cried a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets to Elisha, saying, "Your servant my husband is dead. You know that your servant feared the Lord. Now the creditor has come to take for himself my two children to be slaves."

²Elisha said to her, "What shall I do for you? Tell me: what do you have in the house?" She said, "Your handmaid has nothing in the house, except a pot of oil."

³Then he said, "Go, borrow containers from of all your neighbors, even empty containers. Do not borrow just a few.

⁴You shall go in, and shut the door on you and on your sons, and pour out into all those containers; and you shall set aside that which is full."

⁵So she went from him, and shut the door on her and on her sons; they brought the containers to her, and she poured out.

⁶It happened, when the containers were full, that she said to her son, "Bring me another container." He said to her, "There isn't another container." The oil stopped flowing.

⁷Then 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."

⁸It fell on a day, that Elisha passed to Shunem, where there was a prominent woman; and she persuaded him to eat bread. So it was, that as often as he passed by, he turned in there to eat bread.

⁹She said to her husband, "See now, I perceive that this is a holy man of God, that passes by us continually.

¹⁰Please let us make a little room on the wall. Let us set for him there a bed, a table, a chair, and a lamp stand. It shall be, when he comes to us, that he shall turn in there."

¹¹One day he came there, and he turned into the room and lay there.

¹²He said to Gehazi his servant, "Call this Shunammite." When he had called her, she stood before him.

¹³He said to him, "Say now to her, 'Behold, you have cared for us with all this care. What is to be done for you? Would you like to be spoken for to the king, or to the captain of the army?'" She answered, "I dwell among my own people."

¹⁴He said, "What then is to be done for her?" Gehazi answered, "Most certainly she has no son, and her husband is old."

¹⁵He said, "Call her." When he had called her, she stood in the door.

¹⁶He said, "At this season, when the time comes around, you will embrace a son." She said, "No, my lord, you man of God, do not lie to your handmaid."

¹⁷The woman conceived, and bore a son at that season, when the time came around, as Elisha had said to her.

¹⁸When the child was grown, it happened one day that he went out to his father to the reapers.

¹⁹He said to his father, "My head! My head!" He said to his servant, "Carry him to his mother."

²⁰When he had taken him, and brought him to his mother, he sat on her knees until noon, and then died.

²¹She went up and laid him on the bed of the man of God, and shut the door on him, and went out.

²²She called to her husband, and said, "Please send me one of the servants, and one of the donkeys, that I may run to the man of God, and come again."

²³He said, "Why would you want go to him today? It is neither new moon nor Sabbath." She said, "It's alright."

²⁴Then she saddled a donkey, and said to her servant, "Drive, and go forward! Do not slow down for me, unless I ask you to."

²⁵So she went, and came to the man of God to Mount Carmel. It happened, when the man of God saw her afar off, that he said to Gehazi his servant, "Behold, there is the Shunammite.

²⁶Please run now to meet her, and ask her, 'Is it well with you? Is it well with your husband? Is it well with the child?'" She answered, "It is well."

²⁷When she came to the man of God to the hill, she caught hold of his feet. Gehazi came near to thrust her away; but the man of God said, "Leave her alone; for her soul is troubled within her; and the Lord has hidden it from me, and has not told me."

²⁸Then she said, "Did I desire a son of my lord? Did I not say, Do not deceive me?"

²⁹Then he said to Gehazi, "Tuck your cloak into your belt, take my staff in your hand, and go your way. If you meet any man, do not greet him; and if anyone greets you, do not answer him again. Then lay my staff on the face of the child."

³⁰The mother of the child said, "As the Lord lives, and as your soul lives, I will not leave you." He arose, and followed her.

³¹Gehazi passed on before them, and laid the staff on the face of the child; but there was neither voice, nor hearing. Therefore he returned to meet him, and told him, saying, "The child has not awakened."

³²When Elisha had come into the house, behold, the child was dead, and lay on his bed.

³³He went in therefore, and shut the door on them both, and prayed to the Lord.

³⁴He went up, and lay on the child, and put his mouth on his mouth, and his eyes on his eyes, and his hands on his hands. He stretched himself on him; and the flesh of the child grew warm.

³⁵Then he returned, and walked in the house once back and forth; and went up, and stretched himself on him. Then the child sneezed seven times, and the child opened his eyes.

³⁶He called Gehazi, and said, "Call this Shunammite!" So he called her. When she had come in to him, he said, "Take up your son."

³⁷Then she went in, and fell at his feet, and bowed herself to the ground; and she took up her son, and went out.

³⁸Elisha came again to Gilgal. There was a famine in the land; and the sons of the prophets were sitting before him; and he said to his servant, "Set on the great pot, and boil stew for the sons of the prophets."

³⁹One went out into the field to gather herbs, and found a wild vine, and gathered of it wild gourds his lap full, and came and shred them into the pot of stew; for they did not recognize them.

⁴⁰So they poured out for the men to eat. It happened, as they were eating of the stew, that they cried out, and said, "Man of God, there is death in the pot!" They could not eat of it.

⁴¹But he said, "Then bring meal." He cast it into the pot; and he said, "Pour out for the people, that they may eat." There was no harm in the pot.

⁴²A man from Baal Shalishah came, and brought the man of God bread of the first fruits, twenty loaves of barley, and fresh ears of grain in his sack. He said, "Give to the people, that they may eat."

⁴³His servant said, "What, should I set this before a hundred men?" But he said, "Give the people, that they may eat; for thus says the Lord, 'They will eat, and will have some left over.'"

⁴⁴So he set it before them, and they ate, and left some of it, according to the word of the Lord.

¹Now Naaman, captain of the army of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master, and honorable, because by him the Lord had given victory to Syria: he was also a mighty man of valor, but he was a leper.

²The Syrians had gone out in bands, and had brought away captive out of the land of Israel a little maiden; and she waited on Naaman's wife.

³She said to her mistress, "I wish that my lord were with the prophet who is in Samaria! Then he would heal him of his leprosy."

⁴Someone went in, and told his lord, saying, "The maiden who is from the land of Israel said this."

⁵The king of Syria said, "Go now, and I will send a letter to the king of Israel." He departed, and took with him ten talents of silver, and six thousand pieces of gold, and ten changes of clothing.

⁶He brought the letter to the king of Israel, saying, "Now when this letter has come to you, behold, I have sent Naaman my servant to you, that you may heal him of his leprosy."

⁷It happened, when the king of Israel had read the letter, that he tore his clothes, and said, "Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man sends to me to heal a man of his leprosy? But please consider and see how he seeks a quarrel against me."

⁸It was so, when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, that he sent to the king, saying, "Why have you torn your clothes? Let him come now to me, and he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel."

⁹So Naaman came with his horses and with his chariots, and stood at the door of the house of Elisha.

¹⁰Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, "Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall come again to you, and you shall be clean."

¹¹But Naaman was angry, and went away, and said, "Behold, I thought, 'He will surely come out to me, and stand, and call on the name of the Lord his God, and wave his hand over the place, and heal the leper.'

¹²Aren't Abanah and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Couldn't I wash in them, and be clean?" So he turned and went away in a rage.

¹³His servants came near, and spoke to him, and said, "My father, if the prophet had asked you do some great thing, wouldn't you have done it? How much rather then, when he says to you, 'Wash, and be clean?'"

¹⁴Then went he down, and dipped himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God; and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.

¹⁵He returned to the man of God, he and all his company, and came, and stood before him; and he said, "See now, I know that there is no God in all the earth, but in Israel. Now therefore, please take a gift from your servant."

¹⁶But he said, "As the Lord lives, before whom I stand, I will receive none." He urged him to take it; but he refused.

¹⁷Naaman said, "If not, then, please let two mules' burden of earth be given to your servant; for your servant will from now on offer neither burnt offering nor sacrifice to other gods, but to the Lord.

¹⁸In this thing may the Lord pardon your servant: when my master goes into the house of Rimmon to worship there, and he leans on my hand, and I bow myself in the house of Rimmon. When I bow myself in the house of Rimmon, may the Lord pardon your servant in this thing."

¹⁹He said to him, "Go in peace." So he departed from him a little way.

²⁰But Gehazi the servant of Elisha the man of God, said, "Behold, my master has spared this Naaman the Syrian, in not receiving at his hands that which he brought. As the Lord lives, I will run after him, and take something from him."

²¹So Gehazi followed after Naaman. When Naaman saw one running after him, he came down from the chariot to meet him, and said, "Is all well?"

²²He said, "All is well. My master has sent me, saying, 'Behold, even now two young men of the sons of the prophets have come to me from the hill country of Ephraim. Please give them a talent of silver and two changes of clothing.'"

²³Naaman said, "Be pleased to take two talents." He urged him, and bound two talents of silver in two bags, with two changes of clothing, and laid them on two of his servants; and they carried them before him.

²⁴When he came to the hill, he took them from their hand, and stored them in the house. Then he let the men go, and they departed.

²⁵But he went in, and stood before his master. Elisha said to him, "Where did you come from, Gehazi?" He said, "Your servant went nowhere."

²⁶He said to him, "Did not my heart go with you, when the man turned from his chariot to meet you? Is it a time to receive money, and to receive garments, and olive groves and vineyards, and sheep and cattle, and male servants and female servants?

²⁷Therefore the leprosy of Naaman will cling to you and to your seed forever." He went out from his presence a leper, as white as snow.

¹Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue.

²Paul, as was his custom, went in to them, and for three Sabbath days reasoned with them from the Scriptures,

³explaining and demonstrating that the Messiah had to suffer and rise again from the dead, and saying, "This Jesus, whom I proclaim to you, is the Messiah."

⁴Some of them were persuaded, and joined Paul and Silas, of the devout Greeks a great multitude, and not a few of the chief women.

⁵But the Jews, being moved with jealousy, took along some wicked men from the marketplace, and gathering a crowd, set the city in an uproar. Assaulting the house of Jason, they sought to bring them out to the people.

⁶When they did not find them, they dragged Jason and certain brothers before the rulers of the city, crying, "These who have turned the world upside down have come here also,

⁷whom Jason has received. These all act contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, Jesus!"

⁸The multitude and the rulers of the city were troubled when they heard these things.

⁹When they had taken security from Jason and the rest, they let them go.

¹⁰The brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Beroea. When they arrived, they went into the Jewish synagogue.

¹¹Now these were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of the mind, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so.

¹²Many of them therefore believed; also of the prominent Greek women, and not a few men.

¹³But when the Jews of Thessalonica had knowledge that the word of God was proclaimed by Paul at Beroea also, they came there likewise, agitating the multitudes.

¹⁴Then the brothers immediately sent out Paul to go as far as to the sea, and Silas and Timothy still stayed there.

¹⁵But those who escorted Paul brought him as far as Athens. Receiving a commandment to Silas and Timothy that they should come to him very quickly, they departed.

¹⁶Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him as he saw the city full of idols.

¹⁷So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the devout persons, and in the marketplace every day with those who met him.

¹⁸Some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also were conversing with him. Some said, "What does this babbler want to say?" Others said, "He seems to be advocating foreign deities," because he preached Jesus and the resurrection.

¹⁹They took hold of him, and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, "May we know what this new teaching is, which is spoken by you?

²⁰For you bring certain strange things to our ears. We want to know therefore what these things mean."

²¹Now all the Athenians and the strangers living there spent their time in nothing else, but either to tell or to hear some new thing.

²²Paul stood in the middle of the Areopagus, and said, "You men of Athens, I perceive that you are very religious in all things.

²³For as I passed along, and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription: 'TO AN UNKNOWN God.' What therefore you worship in ignorance, this I announce to you.

²⁴The God who made the world and all things in it, he, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands,

²⁵neither is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, seeing he himself gives to all life and breath, and all things.

²⁶He made from one every nation of men to dwell on all the surface of the earth, having determined appointed seasons, and the boundaries of their dwellings,

²⁷that they should seek God, if perhaps they might reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us.

²⁸'For in him we live, and move, and have our being.' As some of your own poets have said, 'For we are also his offspring.'

²⁹Being then the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold, or silver, or stone, engraved by art and design of man.

³⁰The times of ignorance therefore God overlooked. But now he commands that all people everywhere should repent,

³¹because he has appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness by the man whom he has ordained; of which he has given assurance to all men, in that he has raised him from the dead."

³²Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked; but others said, "We want to hear you again concerning this."

³³Thus Paul went out from among them.

³⁴But certain men joined with him, and believed, among whom also was Dionysius the Areopagite, and a woman named Damaris, and others with them.

¹Praise Yah! Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his loving kindness endures forever.

²Who can utter the mighty acts of the Lord, or fully declare all his praise?

³Blessed are those who keep justice. Blessed is one who does what is right at all times.

⁴Remember me, Lord, with the favor that you show to your people. Visit me with your salvation,

⁵that I may see the prosperity of your chosen, that I may rejoice in the gladness of your nation, that I may glory with your inheritance.

⁶We have sinned with our fathers. We have committed iniquity. We have done wickedly.

⁷Our fathers did not understand your wonders in Egypt. They did not remember the multitude of your loving kindnesses, but were rebellious at the sea, even at the Red Sea.

⁸Nevertheless he saved them for his name's sake, that he might make his mighty power known.

⁹He rebuked the Red Sea also, and it was dried up; so he led them through the depths, as through a desert.

¹⁰He saved them from the hand of him who hated them, and redeemed them from the hand of the enemy.

¹¹The waters covered their adversaries. There was not one of them left.

¹²Then they believed his words. They sang his praise.

¹³They soon forgot his works. They did not wait for his counsel,

¹⁴but gave in to craving in the desert, and tested God in the wasteland.

¹⁵He gave them their request, but sent leanness into their soul.

¹⁶They envied Moses also in the camp, and Aaron, the Lord's holy one.

¹⁷The earth opened and swallowed up Dathan, and covered the company of Abiram.

¹⁸A fire was kindled in their company. The flame burned up the wicked.

¹⁹They made a calf in Horeb, and worshiped a molten image.

²⁰Thus they exchanged their glory for an image of a bull that eats grass.

²¹They forgot God, their Savior, who had done great things in Egypt,

²²Wondrous works in the land of Ham, and awesome things by the Red Sea.

²³Therefore he said that he would destroy them, had Moses, his chosen, not stood before him in the breach, to turn away his wrath, so that he wouldn't destroy them.

²⁴Yes, they despised the pleasant land. They did not believe his word,

²⁵but murmured in their tents, and did not listen to the Lord's voice.

²⁶Therefore he swore to them that he would overthrow them in the wilderness,

²⁷that he would overthrow their seed among the nations, and scatter them in the lands.

²⁸They joined themselves also to Baal Peor, and ate the sacrifices of the dead.

²⁹Thus they provoked him to anger with their deeds. The plague broke in on them.

³⁰Then Phinehas stood up, and executed judgment, so the plague was stopped.

³¹That was credited to him for righteousness, for all generations to come.

³²They angered him also at the waters of Meribah, so that Moses was troubled for their sakes;

³³because they were rebellious against his spirit, he spoke rashly with his lips.

³⁴They did not destroy the peoples, as the Lord commanded them,

³⁵but mixed themselves with the nations, and learned their works.

³⁶They served their idols, which became a snare to them.

³⁷Yes, they sacrificed their sons and their daughters to demons.

³⁸They shed innocent blood, even the blood of their sons and of their daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan. The land was polluted with blood.

³⁹Thus were they defiled with their works, and prostituted themselves in their deeds.

⁴⁰Therefore the Lord burned with anger against his people. He abhorred his inheritance.

⁴¹He gave them into the hand of the nations. Those who hated them ruled over them.

⁴²Their enemies also oppressed them. They were brought into subjection under their hand.

⁴³Many times he delivered them, but they were rebellious in their counsel, and were brought low in their iniquity.

⁴⁴Nevertheless he regarded their distress, when he heard their cry.

⁴⁵He remembered for them his covenant, and repented according to the multitude of his loving kindnesses.

⁴⁶He made them also to be pitied by all those who carried them captive.

⁴⁷Save us, Lord, our God, gather us from among the nations, to give thanks to your holy name, to triumph in your praise!

⁴⁸Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, from everlasting even to everlasting! Let all the people say, "Amen." Praise the Lord!

¹A wise son listens to his father's instruction, but a scoffer doesn't listen to rebuke.

²By the fruit of his lips, a man enjoys good things; but the unfaithful crave violence.

³He who guards his mouth guards his soul. One who opens wide his lips comes to ruin.

⁴The soul of the sluggard desires, and has nothing, but the desire of the diligent shall be fully satisfied.

⁵A righteous man hates lies, but a wicked man brings shame and disgrace.

⁶Righteousness guards the way of integrity, but wickedness overthrows the sinner.

⁷There are some who pretend to be rich, yet have nothing. There are some who pretend to be poor, yet have great wealth.

⁸The ransom of a man's life is his riches, but the poor hear no threats.

⁹The light of the righteous shines brightly, but the lamp of the wicked is snuffed out.

¹⁰Pride only breeds quarrels, but with ones who take advice is wisdom.

¹¹Wealth gained dishonestly dwindles away, but he who gathers by hand makes it grow.

¹²Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but when longing is fulfilled, it is a tree of life.

¹³Whoever despises instruction will pay for it, but he who respects a command will be rewarded.

¹⁴The teaching of the wise is a spring of life, to turn from the snares of death.

¹⁵Good understanding wins favor; but the way of the unfaithful is hard.

¹⁶Every prudent man acts from knowledge, but a fool exposes folly.

¹⁷A wicked messenger falls into trouble, but a trustworthy envoy gains healing.

¹⁸Poverty and shame come to him who refuses discipline, but he who heeds correction shall be honored.

¹⁹Longing fulfilled is sweet to the soul, but fools detest turning from evil.

²⁰One who walks with wise men grows wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm.

²¹Misfortune pursues sinners, but prosperity rewards the righteous.

²²A good man leaves an inheritance to his children's children, but the wealth of the sinner is stored for the righteous.

²³An abundance of food is in poor people's fields, but injustice sweeps it away.

²⁴One who spares the rod hates his son, but one who loves him is careful to discipline him.

²⁵The righteous one eats to the satisfying of his soul, but the belly of the wicked goes hungry.