Today's Reading

¹The sons of the prophets said to Elisha, "See now, the place where we dwell before you is too small for us.

²Please let us go to the Jordan, and every man take a beam from there, and let us make us a place there, where we may dwell." He answered, "Go!"

³One said, "Please be pleased to go with your servants." He answered, "I will go."

⁴So he went with them. When they came to the Jordan, they cut down wood.

⁵But as one was felling a beam, the axe head fell into the water. Then he cried, and said, "Alas, my master! For it was borrowed."

⁶The man of God asked, "Where did it fall?" He showed him the place. He cut down a stick, threw it in there, and made the iron float.

⁷He said, "Take it." So he put out his hand and took it.

⁸Now the king of Syria was warring against Israel; and he took counsel with his servants, saying, "My camp will be in such and such a place."

⁹The man of God sent to the king of Israel, saying, "Beware that you not pass such a place; for the Syrians are coming down there."

¹⁰The king of Israel sent to the place which the man of God told him and warned him of; and he saved himself there, not once nor twice.

¹¹The heart of the king of Syria was very troubled about this. He called his servants, and said to them, "Won't you show me which of us is for the king of Israel?"

¹²One of his servants said, "No, my lord, O king; but Elisha, the prophet who is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the words that you speak in your bedroom."

¹³He said, "Go and see where he is, that I may send and get him." It was told him, saying, "Behold, he is in Dothan."

¹⁴Therefore he sent horses, chariots, and a great army there. They came by night, and surrounded the city.

¹⁵When the servant of the man of God had risen early, and gone out, behold, an army with horses and chariots was around the city. His servant said to him, "Alas, my master! What shall we do?"

¹⁶He answered, "Do not be afraid; for those who are with us are more than those who are with them."

¹⁷Elisha prayed, and said, "Lord, please open his eyes, that he may see." The Lord opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire around Elisha.

¹⁸When they came down to him, Elisha prayed to the Lord, and said, "Please strike this people with blindness." He struck them with blindness according to the word of Elisha.

¹⁹Elisha said to them, "This is not the way, neither is this the city. Follow me, and I will bring you to the man whom you seek." He led them to Samaria.

²⁰It happened, when they had come into Samaria, that Elisha said, "Lord, open the eyes of these men, that they may see." The Lord opened their eyes, and they saw; and behold, they were in the midst of Samaria.

²¹The king of Israel said to Elisha, when he saw them, "My father, shall I strike them? Shall I strike them?"

²²He answered, "You shall not strike them. Would you strike those whom you have taken captive with your sword and with your bow? Set bread and water before them, that they may eat and drink, and go to their master."

²³He prepared great feast for them. When they had eaten and drunk, he sent them away, and they went to their master. The bands of Syria stopped raiding the land of Israel.

²⁴It happened after this, that Benhadad king of Syria gathered all his army, and went up and besieged Samaria.

²⁵There was a great famine in Samaria. Behold, they besieged it, until a donkey's head was sold for eighty pieces of silver, and the fourth part of a kab of dove's dung for five pieces of silver.

²⁶As the king of Israel was passing by on the wall, a woman cried to him, saying, "Help, my lord, O king!"

²⁷He said, "If the Lord doesn't help you, from where could I help you? From of the threshing floor, or from the winepress?"

²⁸The king said to her, "What ails you?" She answered, "This woman said to me, 'Give your son, that we may eat him today, and we will eat my son tomorrow.'

²⁹So we boiled my son, and ate him: and I said to her on the next day, 'Give your son, that we may eat him;' and she has hidden her son."

³⁰It happened, when the king heard the words of the woman, that he tore his clothes (now he was passing by on the wall); and the people looked, and behold, he had sackcloth underneath on his flesh.

³¹Then he said, "God do so to me, and more also, if the head of Elisha the son of Shaphat shall stay on him this day."

³²But Elisha was sitting in his house, and the elders were sitting with him. Then the king sent a man from before him; but before the messenger came to him, he said to the elders, "Do you see how this son of a murderer has sent to take away my head? Behold, when the messenger comes, shut the door, and hold the door shut against him. Isn't the sound of his master's feet behind him?"

³³While he was still talking with them, behold, the messenger came down to him. Then he said, "Behold, this disaster is from the Lord. Why should I wait for the Lord any longer?"

¹Elisha said, "Hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord, 'Tomorrow about this time a measure of fine flour will be sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, in the gate of Samaria.'"

²Then the captain on whose hand the king leaned answered the man of God, and said, "Behold, if the Lord made windows in heaven, could this thing be?" He said, "Behold, you shall see it with your eyes, but shall not eat of it."

³Now there were four leprous men at the entrance of the gate. They said one to another, "Why do we sit here until we die?

⁴If we say, 'We will enter into the city,' then the famine is in the city, and we shall die there. If we sit still here, we also die. Now therefore come, and let us surrender to the army of the Syrians. If they save us alive, we will live; and if they kill us, we will only die."

⁵They rose up in the twilight, to go to the camp of the Syrians. When they had come to the outermost part of the camp of the Syrians, behold, there was no man there.

⁶For the Lord had made the army of the Syrians to hear a noise of chariots, and a noise of horses, even the noise of a great army: and they said one to another, Behold, the king of Israel has hired against us the kings of the Hittites, and the kings of the Egyptians, to come on us.

⁷Therefore they arose and fled in the twilight, and left their tents, and their horses, and their donkeys, even the camp as it was, and fled for their life.

⁸When these lepers came to the outermost part of the camp, they went into one tent, and ate and drink, and carried there silver, and gold, and clothing, and went and hid it. Then they came back, and entered into another tent, and carried there also, and went and hid it.

⁹Then they said one to another, "We aren't doing right. This day is a day of good news, and we keep silent. If we wait until the morning light, punishment will overtake us. Now therefore come, let us go and tell the king's household."

¹⁰So they came and called to the porter of the city; and they told them, saying, "We came to the camp of the Syrians, and, behold, there was no man there, neither voice of man, but the horses tied, and the donkeys tied, and the tents as they were."

¹¹He called the porters; and they told it to the king's household within.

¹²The king arose in the night, and said to his servants, "I will now show you what the Syrians have done to us. They know that we are hungry. Therefore are they gone out of the camp to hide themselves in the field, saying, 'When they come out of the city, we shall take them alive, and get into the city.'"

¹³One of his servants answered, "Please let some take five of the horses that remain, which are left in the city. Behold, they are like all the multitude of Israel who are left in it. Behold, they are like all the multitude of Israel who are consumed. Let us send and see."

¹⁴They took therefore two chariots with horses; and the king sent after the army of the Syrians, saying, "Go and see."

¹⁵They went after them to the Jordan; and behold, all the way was full of garments and vessels, which the Syrians had cast away in their haste. The messengers returned, and told the king.

¹⁶The people went out, and plundered the camp of the Syrians. So a measure of fine flour was sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, according to the word of the Lord.

¹⁷The king appointed the captain on whose hand he leaned to be in charge of the gate: and the people trod on him in the gate, and he died as the man of God had said, who spoke when the king came down to him.

¹⁸It happened, as the man of God had spoken to the king, saying, "Two measures of barley for a shekel, and a measure of fine flour for a shekel, shall be tomorrow about this time in the gate of Samaria";

¹⁹and that captain answered the man of God, and said, "Now, behold, if the Lord should make windows in heaven, might such a thing be?" and he said, "Behold, you shall see it with your eyes, but shall not eat of it."

²⁰It happened like that to him; for the people trod on him in the gate, and he died.

¹Now Elisha had spoken to the woman, whose son he had restored to life, saying, "Arise, and go, you and your household, and stay for a while wherever you can; for the Lord has called for a famine. It shall also come on the land seven years."

²The woman arose, and did according to the word of the man of God. She went with her household, and lived in the land of the Philistines seven years.

³It happened at the seven years' end, that the woman returned out of the land of the Philistines. Then she went forth to cry to the king for her house and for her land.

⁴Now the king was talking with Gehazi the servant of the man of God, saying, "Please tell me all the great things that Elisha has done."

⁵It happened, as he was telling the king how he had restored to life him who was dead, that behold, the woman, whose son he had restored to life, cried to the king for her house and for her land. Gehazi said, "My lord, O king, this is the woman, and this is her son, whom Elisha restored to life."

⁶When the king asked the woman, she told him. So the king appointed to her a certain officer, saying, "Restore all that was hers, and all the fruits of the field since the day that she left the land, even until now."

⁷Elisha came to Damascus; and Benhadad the king of Syria was sick. It was told him, saying, "The man of God has come here."

⁸The king said to Hazael, "Take a present in your hand, and go, meet the man of God, and inquire of the Lord by him, saying, 'Will I recover from this sickness?'"

⁹So Hazael went to meet him, and took a present with him, even of every good thing of Damascus, forty camels' burden, and came and stood before him, and said, "Your son Benhadad king of Syria has sent me to you, saying, 'Will I recover from this sickness?'"

¹⁰Elisha said to him, "Go, tell him, 'You shall surely recover;' however the Lord has shown me that he shall surely die."

¹¹He settled his gaze steadfastly on him, until he was ashamed. Then the man of God wept.

¹²Hazael said, "Why do you weep, my lord?" He answered, "Because I know the evil that you will do to the children of Israel. You will set their strongholds on fire, and you will kill their young men with the sword, and will dash in pieces their little ones, and rip up their women with child."

¹³Hazael said, "But what is your servant, who is but a dog, that he should do this great thing?" Elisha answered, "The Lord has shown me that you will be king over Syria."

¹⁴Then he departed from Elisha, and came to his master, who said to him, "What did Elisha say to you?" He answered, "He told me that you would surely recover."

¹⁵It happened on the next day, that he took a thick cloth, dipped it in water, and spread it on his face, so that he died. Then Hazael reigned in his place.

¹⁶In the fifth year of Joram the son of Ahab king of Israel, Jehoshaphat being king of Judah then, Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat king of Judah began to reign.

¹⁷He was thirty-two years old when he began to reign. He reigned eight years in Jerusalem.

¹⁸He walked in the way of the kings of Israel, as did the house of Ahab; for he had the daughter of Ahab as wife. He did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord.

¹⁹However the Lord would not destroy Judah, for David his servant's sake, as he promised him to give to him a lamp for his children always.

²⁰In his days Edom revolted from under the hand of Judah, and made a king over themselves.

²¹Then Joram passed over to Zair, and all his chariots with him: and he rose up by night, and struck the Edomites who surrounded him, and the captains of the chariots; and the people fled to their tents.

²²So Edom revolted from under the hand of Judah to this day. Then Libnah revolted at the same time.

²³The rest of the acts of Joram, and all that he did, aren't they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?

²⁴Joram slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David; and Ahaziah his son reigned in his place.

²⁵In the twelfth year of Joram the son of Ahab king of Israel, Ahaziah the son of Jehoram king of Judah began to reign.

²⁶Twenty-two years old was Ahaziah when he began to reign; and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Athaliah the daughter of Omri king of Israel.

²⁷He walked in the way of the house of Ahab, and did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, as did the house of Ahab; for he was the son-in-law of the house of Ahab.

²⁸He went with Joram the son of Ahab to war against Hazael king of Syria at Ramoth Gilead: and the Syrians wounded Joram.

²⁹King Joram returned to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds which the Syrians had given him at Ramah, when he fought against Hazael king of Syria. Ahaziah the son of Jehoram king of Judah went down to see Joram the son of Ahab in Jezreel, because he was sick.

¹After these things Paul departed from Athens, and came to Corinth.

²He found a certain Jew named Aquila, a man of Pontus by race, who had recently come from Italy, with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to depart from Rome. He came to them,

³and because he practiced the same trade, he lived with them and worked, for by trade they were tent makers.

⁴He reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, and persuaded Jews and Greeks.

⁵But when Silas and Timothy came down from Macedonia, Paul was compelled by the word, testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Messiah.

⁶When they opposed him and blasphemed, he shook out his clothing and said to them, "Your blood be on your own heads! I am clean. From now on, I will go to the Gentiles!"

⁷He departed there, and went into the house of a certain man named Titus Justus, one who worshiped God, whose house was next door to the synagogue.

⁸Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed in the Lord with all his house. Many of the Corinthians, when they heard, believed and were baptized.

⁹The Lord said to Paul in the night by a vision, "Do not be afraid, but speak and do not be silent;

¹⁰for I am with you, and no one will attack you to harm you, for I have many people in this city."

¹¹He lived there a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.

¹²But when Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews with one accord rose up against Paul and brought him before the judgment seat,

¹³saying, "This man persuades men to worship God contrary to the law."

¹⁴But when Paul was about to open his mouth, Gallio said to the Jews, "If indeed it were a matter of wrong or of wicked crime, you Jews, it would be reasonable that I should bear with you;

¹⁵but if they are questions about words and names and your own law, look to it yourselves. For I do not want to be a judge of these matters."

¹⁶He drove them from the judgment seat.

¹⁷Then all laid hold on Sosthenes, the ruler of the synagogue, and beat him before the judgment seat. Gallio did not care about any of these things.

¹⁸Paul, having stayed after this many more days, took his leave of the brothers, and sailed from there for Syria, together with Priscilla and Aquila. He shaved his head in Cenchreae, for he had a vow.

¹⁹They came to Ephesus, and he left them there; but he himself entered into the synagogue, and reasoned with the Jews.

²⁰When they asked him to stay a longer time, he declined;

²¹but taking his leave of them, and saying, "I will return again to you if God wills," he set sail from Ephesus.

²²When he had landed at Caesarea, he went up and greeted the church, and went down to Antioch.

²³Having spent some time there, he departed, and went through the region of Galatia, and Phrygia, in order, establishing all the disciples.

²⁴Now a certain Jew named Apollos, an Alexandrian by race, an eloquent man, came to Ephesus. He was mighty in the Scriptures.

²⁵This man had been instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in spirit, he spoke and taught accurately the things concerning Jesus, although he knew only the baptism of John.

²⁶He began to speak boldly in the synagogue. But when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside, and explained to him the way of God more accurately.

²⁷When he had determined to pass over into Achaia, the brothers encouraged him, and wrote to the disciples to receive him. When he had come, he greatly helped those who had believed through grace;

²⁸for he powerfully refuted the Jews, publicly showing by the Scriptures that Jesus was the Messiah.

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

²Let the redeemed by the Lord say so, whom he has redeemed from the hand of the adversary,

³And gathered out of the lands, from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south.

⁴They wandered in the wilderness in a desert way. They found no city to live in.

⁵Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in them.

⁶Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them out of their distresses,

⁷he led them also by a straight way, that they might go to a city to live in.

⁸Let them praise the Lord for his loving kindness, for his wonderful works to the children of men!

⁹For he satisfies the longing soul. He fills the hungry soul with good.

¹⁰Some sat in darkness and in the shadow of death, being bound in affliction and iron,

¹¹because they rebelled against the words of God, and condemned the counsel of the Most High.

¹²Therefore he brought down their heart with labor. They fell down, and there was none to help.

¹³Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he saved them out of their distresses.

¹⁴He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and broke their bonds in sunder.

¹⁵Let them praise the Lord for his loving kindness, for his wonderful works to the children of men!

¹⁶For he has broken the gates of brass, and cut through bars of iron.

¹⁷Fools are afflicted because of their disobedience, and because of their iniquities.

¹⁸Their soul abhors all kinds of food. They draw near to the gates of death.

¹⁹Then they cry to the Lord in their trouble, he saves them out of their distresses.

²⁰He sends his word, and heals them, and delivers them from their graves.

²¹Let them praise the Lord for his loving kindness, for his wonderful works to the children of men!

²²Let them offer the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and declare his works with singing.

²³Those who go down to the sea in ships, who do business in great waters;

²⁴These see the Lord's works, and his wonders in the deep.

²⁵For he commands, and raises the stormy wind, which lifts up its waves.

²⁶They mount up to the sky; they go down again to the depths. Their soul melts away because of trouble.

²⁷They reel back and forth, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits' end.

²⁸Then they cry to the Lord in their trouble, and he brings them out of their distress.

²⁹He makes the storm a calm, so that its waves are still.

³⁰Then they are glad because it is calm, so he brings them to their desired haven.

³¹Let them praise the Lord for his loving kindness, for his wonderful works for the children of men!

³²Let them exalt him also in the assembly of the people, and praise him in the seat of the elders.

³³He turns rivers into a desert, water springs into a thirsty ground,

³⁴and a fruitful land into a salt waste, for the wickedness of those who dwell in it.

³⁵He turns a desert into a pool of water, and a dry land into water springs.

³⁶There he makes the hungry live, that they may prepare a city to live in,

³⁷sow fields, plant vineyards, and reap the fruits of increase.

³⁸He blesses them also, so that they are multiplied greatly. He doesn't allow their livestock to decrease.

³⁹Again, they are diminished and bowed down through oppression, trouble, and sorrow.

⁴⁰He pours contempt on princes, and causes them to wander in a trackless waste.

⁴¹Yet he lifts the needy out of their affliction, and increases their families like a flock.

⁴²The upright will see it, and be glad. All the wicked will shut their mouths.

⁴³Whoever is wise will pay attention to these things. They will consider the loving kindnesses of the Lord.

¹Every wise woman builds her house, but the foolish one tears it down with her own hands.

²He who walks in his uprightness fears the Lord, but he who is perverse in his ways despises him.

³The fool's talk brings a rod to his back, but the lips of the wise protect them.

⁴Where no oxen are, the crib is clean, but much increase is by the strength of the ox.

⁵A truthful witness will not lie, but a false witness pours out lies.

⁶A scoffer seeks wisdom, and doesn't find it, but knowledge comes easily to a discerning person.

⁷Stay away from a foolish man, for you won't find knowledge on his lips.

⁸The wisdom of the prudent is to think about his way, but the folly of fools is deceit.

⁹Fools mock at making atonement for sins, but among the upright there is good will.

¹⁰The heart knows its own bitterness and joy; he will not share these with a stranger.

¹¹The house of the wicked will be overthrown, but the tent of the upright will flourish.

¹²There is a way which seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.

¹³Even in laughter the heart may be sorrowful, and mirth may end in heaviness.

¹⁴The unfaithful will be repaid for his own ways; likewise a good man will be rewarded for his ways.

¹⁵A simple man believes everything, but the prudent man carefully considers his ways.

¹⁶A wise man fears, and shuns evil, but the fool is hotheaded and reckless.

¹⁷He who is quick to become angry will commit folly, and a crafty man is hated.

¹⁸The simple inherit folly, but the prudent are crowned with knowledge.

¹⁹The evil bow down before the good, and the wicked at the gates of the righteous.

²⁰The poor person is shunned even by his own neighbor, but the rich person has many friends.

²¹He who despises his neighbor sins, but blessed is he who has pity on the poor.

²²Do they not go astray who plot evil? But love and faithfulness belong to those who plan good.

²³In all hard work there is profit, but the talk of the lips leads only to poverty.

²⁴The crown of the wise is their riches, but the folly of fools crowns them with folly.

²⁵A truthful witness saves souls, but a false witness is deceitful.

²⁶In the fear of the Lord is a secure fortress, and he will be a refuge for his children.

²⁷The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, turning people from the snares of death.

²⁸In the multitude of people is the king's glory, but in the lack of people is the destruction of the prince.

²⁹He who is slow to anger has great understanding, but he who has a quick temper displays folly.

³⁰The life of the body is a heart at peace, but envy rots the bones.

³¹He who oppresses the poor shows contempt for his Maker, but he who is kind to the needy honors him.

³²The wicked is brought down in his calamity, but in death, the righteous has a refuge.

³³Wisdom rests in the heart of one who has understanding, and is even made known in the inward part of fools.

³⁴Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people.

³⁵The king's favor is toward a servant who deals wisely, but his wrath is toward one who causes shame.