The Daily Audio Bible

Jehoahaz King of Israel

13 Jehoahaz son of Jehu became king over Israel in Samaria during the twenty-third year Joash son of Ahaziah was king of Judah. Jehoahaz ruled seventeen years, ² and he did what the Lord said was wrong. Jehoahaz did the same sins Jeroboam son of Nebat had done. Jeroboam had led Israel to sin, and Jehoahaz did not stop doing these same sins. ³ So the Lord was angry with Israel and handed them over to Hazael king of Aram and his son Ben-Hadad for a long time.

⁴ Then Jehoahaz begged the Lord, and the Lord listened to him. The Lord had seen the troubles of Israel; he saw how terribly the king of Aram was treating them. ⁵ He gave Israel a man to save them, and they escaped from the Arameans. The Israelites then lived in their own homes as they had before, ⁶ but they still did not stop doing the same sins that the family of Jeroboam had done. He had led Israel to sin, and they continued doing those sins. The Asherah idol also was left standing in Samaria.

⁷ Nothing was left of Jehoahaz’s army except fifty horsemen, ten chariots, and ten thousand foot soldiers. The king of Aram had destroyed them and made them like chaff.

⁸ Everything else Jehoahaz did and all his victories are written in the book of the history of the kings of Israel. ⁹ Jehoahaz died and was buried in Samaria, and his son Jehoash became king in his place.

Jehoash King of Israel

¹⁰ Jehoash son of Jehoahaz became king of Israel in Samaria during Joash’s thirty-seventh year as king of Judah. Jehoash ruled sixteen years, ¹¹ and he did what the Lord said was wrong. He did not stop doing the same sins Jeroboam son of Nebat had done. Jeroboam had led Israel to sin, and Jehoash continued to do the same thing. ¹² Everything else he did and all his victories, including his war against Amaziah king of Judah, are written in the book of the history of the kings of Israel. ¹³ Jehoash died, and Jeroboam took his place on the throne. Jehoash was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel.

The Death of Elisha

¹⁴ At this time Elisha became sick. Before he died, Jehoash king of Israel went to Elisha and cried for him. Jehoash said, “My father, my father! The chariots of Israel and their horsemen!”

¹⁵ Elisha said to Jehoash, “Take a bow and arrows.” So he took a bow and arrows. ¹⁶ Then Elisha said to him, “Put your hand on the bow.” So Jehoash put his hand on the bow. Then Elisha put his hands on the king’s hands. ¹⁷ Elisha said, “Open the east window.” So Jehoash opened the window. Then Elisha said, “Shoot,” and Jehoash shot. Elisha said, “The Lord’s arrow of victory over Aram! You will defeat the Arameans at Aphek until you destroy them.”

¹⁸ Elisha said, “Take the arrows.” So Jehoash took them. Then Elisha said to him, “Strike the ground.” So Jehoash struck the ground three times and stopped. ¹⁹ The man of God was angry with him. “You should have struck five or six times!” Elisha said. “Then you would have struck Aram until you had completely destroyed it. But now you will defeat it only three times.”

²⁰ Then Elisha died and was buried.

At that time groups of Moabites would rob the land in the springtime. ²¹ Once as some Israelites were burying a man, suddenly they saw a group of Moabites coming. The Israelites threw the dead man into Elisha’s grave. When the man touched Elisha’s bones, the man came back to life and stood on his feet.

War with Aram

²² During all the days Jehoahaz was king, Hazael king of Aram troubled Israel. ²³ But the Lord was kind to the Israelites; he had mercy on them and helped them because of his agreement with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. To this day he has never wanted to destroy them or reject them.

²⁴ When Hazael king of Aram died, his son Ben-Hadad became king in his place. ²⁵ During a war Hazael had taken some cities from Jehoahaz, Jehoash’s father. Now Jehoash took back those cities from Hazael’s son Ben-Hadad. He defeated Ben-Hadad three times and took back the cities of Israel.

Amaziah King of Judah

14 Amaziah son of Joash became king of Judah during the second year Jehoash son of Jehoahaz was king of Israel. ² Amaziah was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he ruled twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother was named Jehoaddin, and she was from Jerusalem. ³ Amaziah did what the Lord said was right. He did everything his father Joash had done, but he did not do as his ancestor David had done. ⁴ The places where gods were worshiped were not removed, so the people still sacrificed and burned incense there.

⁵ As soon as Amaziah took control of the kingdom, he executed the officers who had murdered his father the king. ⁶ But he did not put to death the children of the murderers because of the rule written in the Book of the Teachings of Moses. The Lord had commanded: “Parents must not be put to death when their children do wrong, and children must not be put to death when their parents do wrong. Each must die for his own sins.”^[a]

⁷ In battle Amaziah killed ten thousand Edomites in the Valley of Salt. He also took the city of Sela. He called it Joktheel, as it is still called today.

⁸ Amaziah sent messengers to Jehoash son of Jehoahaz, the son of Jehu, king of Israel. They said, “Come, let’s meet face to face.”

⁹ Then Jehoash king of Israel answered Amaziah king of Judah, “A thornbush in Lebanon sent a message to a cedar tree in Lebanon. It said, ‘Let your daughter marry my son.’ But then a wild animal from Lebanon came by, walking on and crushing the thornbush. ¹⁰ You have defeated Edom, but you have become proud. Stay at home and brag. Don’t ask for trouble, or you and Judah will be defeated.”

¹¹ But Amaziah would not listen, so Jehoash king of Israel went to attack. He and Amaziah king of Judah faced each other in battle at Beth Shemesh in Judah. ¹² Israel defeated Judah, and every man of Judah ran away to his home. ¹³ At Beth Shemesh Jehoash king of Israel captured Amaziah king of Judah. (Amaziah was the son of Joash, who was the son of Ahaziah.) Jehoash went up to Jerusalem and broke down the wall of Jerusalem from the Gate of Ephraim to the Corner Gate, which was about six hundred feet. ¹⁴ He took all the gold and silver and all the utensils in the Temple of the Lord, and he took the treasuries of the palace and some hostages. Then he returned to Samaria.

¹⁵ The other acts of Jehoash and his victories, including his war against Amaziah king of Judah, are written in the book of the history of the kings of Israel. ¹⁶ Jehoash died and was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel, and his son Jeroboam became king in his place.

¹⁷ Amaziah son of Joash, the king of Judah, lived fifteen years after the death of Jehoash son of Jehoahaz, the king of Israel. ¹⁸ The other things Amaziah did are written in the book of the history of the kings of Judah. ¹⁹ The people in Jerusalem made plans against him. So he ran away to the town of Lachish, but they sent men after him to Lachish and killed him. ²⁰ They brought his body back on horses, and he was buried with his ancestors in Jerusalem, in the city of David.

²¹ Then all the people of Judah made Uzziah^[b] king in place of his father Amaziah. Uzziah was sixteen years old. ²² He rebuilt the town of Elath and made it part of Judah again after Amaziah died.

Jeroboam King of Israel

²³ Jeroboam son of Jehoash became king of Israel in Samaria during the fifteenth year Amaziah was king of Judah. (Amaziah was the son of Joash.) Jeroboam ruled forty-one years, ²⁴ and he did what the Lord said was wrong. Jeroboam son of Nebat had led Israel to sin, and Jeroboam son of Jehoash did not stop doing the same sins. ²⁵ Jeroboam won back Israel’s border from Lebo Hamath to the Dead Sea. This happened as the Lord, the God of Israel, had said through his servant Jonah son of Amittai, the prophet from Gath Hepher. ²⁶ The Lord had seen how the Israelites, both slave and free, were suffering terribly. No one was left who could help Israel. ²⁷ The Lord had not said he would completely destroy Israel from the world, so he saved the Israelites through Jeroboam son of Jehoash.

²⁸ Everything else Jeroboam did is written down—all his victories and how he won back from Judah the towns of Damascus and Hamath for Israel. All this is written in the book of the history of the kings of Israel. ²⁹ Jeroboam died and was buried with his ancestors, the kings of Israel. Jeroboam’s son Zechariah became king in his place.

²³ He stayed there for a while and then left and went through the regions of Galatia and Phrygia. He traveled from town to town in these regions, giving strength to all the followers.

Apollos in Ephesus and Corinth

²⁴ A Jew named Apollos came to Ephesus. He was born in the city of Alexandria and was a good speaker who knew the Scriptures well. ²⁵ He had been taught about the way of the Lord and was always very excited when he spoke and taught the truth about Jesus. But the only baptism Apollos knew about was the baptism that John^[a] taught. ²⁶ Apollos began to speak very boldly in the synagogue, and when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him to their home and helped him better understand the way of God. ²⁷ Now Apollos wanted to go to the country of Southern Greece. So the believers helped him and wrote a letter to the followers there, asking them to accept him. These followers had believed in Jesus because of God’s grace, and when Apollos arrived, he helped them very much. ²⁸ He argued very strongly with the Jews before all the people, clearly proving with the Scriptures that Jesus is the Christ.

Paul in Ephesus

19 While Apollos was in Corinth, Paul was visiting some places on the way to Ephesus. There he found some followers ² and asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?”

They said, “We have never even heard of a Holy Spirit.”

³ So he asked, “What kind of baptism did you have?”

They said, “It was the baptism that John taught.”

⁴ Paul said, “John’s baptism was a baptism of changed hearts and lives. He told people to believe in the one who would come after him, and that one is Jesus.”

⁵ When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. ⁶ Then Paul laid his hands on them,^[b] and the Holy Spirit came upon them. They began speaking different languages^[c] and prophesying. ⁷ There were about twelve people in this group.

⁸ Paul went into the synagogue and spoke out boldly for three months. He talked with the people and persuaded them to accept the things he said about the kingdom of God. ⁹ But some of them became stubborn. They refused to believe and said evil things about the Way of Jesus before all the people. So Paul left them, and taking the followers with him, he went to the school of a man named Tyrannus. There Paul talked with people every day ¹⁰ for two years. Because of his work, every Jew and Greek in Asia heard the word of the Lord.

The Sons of Sceva

¹¹ God used Paul to do some very special miracles. ¹² Some people took handkerchiefs and clothes that Paul had used and put them on the sick. When they did this, the sick were healed and evil spirits left them.

Praise God Who Helps the Weak