The Daily Audio Bible
Today's audio is from the NIV. Switch to the NIV to read along with the audio.
18 One day, when the child was older, he went out to see his father. His father was working in a field with his men at harvest time. 19 He said to his father, ‘My head is hurting! Yes, it hurts!’ His father said to a servant, ‘Carry the boy to his mother.’ 20 So the servant lifted him up and he carried him to his mother. The boy sat on his mother's knees until midday. Then he died. 21 She took the boy upstairs and she put him on the bed of the man of God. Then she went out of the room and she shut the door. 22 She sent a message to her husband. She said, ‘Send to me one of the servants with one of the donkeys. I must go quickly to see the man of God and then I will return.’ 23 Her husband asked, ‘Why do you want to go and see him today? It is not a special day with a new moon. It is not a Sabbath day.’ She said, ‘All is well.’ 24 Then she prepared the donkey. She said to her servant, ‘You go ahead and lead! Go as fast as you can unless I say, “Go more slowly.” ’
25 So the woman went to see Elisha, the man of God, at Mount Carmel. Elisha saw her when she was a long way away. He said to his servant Gehazi, ‘Look! There is the woman from Shunem! 26 Run to meet her. Ask her, “Are you well? Is your husband well? Is your son well?” ’ The woman replied, ‘All is well.’ 27 But when she reached the man of God at Mount Carmel, she took hold of his feet. Gehazi came to push her away. But the man of God said, ‘Leave her alone. She is very upset. But the Lord has hidden the reason from me. He did not tell me about her problem.’
28 The woman said, ‘My master, I did not ask you for a son, did I? I told you not to tell me lies. ’
29 Elisha said to Gehazi, ‘Tie your belt around you. Prepare to travel! Take my stick with you and run there quickly. If you meet anyone, do not stop to speak. If anyone speaks to you, do not stop to answer them. When you get there, put my stick on the boy's face.’ 30 But the child's mother said, ‘I promise you, as surely as the Lord lives and you live, I will not leave you.’ So Elisha got up and he went back to Shunem with her.
31 Gehazi ran ahead and he arrived before they did. He put Elisha's stick on the boy's face. But the boy did not move or make any sound. So Gehazi went back to meet Elisha. He said to him, ‘The boy did not wake up.’
32 When Elisha arrived at the house, the boy was lying on the bed. He saw that the boy was dead. 33 Elisha went into the room by himself. He shut the door. Elisha prayed to the Lord. 34 Then he got onto the bed and he lay across the boy. He put his mouth on the boy's mouth. He put his eyes over the boy's eyes. He put his hands on the boy's hands. When he lay across the boy's body, it became warm.
35 Elisha went away from the bed. He walked round the room a few times. Then he got onto the bed again. He lay down across the boy. The boy sneezed seven times and then he opened his eyes.[a] 36 Then Elisha called Gehazi to come to him. He said, ‘Tell the boy's mother to come here.’ Gehazi did that. When the woman came, Elisha said to her, ‘Take your son.’ 37 She came in to the room. She bent down low near Elisha's feet with her face towards the ground. Then she took her son and she left the room.
Elisha does some more miracles
38 After that, Elisha went back to Gilgal. There was a famine in that region. The group of prophets came to meet with Elisha. He said to his servant, ‘Put the large pot over the fire. Cook some soup for the prophets.’ 39 One of the prophets went out into the fields to get some herbs to put in the soup. He found a wild plant and he picked some of its fruits. He filled the pockets of his coat with them. He brought the fruits back with him and he cut them into pieces. He put the pieces into the pot of soup. But he did not know what they were.
40 They poured out the soup for the men to eat. But when they started to eat it, they shouted, ‘Man of God, this soup will kill us!’ They could not eat it. 41 Then Elisha said, ‘Bring some flour.’ He put the flour into the pot. He said, ‘Now pour out some more soup for the people to eat.’ Then there was nothing in the soup that would hurt them.
42 One day, a man came from Baal Shalishah. He brought 20 bread loaves for the man of God. The flour for the bread was made from the first barley that he had picked at harvest time. He also brought some fresh grain. Elisha said, ‘Give this food to the people to eat.’ 43 But his servant said, ‘There is not enough food here to feed 100 men!’ Elisha said, ‘Give it to the people for them to eat. Do it, because the Lord says, “They will all eat as much as they want. There will even be some food left.” ’ 44 So the servant gave the bread to the prophets to eat. They ate as much as they wanted and some food still remained. The Lord had said that this would happen.
God makes Naaman well again
5 Naaman was the leader of the king of Syria's army. Naaman's master respected him as a great man. The Lord had used Naaman to help Syria win wars against their enemies. Naaman was a brave soldier, but he had a bad disease of his skin.[b]
2 Groups of soldiers from Syria had gone to attack places in Israel. They had caught a young girl as their prisoner. She became a servant of Naaman's wife. 3 One day, the girl said to her master's wife, ‘I would like my master Naaman to meet the prophet who is in Samaria. The prophet would take away his disease.’
4 So Naaman went to see his master, the king of Syria. He told him what the girl from Israel had said. 5 The king of Syria replied, ‘Go to meet this prophet! I will send a letter to the king of Israel.’ So Naaman went to Israel. He took with him 30,000 pieces of silver, 6,000 pieces of gold, and 10 sets of clothes. 6 He also took the letter for the king of Israel. The message from the king of Syria said, ‘I am sending my servant Naaman to you, with this letter. I want you to take away the disease of his skin.’
7 When the king of Israel read the letter, he was very upset. He tore his clothes. He said, ‘I am not God, am I? I cannot kill people or make them alive again. Why does he think that I can make this man well again? I see that he is trying to start a fight with me.’
8 Elisha, the man of God, heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes. So he sent this message to him: ‘You did not have to tear your clothes. Tell the man from Syria to come to me. Then he will know that there is a true prophet in Israel.’
9 So Naaman went to see Elisha. He took with him his horses and his chariots. He stood outside the door of Elisha's house. 10 Elisha sent his servant with a message to Naaman. He said, ‘Go to the Jordan River. Wash yourself seven times in the river. Then your skin will be clean again. You will not have the disease.’
11 But Naaman was angry and he went away. He said, ‘I thought that the prophet would come out of his house to see me. Then he would stand here with me. He would pray in the name of the Lord his God. Then he would move his hand over the bad place in my skin. After that my skin would be clean again. That is what I thought he would do. 12 The Abana and Pharpar rivers in Damascus are better than any of the rivers in Israel. Surely, I could wash in those rivers and become clean!’ So Naaman turned around and he went away. He was very angry.
13 But Naaman's servants went to him. One of them said, ‘My master, the prophet might have asked you to do something very difficult. Then you surely would have done it! Now he says to you, “Wash yourself! Then you will be clean.” That is much easier for you to do.’
14 So Naaman went down to the Jordan River. He washed himself in it seven times, as the man of God had told him to do. Naaman's skin became well again. It became as clean as a young child's skin.
15 Then Naaman and all his servants went back to see Elisha, the man of God. Naaman stood in front of him and he said, ‘Now I know that there is no God in the whole world except the one in Israel. Please accept a gift from me, your servant.’ 16 But Elisha replied, ‘I serve the Lord. I promise you, as surely as he lives, I will not accept a gift from you.’ Naaman asked him many times to accept a gift but Elisha refused.
17 So Naaman said, ‘So, you will not accept my gift. But please agree to let me take home some soil from here. I will take as much soil as two mules can carry. Then I will never again make any sacrifices or burnt offerings to any other god. I will only worship the Lord. 18 But I pray that the Lord will forgive me, your servant, when I do this one thing: My master, the king of Syria, often goes into the temple of our god, Rimmon. When he bends down low to worship Rimmon, he takes hold of my arm. So I also have to bend down low with him. I ask the Lord to forgive me when I do that.’
19 Elisha said to Naaman, ‘Go home with peace in your mind.’ Then Naaman started on his way home.
20 Elisha's servant, Gehazi, thought, ‘My master did not accept the gifts that Naaman offered to him. He made it too easy for that Syrian man. As surely as the Lord lives, I will run after him. I will accept a gift from him.’ 21 So Gehazi ran quickly after Naaman before he had gone very far. Naaman saw that a man was running after him. So he got down from his chariot to meet him. Naaman asked Gehazi, ‘Is everything well?’ 22 Gehazi answered, ‘Everything is well. My master sent me with this message: “Two young men from the group of prophets have just arrived at my house. They have come from the hill country of Ephraim. Please give them 3,000 pieces of silver and two sets of clothes.” ’
23 Naaman said, ‘Yes, I will. But please agree to take 6,000 pieces of silver.’ He asked Gehazi to accept them. He put the 6,000 pieces of silver into two bags, as well as two sets of clothes. He gave them to two of his servants and they carried them in front of Gehazi. 24 When Gehazi reached a hill near Elisha's house, he took the things from the servants. He put them in his own room. He told the servants to go back to Naaman.
25 Gehazi went in and he stood in front of his master. Elisha asked Gehazi, ‘Where have you been?’ Gehazi answered, ‘I have not been anywhere, sir.’ 26 But Elisha said to him, ‘My spirit was with you when you went out. It was there when the man came down from his chariot to meet you. This is not the proper time to accept gifts of money, clothes, olive trees, vineyards, sheep, cows or servants. 27 Now you will have the same disease in your skin that Naaman had! It will always be with you and your descendants.’
Then Gehazi went away from Elisha. His skin had already become white like snow because of the disease.
Paul and Barnabas go to Jerusalem
15 Some men arrived in Antioch from Judea.[a] They began to teach the believers there who were not Jews. They said to them, ‘God cannot save you unless someone circumcises you. This is in the Law that God gave to Moses.’
2 Paul and Barnabas did not agree with these men. They argued strongly against them. As a result, the believers in Antioch decided what to do. They chose Paul, Barnabas and some of the other believers to go to Jerusalem. They should go to meet with the apostles and the other leaders of the believers. The leaders should decide who was right in this quarrel. 3 The group of believers at Antioch sent Paul, Barnabas and the other men on their way. They travelled through Phoenicia and Samaria. They spoke to the believers in those places. They told them, ‘Gentiles are also turning to God and they are believing in Jesus.’ The believers were all very happy to hear this news. 4 When Paul, Barnabas and the other men arrived in Jerusalem, they met with the believers there. The apostles, the other leaders and the whole group of believers were happy to see them. Paul and Barnabas told them about everything that God had helped them to do.
5 Some Jewish believers were there who also belonged to the Pharisees' group. They stood up and they said, ‘We must circumcise Gentiles when they become believers. We must tell them to obey all the Law that God gave to Moses.’
6 So the apostles and the other leaders of the believers met to talk about this problem. 7 After they had all talked about this problem for a long time, Peter stood up to speak.[b] He said, ‘My friends, you know that, a long time ago, God chose me from among all you leaders. He wanted me to teach Gentiles the good news about Jesus. God wanted them to hear his message and to believe in Jesus. 8 God knows what people truly believe. He showed clearly that he accepts Gentile believers as his people. He gave his Holy Spirit to them in the same way that he did for us. 9 He made no difference between them and us. When they believed in Jesus, he saved them. He made them clean inside.
10 So do not say that God has done a wrong thing. God has shown us that he accepts Gentiles when they believe in Jesus. If you make the Gentile believers obey the Law of Moses, that is like a heavy weight on their necks. Even we Jews and our ancestors could not carry that heavy weight. 11 God saves us who are Jews when we believe in Jesus. It is not because we obey the Law of Moses. It is because the Lord Jesus is kind to us. God saves Gentiles in the same way, when they believe in Jesus.’
12 After Peter said this everybody in the group was quiet. Then Barnabas and Paul spoke to them. They said, ‘God helped us to do great miracles among the Gentiles. These showed that God was with us.’
13 When they had finished their report, James spoke to the group. He said, ‘Listen to me, my friends. 14 Simon Peter has just described to us what happened first with the Gentile believers. He explained how God chose some of them to belong to him as his own people.
15 The message of God's prophets agrees completely with this. They wrote long ago:
16 The Lord God said,
“Later I will return.
At that time I will make David's kingdom strong again.[c]
It has become like a house that has fallen down,
but I will build it again so that it is strong.
17 Then many other people will want to know me, the Lord God.
Those are the Gentiles that I have chosen to belong to me.
I, the Lord God, say this,
and I will make these things happen.
18 Long ago I caused people to know all these things.” ’[d]
19 James then said, ‘So this is what I have decided about this problem. Many Gentiles are now turning to God as believers. We should not make it difficult for them. 20 Instead of that, we should write a letter to tell them how to live as believers. We should say to them, “Do not eat any food which people have given to their idols. That food has become unclean. Do not have sex with anyone that you are not married to. If people have strangled an animal to kill it, do not eat its meat. Do not eat anything that still has blood in it.”[e] 21 These rules are important, because people have known the Law of Moses for a very long time. On every Jewish day of rest, someone teaches us about the Law in our Jewish meeting places in every city.’
The leaders in Jerusalem write a letter to the Gentile believers
22 The whole group of believers agreed with what James said. So the apostles and the other leaders decided to choose some men from among the group of believers. These men would go to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. They chose Silas and Judas, who was also called Barsabbas. The believers all respected these men as leaders.
23 This is the letter that they sent with those men:
‘We, the apostles and leaders of the believers here say “hello” to you, our friends who also believe in Jesus. We say “hello” to all of you Gentile believers who live in Antioch, Syria and Cilicia.[f]
24 We have heard that some men from our group have confused your thoughts. These men came to you and they taught you without our authority. The things that they said were not right and they have upset you. 25 So now we have all met together. We have agreed what to do about this problem. We have chosen some men to bring this message to you. They will travel with our good friends, Barnabas and Paul. 26 These two men have worked as servants of the Lord Jesus Christ. Because of that, they have almost lost their lives. 27 So we are also sending Judas and Silas to you. They will tell you the same things that we have written in this letter. 28 The Holy Spirit has shown us what we should do. We also think that this is the right thing to do. We do not want to put a heavy weight on you. So these are the only rules that we want you to obey: 29 Do not eat any food that people have given to their idols. Do not eat anything that still has blood in it. If people have strangled an animal to kill it, do not eat its meat. Do not have sex with anyone that you are not married to. If you obey these rules, you will do well. Goodbye.’
30 So the believers in Jerusalem sent these four men to go to Antioch. When they arrived there, they told the group of believers to meet together. When they all met, Silas and Judas gave them the letter. 31 When the believers in Antioch read the letter, they were very happy. They said, ‘This message will help us very much.’ 32 Judas and Silas were both prophets. They spoke a message from God to the believers there. They spoke for a long time to help the believers and to make them strong. 33 Judas and Silas remained in Antioch for some time. Then the group of believers sent them back to Jerusalem. The believers prayed that God would help them and take care of them. 34 [g] [But Silas decided to stay there.]
35 Paul and Barnabas remained in Antioch for a longer time. Together with many other believers, they taught the people, and they spoke the message about the Lord Jesus.
David wrote this song.
An evening prayer[a]
141 Lord, I am calling to you for help.
Come to me quickly!
Please listen to what I am saying.
2 I offer my prayer to you like incense.
Please accept it when I raise my hands to you.
Accept it like a gift that I offer to you in the evening.
3 Lord, keep my mouth safe,
so that I do not speak bad things.
4 Do not let my mind want evil things.
Do not let me join with wicked people,
to do the same bad things that they do.
I do not even want to eat their good food.
5 If a good man hits me because he loves me,
he is being kind to me.
If he shows me that I have done a wrong thing,
that it is like special oil on my head.[b]
I would not refuse it.
I continue to pray against what wicked people do.
6 They will throw their rulers down
from high rocks.
Then they will agree that my words were true.
7 It will be like a farmer who ploughs his field,
and breaks the earth into pieces.
Just like that, they will break the bones of wicked people.
They will throw their bones on the ground
at the entrance to Sheol.
8 But I look to you for help, Almighty Lord.
I need you to keep me safe.
Do not let wicked people kill me.
9 They have prepared traps to catch me.
Do not let me fall into the traps of those evil people.
10 May those bad people fall into their own traps!
Then I will be free from their power.
23 Wicked judges secretly accept bribes.
Then they are not fair when they judge.
EasyEnglish Bible Copyright © MissionAssist 2019 - Charitable Incorporated Organisation 1162807. Used by permission. All rights reserved.