The Daily Audio Bible
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Azariah becomes the king of Judah
15 Amaziah's son Azariah became king of Judah when Jeroboam had been king of Israel for 27 years.[a] 2 Azariah was 16 years old when he became king. He ruled in Jerusalem for 52 years. His mother's name was Jecoliah. She came from Jerusalem. 3 Azariah did things that the Lord said were good, as his father Amaziah had done. 4 But he did not remove the altars on the hills. The people continued to offer sacrifices and to burn incense on those altars.
5 The Lord caused the king to have a bad disease in his skin.[b] He had the disease until the day that he died. He lived in a house away from other people. His son Jotham had authority in the palace and he ruled the people of Judah.
6 The other things that happened while Azariah was king are written in a book. The book is called ‘The history of Judah's kings’. It tells about the things that Azariah did. 7 Azariah died and they buried him beside his ancestors in the City of David. His son Jotham became king after him.
Zechariah becomes the king of Israel
8 Jeroboam's son Zechariah became king of Israel when Azariah had been king of Judah for 38 years. He ruled Israel as king in Samaria for six months. 9 Zechariah did things that the Lord said were evil, as his ancestors had done. He did not turn away from the bad things that Nebat's son Jeroboam had done. Jeroboam had caused many people in Israel to do those sins.
10 Jabesh's son Shallum made a plan to kill Zechariah. Shallum murdered Zechariah at Ibleam and he became king himself. 11 The other things that happened while Zechariah was king are written in a book. The book is called ‘The history of Israel's kings’. 12 The Lord had given this promise to Jehu: ‘Your descendants will be kings of Israel for four generations.’ That is what happened.[c]
Shallum becomes the king of Israel
13 Jabesh's son Shallum became the king of Israel when Uzziah had been king of Judah for 39 years. He ruled as king in Samaria for one month. 14 Then Gadi's son Menahem went from Tirzah up to Samaria. He attacked King Shallum and he killed him. Menahem became king of Israel instead.
15 The other things that happened while Shallum was king are written in a book. The book is called ‘The history of Israel's kings’. It tells about the plan that he made to kill King Zechariah. 16 At that time, when Menahem came from Tirzah, he attacked the city of Tiphsah. The people who lived there refused to let him go into their city. So he killed them all. He even cut open the pregnant women.
Menahem becomes the king of Israel
17 Gadi's son Menahem became the king of Israel when Azariah had been king of Judah for 39 years. He ruled as king in Samaria for ten years. 18 Menahem did things that the Lord said were evil. He did not turn away from the bad things that Nebat's son Jeroboam had done. Jeroboam had caused many people in Israel to do those sins. 19 Then Pul, the king of Assyria, attacked the land of Israel.[d] Menahem paid him 34 tons of silver to help him to rule Israel with greater power. 20 Menahem made all the rich people in Israel pay taxes to him. Every rich man had to pay 50 silver coins. Menahem gave that money to the king of Assyria. Then the king of Assyria went away. He did not stay any longer in Israel.
21 The other things that happened while Menahem was king are written in a book. The book is called ‘The history of Israel's kings’. It tells about the things that Menahem did. 22 Menahem died and his son, Pekahiah, became king after him.
Pekahiah becomes the king of Israel
23 Menahem's son Pekahiah became the king of Israel when Azariah had been king of Judah for 50 years. He ruled Israel as king in Samaria for two years. 24 Pekahiah did things that the Lord said were evil. He did not turn away from the bad things that Nebat's son Jeroboam had done. Jeroboam had caused many people in Israel to do those sins.
25 One of Pekahiah's officers was Remaliah's son, Pekah. Pekah made a plan to kill Pekahiah. He took 50 men from Gilead with him, and he killed King Pekahiah. He also killed Argob and Arieh. He killed them all in a strong room in the king's palace in Samaria. Pekah then became king instead of Pekahiah. 26 The other things that happened while Pekahiah was king are written in a book. The book is called ‘The history of Israel's kings’. It tells about the things that Pekahiah did.
Pekah becomes the king of Israel
27 Remaliah's son Pekah became the king of Israel when Azariah had been king of Judah for 52 years. He ruled Israel as king in Samaria for 20 years. 28 Pekah did things that the Lord said were evil. He did not turn away from the bad things that Nebat's son Jeroboam had done. Jeroboam had caused many people in Israel to do those sins.
29 While Pekah was the king of Israel, the king of Assyria, Tiglath-Pileser, attacked towns in Israel. He took these places for himself: Ijon, Abel Beth Maakah, Janoah, Kedesh, Hazor, Gilead, Galilee and all of Naphtali's land. He took the people that lived in those places as prisoners to Assyria.
30 Then Elah's son Hoshea made a plan to kill Remaliah's son, Pekah. Hoshea murdered Pekah and he became king instead. That happened when Uzziah's son Jotham had been king of Judah for 20 years. 31 The other things that happened while Pekah was king are written in a book. The book is called ‘The history of Israel's kings’. It tells about the things that Pekah did.
Jotham becomes the king of Judah
32 Uzziah's son Jotham became the king of Judah when Remaliah's son Pekah had been king of Israel for two years. 33 Jotham was 25 years old when he became king. He ruled Judah as king in Jerusalem for 16 years. His mother's name was Jerusha. She was Zadok's daughter. 34 Jotham did things that the Lord said were good, as his father Uzziah had done. 35 But he did not remove the altars on the hills. The people continued to offer sacrifices and to burn incense on those altars. Jotham built the Higher Gate of the Lord's temple.
36 The other things that happened while Jotham was king are written in a book. The book is called ‘The history of Judah's kings’. It tells about the things that Jotham did. 37 While Jotham was king, the Lord began to send King Rezin of Syria and Remaliah's son Pekah to attack Judah. 38 Jotham died and they buried him beside his ancestors in the City of David, who was his ancestor. His son Ahaz became king after him.
Ahaz becomes the king of Judah
16 Jotham's son Ahaz became the king of Judah when Remaliah's son Pekah had been king of Israel for 17 years. 2 Ahaz was 20 years old when he became king. He ruled Judah as king in Jerusalem for 16 years. He did not do the things that the Lord his God said were good. So he was not like his ancestor, King David. 3 He lived in the same bad way that the kings of Israel did. He even caused his son to walk through fire.[e] In this way he copied the terrible sins of the other nations in Canaan. Those were the nations that the Lord had chased out so that the Israelites could live there. 4 Ahaz offered sacrifices and he burned incense on altars on the hills, as well as under all the big trees.
5 At that time, King Rezin of Syria and Remaliah's son, King Pekah of Israel, attacked Jerusalem. Their armies made a camp all around the city while Ahaz was there. But they could not win the battle against him. 6 (At the same time, King Rezin got Elath town back for Syria. He chased out the people of Judah who were living there. People from Edom then moved into Elath, and they are still living there.)
7 King Ahaz sent a message to Tiglath-Pileser, the king of Assyria. He said, ‘I am your servant and I need your help. The king of Syria and the king of Israel have brought their armies to attack me in Jerusalem. Please come here to rescue me.’[f] 8 Ahaz took the silver and gold things that were stored in the Lord's temple and in the palace. He sent them all as a gift to the king of Assyria. 9 So the king of Assyria agreed to do what Ahaz had asked him to do. He attacked Damascus and he took the city for himself.[g] He sent the people who had lived there to Kir as his prisoners. He punished King Rezin with death.
10 King Ahaz went to Damascus to meet King Tiglath-Pileser of Assyria. When he was there, he saw an altar. He sent a picture and a plan of the altar to Uriah, the priest, so that someone could build one for him. 11 So Uriah built an altar that copied the plan that King Ahaz had sent from Damascus. Uriah finished it before King Ahaz returned. 12 When the king arrived in Jerusalem from Damascus, he saw the new altar. He went near it to offer sacrifices on it.
13 He made a burnt offering and a grain offering. He poured wine as a drink offering. He splashed the blood from his peace offerings onto the altar.
14 A bronze altar stood in front of the Lord's temple to bring sacrifices to him. Now it stood between the new altar and the front of the temple. So Ahaz moved it away from there. He put it on the north side of the new altar. 15 Then King Ahaz commanded Uriah the priest, ‘On the large new altar, offer these gifts:
A burnt offering for each morning.
A grain offering for each evening.
A burnt offering and a grain offering on behalf of the king.
A burnt offering on behalf of all the people of Israel.
A grain offering and drink offerings on behalf of the people.
Splash the blood from all these sacrifices on the new altar. But I will use the bronze altar myself, to find out about my future times.’
16 So Uriah the priest did what King Ahaz had commanded him to do.
17 King Ahaz also removed the pieces on the sides of the carts which carried the buckets for water. He also removed the buckets. He took the large bath called ‘the Sea’ from the top of the bronze bulls that it stood on. He stood it on a big flat stone instead.[h] 18 He removed the roof that gave shade for people in the temple yard on the Sabbath days. He also removed the king's special entrance into the temple yard. He did these things to please the king of Assyria.
19 The other things that happened while Ahaz was king are written in a book. The book is called ‘The history of Judah's kings’. It tells about the things that Ahaz did. 20 Ahaz died and they buried him beside his ancestors in the City of David. His son Hezekiah became king after him.
13 There were some Jewish men who travelled about to different places. They caused bad spirits to leave people. Some of them wanted to use the name of the Lord Jesus when they did this. These Jews said to the bad spirits, ‘We tell you to come out of these people. We say this with the authority of Jesus, the man that Paul teaches people about.’
14 Sceva was a leader of the Jewish priests in that place. He had seven sons who were telling bad spirits to come out of people. They used the name of Jesus when they did this. 15 But one day the bad spirit in a man said to them, ‘I know who Jesus is. I also know about Paul. But I do not know who you are.’ 16 The man who had the bad spirit in him then jumped up. He fought with the seven sons and he was too strong for them. He hurt them badly and he tore their clothes off. So the sons ran away from the man's house. Their bodies were bleeding and they wore no clothes.
17 All the Jews and Gentiles who lived in Ephesus heard about this. They became very afraid. Now they respected the name of the Lord Jesus very much. They knew that he was very powerful. 18 Many of the believers agreed that they had done wicked things. They told other believers about this. 19 Some of them had used magic to do powerful things. These people brought all their special books and they burned them in a fire. Everybody saw what they did. The books had cost a lot of money. The value of all the books was 50,000 silver coins. 20 As a result of this, more and more people heard the good news about the Lord Jesus. The message was powerful and people's lives changed.
Bad troubles happen in Ephesus
21 After these things happened, Paul decided that he should go to Jerusalem. But first he wanted to visit the believers in Macedonia and Greece. He said, ‘After I have been to Jerusalem, I must also go to Rome.’ 22 At that time, Timothy and Erastus were helping Paul with his work. Paul sent them to Macedonia while he stayed longer in Asia region.
23 Soon after that, there was bad trouble in Ephesus. Some people began to speak strongly against the Way of the Lord Jesus. 24 In Ephesus there was a man called Demetrius. He used silver to make beautiful things. He made models that looked like the temple of Artemis.[a] He paid a lot of money to people who did this work for him. 25 So he told all his workers to meet with him. He also asked other workers to come, who did the same kind of work. He said to all these men, ‘Men, you know that our work has caused us to become rich. 26 Also, you can see what this man Paul is doing. You have heard his message. Many people here in Ephesus, and in nearly all the places in Asia region, believe what he says. Paul teaches people this: “Anything that men have made is not really a god.” 27 If people continue to believe Paul's message, it will be very bad for us. People will say bad things against our work. The house of our god Artemis will not be important any more. People will even think that Artemis herself is not a great god. As it is now, people in all of Asia region and everywhere else worship her. We do not want that to change.’
28 When the workers heard Demetrius, they became very angry. They all shouted, ‘Our god Artemis of Ephesus is very great!’ 29 More and more people in the whole city began to shout. There was trouble everywhere. Gaius and Aristarchus had been travelling with Paul. They had come with him from Macedonia. Some people from the crowd took hold of Gaius and Aristarchus. They pulled them quickly to the big public meeting place in the middle of the city.[b]
30 Paul himself wanted to go there. He wanted to speak to the crowd. But the other believers would not let him do that. 31 Some Roman officers in that region were Paul's friends. They also sent a message to him. They said to him, ‘Please, do not go to the meeting place.’
32 The crowd of people in the meeting place continued to shout loudly. Some people were shouting one thing and other people were shouting something different. Not many of the people even knew why they had all met together. 33 There was a Jewish man called Alexander in the crowd. The Jews pushed him to the front of the crowd. He raised his hands towards the people, so that they would be quiet. He wanted to explain to them that he and his Jewish friends had not caused the trouble. 34 But the crowd knew that Alexander was a Jew. So they continued to shout the same words for about two hours. All together they shouted, ‘Our god Artemis of Ephesus is very great!’
35 After two hours, an important officer of the city caused the crowd to be quiet. He said, ‘People of Ephesus! Everybody knows about our god Artemis who has her temple here in Ephesus. People come here to worship her. Her special stone that fell from the sky is also here in Ephesus. We take care of all her things. Everybody knows that! 36 Nobody can say that this is not true. So be careful! Do not quickly do anything that is silly. 37 You have brought Gaius and Aristarchus here to the city officers' meeting place. But what bad thing have they done? They have not robbed the house of Artemis. They have not said bad things against her. 38 Perhaps Demetrius and his workers think that someone has done a bad thing to them. If they think that, they should let a judge decide. There are officers for the government who will do this. If someone has done a wrong thing, people should tell a judge.
39 So, if you want to argue about these problems any more, do it properly. Go to the place where the judges meet. 40 Today, there is a crowd of people who are shouting and fighting. The Roman rulers may hear about what has happened. They will say that we have done bad things. We could not explain to them the reason why there is all this trouble.’ 41 When the officer had said all this, he said to the crowd, ‘All of you should go home now.’
The 2nd Hallelujah Psalm
147 Hallelujah! Praise the Lord!
It is good to sing to praise our God!
Yes, it is right to praise him and it makes us happy.
2 The Lord is building Jerusalem again.
He is bringing home the Israelite exiles.
3 He makes people who are very sad well again.[a]
He helps their wounds to get better.
4 He decided how many stars there should be in the sky.
He has given a name to each of them.
5 Our Lord is great and very powerful.
He understands everything!
6 The Lord gives help to poor people,
but he knocks down wicked people to the ground.
7 Offer a song to the Lord,
to thank him for what he has done.
Make music with a harp
to praise our God.
8 He fills the sky with clouds.
He sends rain to make the earth wet.
He causes grass to grow on the hills.
9 He gives food for the animals to eat.
He feeds the young ravens when they cry.[b]
10 If a horse is very strong,
that does not please him.
If a soldier is brave,
that does not make him happy.
11 Who does make the Lord happy?
People who respect him and serve him well.
People who trust him because they know he loves them.
12 Jerusalem's people, praise the Lord!
Yes, Zion's people, praise your God![c]
13 Praise him because he makes your city's gates strong.
He blesses the people who live there.
14 He causes your borders to be safe from your enemies.
He gives you lots of the best wheat to eat.
15 He sends his commands to reach all the earth.
Very soon the whole world knows what he wants.
16 He covers the earth with snow,
like a white blanket.
He puts white frost everywhere,
like ashes that the wind blows.
17 He throws hail from the sky,
like small stones.
When he sends a cold wind,
nobody can continue to stand.
18 Then he commands it all to melt.
He makes the warm wind blow,
and the ice becomes streams of water.
19 He sends his message to Jacob's descendants.
He gives his rules and laws to Israel's people.[d]
20 He has not done that for any other nation.
They do not know his laws.[e]
Hallelujah! Praise the Lord!
4 The words that you speak are like the deep water of the sea.
If they are wise words, they are like a cool stream.
5 Do not refuse to punish wicked people. That would not be good.
Also, do not punish anyone who has not done anything wrong.
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