The Daily Audio Bible
Today's audio is from the CSB. Switch to the CSB to read along with the audio.
Abijah’s illness
14 At that time, Jeroboam’s son Abijah became sick. 2 Jeroboam said to his wife, “Please go with a disguise so no one will recognize you as Jeroboam’s wife. Go to Shiloh where the prophet Ahijah is. He told me I would be king of this people. 3 Take ten loaves of bread, cakes, and a bottle of honey with you. Go to him. He will tell you what will happen to the boy.” 4 Jeroboam’s wife did precisely this. She left and went to Shiloh and came to Ahijah’s house. Now Ahijah had become blind in his old age.
5 The Lord said to Ahijah, “Look! Jeroboam’s wife has come seeking a word from you about her son. He is sick. Say this and that to her. When she comes, she will be disguised.”
6 When Ahijah heard the sound of her feet coming through the doorway, he said, “Come in, Jeroboam’s wife! Why have you disguised yourself? I have hard news for you. 7 Tell Jeroboam: This is what the Lord, Israel’s God, says: When I lifted you up from among the people, I appointed you as a leader over my people Israel. 8 I tore the kingdom from David’s house and gave it to you. But you haven’t been like my servant David, who kept my commands and followed me with all his heart by doing only what is right in my eyes. 9 Instead, you have done more evil than any who were before you. You have made other gods and metal images to anger me. You have turned your back on me. 10 Therefore, I’m going to bring disaster on Jeroboam’s house! Because of Jeroboam, I will eliminate everyone who urinates on a wall, whether slave or free. Then I will set fire to the house of Jeroboam, as one burns dung until it is gone. 11 Dogs will eat any of Jeroboam’s family who die in town. Birds will eat those who die in the field. The Lord has spoken!
12 “As for you, get up and go back home. When your feet enter the town, the boy will die. 13 All Israel will mourn for him and will bury him. Out of the whole line of Jeroboam, he alone will have a tomb, because only in him did Israel’s God, the Lord, find something good. 14 For this reason the Lord will raise up a king over Israel who will eliminate the house of Jeroboam. This begins today. What’s that? Even now![a] 15 The Lord will strike Israel so that it shakes like a reed in water. He will uproot Israel from this fertile land that he gave to their ancestors and their offspring, and he will scatter them across the Euphrates River, because they made the Lord angry by making their sacred poles.[b] 16 Because of the sins Jeroboam committed, and because he made Israel sin too, God will give Israel up.”
17 Then Jeroboam’s wife left and went to Tirzah. When she stepped across the threshold of the house, the boy died. 18 All Israel buried him and mourned him in agreement with the Lord’s word spoken through his servant the prophet Ahijah. 19 The rest of Jeroboam’s deeds—how he fought and how he ruled—are written in the official records of Israel’s kings. 20 Jeroboam ruled twenty-two years and he lay down with his ancestors. His son Nadab succeeded him as king.
Rehoboam rules Judah
21 Rehoboam, Solomon’s son, ruled over Judah. Rehoboam was 41 years old when he became king. He ruled for seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city the Lord chose from among all the tribes of Israel to set his name. Rehoboam’s mother’s name was Naamah from Ammon. 22 Judah did evil in the Lord’s eyes. The sins they committed made the Lord angrier than anything their ancestors had done. 23 They also built shrines, standing stones, and sacred poles[c] on top of every high hill and under every green tree. 24 Moreover, the consecrated workers[d] in the land did detestable things, just like those nations that the Lord had removed among the Israelites.
25 During King Rehoboam’s fifth year, King Shishak of Egypt attacked Jerusalem. 26 He seized the treasures of the Lord’s temple and the royal palace. He took everything, even all the gold shields that Solomon had made. 27 King Rehoboam replaced them with bronze shields and assigned them to the officers of the guard who protected the entrance to the royal palace. 28 Whenever the king entered the Lord’s temple, the guards would carry the shields and then return them to the guardroom. 29 The rest of Rehoboam’s deeds and all that he accomplished, aren’t they written in the official records of Judah’s kings? 30 There was continual warfare between Rehoboam and Jeroboam. 31 When Rehoboam died, he was buried with his ancestors in David’s City. His mother’s name was Naamah from Ammon. His son Abijam[e] succeeded him as king.
Abijam rules Judah
15 Abijam[f] became king of Judah in the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam, Nebat’s son. 2 He ruled for three years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Maacah, and she was Abishalom’s daughter. 3 Abijam followed all the sinful ways of his father before him. He didn’t follow the Lord his God with all his heart like his ancestor David. 4 Even so, on account of David, the Lord his God gave Abijam a lamp in Jerusalem by supporting his son who succeeded him and by preserving Jerusalem. 5 This was because David did the right thing in the Lord’s eyes. David didn’t deviate from anything the Lord commanded him throughout his life—except in the matter of Uriah the Hittite. 6 There was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam as long as Abijam lived. 7 The rest of Abijam’s deeds and all that he did, aren’t they written in the official records of Judah’s kings? There was war between Abijam and Jeroboam. 8 Abijam lay down with his ancestors; he was buried in David’s City. His son Asa succeeded him as king.
Asa rules Judah
9 In the twentieth year of Israel’s King Jeroboam, Asa became king of Judah. 10 He ruled in Jerusalem for forty-one years. His grandmother’s[g] name was Maacah; she was Abishalom’s daughter. 11 Asa did the right things in the Lord’s eyes, just like his father David. 12 He removed the consecrated workers[h] from the land, and he did away with all the worthless idols that his predecessors had made. 13 He even removed his grandmother Maacah from the position of queen mother because she had made an image of Asherah. Asa cut down her image and burned it in the Kidron Valley. 14 Though the shrines weren’t eliminated, nevertheless Asa remained committed with all his heart to the Lord throughout his life. 15 He brought into the Lord’s temple the silver and gold equipment that he and his father had dedicated. 16 There was war between Asa and Israel’s King Baasha throughout their lifetimes. 17 Israel’s King Baasha attacked Judah and fortified Ramah to prevent Judah’s King Asa from moving into that area.
18 Asa took all the silver and gold that remained in the treasuries of the Lord’s temple and the royal palace, and he gave them to his officials. Then King Asa sent them with the following message to Aram’s King Ben-hadad, Tabrimmon’s son and Hezion’s grandson, who ruled from Damascus: 19 “Let’s make a covenant similar to the one between our fathers. Since I have already sent you a gift of silver and gold, break your covenant with Israel’s King Baasha so that he will leave me alone.” 20 Ben-hadad agreed with King Asa and sent his army commanders against the cities of Israel, attacking Ijon, Dan, Abel-beth-maacah, and all Chinneroth, along with all the land of Naphtali. 21 As soon as Baasha learned this, he stopped building Ramah and stayed in Tirzah. 22 King Asa issued an order to every Judean without exception: all the people carried away the stone and timber that Baasha was using to build Ramah, and King Asa used it to build Geba of Benjamin and Mizpah. 23 The rest of Asa’s deeds, his strength, and all that he did, as well as the towns that he built, aren’t they written in the official records of Judah’s kings? When he was old, Asa developed a severe foot disease. 24 He died and was buried with his ancestors in David’s City.[i] His son Jehoshaphat succeeded him as king.
Peter, Cornelius, and the Gentiles
10 There was a man in Caesarea named Cornelius, a centurion in the Italian Company.[a] 2 He and his whole household were pious, Gentile God-worshippers. He gave generously to those in need among the Jewish people and prayed to God constantly. 3 One day at nearly three o’clock in the afternoon, he clearly saw an angel from God in a vision. The angel came to him and said, “Cornelius!”
4 Startled, he stared at the angel and replied, “What is it, Lord?”
The angel said, “Your prayers and your compassionate acts are like a memorial offering to God. 5 Send messengers to Joppa at once and summon a certain Simon, the one known as Peter. 6 He is a guest of Simon the tanner, whose house is near the seacoast.” 7 When the angel who was speaking to him had gone, Cornelius summoned two of his household servants along with a pious soldier from his personal staff. 8 He explained everything to them, then sent them to Joppa.
9 At noon on the following day, as their journey brought them close to the city, Peter went up on the roof to pray. 10 He became hungry and wanted to eat. While others were preparing the meal, he had a visionary experience. 11 He saw heaven opened up and something like a large linen sheet being lowered to the earth by its four corners. 12 Inside the sheet were all kinds of four-legged animals, reptiles, and wild birds.[b] 13 A voice told him, “Get up, Peter! Kill and eat!”
14 Peter exclaimed, “Absolutely not, Lord! I have never eaten anything impure or unclean.”
15 The voice spoke a second time, “Never consider unclean what God has made pure.” 16 This happened three times, then the object was suddenly pulled back into heaven.
17 Peter was bewildered about the meaning of the vision. Just then, the messengers sent by Cornelius discovered the whereabouts of Simon’s house and arrived at the gate. 18 Calling out, they inquired whether the Simon known as Peter was a guest there.
19 While Peter was brooding over the vision, the Spirit interrupted him, “Look! Three people are looking for you. 20 Go downstairs. Don’t ask questions; just go with them because I have sent them.”
21 So Peter went downstairs and told them, “I’m the one you are looking for. Why have you come?”
22 They replied, “We’ve come on behalf of Cornelius, a centurion and righteous man, a God-worshipper who is well-respected by all Jewish people. A holy angel directed him to summon you to his house and to hear what you have to say.” 23 Peter invited them into the house as his guests.
The next day he got up and went with them, together with some of the believers from Joppa.
Psalm 133
A pilgrimage song. Of David.
133 Look at how good and pleasing it is
when families[a] live together as one!
2 It is like expensive oil poured over the head,
running down onto the beard—
Aaron’s beard!—
which extended over the collar of his robes.
3 It is like the dew on Mount Hermon
streaming down onto the mountains of Zion,
because it is there that the Lord has commanded the blessing:
everlasting life.
7 Too much talking isn’t right for a fool;
even less so false speech for an honorable person.
8 A bribe seems magical in the eyes of those who give it,
granting success to all who use it.
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible