The Daily Audio Bible

¹⁸ When the child was older, he walked out to his father, who was harvesting the fields with the reapers.

²⁰ The servant brought the child inside to his mother; and about noon, while the boy was sitting in his mother’s lap, he died. ²¹ She took his lifeless body and laid him down on Elisha’s bed. She then closed the door and went away.

²⁴ She prepared the donkey and gave instructions to her servant.

²⁵ She rode quickly toward the man of God who was staying about a day away on Mount Carmel. As she approached, Elisha saw her at a distance.

²⁷ When she approached the man of God at the mountain, she fell to the ground and hugged his feet. Gehazi approached to pull her away, but the man of God stopped him.

Elisha then stood up and followed her to her house. ³¹ Gehazi went ahead of them and laid the staff on the boy’s face, but nothing happened. The boy did not move or make a sound. Gehazi went back to Elisha and reported this to him: “The boy did not wake up.”

³² Elisha arrived at the house and saw the lifeless body of the boy lying on Elisha’s bed. ³³ He went into the room, closed the door behind both of them, and prayed to the Eternal. ³⁴ Elisha approached the boy and lay down, placing his mouth on the boy’s mouth, his eyes on the boy’s eyes, and his hands on the boy’s hands. He covered the boy with his own body, and warmth returned to the boy’s body. ³⁵ Elisha turned around and paced back and forth in the house, then he went back into the room and covered the boy’s body with his own body. The boy sneezed seven times, and then he opened his eyes.

Gehazi told the Shunammite woman to go inside the room, and she did.

³⁷ She fell to the floor before Elisha’s feet, bowing to the ground, and she wept with happiness. She picked up her son and left the room with him.

³⁸ Elisha returned to Gilgal, and he found that there was a famine throughout the entire country. While the disciples of the local prophets were sitting with him, he told his servant to find a big pot and make a big stew for the prophets’ disciples.

³⁹ A man walked out into the fields to look for herbs, and he came across an uncultivated vine and picked enough wild gourds from it to fill the folds of his cloak. He chopped up the gourds and tossed them into the large pot of stew, not knowing what they were. ⁴⁰ Those who prepared the stew gave helpings of it to the men. While they were eating the stew, they cringed and pushed the bowls away from them. They could not eat it.

They brought him some meal, and Elisha threw it in the large pot and renewed the stew.

Everyone ate it, and there was nothing wrong with it this time.

⁴² Sometime later, a man from Baal-shalishah brought some food from the firstfruits of the harvest to the man of God: in his sack were 20 barley loaves and fresh produce still in the husk.

⁴⁴ He handed out the food to them; and exactly as the Eternal One said, they ate and had food to spare.

5 Naaman’s master considered him an extraordinary man. He was the military commander of Aram’s army, and he had won many important battles for Aram by the power of the Eternal. Naturally he was greatly esteemed by his king. Naaman was a fierce warrior, but he also had a skin disease. ² Now one time, the Arameans went out in raiding parties and took a little girl from Israel as their prisoner. The little girl became a servant to Naaman’s wife.

⁴ Naaman became hopeful, and he went and told his king what the little girl from Israel said.

Naaman left with the king’s letter in his hand, plus 750 pounds of silver, 150 pounds of gold, and 10 sets of fine clothing. ^6-7 Naaman handed the letter to Israel’s king, and the king read it.

⁸ Elisha, the man of God, received word that Israel’s king had ripped his clothing, so he sent a message to Israel’s king.

⁹ The king told Naaman to go find Elisha, so Naaman showed up at Elisha’s door with his horses and chariots. ¹⁰ Elisha did not show his face to Naaman, but instead sent instructions: “Wash yourself in the Jordan River seven times. The waters will heal you, and your skin will be back to normal. You will be cleansed.” ¹¹ Naaman boiled with anger as he left Elisha. He had come to his house expecting something much different.

Naaman then stormed away, boiling with anger. ¹³ Later his servants approached and spoke to him with respect.

¹⁴ So Naaman swallowed his pride, walked down to the Jordan River, and washed himself seven times, just as the man of God had instructed him to do. There, the miracle occurred. Naaman’s disease was healed: his skin was as new as an infant’s, and he was clean from the disease. ¹⁵ Naaman and all his entourage went back to the man of God.

Naaman tried again to give Elisha a gift, but Elisha would not take it.

So Naaman left and traveled for a while.

²⁰ About this time, Gehazi, who served Elisha, the man of God, had a wicked thought: “My master let this Aramean Naaman leave and refused Naaman’s gift! That means the gift is still with Naaman. As certain as the life of the Eternal, I vow to go after him and try to get the gift from him myself.”

²¹ So Gehazi went after Naaman. When Naaman saw Gehazi chasing him, he stepped down from his chariot in order to greet Elisha’s servant.

Naaman then put the 150 pounds of silver in two bags, along with two sets of clothing. He secured the bags, placed them in the possession of two of his servants, and gave them instructions to take the bags back to Elisha’s house with Gehazi. ²⁴ When Gehazi and Naaman’s servants arrived at the hill where Elisha’s house sat, Gehazi took the bags from Naaman’s servants and placed them in the house. He then told the servants to go back to Naaman, and so they went away. ²⁵ Gehazi then went to find Elisha.

Gehazi turned and departed from Elisha. By the time Gehazi had walked out of the room, the skin disease had entirely infected him, and his skin was as white as snow.

15 Their peace was disturbed, however, when certain Judeans came with this teaching: “Unless you are circumcised according to Mosaic custom, you cannot be saved.” ² Paul and Barnabas argued against this teaching and debated with the Judeans vehemently, so the church selected several people—including Paul and Barnabas—to travel to Jerusalem to dialogue about this issue with the apostles and elders there. ³ The church sent them on their way. They passed through Phoenicia and Samaria, stopping to report to the groups of believers there that outsiders were now being converted. This brought great joy to them all. ⁴ Upon arrival in Jerusalem, the church, the apostles, and the elders welcomed them warmly; and they reported all they had seen God do. ⁵ But there were some believers present who belonged to the sect of the Pharisees. They stood up and asserted,

⁶ The apostles and elders met privately to discuss how this issue should be resolved. ⁷ There was a lot of debate, and finally Peter stood up.

¹² There was silence among them while Barnabas and Paul reported all the miraculous signs and wonders God had done through them among outsiders. ¹³ When they finished, James spoke.

²² This seemed like a good idea to the apostles, the elders, and the entire church. They commissioned men from among them and sent them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. They sent two prominent men among the believers, Judas (also known as Barsabbas) and Silas, ²³ to deliver this letter:

³⁰ So the men were sent to Antioch. When they arrived, they gathered the community together and read the letter. ³¹ The community rejoiced at the resolution to the controversy. ³² Judas and Silas, being prophets themselves, offered lengthy encouragements to strengthen the believers. ³³ After some time there, their mission was complete; so the leaders in Antioch released Judas and Silas to return to Jerusalem with a blessing of peace. [³⁴ But after some thought, Silas decided to remain behind.]^{[c] 35} Paul and Barnabas stayed in Antioch, where they teamed with many others to teach and preach the message of the Lord.

Psalm 141

A song of David.