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Elisha Raises the Boy From the Dead
18 The boy grew up, and one day he went out to his father, who was with the reapers. 19 Then he said to his father, “My head! My head!”
His father said to his servant, “Carry him to his mother.” 20 So he picked him up and carried him to his mother, and the boy sat on her lap until noon. Then he died.
21 Then she went up and laid him on the bed of the man of God. She shut the door behind her and went out. 22 Then she called to her husband and said, “Send one of the servants to me with one of the donkeys, so that I can run to the man of God and come back.”
23 He said, “Why are you going to him today? It’s not the new moon, and it’s not the Sabbath.”
But she said, “It’s all right.”
24 Then she saddled the donkey and said to her servant, “Lead the way. Don’t slow down for me unless I tell you.”
25 So she went to the man of God at Mount Carmel.
When the man of God saw her from a distance, he said to his servant Gehazi, “Look! That’s the woman from Shunem! 26 Now run to meet her and say, ‘Are you all right? Is your husband all right? Is your son all right?’”
She answered, “We’re all right.”
27 Then she came to the man of God at the mountain, and she grasped his feet. Gehazi stepped forward to push her away, but the man of God said, “Leave her alone, for her soul is in distress, but the Lord has hidden it from me. He has not told me.”
28 Then she said, “Did I ask my lord for a son? Didn’t I say, ‘Don’t give me false hope’?”
29 Then Elisha said to Gehazi, “Hike up your garments for travel,[a] and take my staff in your hand and go! If you meet someone, do not greet him, and if someone greets you, do not answer. Put my staff on the boy’s face.”
30 But the boy’s mother said, “As surely as the Lord lives and your soul lives, I will not leave you.” So he got up and followed her. 31 Gehazi went ahead of them and put the staff on the boy’s face. But there was no sound, and there was no response. So he went back to Elisha and told him, “The boy did not wake up.”
32 When Elisha came to the house, there the boy was—dead, lying on his bed. 33 So he went in and he shut the door behind the two of them. Then he prayed to the Lord. 34 He got up and lay down on top of the boy. He put his mouth to the boy’s mouth, his eyes to the boy’s eyes, his palms to the boy’s palms. Then he bent down over him, and the boy’s flesh became warm. 35 He went back into the house and paced back and forth. Then he went up and bent down over him, and the boy sneezed seven times. Then the boy opened his eyes.
36 Then Elisha called Gehazi and said, “Call the woman of Shunem!” So he called her, and she came in. He said, “Pick up your son.” 37 So she came in and fell at Elisha’s feet and bowed down to the ground. Then she picked up her son and went out.
Elisha Makes a Poison Meal Safe
38 Then Elisha returned to Gilgal. There was a famine in the land. The sons of the prophets were sitting with him, and he said to his servant, “Put the large cooking pot on the fire, and cook some stew for the sons of the prophets.”
39 One of the men went out to the field to gather plants. He found a wild vine and picked some gourds from it. He filled his garment with them. Then he came in and cut them into pieces for the pot of stew. They did not know what they were, 40 but they served it to the men to eat. While they were eating the stew, they cried out, “Man of God, there is death in the pot!” So they could not eat it.
41 But he said, “Take some flour and throw it into the pot.” Then he said, “Serve it to the people.” They ate, and there was nothing harmful in the pot.
A Miraculous Meal
42 A man came from Baal Shalishah and brought the man of God some bread from the first ripe grain, twenty loaves of barley bread, and some new grain in his sack. Elisha said, “Set it before the people so that they can eat.”
43 His attendant said, “How can I set this before one hundred men?” But he said, “Set it before the people so that they may eat, for this is what the Lord says: They will eat and have some left over.” So he set it before them. They ate, and they had some left over, just as the Lord had said.
Elisha Cures Na’aman’s Leprosy
5 Na’aman,[b] the commander of the king of Aram’s army, was a great man in the opinion of his master. He was highly honored because the Lord had provided victory for Aram through him. Although he was a powerful warrior, he had leprosy.[c]
2 Raiding parties had once gone out from Aram and brought back a young girl. She served Na’aman’s wife. 3 She said to her mistress, “I wish my master stood before the prophet who is in Samaria, because he would cure him of his leprosy.”
4 So Na’aman went and told his master what the servant girl from the land of Israel had said.
5 Then the king of Aram said, “Go there. I will send a letter to the king of Israel.” So Na’aman went, and he took ten talents[d] of silver and six thousand shekels[e] of gold and ten sets of clothing. 6 Then he took the letter to the king of Israel. The letter said, “Now, when you receive this letter, you will know that I am sending my officer Na’aman to you so that you can cure him of his leprosy.”
7 When the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothing and said, “Am I God that I can kill and make alive? Why is he sending a man to me for me to heal him from his leprosy? See how he is looking for a pretext to fight against me.”
8 But when Elisha, the man of God, heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, he sent a message to the king: “Why have you torn your clothes? Let him come to me, and he will know that there is a prophet in Israel.”
9 So Na’aman went with his horses and chariots and stopped in front of the door of Elisha’s house. 10 But Elisha sent a messenger out to him to say, “Go and wash seven times in the Jordan. Then your flesh will be restored and you will be clean.”
11 But Na’aman was angry and he left, saying, “Look, I said to myself, ‘He will certainly come out and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God and wave his hand over the place, and I will be cured of the leprosy!’ 12 Aren’t the Abana and the Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Couldn’t I wash in them and be cleansed?” So he turned and went away in a burning rage.
13 But his servants approached and spoke to him. They said, “My father, if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not do it? How much more when he says to you, ‘Wash and be clean’?”
14 So he went down and dipped in the Jordan seven times, just as the man of God had said. Then his flesh was restored like the flesh of a small child, and he was clean. 15 Then he and his whole escort went back to the man of God. He stood in front of Elisha and said, “To be sure, now I know that there is no God in all the earth except in Israel. Now accept a gift from your servant.”
16 But Elisha said, “As surely as the Lord lives, in whose presence I stand, I will not take anything.” Even though Na’aman urged him to accept something, he refused.
17 Then Na’aman said, “If you do not want anything, please give me, your servant, as much dirt as two donkeys can carry, for your servant will never again burn incense or sacrifice to other gods, but only to the Lord. 18 But may the Lord forgive your servant this one thing: When my master goes into the house of Rimmon to bow down there and he supports himself on my arm, then I too have to bow down in the house of Rimmon. When I bow down in the house of Rimmon, may the Lord forgive your servant this one thing.”
19 Then Elisha said to him, “Go in peace.”
Gehazi’s Sin
When Na’aman had gone some distance from him, 20 Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, said, “My master was too easy on this Aramean, Na’aman, when he did not accept anything that he brought. As surely as the Lord lives, I will run after him and get something from him.”
21 So Gehazi chased after Na’aman. When Na’aman saw him running after him, he got down from his chariot to meet him. He said, “Is everything all right?”
22 Then Gehazi said, “Yes, everything is all right. My master sent me to say, ‘Look, just now two young men from the hill country of Ephraim, from the sons of the prophets, have come to me. Please give them a talent of silver and two sets of clothing.”
23 Na’aman said, “Certainly! Take two talents!” He urged Gehazi and tied up the two talents[f] of silver in two bags with the two sets of clothing. Then Na’aman gave them to his two servants, and they carried them ahead of Gehazi. 24 When he came to the hill, he took the gifts from them. Then he hid them in the house and sent the men back, so they left. 25 Then he went in and attended his master.
Elisha said to him, “Where were you, Gehazi?”
Gehazi said, “Your servant didn’t go anywhere.”
26 Then Elisha said to him, “Didn’t my heart go along when the man got down from his chariot to meet you? Is this the time to take silver, or to accept clothing or olive groves or vineyards or sheep or cattle or male and female servants? 27 Na’aman’s leprosy will cling to you and to your descendants forever.” Then Gehazi went out from his presence, leprous like snow.
The Council at Jerusalem
15 Some men came down from Judea and began to teach the brothers: “Unless you are circumcised according to the law handed down by Moses, you cannot be saved.” 2 Because this brought about a serious argument and debate between Paul and Barnabas and these men, they appointed Paul and Barnabas and some other men from the church to go up to Jerusalem, to see the apostles and the elders concerning this controversy.
3 After they were sent on their way by the church, and as they passed through both Phoenicia and Samaria, they described in detail the conversion of the Gentiles and brought great joy to all the brothers. 4 When they arrived at Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church, the apostles, and the elders, and they reported everything God had done through them.
5 But some of the believers from the party of the Pharisees stood up and said, “It is necessary to circumcise the Gentiles and to command them to keep the Law of Moses.”
6 The apostles and the elders gathered together to look into this matter. 7 After there had been much discussion, Peter stood up and said to them, “Gentlemen, brothers, you know that some time ago God made a choice among you, that through my mouth the Gentiles would hear the message of the gospel and believe. 8 God, who knows the heart, testified on their behalf by giving them the Holy Spirit, exactly as he gave him to us. 9 He also showed that there is no distinction between us and them, cleansing their hearts by faith. 10 Now then, why are you testing God by putting on the necks of the disciples a yoke, which neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? 11 On the contrary! We believe that we are saved in the same way they are—through the grace of our Lord Jesus.”
12 The whole assembly fell silent and listened to Barnabas and Paul, who reported all the signs and wonders God had done among the Gentiles through them.
13 After they finished speaking, James responded, “Gentlemen, brothers, listen to me. 14 Simon has reported how God for the first time has visited the Gentiles, to take from them a people for his name. 15 The words of the prophets agree with this, as it is written:
16 After these things I will return
and rebuild David’s fallen tent.
I will rebuild its ruins,
and I will restore it,
17 so that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord—
even all the Gentiles who are called by my name,
says the Lord who does these things.[a]
18 “Long ago he made these things known. 19 So it is my judgment that we should not cause extra difficulty for those among the Gentiles who are turning to God. 20 Instead we should write a letter telling them to abstain from things polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from what is strangled, and from blood. 21 For from ancient times Moses has had those who proclaim him in every city, since he is being read in the synagogues every Sabbath.”
22 Then the apostles and the elders, together with the whole church, thought it would be best to choose men from their group to send to Antioch along with Paul and Barnabas, namely, Judas, called Barsabbas, and Silas, who were leading men among the brothers.
23 They wrote this letter for them to deliver:
From the apostles and the elders, your brothers,
To the Gentile brothers in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia:
Greetings.
24 We heard that there were some who came from us without our authorization and caused you distress by unsettling your minds with what they said.[b] 25 So it seemed best to us, since we are of one mind, to choose some men to send to you, along with our dear friends Barnabas and Paul, 26 men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. 27 Therefore we have sent Judas and Silas, who will report these same things by word of mouth. 28 For it seemed best to the Holy Spirit and to us to put no greater burden on you than these essentials: 29 You are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from what has been strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you carefully avoid these things, you will do well.
Farewell.
30 After they were sent on their way, they went down to Antioch. They gathered the congregation together and delivered the letter. 31 The people read it and rejoiced over its encouraging message. 32 Judas and Silas, who were prophets themselves, also said much that encouraged and strengthened the brothers. 33 After they had spent some time there, they were sent off by the brothers with the greeting of peace to those who had sent them.[c] 35 But Paul and Barnabas remained in Antioch, where they, along with many others, kept on teaching and preaching the word of the Lord.
Psalm 141
Guard My Lips and Heart
Heading
A psalm by David.
Accept My Prayer
1 Lord, I call to you. Hurry to me.
Turn your ear toward my voice when I call to you.
2 May my prayer linger before you like incense,
the lifting up of my hands like an evening offering.
Guard My Heart and Mouth
3 Set a guard over my mouth, Lord.
Keep watch over the door of my lips.
4 Do not let my heart turn toward anything evil,
to take part in wicked deeds with men who do evil.
Let me not taste their delicacies.
Correct Me
5 Let a righteous man strike me—it is mercy.
Let him rebuke me—it is lotion[a] on my head.
My head will not refuse it.
Reject the Wicked
But my prayer is still against their evil deeds.
6 Their rulers will be thrown down by the sides of the cliff,
and they will hear that my words were pleasant.
7 They will say,[b] “As one splits and breaks up the earth,
so our bones have been scattered at the mouth of the grave.”
Closing Plea
8 But my eyes look to you, Lord God.[c]
In you I take refuge. Do not take away my life.
9 Keep me from the snares they have set for me,
from the traps of the evildoers.
10 Let the wicked fall into their own nets, while I pass by safely.
23 A wicked person secretly accepts a bribe
to pervert the ways of justice.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.