Bible Reading Plan – Day 156

₁In the eighteenth year of the reign of King Jehoshaphat of Judah, Joram son of Ahab became king of Israel, and he ruled in Samaria for twelve years. ₂He sinned against the LORD, but he was not as bad as his father or his mother Jezebel; he pulled down the image his father had made for the worship of Baal. ₃Yet, like King Jeroboam son of Nebat before him, he led Israel into sin, and would not stop.

₄King Mesha of Moab bred sheep, and every year he gave as tribute to the king of Israel 100,000 lambs, and the wool from 100,000 sheep. ₅But when King Ahab of Israel died, Mesha rebelled against Israel. ₆At once King Joram left Samaria and gathered all his troops. ₇He sent word to King Jehoshaphat of Judah: “The king of Moab has rebelled against me; will you join me in war against him?”

“I will,” King Jehoshaphat replied. “I am at your disposal, and so are my men and my horses. ₈What route shall we take for the attack?”

“We will go the long way, through the wilderness of Edom,” Joram answered.

₉So King Joram and the kings of Judah and Edom set out. After marching for seven days, they ran out of water, and there was none left for the men or the pack animals. ₁₀“We're done for!” King Joram exclaimed. “The LORD has put the three of us at the mercy of the king of Moab!”

₁₁King Jehoshaphat asked, “Is there a prophet here through whom we can consult the LORD?”

An officer of King Joram's forces answered, “Elisha son of Shaphat is here. He was Elijah's assistant.”

₁₂“He is a true prophet,” King Jehoshaphat said. So the three kings went to Elisha.

₁₃“Why should I help you?” Elisha said to the king of Israel. “Go and consult those prophets that your father and mother consulted.”

“No!” Joram replied. “It is the LORD who has put us three kings at the mercy of the king of Moab.”

₁₄Elisha answered, “By the living LORD, whom I serve, I swear that I would have nothing to do with you if I didn't respect your ally King Jehoshaphat of Judah. ₁₅Now get me a musician.”

As the musician played his harp, the power of the LORD came on Elisha, ₁₆and he said, “This is what the LORD says: ‘Dig ditches all over this dry stream bed. ₁₇Even though you will not see any rain or wind, this stream bed will be filled with water, and you, your livestock, and your pack animals will have plenty to drink.’ ” ₁₈And Elisha continued, “But this is an easy thing for the LORD to do; he will also give you victory over the Moabites. ₁₉You will conquer all their beautiful fortified cities; you will cut down all their fruit trees, stop all their springs, and ruin all their fertile fields by covering them with stones.”

₂₀The next morning, at the time of the regular morning sacrifice, water came flowing from the direction of Edom, and covered the ground.

₂₁When the Moabites heard that the three kings had come to attack them, all the men who could bear arms, from the oldest to the youngest, were called out and stationed at the border. ₂₂When they got up the following morning, the sun was shining on the water, making it look as red as blood. ₂₃“It's blood!” they exclaimed. “The three enemy armies must have fought and killed each other! Let's go and loot their camp!”

₂₄But when they reached the camp, the Israelites attacked them and drove them back. The Israelites kept up the pursuit, slaughtering the Moabites ₂₅and destroying their cities. As they passed a fertile field, every Israelite would throw a stone on it until finally all the fields were covered; they also stopped up the springs and cut down the fruit trees. At last only the capital city of Kir Heres was left, and the slingers surrounded it and attacked it.

₂₆When the king of Moab realized that he was losing the battle, he took 700 swordsmen with him and tried to force his way through the enemy lines and escape to the king of Syria, but he failed. ₂₇So he took his eldest son, who was to succeed him as king, and offered him on the city wall as a sacrifice to the god of Moab. The Israelites were terrified and so they drew back from the city and returned to their own country.

₁The widow of a member of a group of prophets went to Elisha and said, “Sir, my husband has died! As you know, he was a God-fearing man, but now a man he owed money to has come to take away my two sons as slaves in payment for my husband's debt.”

₂“What shall I do for you?” he asked. “Tell me, what have you got at home?”

“Nothing at all, except a small jar of olive oil,” she answered.

₃“Go to your neighbours and borrow as many empty jars as you can,” Elisha told her. ₄“Then you and your sons go into the house, close the door, and start pouring oil into the jars. Set each one aside as soon as it is full.”

₅So the woman went into her house with her sons, closed the door, took the small jar of olive oil, and poured oil into the jars as her sons brought them to her. ₆When they had filled all the jars, she asked if there were any more. “That was the last one,” one of her sons answered. And the olive oil stopped flowing. ₇She went back to Elisha, the prophet, who said to her, “Sell the olive oil and pay all your debts, and there will be enough money left over for you and your sons to live on.”

₈One day Elisha went to Shunem, where a rich woman lived. She invited him to a meal, and from then on every time he went to Shunem he would have his meals at her house. ₉She said to her husband, “I am sure that this man who comes here so often is a holy man. ₁₀Let's build a small room on the roof, put a bed, a table, a chair, and a lamp in it, and he can stay there whenever he visits us.”

₁₁One day Elisha returned to Shunem and went up to his room to rest. ₁₂He told his servant Gehazi to go and call the woman. When she came, ₁₃he said to Gehazi, “Ask her what I can do for her in return for all the trouble she has had in providing for our needs. Maybe she would like me to go to the king or the army commander and put in a good word for her.”

“I have all I need here among my own people,” she answered.

₁₄Elisha asked Gehazi, “What can I do for her then?”

He answered, “Well, she has no son, and her husband is an old man.”

₁₅“Tell her to come here,” Elisha ordered. She came and stood in the doorway, ₁₆and Elisha said to her, “By this time next year you will be holding a son in your arms.”

“Oh!” she exclaimed. “Please, sir, don't lie to me. You are a man of God!”

₁₇But, as Elisha had said, at about that time the following year she gave birth to a son.

₁₈Some years later, at harvest time, the boy went out one morning to join his father, who was in the field with the harvest workers. ₁₉Suddenly he cried out to his father, “My head hurts! My head hurts!”

“Carry the boy to his mother,” the father said to a servant. ₂₀The servant carried the boy back to his mother, who held him in her lap until noon, at which time he died. ₂₁She carried him up to Elisha's room, put him on the bed and left, closing the door behind her. ₂₂Then she called her husband and said to him, “Send a servant here with a donkey. I need to go to the prophet Elisha. I'll be back as soon as I can.”

₂₃“Why do you have to go today?” her husband asked. “It's neither a Sabbath nor a New Moon Festival.”

“Never mind,” she answered. ₂₄Then she had the donkey saddled, and ordered the servant, “Make the donkey go as fast as it can, and don't slow down, unless I tell you to.” ₂₅So she set out, and went to Mount Carmel, where Elisha was.

Elisha saw her coming while she was still some distance away, and said to his servant Gehazi, “Look — there comes the woman from Shunem! ₂₆Hurry to her and find out if everything is all right with her, her husband, and her son.”

She told Gehazi that everything was all right, ₂₇but when she came to Elisha she bowed down before him and took hold of his feet. Gehazi was about to push her away, but Elisha said, “Leave her alone. Can't you see she's deeply distressed? And the LORD has not told me a thing about it.”

₂₈The woman said to him, “Sir, did I ask you for a son? Didn't I tell you not to raise my hopes?”

₂₉Elisha turned to Gehazi and said, “Hurry! Take my stick and go. Don't stop to greet anyone you meet, and if anyone greets you, don't take time to answer. Go straight to the house and hold my stick over the boy.”

₃₀The woman said to Elisha, “I swear by my loyalty to the living LORD and to you that I will not leave you!” So the two of them started back together. ₃₁Gehazi went on ahead and held Elisha's stick over the child, but there was no sound or any other sign of life. So he went back to meet Elisha and said, “The boy didn't wake up.”

₃₂When Elisha arrived, he went alone into the room and saw the boy lying dead on the bed. ₃₃He closed the door and prayed to the LORD. ₃₄Then he lay down on the boy, placing his mouth, eyes, and hands on the boy's mouth, eyes, and hands. As he lay stretched out over the boy, the boy's body started to get warm. ₃₅Elisha got up, walked about the room, and then went back and again stretched himself over the boy. The boy sneezed seven times, and then opened his eyes. ₃₆Elisha called Gehazi and told him to call the boy's mother. When she came in, he said to her, “Here's your son.” ₃₇She fell at Elisha's feet, with her face touching the ground; then she took her son and left.

₃₈Once, when there was a famine throughout the land, Elisha returned to Gilgal. While he was teaching a group of prophets, he told his servant to put a big pot on the fire and make some stew for them. ₃₉One of them went out in the fields to get some herbs. He found a wild vine, and picked as many gourds as he could carry. He brought them back and sliced them up into the stew, not knowing what they were. ₄₀The stew was poured out for the men to eat, but as soon as they tasted it they exclaimed to Elisha, “It's poisoned!” — and wouldn't eat it. ₄₁Elisha asked for some meal, threw it into the pot, and said, “Pour out some more stew for them.” And then there was nothing wrong with it.

₄₂Another time, a man came from Baal Shalishah, bringing Elisha twenty loaves of bread made from the first barley harvested that year, and some freshly-cut ears of corn. Elisha told his servant to feed the group of prophets with this, ₄₃but he answered, “Do you think this is enough for a hundred men?”

Elisha replied, “Give it to them to eat, because the LORD says that they will eat and still have some left over.” ₄₄So the servant set the food before them, and, as the LORD had said, they all ate and there was still some left over.