2 KINGS 4:18-5:27
ACTS 15:1-35
PSALM 141:1-10
PROVERBS 17:23
2 KINGS 4:18-5:27
One day when her [the Shunemite woman's] child was older, he went out to visit his father, who was working with the harvesters. 19 Suddenly he complained, " My head hurts! My head hurts!" His father said to one of the servants, " Carry him home to his mother." 20 So the servant took him home, and his mother held him on her lap. But around noontime he died. 21 She carried him up to the bed of the man of God, then shut the door and left him there. 22 She sent a message to her husband: " Send one of the servants and a donkey so that I can hurry to the man of God and come right back." 23 " Why today?" he asked. " It is neither a new moon festival nor a Sabbath." But she said, " It's all right." 24 So she saddled the donkey and said to the servant, " Hurry! Don't slow down on my account unless I tell you to." 25 As she approached the man of God at Mount Carmel, Elisha saw her in the distance. He said to Gehazi, " Look, the woman from Shunem is coming. 26 Run out to meet her and ask her, ` Is everything all right with you, with your husband, and with your child?' " " Yes," the woman told Gehazi, " everything is fine." 27 But when she came to the man of God at the mountain, she fell to the ground before him and caught hold of his feet. Gehazi began to push her away, but the man of God said, " Leave her alone. Something is troubling her deeply, and the LORD has not told me what it is." 28 Then she said, " It was you, my lord, who said I would have a son. And didn't I tell you not to raise my hopes?" 29 Then Elisha said to Gehazi, " Get ready to travel; take my staff and go! Don't talk to anyone along the way. Go quickly and lay the staff on the child's face." 30 But the boy's mother said, " As surely as the LORD lives and you yourself live, I won't go home unless you go with me." So Elisha returned with her. 31 Gehazi hurried on ahead and laid the staff on the child's face, but nothing happened. There was no sign of life. He returned to meet Elisha and told him, " The child is still dead." 32 When Elisha arrived, the child was indeed dead, lying there on the prophet's bed. 33 He went in alone and shut the door behind him and prayed to the LORD. 34 Then he lay down on the child's body, placing his mouth on the child's mouth, his eyes on the child's eyes, and his hands on the child's hands. And the child's body began to grow warm again! 35 Elisha got up and walked back and forth in the room a few times. Then he stretched himself out again on the child. This time the boy sneezed seven times and opened his eyes! 36 Then Elisha summoned Gehazi. " Call the child's mother!" he said. And when she came in, Elisha said, " Here, take your son!" 37 She fell at his feet, overwhelmed with gratitude. Then she picked up her son and carried him downstairs. 38 Elisha now returned to Gilgal, but there was a famine in the land. One day as the group of prophets was seated before him, he said to his servant, " Put on a large kettle and make some stew for these men." 39 One of the young men went out into the field to gather vegetables and came back with a pocketful of wild gourds. He shredded them and put them into the kettle without realizing they were poisonous. 40 But after the men had eaten a bite or two they cried out, " Man of God, there's poison in this stew!" So they would not eat it. 41 Elisha said, " Bring me some flour." Then he threw it into the kettle and said, " Now it's all right; go ahead and eat." And then it did not harm them!42 One day a man from Baal-shalishah brought the man of God a sack of fresh grain and twenty loaves of barley bread made from the first grain of his harvest. Elisha said, " Give it to the group of prophets so they can eat." 43 " What?" his servant exclaimed. " Feed one hundred people with only this?" But Elisha repeated, " Give it to the group of prophets so they can eat, for the LORD says there will be plenty for all. There will even be some left over!" 44 And sure enough, there was plenty for all and some left over, just as the LORD had promised.5:1 THE king of Aram had high admiration for Naaman, the commander of his army, because through him the LORD had given Aram great victories. But though Naaman was a mighty warrior, he suffered from leprosy. 2 Now groups of Aramean raiders had invaded the land of Israel, and among their captives was a young girl who had been given to Naaman's wife as a maid. 3 One day the girl said to her mistress, " I wish my master would go to see the prophet in Samaria. He would heal him of his leprosy." 4 So Naaman told the king what the young girl from Israel had said. 5 " Go and visit the prophet," the king told him. " I will send a letter of introduction for you to carry to the king of Israel." So Naaman started out, taking as gifts 750 pounds of silver, 150 pounds of gold, and ten sets of clothing. 6 The letter to the king of Israel said: " With this letter I present my servant Naaman. I want you to heal him of his leprosy." 7 When the king of Israel read it, he tore his clothes in dismay and said, " This man sends me a leper to heal! Am I God, that I can kill and give life? He is only trying to find an excuse to invade us again." 8 But when Elisha, the man of God, heard about the king's reaction, he sent this message to him: " Why are you so upset? Send Naaman to me, and he will learn that there is a true prophet here in Israel." 9 So Naaman went with his horses and chariots and waited at the door of Elisha's house. 10 But Elisha sent a messenger out to him with this message: " Go and wash yourself seven times in the Jordan River. Then your skin will be restored, and you will be healed of leprosy." 11 But Naaman became angry and stalked away. " I thought he would surely come out to meet me!" he said. " I expected him to wave his hand over the leprosy and call on the name of the LORD his God and heal me! 12 Aren't the Abana River and Pharpar River of Damascus better than all the rivers of Israel put together? Why shouldn't I wash in them and be healed?" So Naaman turned and went away in a rage. 13 But his officers tried to reason with him and said, " Sir, if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, wouldn't you have done it? So you should certainly obey him when he says simply to go and wash and be cured!" 14 So Naaman went down to the Jordan River and dipped himself seven times, as the man of God had instructed him. And his flesh became as healthy as a young child's, and he was healed! 15 Then Naaman and his entire party went back to find the man of God. They stood before him, and Naaman said, " I know at last that there is no God in all the world except in Israel. Now please accept my gifts." 16 But Elisha replied, " As surely as the LORD lives, whom I serve, I will not accept any gifts." And though Naaman urged him to take the gifts, Elisha refused. 17 Then Naaman said, " All right, but please allow me to load two of my mules with earth from this place, and I will take it back home with me. From now on I will never again offer any burnt offerings or sacrifices to any other god except the LORD. 18 However, may the LORD pardon me in this one thing. When my master the king goes into the temple of the god Rimmon to worship there and leans on my arm, may the LORD pardon me when I bow, too." 19 " Go in peace," Elisha said. So Naaman started home again. 20 But Gehazi, Elisha's servant, said to himself, " My master should not have let this Aramean get away without accepting his gifts. As surely as the LORD lives, I will chase after him and get something from him." 21 So Gehazi set off after him. When Naaman saw him running after him, he climbed down from his chariot and went to meet him. " Is everything all right?" Naaman asked. 22 " Yes," Gehazi said, " but my master has sent me to tell you that two young prophets from the hill country of Ephraim have just arrived. He would like 75 pounds of silver and two sets of clothing to give to them." 23 " By all means, take 150 pounds of silver," Naaman insisted. He gave him two sets of clothing, tied up the money in two bags, and sent two of his servants to carry the gifts for Gehazi. 24 But when they arrived at the hill, Gehazi took the gifts from the servants and sent the men back. Then he hid the gifts inside the house. 25 When he went in to his master, Elisha asked him, " Where have you been, Gehazi?" " I haven't been anywhere," he replied. 26 But Elisha asked him, " Don't you realize that I was there in spirit when Naaman stepped down from his chariot to meet you? Is this the time to receive money and clothing and olive groves and vineyards and sheep and oxen and servants? 27 Because you have done this, you and your children and your children's children will suffer from Naaman's leprosy forever." When Gehazi left the room, he was leprous; his skin was as white as snow.
ACTS 15:1-35
While Paul and Barnabas were at Antioch of Syria, some men from Judea arrived and began to teach the Christians: " Unless you keep the ancient Jewish custom of circumcision taught by Moses, you cannot be saved." 2 Paul and Barnabas, disagreeing with them, argued forcefully and at length. Finally, Paul and Barnabas were sent to Jerusalem, accompanied by some local believers, to talk to the apostles and elders about this question. 3 The church sent the delegates to Jerusalem, and they stopped along the way in Phoenicia and Samaria to visit the believers. They told them--much to everyone's joy--that the Gentiles, too, were being converted. 4 When they arrived in Jerusalem, Paul and Barnabas were welcomed by the whole church, including the apostles and elders. They reported on what God had been doing through their ministry. 5 But then some of the men who had been Pharisees before their conversion stood up and declared that all Gentile converts must be circumcised and be required to follow the law of Moses. 6 So the apostles and church elders got together to decide this question. 7 At the meeting, after a long discussion, Peter stood and addressed them as follows: " Brothers, you all know that God chose me from among you some time ago to preach to the Gentiles so that they could hear the Good News and believe. 8 God, who knows people's hearts, confirmed that he accepts Gentiles by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as he gave him to us. 9 He made no distinction between us and them, for he also cleansed their hearts through faith. 10 Why are you now questioning God's way by burdening the Gentile believers with a yoke that neither we nor our ancestors were able to bear? 11 We believe that we are all saved the same way, by the special favor of the Lord Jesus." 12 There was no further discussion, and everyone listened as Barnabas and Paul told about the miraculous signs and wonders God had done through them among the Gentiles. 13 When they had finished, James stood and said, " Brothers, listen to me. 14 Peter has told you about the time God first visited the Gentiles to take from them a people for himself. 15 And this conversion of Gentiles agrees with what the prophets predicted. For instance, it is written:16 ` Afterward I will return,
and I will restore the fallen kingdom of David.
From the ruins I will rebuild it,
and I will restore it,
17 so that the rest of humanity might find the Lord,
including the Gentiles--
all those I have called to be mine.
This is what the Lord says,
18 he who made these things known long ago.'
19 And so my judgment is that we should stop troubling the Gentiles who turn to God, 20 except that we should write to them and tell them to abstain from eating meat sacrificed to idols, from sexual immorality, and from consuming blood or eating the meat of strangled animals. 21 For these laws of Moses have been preached in Jewish synagogues in every city on every Sabbath for many generations." 22 Then the apostles and elders and the whole church in Jerusalem chose delegates, and they sent them to Antioch of Syria with Paul and Barnabas to report on this decision. The men chosen were two of the church leaders*--Judas (also called Barsabbas) and Silas. 23 This is the letter they took along with them: " This letter is from the apostles and elders, your brothers in Jeru-salem. It is written to the Gentile believers in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia. Greetings! 24 " We understand that some men from here have troubled you and upset you with their teaching, but they had no such instructions from us. 25 So it seemed good to us, having unanimously agreed on our decision, to send you these official representatives, along with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, 26 who have risked their lives for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ. 27 So we are sending Judas and Silas to tell you what we have decided con-cerning your question. 28 " For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay no greater burden on you than these requirements: 29 You must abstain from eating food offered to idols, from consuming blood or eating the meat of strangled animals, and from sexual immorality. If you do this, you will do well. Farewell."30 The four messengers went at once to Antioch, where they called a general meeting of the Christians and delivered the letter. 31 And there was great joy throughout the church that day as they read this encouraging message. 32 Then Judas and Silas, both being prophets, spoke extensively to the Christians, encouraging and strengthening their faith. 33 They stayed for a while, and then Judas and Silas were sent back to Jerusalem, with the blessings of the Christians, to those who had sent them. 35 Paul and Barnabas stayed in Antioch to assist many others who were teaching and preaching the word of the Lord there.
PSALM 141:1-10
A psalm of David.
1 O LORD, I am calling to you. Please hurry!
Listen when I cry to you for help!
2 Accept my prayer as incense offered to you,
and my upraised hands as an evening offering.
3 Take control of what I say, O LORD,
and keep my lips sealed.
4 Don't let me lust for evil things;
don't let me participate in acts of wickedness.
Don't let me share in the delicacies
of those who do evil.
5 Let the godly strike me!
It will be a kindness!
If they reprove me, it is soothing medicine.
Don't let me refuse it.
But I am in constant prayer
against the wicked and their deeds.
6 When their leaders are thrown down from a cliff,
they will listen to my words and find them pleasing.
7 Even as a farmer breaks up the soil and brings up rocks,
so the bones of the wicked will be scattered without a decent burial.
8 I look to you for help, O Sovereign LORD.
You are my refuge; don't let them kill me.
9 Keep me out of the traps they have set for me,
out of the snares of those who do evil.
10 Let the wicked fall into their own snares,
but let me escape.
PROVERBS 17:23
The wicked accept secret bribes to pervert justice.
