The One Year Bible TLB (131 page)
Read The One Year Bible TLB Online
Authors: Tyndale
June 16Meanwhile over in Israel, Nadab, the son of Jeroboam, had become king. He reigned two years, beginning in the second year of the reign of King Asa of Judah.
26
But he was not a good king; like his father, he worshiped many idols and led all of Israel into sin.
27
Then Baasha (the son of Ahijah, from the tribe of Issachar) plotted against him and assassinated him while he was with the Israeli army laying siege to the Philistine city of Gibbethon.
28
So Baasha replaced Nadab as the king of Israel in Tirzah during the third year of the reign of King Asa of Judah.
29
He immediately killed all of the descendants of King Jeroboam, so that not one of the royal family was left, just as the Lord had said would happen when he spoke through Ahijah, the prophet from Shiloh.
30
This was done because Jeroboam had angered the Lord God of Israel by sinning and leading the rest of Israel into sin.
31
Further details of Baasha’s reign are recorded in
The Annals of the Kings of Israel.
32-33
There was continuous warfare between King Asa of Judah and King Baasha of Israel. Baasha reigned for twenty-four years,
34
but all that time he continually disobeyed the Lord. He followed the evil paths of Jeroboam, for he led the people of Israel into the sin of worshiping idols.
16:
1
A message of condemnation from the Lord was delivered to King Baasha at this time by the prophet Jehu:
2
“I lifted you out of the dust,” the message said, “to make you king of my people Israel; but you have walked in the evil paths of Jeroboam. You have made my people sin, and I am angry!
3
So now I will destroy you and your family, just as I did the descendants of Jeroboam.
4-7
Those of your family who die in the city will be eaten by dogs, and those who die in the fields will be eaten by the birds.”
The message was sent to Baasha and his family because he had angered the Lord by all his evil deeds. He was as evil as Jeroboam despite the fact that the Lord had destroyed all of Jeroboam’s descendants for their sins.
The rest of Baasha’s biography—his deeds and conquests—are written in
The Annals of the Kings of Israel.
8
Elah, Baasha’s son, began reigning during the twenty-sixth year of the reign of King Asa of Judah, but he reigned only two years.
9
Then General Zimri, who had charge of half the royal chariot troops, plotted against him. One day King Elah was half drunk at the home of Arza, the superintendent of the palace, in the capital city of Tirzah.
10
Zimri simply walked in and struck him down and killed him. (This occurred during the twenty-seventh year of the reign of King Asa of Judah.) Then Zimri declared himself to be the new king of Israel.
11
He immediately killed the entire royal family—leaving not a single male child. He even destroyed distant relatives and friends.
12
This destruction of the descendants of Baasha was in line with what the Lord had predicted through the prophet Jehu.
13
The tragedy occurred because of the sins of Baasha and his son Elah; for they had led Israel into worshiping idols, and the Lord was very angry about it.
14
The rest of the history of Elah’s reign is written in
The Annals of the Kings of Israel.
15-16
But Zimri lasted only seven days; for when the army of Israel, which was then engaged in attacking the Philistine city of Gibbethon, heard that Zimri had assassinated the king, they decided on General Omri, commander-in-chief of the army, as their new ruler.
17
So Omri led the army of Gibbethon to besiege Tirzah, Israel’s capital.
18
When Zimri saw that the city had been taken, he went into the palace and burned it over him and died in the flames.
19
For he, too, had sinned like Jeroboam; he had worshiped idols and had led the people of Israel to sin with him.
20
The rest of the story of Zimri and his treason are written in
The Annals of the Kings of Israel.
21
But now the kingdom of Israel was split in two; half the people were loyal to General Omri, and the other half followed Tibni, the son of Ginath.
22
But General Omri won and Tibni was killed; so Omri reigned without opposition.
23
King Asa of Judah had been on the throne thirty-one years when Omri began his reign over Israel, which lasted twelve years, six of them in Tirzah.
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Then Omri bought the hill now known as Samaria from its owner, Shemer, for $4,000 and built a city on it, calling it Samaria in honor of Shemer.
25
But Omri was worse than any of the kings before him;
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he worshiped idols as Jeroboam had and led Israel into this same sin. So God was very angry.
27
The rest of Omri’s history is recorded in
The Annals of the Kings of Israel.
28
When Omri died he was buried in Samaria, and his son Ahab became king in his place.
29
King Asa of Judah had been on the throne thirty-eight years when Ahab became the king of Israel; and Ahab reigned for twenty-two years.
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But he was even more wicked than his father Omri; he was worse than any other king of Israel!
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And as though that were not enough, he married Jezebel, the daughter of King Ethbaal of the Sidonians, and then began worshiping Baal.
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First he built a temple and an altar for Baal in Samaria.
33
Then he made other idols and did more to anger the Lord God of Israel than any of the other kings of Israel before him.
34
(It was during his reign that Hiel, a man from Bethel, rebuilt Jericho. When he laid the foundations, his oldest son, Abiram, died; and when he finally completed it by setting up the gates, his youngest son, Segub, died. For this was the Lord’s curse upon Jericho
*
as declared by Joshua, the son of Nun.)
17:
1
Then Elijah, the prophet
*
from Tishbe in Gilead, told King Ahab, “As surely as the Lord God of Israel lives—the God whom I worship and serve—there won’t be any dew or rain for several years until I say the word!”
2
Then the Lord said to Elijah,
3
“Go to the east and hide by Cherith Brook at a place east of where it enters the Jordan River.
4
Drink from the brook and eat what the ravens bring you, for I have commanded them to feed you.”
5
So he did as the Lord had told him to and camped beside the brook.
6
The ravens brought him bread and meat each morning and evening, and he drank from the brook.
7
But after a while the brook dried up, for there was no rainfall anywhere in the land.
8-9
Then the Lord said to him, “Go and live in the village of Zarephath, near the city of Sidon. There is a widow there who will feed you. I have given her my instructions.”
10
So he went to Zarephath. As he arrived at the gates of the city he saw a widow gathering sticks; and he asked her for a cup of water.
11
As she was going to get it, he called to her, “Bring me a bite of bread too.”
12
But she said, “I swear by the Lord your God that I haven’t a single piece of bread in the house. And I have only a handful of flour left and a little cooking oil in the bottom of the jar. I was just gathering a few sticks to cook this last meal, and then my son and I must die of starvation.”
13
But Elijah said to her, “Don’t be afraid! Go ahead and cook that ‘last meal,’ but bake me a little loaf of bread first; and afterwards there will still be enough food for you and your son.
14
For the Lord God of Israel says that there will always be plenty of flour and oil left in your containers until the time when the Lord sends rain and the crops grow again!”
15
So she did as Elijah said, and she and Elijah and her son continued to eat from her supply of flour and oil as long as it was needed.
16
For no matter how much they used, there was always plenty left in the containers, just as the Lord had promised through Elijah!
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But one day the woman’s son became sick and died.
18
“O man of God,” she cried, “what have you done to me? Have you come here to punish my sins by killing my son?”
19
“Give him to me,” Elijah replied. And he took the boy’s body from her and carried it upstairs to the guest room where he lived, and laid the body on his bed,
20
and then cried out to the Lord, “O Lord my God, why have you killed the son of this widow with whom I am staying?”
21
And he stretched himself upon the child three times and cried out to the Lord, “O Lord my God, please let this child’s spirit return to him.”
22
And the Lord heard Elijah’s prayer; and the spirit of the child returned, and he became alive again!
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Then Elijah took him downstairs and gave him to his mother.
“See! He’s alive!” he beamed.
24
“Now I know for sure that you are a prophet,” she told him afterward,
*
“and that whatever you say is from the Lord!”
They arrived in Caesarea the following day, and Cornelius was waiting for him and had called together his relatives and close friends to meet Peter.
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As Peter entered his home, Cornelius fell to the floor before him in worship.
26
But Peter said, “Stand up! I’m not a god!”
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So he got up, and they talked together for a while and then went in where the others were assembled.
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Peter told them, “You know it is against the Jewish laws for me to come into a Gentile home like this. But God has shown me in a vision that I should never think of anyone as inferior.
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So I came as soon as I was sent for. Now tell me what you want.”
30
Cornelius replied, “Four days ago I was praying as usual at this time of the afternoon, when suddenly a man was standing before me clothed in a radiant robe!
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He told me, ‘Cornelius, your prayers are heard and your charities have been noticed by God!
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Now send some men to Joppa and summon Simon Peter, who is staying in the home of Simon, a tanner, down by the shore.’
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So I sent for you at once, and you have done well to come so soon. Now here we are, waiting before the Lord, anxious to hear what he has told you to tell us!”
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Then Peter replied, “I see very clearly that the Jews are not God’s only favorites!
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In every nation he has those who worship him and do good deeds and are acceptable to him.
36-37
I’m sure you have heard about the Good News for the people of Israel—that there is peace with God through Jesus, the Messiah, who is Lord of all creation. This message has spread all through Judea, beginning with John the Baptist in Galilee.
38
And you no doubt know that Jesus of Nazareth was anointed by God with the Holy Spirit and with power, and he went around doing good and healing all who were possessed by demons, for God was with him.
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“And we apostles are witnesses of all he did throughout Israel and in Jerusalem, where he was murdered on a cross.
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But God brought him back to life again three days later and showed him to certain witnesses God had selected beforehand—not to the general public, but to us who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead.
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And he sent us to preach the Good News everywhere and to testify that Jesus is ordained of God to be the Judge of all—living and dead.
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And all the prophets have written about him, saying that everyone who believes in him will have their sins forgiven through his name.”
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Even as Peter was saying these things, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those listening!
45
The Jews who came with Peter were amazed that the gift of the Holy Spirit would be given to Gentiles too!
46-47
But there could be no doubt about it,
*
for they heard them speaking in tongues and praising God.
Peter asked, “Can anyone object to my baptizing them, now that they have received the Holy Spirit just as we did?”
48
So he did, baptizing them in the name of Jesus, the Messiah. Afterwards Cornelius begged him to stay with them for several days.