Hello, this is Father Paul, and I'm glad we're
taking this journey together to read the Bible
in a year. Today's reading is from 2 Kings 7
-8. Chapter 7 Then Elisha said, Hear the word
of the Lord. Thus says the Lord, Tomorrow about
this time a seah of fine flour shall be sold
for a shekel, and two seahs of barley for a shekel
at the gate of Samaria. So an officer, on whose
hand the king leaned, answered the man of God
and said, Look, if the Lord would make windows
in heaven, could this thing be? And he said,
In fact, you shall see it with your eyes, but
you shall not eat of it. Now there were four
leprous men at the entrance of the gate, and
they said to one another, Why are we sitting
here until we die? If we say we will enter the
city, the famine is in the city, and we shall
die there. And if we sit here, we die also. Now
therefore come, let us surrender to the army
of the Syrians. If they keep us alive, we shall
live. And if they kill us, we shall only die.
And they rose at twilight to go to the camp of
the Syrians. And when they had come to the outskirts
of the Syrian camp, to their surprise, no one
was there. For the Lord had caused the army of
the Syrians to hear the noise of chariots and
the noise of horses, the noise of a great army.
So they said to one another, Look, the king of
Israel has hired against us the kings of the
Hittites and the kings of the Egyptians to attack
us. therefore they arose and fled at twilight
and left the camp intact their tents their horses
and their donkeys and they fled for their lives
and when these lepers came to the outskirts of
the camp they went into one tent and ate and
drank and carried from it silver and gold and
clothing and went and hid them then they came
back and entered another tent and carried some
from there also and went and hid it then they
said to one another we are not doing right this
day is a day of good news and we remain silent
if we wait until morning light some punishment
will come upon us now therefore come let us go
and tell the king's household so they went and
called to the gatekeepers of the city and told
them saying we went to the syrian camp and surprisingly
no one was there not a human sound only horses
and donkeys tied and the tents intact and the
gatekeepers called out and they told it to the
king's household inside so the king arose in
the night and said to his servants let me now
tell you what the syrians have done to us they
know that we are hungry therefore they have gone
out of the camp to hide themselves in the field
saying when they come out of the city we shall
catch them alive and get into the city and one
of his servants answered and said please let
several men Take five of the remaining horses
which are left in the city. Look, they may either
become like all the multitude of Israel that
are left in it, or indeed I say, they may become
like all the multitude of Israel left from those
who are consumed. So let us send them and see.
Therefore they took two chariots with horses,
and the king sent them in the direction of the
Syrian army, saying, Go and see. And they went
after them to the Jordan. And indeed all the
road was full of garments and weapons, which
the Syrians had thrown away in their haste. So
the messengers returned and told the king. Then
the people went out and plundered the tents of
the Syrians. So a sayer of fine flour was sold
for a shekel, and two sayers of barley for a
shekel according to the word of the Lord. Now
the king had appointed the officer, on whose
hand he leaned. to have charge of the gate. But
the people trampled him in the gate, and he died,
just as the man of God had said who spoke when
the king came down to him. So it happened just
as the man of God had spoken to the king, saying,
Two sayers of barley for a shekel, and a sayer
of fine flour for a shekel shall be sold tomorrow
about this time in the gate of Samaria. Then
that officer had answered the man of God and
said, Now look, if the Lord would make windows
in heaven, could such a thing be? and he had
said in fact you shall see it with your eyes
but you shall not eat of it and so it happened
to him for the people trampled him in the gate
and he died chapter eight then elisha spoke to
the woman whose son he had restored to life saying
arise and go you and your household and stay
wherever you can for the lord has called for
a famine and furthermore it will come upon the
land for seven years. So the woman arose and
did according to the saying of the men of God,
and she went with her household and dwelt in
the land of the Philistines seven years. It came
to pass at the end of seven years that the woman
returned from the land of the Philistines, and
she went to make an appeal to the king for her
house and for her land. Then the king talked
with Gehazi, the servant of the man of God, saying,
Tell me, please, all the great things Elisha
has done. Now it happened, as he was telling
the king how he had restored the dead to life,
that there was the woman whose son he had restored
to life, appealing to the king for her house
and for her land. And Gehazi said, My lord, O
king, this is the woman, and this is her son
whom Elisha restored to life. And when the king
asked the woman, she told him. So the king appointed
a certain officer for her, saying, Restore all
that was hers, and all the proceeds of the field
from the day that she left the land until now.
Then Elisha went to Damascus, and Ben -Hadad
king of Syria was sick, and it was told him,
saying, The man of God has come here. And the
king said to Hazael, Take a present in your hand,
and go to meet the man of God, and inquire of
the Lord by him, saying, Shall I recover from
this disease? So Hazael went to meet him, and
took a present with him, of every good thing
of Damascus, forty camel loads. And he came and
stood before him, and said, Your son Ben -Hadad
King of Syria has sent me to you saying, shall
I recover from this disease? And Elisha said
to him, go say to him, you shall certainly recover.
However, the Lord has shown me that he will really
die. Then he set his countenance in a stare until
he was ashamed and the man of God wept. And Hazael
said, why is my Lord weeping? He answered, because
I know the evil that you will do to the children
of Israel. their strongholds you will set on
fire and their young men you will kill with the
sword and you will dash their children and rip
open their women with child so Haziel said but
what is your servant a dog that he should do
this gross thing and Elisha answered the lord
has shown me that you will become king over Syria
then he departed from Elisha and came to his
master who said to him what did Elisha say to
you and he answered he told me you would surely
recover But it happened on the next day that
he took a thick cloth and dipped it in water
and spread it over his face so that he died,
and Hazael reigned in his place. Now in the fifth
year of Jehoram the son of Ahab king of Israel,
Jehoshaphat having been king of Judah, Jehoram
the son of Jehoshaphat began to reign as king
of Judah. He was 32 years old when he became
king and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem
and he walked in the way of the kings of Israel
just as the house of Ahab had done for the daughter
of Ahab was his wife and he did evil in the sight
of the Lord. Yet the Lord would not destroy Judah
for the sake of his servant David, as he promised
him to give a lamb to him and his sons forever.
In his days Edom revolted against Judah's authority
and made the king over themselves. So Joram went
to Zair and all his chariots with him. Then he
rose by night and attacked the Edomites, who
had surrendered him and the captains of the chariots,
and the troops fled to their tents. Thus Edom
has been in revolt against Judah's authority
to this day, and Libna revolted at that time.
Now the rest of the acts of Joram and all that
he did, are they not written in the book of the
chronicles of the kings of Judah? So Joram rested
with his fathers and was buried with his fathers
in the city of David. Then Ahaziah his son reigned
in his place. In the twelfth year of Joram, the
son of Ahab king of Israel, Ahaziah the son of
Jehoram king of Judah began to reign. Ahaziah
was twenty -two years old when he became king
and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. His mother's
name was Ataliah, the granddaughter of Omri,
king of Israel. And he walked in the way of the
house of Ahab, and did evil in the sight of the
Lord, like the house of Ahab. For he was the
son -in -law of the house of Ahab. Now he went
with Joram, the son of Ahab, to war against Haziel,
king of Syria, at Ramud Gilead. And the Syrians
wounded Joram. Then king Joram went back to Jezreel
to recover from the wounds which the Syrians
had inflicted on him at Ramah. when he fought
against Hazel king of Syria. And Ahaziah the
son of Jeoram king of Judah went down to see
Jeoram the son of Ahab in Jezreel because he
was sick. I hope you enjoyed today's reading
as much as I did and I look forward to seeing
you again tomorrow to continue on our journey.
God bless you and have a great day.