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Act Like Men

Bible Study 2: Naomi's Journey - Finding Strength in Mentorship

Shatter the Stigma

A People Set Apart | Men's Devotional

Seize the Day: A 3-Day Marriage Plan

Childrearing With the End in View: A 3-Day Parenting Plan

Bible Study 3: Philip - Seizing Mentoring Moments

Allowing Our Children to Grow and Go: A 3-Day Parenting Plan

The Sound of Worship: Lessons From Revelation

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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bk2KI">
 <div class="chapter ch4" data-usfm="2KI.4">
 <div class="label">4</div><div class="s1">The Widow&#8217;s Olive Oil</div><div class="p"> 1The wife of a man from the company of the prophets cried out to Elisha, &#8220;Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that he revered the Lord. But now his creditor is coming to take my two boys as his slaves.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 2Elisha replied to her, &#8220;How can I help you? Tell me, what do you have in your house?&#8221;</div><div class="p">&#8220;Your servant has nothing there at all,&#8221; she said, &#8220;except a small jar of olive oil.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 3Elisha said, &#8220;Go around and ask all your neighbors for empty jars. Don&#8217;t ask for just a few. 4Then go inside and shut the door behind you and your sons. Pour oil into all the jars, and as each is filled, put it to one side.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 5She left him and shut the door behind her and her sons. They brought the jars to her and she kept pouring. 6When all the jars were full, she said to her son, &#8220;Bring me another one.&#8221;</div><div class="p">But he replied, &#8220;There is not a jar left.&#8221; Then the oil stopped flowing.</div><div class="p"> 7She went and told the man of God, and he said, &#8220;Go, sell the oil and pay your debts. You and your sons can live on what is left.&#8221;</div><div class="s1">The Shunammite&#8217;s Son Restored to Life</div><div class="p"> 8One day Elisha went to Shunem. And a well-to-do woman was there, who urged him to stay for a meal. So whenever he came by, he stopped there to eat. 9She said to her husband, &#8220;I know that this man who often comes our way is a holy man of God. 10Let&#8217;s make a small room on the roof and put in it a bed and a table, a chair and a lamp for him. Then he can stay there whenever he comes to us.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 11One day when Elisha came, he went up to his room and lay down there. 12He said to his servant Gehazi, &#8220;Call the Shunammite.&#8221; So he called her, and she stood before him. 13Elisha said to him, &#8220;Tell her, &#8216;You have gone to all this trouble for us. Now what can be done for you? Can we speak on your behalf to the king or the commander of the army?&#8217;&#8198;&#8221;</div><div class="p">She replied, &#8220;I have a home among my own people.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 14&#8220;What can be done for her?&#8221; Elisha asked.</div><div class="p">Gehazi said, &#8220;She has no son, and her husband is old.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 15Then Elisha said, &#8220;Call her.&#8221; So he called her, and she stood in the doorway. 16&#8220;About this time next year,&#8221; Elisha said, &#8220;you will hold a son in your arms.&#8221;</div><div class="p">&#8220;No, my lord!&#8221; she objected. &#8220;Please, man of God, don&#8217;t mislead your servant!&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 17But the woman became pregnant, and the next year about that same time she gave birth to a son, just as Elisha had told her.</div><div class="p"> 18The child grew, and one day he went out to his father, who was with the reapers. 19He said to his father, &#8220;My head! My head!&#8221;</div><div class="p">His father told a servant, &#8220;Carry him to his mother.&#8221; 20After the servant had lifted him up and carried him to his mother, the boy sat on her lap until noon, and then he died. 21She went up and laid him on the bed of the man of God, then shut the door and went out.</div><div class="p"> 22She called her husband and said, &#8220;Please send me one of the servants and a donkey so I can go to the man of God quickly and return.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 23&#8220;Why go to him today?&#8221; he asked. &#8220;It&#8217;s not the New Moon or the Sabbath.&#8221;</div><div class="p">&#8220;That&#8217;s all right,&#8221; she said.</div><div class="p"> 24She saddled the donkey and said to her servant, &#8220;Lead on; don&#8217;t slow down for me unless I tell you.&#8221; 25So she set out and came to the man of God at Mount Carmel.</div><div class="p">When he saw her in the distance, the man of God said to his servant Gehazi, &#8220;Look! There&#8217;s the Shunammite! 26Run to meet her and ask her, &#8216;Are you all right? Is your husband all right? Is your child all right?&#8217;&#8198;&#8221;</div><div class="p">&#8220;Everything is all right,&#8221; she said.</div><div class="p"> 27When she reached the man of God at the mountain, she took hold of his feet. Gehazi came over to push her away, but the man of God said, &#8220;Leave her alone! She is in bitter distress, but the Lord has hidden it from me and has not told me why.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 28&#8220;Did I ask you for a son, my lord?&#8221; she said. &#8220;Didn&#8217;t I tell you, &#8216;Don&#8217;t raise my hopes&#8217;?&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 29Elisha said to Gehazi, &#8220;Tuck your cloak into your belt, take my staff in your hand and run. Don&#8217;t greet anyone you meet, and if anyone greets you, do not answer. Lay my staff on the boy&#8217;s face.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 30But the child&#8217;s mother said, &#8220;As surely as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you.&#8221; So he got up and followed her.</div><div class="p"> 31Gehazi went on ahead and laid the staff on the boy&#8217;s face, but there was no sound or response. So Gehazi went back to meet Elisha and told him, &#8220;The boy has not awakened.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 32When Elisha reached the house, there was the boy lying dead on his couch. 33He went in, shut the door on the two of them and prayed to the Lord. 34Then he got on the bed and lay on the boy, mouth to mouth, eyes to eyes, hands to hands. As he stretched himself out on him, the boy&#8217;s body grew warm. 35Elisha turned away and walked back and forth in the room and then got on the bed and stretched out on him once more. The boy sneezed seven times and opened his eyes.</div><div class="p"> 36Elisha summoned Gehazi and said, &#8220;Call the Shunammite.&#8221; And he did. When she came, he said, &#8220;Take your son.&#8221; 37She came in, fell at his feet and bowed to the ground. Then she took her son and went out.</div><div class="s1">Death in the Pot</div><div class="p"> 38Elisha returned to Gilgal and there was a famine in that region. While the company of the prophets was meeting with him, he said to his servant, &#8220;Put on the large pot and cook some stew for these prophets.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 39One of them went out into the fields to gather herbs and found a wild vine and picked as many of its gourds as his garment could hold. When he returned, he cut them up into the pot of stew, though no one knew what they were. 40The stew was poured out for the men, but as they began to eat it, they cried out, &#8220;Man of God, there is death in the pot!&#8221; And they could not eat it.</div><div class="p"> 41Elisha said, &#8220;Get some flour.&#8221; He put it into the pot and said, &#8220;Serve it to the people to eat.&#8221; And there was nothing harmful in the pot.</div><div class="s1">Feeding of a Hundred</div><div class="p"> 42A man came from Baal Shalishah, bringing the man of God twenty loaves of barley bread baked from the first ripe grain, along with some heads of new grain. &#8220;Give it to the people to eat,&#8221; Elisha said.</div><div class="p"> 43&#8220;How can I set this before a hundred men?&#8221; his servant asked.</div><div class="p">But Elisha answered, &#8220;Give it to the people to eat. For this is what the Lord says: &#8216;They will eat and have some left over.&#8217;&#8198;&#8221; 44Then he set it before them, and they ate and had some left over, according to the word of the Lord.</div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bk2KI">
 <div class="chapter ch5" data-usfm="2KI.5">
 <div class="label">5</div><div class="s1">Naaman Healed of Leprosy</div><div class="p"> 1Now Naaman was commander of the army of the king of Aram. He was a great man in the sight of his master and highly regarded, because through him the Lord had given victory to Aram. He was a valiant soldier, but he had leprosy.#5:1 The Hebrew for leprosy was used for various diseases affecting the skin; also in verses 3, 6, 7, 11 and 27.</div><div class="p"> 2Now bands of raiders from Aram had gone out and had taken captive a young girl from Israel, and she served Naaman&#8217;s wife. 3She said to her mistress, &#8220;If only my master would see the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 4Naaman went to his master and told him what the girl from Israel had said. 5&#8220;By all means, go,&#8221; the king of Aram replied. &#8220;I will send a letter to the king of Israel.&#8221; So Naaman left, taking with him ten talents#5:5 That is, about 750 pounds or about 340 kilograms of silver, six thousand shekels#5:5 That is, about 150 pounds or about 69 kilograms of gold and ten sets of clothing. 6The letter that he took to the king of Israel read: &#8220;With this letter I am sending my servant Naaman to you so that you may cure him of his leprosy.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 7As soon as the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his robes and said, &#8220;Am I God? Can I kill and bring back to life? Why does this fellow send someone to me to be cured of his leprosy? See how he is trying to pick a quarrel with me!&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 8When Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his robes, he sent him this message: &#8220;Why have you torn your robes? Have the man come to me and he will know that there is a prophet in Israel.&#8221; 9So Naaman went with his horses and chariots and stopped at the door of Elisha&#8217;s house. 10Elisha sent a messenger to say to him, &#8220;Go, wash yourself seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will be restored and you will be cleansed.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 11But Naaman went away angry and said, &#8220;I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, wave his hand over the spot and cure me of my leprosy. 12Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Couldn&#8217;t I wash in them and be cleansed?&#8221; So he turned and went off in a rage.</div><div class="p"> 13Naaman&#8217;s servants went to him and said, &#8220;My father, if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more, then, when he tells you, &#8216;Wash and be cleansed&#8217;!&#8221; 14So he went down and dipped himself in the Jordan seven times, as the man of God had told him, and his flesh was restored and became clean like that of a young boy.</div><div class="p"> 15Then Naaman and all his attendants went back to the man of God. He stood before him and said, &#8220;Now I know that there is no God in all the world except in Israel. So please accept a gift from your servant.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 16The prophet answered, &#8220;As surely as the Lord lives, whom I serve, I will not accept a thing.&#8221; And even though Naaman urged him, he refused.</div><div class="p"> 17&#8220;If you will not,&#8221; said Naaman, &#8220;please let me, your servant, be given as much earth as a pair of mules can carry, for your servant will never again make burnt offerings and sacrifices to any other god but the Lord. 18But may the Lord forgive your servant for this one thing: When my master enters the temple of Rimmon to bow down and he is leaning on my arm and I have to bow there also&#8212;when I bow down in the temple of Rimmon, may the Lord forgive your servant for this.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 19&#8220;Go in peace,&#8221; Elisha said.</div><div class="p">After Naaman had traveled some distance, 20Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, said to himself, &#8220;My master was too easy on Naaman, this Aramean, by not accepting from him what he brought. As surely as the Lord lives, I will run after him and get something from him.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 21So Gehazi hurried after Naaman. When Naaman saw him running toward him, he got down from the chariot to meet him. &#8220;Is everything all right?&#8221; he asked.</div><div class="p"> 22&#8220;Everything is all right,&#8221; Gehazi answered. &#8220;My master sent me to say, &#8216;Two young men from the company of the prophets have just come to me from the hill country of Ephraim. Please give them a talent#5:22 That is, about 75 pounds or about 34 kilograms of silver and two sets of clothing.&#8217;&#8198;&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 23&#8220;By all means, take two talents,&#8221; said Naaman. He urged Gehazi to accept them, and then tied up the two talents of silver in two bags, with two sets of clothing. He gave them to two of his servants, and they carried them ahead of Gehazi. 24When Gehazi came to the hill, he took the things from the servants and put them away in the house. He sent the men away and they left.</div><div class="p"> 25When he went in and stood before his master, Elisha asked him, &#8220;Where have you been, Gehazi?&#8221;</div><div class="p">&#8220;Your servant didn&#8217;t go anywhere,&#8221; Gehazi answered.</div><div class="p"> 26But Elisha said to him, &#8220;Was not my spirit with you when the man got down from his chariot to meet you? Is this the time to take money or to accept clothes&#8212;or olive groves and vineyards, or flocks and herds, or male and female slaves? 27Naaman&#8217;s leprosy will cling to you and to your descendants forever.&#8221; Then Gehazi went from Elisha&#8217;s presence and his skin was leprous&#8212;it had become as white as snow.</div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bk2KI">
 <div class="chapter ch6" data-usfm="2KI.6">
 <div class="label">6</div><div class="s1">An Axhead Floats</div><div class="p"> 1The company of the prophets said to Elisha, &#8220;Look, the place where we meet with you is too small for us. 2Let us go to the Jordan, where each of us can get a pole; and let us build a place there for us to meet.&#8221;</div><div class="p">And he said, &#8220;Go.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 3Then one of them said, &#8220;Won&#8217;t you please come with your servants?&#8221;</div><div class="p">&#8220;I will,&#8221; Elisha replied. 4And he went with them.</div><div class="p">They went to the Jordan and began to cut down trees. 5As one of them was cutting down a tree, the iron axhead fell into the water. &#8220;Oh no, my lord!&#8221; he cried out. &#8220;It was borrowed!&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 6The man of God asked, &#8220;Where did it fall?&#8221; When he showed him the place, Elisha cut a stick and threw it there, and made the iron float. 7&#8220;Lift it out,&#8221; he said. Then the man reached out his hand and took it.</div><div class="s1">Elisha Traps Blinded Arameans</div><div class="p"> 8Now the king of Aram was at war with Israel. After conferring with his officers, he said, &#8220;I will set up my camp in such and such a place.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 9The man of God sent word to the king of Israel: &#8220;Beware of passing that place, because the Arameans are going down there.&#8221; 10So the king of Israel checked on the place indicated by the man of God. Time and again Elisha warned the king, so that he was on his guard in such places.</div><div class="p"> 11This enraged the king of Aram. He summoned his officers and demanded of them, &#8220;Tell me! Which of us is on the side of the king of Israel?&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 12&#8220;None of us, my lord the king,&#8221; said one of his officers, &#8220;but Elisha, the prophet who is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the very words you speak in your bedroom.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 13&#8220;Go, find out where he is,&#8221; the king ordered, &#8220;so I can send men and capture him.&#8221; The report came back: &#8220;He is in Dothan.&#8221; 14Then he sent horses and chariots and a strong force there. They went by night and surrounded the city.</div><div class="p"> 15When the servant of the man of God got up and went out early the next morning, an army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city. &#8220;Oh no, my lord! What shall we do?&#8221; the servant asked.</div><div class="p"> 16&#8220;Don&#8217;t be afraid,&#8221; the prophet answered. &#8220;Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 17And Elisha prayed, &#8220;Open his eyes, Lord, so that he may see.&#8221; Then the Lord opened the servant&#8217;s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.</div><div class="p"> 18As the enemy came down toward him, Elisha prayed to the Lord, &#8220;Strike this army with blindness.&#8221; So he struck them with blindness, as Elisha had asked.</div><div class="p"> 19Elisha told them, &#8220;This is not the road and this is not the city. Follow me, and I will lead you to the man you are looking for.&#8221; And he led them to Samaria.</div><div class="p"> 20After they entered the city, Elisha said, &#8220;Lord, open the eyes of these men so they can see.&#8221; Then the Lord opened their eyes and they looked, and there they were, inside Samaria.</div><div class="p"> 21When the king of Israel saw them, he asked Elisha, &#8220;Shall I kill them, my father? Shall I kill them?&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 22&#8220;Do not kill them,&#8221; he answered. &#8220;Would you kill those you have captured with your own sword or bow? Set food and water before them so that they may eat and drink and then go back to their master.&#8221; 23So he prepared a great feast for them, and after they had finished eating and drinking, he sent them away, and they returned to their master. So the bands from Aram stopped raiding Israel&#8217;s territory.</div><div class="s1">Famine in Besieged Samaria</div><div class="p"> 24Some time later, Ben-Hadad king of Aram mobilized his entire army and marched up and laid siege to Samaria. 25There was a great famine in the city; the siege lasted so long that a donkey&#8217;s head sold for eighty shekels#6:25 That is, about 2 pounds or about 920 grams of silver, and a quarter of a cab#6:25 That is, probably about 1/4 pound or about 100 grams of seed pods#6:25 Or of doves&#8217; dung for five shekels.#6:25 That is, about 2 ounces or about 58 grams</div><div class="p"> 26As the king of Israel was passing by on the wall, a woman cried to him, &#8220;Help me, my lord the king!&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 27The king replied, &#8220;If the Lord does not help you, where can I get help for you? From the threshing floor? From the winepress?&#8221; 28Then he asked her, &#8220;What&#8217;s the matter?&#8221;</div><div class="p">She answered, &#8220;This woman said to me, &#8216;Give up your son so we may eat him today, and tomorrow we&#8217;ll eat my son.&#8217; 29So we cooked my son and ate him. The next day I said to her, &#8216;Give up your son so we may eat him,&#8217; but she had hidden him.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 30When the king heard the woman&#8217;s words, he tore his robes. As he went along the wall, the people looked, and they saw that, under his robes, he had sackcloth on his body. 31He said, &#8220;May God deal with me, be it ever so severely, if the head of Elisha son of Shaphat remains on his shoulders today!&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 32Now Elisha was sitting in his house, and the elders were sitting with him. The king sent a messenger ahead, but before he arrived, Elisha said to the elders, &#8220;Don&#8217;t you see how this murderer is sending someone to cut off my head? Look, when the messenger comes, shut the door and hold it shut against him. Is not the sound of his master&#8217;s footsteps behind him?&#8221; 33While he was still talking to them, the messenger came down to him.</div><div class="p">The king said, &#8220;This disaster is from the Lord. Why should I wait for the Lord any longer?&#8221;</div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bkJAS">
 <div class="chapter ch2" data-usfm="JAS.2">
 <div class="label">2</div><div class="s1">Favoritism Forbidden</div><div class="p"> 1My brothers and sisters, believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ must not show favoritism. 2Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in filthy old clothes also comes in. 3If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, &#8220;Here&#8217;s a good seat for you,&#8221; but say to the poor man, &#8220;You stand there&#8221; or &#8220;Sit on the floor by my feet,&#8221; 4have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?</div><div class="p"> 5Listen, my dear brothers and sisters: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him? 6But you have dishonored the poor. Is it not the rich who are exploiting you? Are they not the ones who are dragging you into court? 7Are they not the ones who are blaspheming the noble name of him to whom you belong?</div><div class="p"> 8If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, &#8220;Love your neighbor as yourself,&#8221;#2:8 Lev. 19:18 you are doing right. 9But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers. 10For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it. 11For he who said, &#8220;You shall not commit adultery,&#8221;#2:11 Exodus 20:14; Deut. 5:18 also said, &#8220;You shall not murder.&#8221;#2:11 Exodus 20:13; Deut. 5:17 If you do not commit adultery but do commit murder, you have become a lawbreaker.</div><div class="p"> 12Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, 13because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment.</div><div class="s1">Faith and Deeds</div><div class="p"> 14What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? 15Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. 16If one of you says to them, &#8220;Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,&#8221; but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? 17In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.</div><div class="p"> 18But someone will say, &#8220;You have faith; I have deeds.&#8221;</div><div class="p">Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. 19You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that&#8212;and shudder.</div><div class="p"> 20You foolish person, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless#2:20 Some early manuscripts dead? 21Was not our father Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? 22You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. 23And the scripture was fulfilled that says, &#8220;Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,&#8221;#2:23 Gen. 15:6 and he was called God&#8217;s friend. 24You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone.</div><div class="p"> 25In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction? 26As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.</div>
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