2 Kings 1–2

AHAZIAH’S SICKNESS AND DEATH

1After Ahab’s death, Moab^a rebelled against Israel.^{b 2}Ahaziah^c had fallen through the latticed window of his upstairs room in Samaria^d and was injured. So he sent messengers, instructing them, “Go inquire of Baal-zebub,^Ae the god of Ekron,^f whether I will recover from this injury.”^g

³But the angel of the Lord said to Elijah the Tishbite,^h “Go and meet the messengers of the king of Samariaⁱ and say to them, ‘Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are going to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron? ⁴Therefore, this is what the Lord says: You will not get up from your sickbed; you will certainly die.’ ” Then Elijah left.

⁵The messengers returned to the king, who asked them, “Why have you come back?”

⁶They replied, “A man came to meet us and said, ‘Go back to the king who sent you and declare to him, “ ‘This is what the Lord says: Is it because there is no God in Israel that you’re sending these men to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron? Therefore, you will not get up from your sickbed; you will certainly die.’ ” ”

⁷The king asked them, “What sort of man came up to meet you and spoke those words to you?”

⁸They replied, “A hairy man with a leather belt around his waist.”^j

He said, “It’s Elijah the Tishbite.”^k

⁹So King Ahaziah sent a captain with his fifty men^l to Elijah. When the captain went up to him, he was sitting on top of the hill. He announced, “Man of God,^m the king declares, ‘Come down!’ ”

¹⁰Elijah responded to the captain, “If I am a man of God, may fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty men.” Then fire came down from heaven and consumed him and his fifty men.ⁿ

¹¹So the king sent another captain with his fifty men to Elijah. He took in the situation^B and announced, “Man of God, this is what the king says: ‘Come down immediately!’ ”

¹²Elijah responded, “If I am a man of God, may fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty men.” So a divine fire^C came down from heaven and consumed him and his fifty men.

¹³Then the king sent a third captain with his fifty men. The third captain went up and fell on his knees in front of Elijah and begged him, “Man of God,^o please let my life and the lives of these fifty servants of yours be precious to you.^{p 14}Already fire has come down from heaven and consumed the first two captains with their companies, but this time let my life be precious to you.”

¹⁵The angel of the Lord^q said to Elijah, “Go down with him. Don’t be afraid of him.”^r So he got up and went down with him to the king.

¹⁶Then Elijah said to King Ahaziah, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Because you have sent messengers to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron—is it because there is no God in Israel for you to inquire of his will?—you will not get up from your sickbed; you will certainly die.’ ”

¹⁷Ahaziah died according to the word of the Lord that Elijah had spoken. Since he had no son, Joram^s became king in his place. This happened in the second year of Judah’s King Jehoram^t son of Jehoshaphat.^{B 18}The rest of the events of Ahaziah’s reign, along with his accomplishments, are written in the Historical Record of Israel’s Kings.^u

ELIJAH IN THE WHIRLWIND

2The time had come for the Lord to take Elijah up to heaven^v in a whirlwind.^w Elijah and Elisha^x were traveling from Gilgal,^{y 2}and Elijah said to Elisha,^z “Stay here;^aa the Lord is sending me on to Bethel.”^ab

But Elisha replied, “As the Lord lives and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.”^ac So they went down to Bethel.

³Then the sons of the prophets^ad who were at Bethel came out to Elisha and said, “Do you know that the Lord will take your master away from you today?”^ae

He said, “Yes, I know. Be quiet.”

⁴Elijah said to him, “Elisha, stay here; the Lord is sending me to Jericho.”^a

But Elisha said, “As the Lord lives and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So they went to Jericho.

⁵Then the sons of the prophets who were in Jericho came up to Elisha and said, “Do you know that the Lord will take your master away from you today?”

He said, “Yes, I know. Be quiet.”

⁶Elijah said to him, “Stay here; the Lord is sending me to the Jordan.”^b

But Elisha said, “As the Lord lives and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So the two of them went on.

⁷Fifty men from the sons of the prophets came and stood observing them at a distance while the two of them stood by the Jordan. ⁸Elijah took his mantle,^c rolled it up, and struck the water, which parted to the right and left. Then the two of them crossed over on dry ground.^{d 9}When they had crossed over, Elijah said to Elisha, “Tell me what I can do for you before I am taken from you.”

So Elisha answered, “Please, let me inherit two shares of your spirit.”^e

¹⁰Elijah replied, “You have asked for something difficult. If you see me being taken from you,^f you will have it. If not, you won’t.”

¹¹As they continued walking and talking, a chariot of fire with horses of fire^g suddenly appeared and separated the two of them. Then Elijah went up into heaven in the whirlwind.^{h 12}As Elisha watched, he kept crying out, “My father, my father, the chariots and horsemen of Israel!”ⁱ

ELISHA SUCCEEDS ELIJAH

When he could see him no longer, he took hold of his own clothes, tore them in two,^{j 13}picked up the mantle^k that had fallen off Elijah, and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan. ¹⁴He took the mantle Elijah had dropped, and he struck the water. “Where is the Lord God of Elijah?” he asked. He struck the water himself, and it parted to the right and the left, and Elisha crossed over.

¹⁵When the sons of the prophets from Jericho who were observing saw him, they said, “The spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha.” They came to meet him and bowed down to the ground in front of him.

¹⁶Then the sons of the prophets said to Elisha, “Since there are fifty strong men here with your servants, please let them go and search for your master. Maybe the Spirit of the Lord has carried him away and put him on one of the mountains or into one of the valleys.”^l

He answered, “Don’t send them.”

¹⁷However, they urged him to the point of embarrassment,^m so he said, “Send them.” They sent fifty men, who looked for three days but did not find him. ¹⁸When they returned to him in Jerichoⁿ where he was staying, he said to them, “Didn’t I tell you not to go?”

¹⁹The men of the city said to Elisha, “My lord can see that even though the city’s location is good, the water is bad and the land unfruitful.”^o

²⁰He replied, “Bring me a new bowl and put salt in it.”^p

After they had brought him one, ²¹Elisha went out to the spring, threw salt in it,^q and said, “This is what the Lord says: ‘I have healed this water. No longer will death or unfruitfulness result from it.’ ” ²²Therefore, the water still remains healthy today according to the word that Elisha spoke.

²³From there Elisha went up to Bethel.^r As he was walking up the path, some small boys came out of the city and jeered at him,^s chanting, “Go up, baldy! Go up, baldy!” ²⁴He turned around, looked at them, and cursed them in the name of the Lord.^t Then two female bears came out of the woods and mauled forty-two of the children. ²⁵From there Elisha went to Mount Carmel,^u and then he returned to Samaria.^v