2 Kings 1–3

Elijah and King Ahaziah

1After the death of King Ahab of Israel, the country of Moab rebelled against Israel.

²King Ahaziah of Israel fell off the balcony on the roof of his palace in Samaria and was seriously injured. So he sent some messengers to consult Baalzebub, the god of the Philistine city of Ekron, in order to find out whether or not he would recover. ³But an angel of the Lord commanded Elijah, the prophet from Tishbe, to go and meet the messengers of King Ahaziah and ask them, “Why are you going to consult Baalzebub, the god of Ekron? Is it because you think there is no god in Israel? ⁴Tell the king that the Lord says, ‘You will not recover from your injuries; you will die!’ ”

Elijah did as the Lord commanded, ⁵and the messengers returned to the king. “Why have you come back?” he asked.

⁶They answered, “We were met by a man who told us to come back and tell you that the Lord says to you, ‘Why are you sending messengers to consult Baalzebub, the god of Ekron? Is it because you think there is no god in Israel? You will not recover from your injuries; you will die!’ ”

⁷“What did the man look like?” the king asked.

^8*“He was wearing a cloak made of animal skins, tied with^a a leather belt,” they answered.

“It’s Elijah!” the king exclaimed.

⁹Then he sent an officer with 50 men to get Elijah. The officer found him sitting on a hill and said to him, “Man of God, the king orders you to come down.”

^10*“If I am a man of God,” Elijah answered, “may fire come down from heaven and kill you and your men!” At once fire came down and killed the officer and his men.

^11*The king sent another officer with 50 men, who went up^b and said to Elijah, “Man of God, the king orders you to come down at once!”

^12*“If I am a man of God,” Elijah answered, “may fire come down from heaven and kill you and your men!” At once the fire of God came down and killed the officer and his men.

¹³Once more the king sent an officer with 50 men. He went up the hill, fell on his knees in front of Elijah, and pleaded, “Man of God, be merciful to me and my men. Spare our lives! ¹⁴The two other officers and their men were killed by fire from heaven; but please be merciful to me!”

¹⁵The angel of the Lord said to Elijah, “Go down with him, and don’t be afraid.” So Elijah went with the officer to the king ¹⁶and said to him, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Because you sent messengers to consult Baalzebub, the god of Ekron—as if there were no god in Israel to consult—you will not get well; you will die!’ ”

¹⁷Ahaziah died, as the Lord had said through Elijah. Ahaziah had no sons, so his brother^c Joram succeeded him as king in the second year of the reign of Jehoram son of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah.

¹⁸Everything else that King Ahaziah did is recorded in The History of the Kings of Israel.

Elijah Is Taken Up to Heaven

2The time came for the Lord to take Elijah up to heaven in a whirlwind. Elijah and Elisha set out from Gilgal, ²and on the way Elijah said to Elisha, “Now stay here; the Lord has ordered me to go to Bethel.”

But Elisha answered, “I swear by my loyalty to the living Lord and to you that I will not leave you.” So they went on to Bethel.

³A group of prophets who lived there went to Elisha and asked him, “Do you know that the Lord is going to take your master away from you today?”

“Yes, I know,” Elisha answered. “But let’s not talk about it.”

⁴Then Elijah said to Elisha, “Now stay here; the Lord has ordered me to go to Jericho.”

But Elisha answered, “I swear by my loyalty to the living Lord and to you that I will not leave you.” So they went on to Jericho.

⁵A group of prophets who lived there went to Elisha and asked him, “Do you know that the Lord is going to take your master away from you today?”

“Yes, I know,” Elisha answered. “But let’s not talk about it.”

⁶Then Elijah said to Elisha, “Now stay here; the Lord has ordered me to go to the River Jordan.”

But Elisha answered, “I swear by my loyalty to the living Lord and to you that I will not leave you.” So they went on, ⁷and 50 of the prophets followed them to the Jordan. Elijah and Elisha stopped by the river, and the 50 prophets stood a short distance away. ⁸Then Elijah took off his cloak, rolled it up, and struck the water with it; the water divided, and he and Elisha crossed to the other side on dry ground. ^9*There, Elijah said to Elisha, “Tell me what you want me to do for you before I am taken away.”

“Let me receive the share of your power that will make me your successor,”^d Elisha answered.

¹⁰“That is a difficult request to grant,” Elijah replied. “But you will receive it if you see me as I am being taken away from you; if you don’t see me, you won’t receive it.”

¹¹They kept talking as they walked on; then suddenly a chariot of fire pulled by horses of fire came between them, and Elijah was taken up to heaven by a whirlwind. ^12*Elisha saw it and cried out to Elijah, “My father, my father! Mighty defender of Israel! You are gone!” And he never saw Elijah again.

In grief, Elisha tore his cloak in two. ¹³Then he picked up Elijah’s cloak that had fallen from him, and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan. ¹⁴He struck the water with Elijah’s cloak, and said, “Where is the Lord, the God of Elijah?” Then he struck the water again, and it divided, and he walked over to the other side. ¹⁵The 50 prophets from Jericho saw him and said, “The power of Elijah is on Elisha!” They went to meet him, bowed down before him, ¹⁶and said, “There are fifty of us here, all strong men. Let us go and look for your master. Maybe the spirit of the Lord has carried him away and left him on some mountain or in some valley.”

“No, you must not go,” Elisha answered.

¹⁷But they insisted until he gave in and let them go. The 50 of them went and looked high and low for Elijah for three days, but didn’t find him. ¹⁸Then they returned to Elisha, who had waited at Jericho, and he said to them, “Didn’t I tell you not to go?”

Miracles of Elisha

¹⁹Some men from Jericho went to Elisha and said, “As you know, sir, this is a fine city, but the water is bad and causes miscarriages.”

²⁰“Put some salt in a new bowl, and bring it to me,” he ordered. They brought it to him, ²¹and he went to the spring, threw the salt in the water, and said, “This is what the Lord says: ‘I make this water pure, and it will not cause any more deaths or miscarriages.’ ” ²²And that water has been pure ever since, just as Elisha said it would be.

²³Elisha left Jericho to go to Bethel, and on the way some boys came out of a town and made fun of him. “Get out of here, baldy!” they shouted.

²⁴Elisha turned round, glared at them, and cursed them in the name of the Lord. Then two she-bears came out of the woods and tore 42 of the boys to pieces.

²⁵Elisha went on to Mount Carmel, and later returned to Samaria.

War between Israel and Moab

3In the eighteenth year of the reign of King Jehoshaphat of Judah, Joram son of Ahab became king of Israel, and he ruled in Samaria for twelve years. ²He sinned against the Lord, but he was not as bad as his father or his mother Jezebel; he pulled down the image his father had made for the worship of Baal. ³Yet, like King Jeroboam son of Nebat before him, he led Israel into sin, and would not stop.

⁴King Mesha of Moab bred sheep, and every year he gave as tribute to the king of Israel 100,000 lambs, and the wool from 100,000 sheep. ⁵But when King Ahab of Israel died, Mesha rebelled against Israel. ⁶At once King Joram left Samaria and gathered all his troops. ⁷He sent word to King Jehoshaphat of Judah: “The king of Moab has rebelled against me; will you join me in war against him?”

“I will,” King Jehoshaphat replied. “I am at your disposal, and so are my men and my horses. ⁸What route shall we take for the attack?”

“We will go the long way, through the wilderness of Edom,” Joram answered.

⁹So King Joram and the kings of Judah and Edom set out. After marching for seven days, they ran out of water, and there was none left for the men or the pack animals. ¹⁰“We’re done for!” King Joram exclaimed. “The Lord has put the three of us at the mercy of the king of Moab!”

¹¹King Jehoshaphat asked, “Is there a prophet here through whom we can consult the Lord?”

An officer of King Joram’s forces answered, “Elisha son of Shaphat is here. He was Elijah’s assistant.”

¹²“He is a true prophet,” King Jehoshaphat said. So the three kings went to Elisha.

¹³“Why should I help you?” Elisha said to the king of Israel. “Go and consult those prophets that your father and mother consulted.”

“No!” Joram replied. “It is the Lord who has put us three kings at the mercy of the king of Moab.”

¹⁴Elisha answered, “By the living Lord, whom I serve, I swear that I would have nothing to do with you if I didn’t respect your ally King Jehoshaphat of Judah. ¹⁵Now get me a musician.”

As the musician played his harp, the power of the Lord came on Elisha, ¹⁶and he said, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Dig ditches all over this dry stream bed. ¹⁷Even though you will not see any rain or wind, this stream bed will be filled with water, and you, your livestock, and your pack animals will have plenty to drink.’ ” ¹⁸And Elisha continued, “But this is an easy thing for the Lord to do; he will also give you victory over the Moabites. ¹⁹You will conquer all their beautiful fortified cities; you will cut down all their fruit trees, stop all their springs, and ruin all their fertile fields by covering them with stones.”

²⁰The next morning, at the time of the regular morning sacrifice, water came flowing from the direction of Edom, and covered the ground.

²¹When the Moabites heard that the three kings had come to attack them, all the men who could bear arms, from the oldest to the youngest, were called out and stationed at the border. ²²When they got up the following morning, the sun was shining on the water, making it look as red as blood. ²³“It’s blood!” they exclaimed. “The three enemy armies must have fought and killed each other! Let’s go and…