2 Kings 2–4

2ND CHAPTER

Elijah Taken to Heaven

¹When the Lord was going to take Elijah to heaven in a windstorm, Elijah and Elisha left Gilgal. ²Elijah said to Elisha, “Please stay here because the Lord is sending me to Bethel.” 

Elisha answered, “I solemnly swear, as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not abandon you.” So they went to Bethel. 

³Some of the disciples of the prophets at Bethel came to Elisha. They asked him, “Do you know that the Lord is going to take your master from you today?” 

He answered, “Yes, I know. Be quiet.” 

⁴Elijah said, “Elisha, please stay here because the Lord is sending me to Jericho.” 

Elisha answered, “I solemnly swear, as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not abandon you.” So they went to Jericho. 

⁵Then some of the disciples of the prophets who were in Jericho approached Elisha. They asked, “Do you know that the Lord is going to take your master from you today?” 

He answered, “Yes, I know. Be quiet.” 

⁶Elijah said to Elisha, “Please stay here because the Lord is sending me to the Jordan River.” 

Elisha answered, “I solemnly swear, as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not abandon you.” 

⁷Fifty disciples of the prophets stood at a distance as Elijah and Elisha stood by the Jordan River. ⁸Elijah took his coat, rolled it up, and struck the water with it. The water divided to their left and their right, and the two men crossed ⸤the river⸥ on dry ground. 

⁹While they were crossing, Elijah asked Elisha, “What should I do for you before I’m taken from you?” 

Elisha answered, “Let me inherit a double share of your spirit.” 

¹⁰Elijah said, “You have asked for something difficult. If you see me taken from you, it will be yours. Otherwise, it will not.” 

¹¹As they continued walking and talking, a fiery chariot with fiery horses separated the two of them, and Elijah went to heaven in a windstorm. 

¹²When Elisha saw this, he cried out, “Master! Master! Israel’s chariot and horses!” When he couldn’t see Elijah anymore, he grabbed his own garment and tore it in two ⸤to show his grief⸥. ¹³Then he picked up Elijah’s coat (which had fallen off Elijah), went back, and stood on the bank of the Jordan River. ¹⁴He took the coat and struck the water with it. He asked, “Where is the Lord God of Elijah?” As he struck the water, it divided to his left and his right, and Elisha crossed ⸤the river⸥. 

¹⁵The disciples of the prophets who were at Jericho saw him from a distance. They said, “Elijah’s spirit rests on Elisha!” Then they went to meet him and bowed in front of him with their faces touching the ground. ¹⁶They said to him, “There are 50 strong men here with us. Please let them go and search for your master. Maybe the Lord’s Spirit lifted him up and dropped him on one of the hills or in one of the valleys.” 

Elisha answered, “Don’t send them ⸤to look⸥.” ¹⁷But the disciples kept urging him ⸤to send the men⸥ until he was embarrassed. So he said, “Send them.” They sent 50 men who searched for three days without finding him. ¹⁸They returned to Elisha in Jericho, where he was waiting. He said, “Didn’t I tell you not to go?” 

Elisha Purifies Jericho’s Water

¹⁹The people of the city ⸤of Jericho⸥ told Elisha, “This city’s location is as good as you will ever find. But the water is bad, and the land cannot grow crops.” 

²⁰Elisha said, “Bring me a new jar, and put salt in it.” They brought it to him. ²¹He went to the spring and threw the salt into it. Then he said, “This is what the Lord says: I have purified this water. No more deaths or crop failures will come from this water.” ²²To this day the water is still pure, as Elisha had said. 

²³From there he went to Bethel. As he walked along the road, some boys came out of the city and mocked him. They said, “Go away, baldy! Go away!” 

²⁴Looking back, he saw them and cursed them in the Lord’s name. Two bears came out of the woods and tore 42 of these youths apart. ²⁵He left that place, went to Mount Carmel, and returned to Samaria. 

3RD CHAPTER

King Joram of Israel

¹Joram,^ason of Ahab, became king of Israel in Samaria during Jehoshaphat’s eighteenth year as king of Judah. He ruled for 12 years. ²He did what the Lord considered evil, but he didn’t do what his father or mother had done. He put away the sacred stone that his father had set up and dedicated to Baal. ³But he would not give up the sins that Jeroboam (Nebat’s son) led Israel to commit. Joram would not turn away from those sins. 

King Mesha of Moab Defeated

⁴King Mesha of Moab raised sheep. ⸤Each year⸥ he had to pay the king of Israel 100,000 male lambs and the wool from 100,000 rams. ⁵But when Ahab died, the king of Moab rebelled against the ⸤new⸥ king of Israel. ⁶King Joram immediately left Samaria to prepare Israel’s army for war. ⁷He sent this message to King Jehoshaphat of Judah: “The king of Moab has rebelled against me. Will you fight Moab with me?” 

Jehoshaphat answered, “I’ll go. I will do what you do. My troops will do what your troops do. My horses will do what your horses do.” 

⁸Joram asked, “Which road should we take?” 

Jehoshaphat answered, “The road through the desert of Edom.” 

⁹So the king of Israel, the king of Judah, and the king of Edom took an indirect route ⸤to Moab⸥. After seven days they ran out of water for the army and the animals. ¹⁰The king of Israel said, “Oh no! The Lord has put the three of us at the mercy of ⸤the people of⸥ Moab.” 

¹¹But Jehoshaphat asked, “Isn’t there a prophet of the Lord whom we could ask?” 

One of the officials of the king of Israel answered, “Elisha, the son of Shaphat, is here. He used to be Elijah’s assistant.”^b

¹²Jehoshaphat said, “The Lord’s word is with him.” So King Jehoshaphat of Judah, the king of Israel, and the king of Edom went to Elisha. 

¹³Elisha asked the king of Israel, “Why did you come to me? Go to your father’s prophets or your mother’s prophets.” 

The king of Israel answered him, “No. The Lord has called the three of us in order to put us at Moab’s mercy.” 

¹⁴Elisha answered, “I solemnly swear, as the Lord of Armies whom I serve lives, I wouldn’t even bother to look at you or notice you if it weren’t for my respect for King Jehoshaphat of Judah. ¹⁵But get me someone to play some music.” 

While the musician was playing, the Lord’s power came over Elisha. ¹⁶He said, “This is what the Lord says: Make this valley full of ditches. ¹⁷You will not see wind or rain, but this valley will be filled with water. You, your cattle, and your other animals will drink. ¹⁸The Lord considers that an easy thing to do. In addition, he will put Moab at your mercy. ¹⁹You will defeat every walled city and every important city. You will cut down every good tree, seal all the wells, and use rocks to ruin every good piece of land.” 

²⁰That is what happened in the morning. At the time of the grain offering, water flowed from Edom and filled the countryside. 

²¹All the people of Moab heard that the kings had come to fight them. So all men old enough to bear arms were called to fight. They stood at the border. ²²When the Moabites got up early in the morning as the sun was rising over the water, they saw the water from a distance. It was as red as blood. ²³They said, “It’s blood! The kings have been fighting one another and have killed each other. Now, Moabites, let’s take their goods!” 

²⁴So when the Moabites came to Israel’s camp, the Israelites attacked them, and they fled from the Israelites. Israel went after the Moabites and defeated them. ²⁵Then Israel tore down the cities, each man throwing rocks on every good field until it was covered. They sealed every well and cut down every good tree. Only the stones ⸤in the walls⸥ of Kir Hareseth were left. Soldiers surrounded Kir Hareseth and attacked it with slings and stones. ²⁶When the king of Moab saw he was losing the battle, he took 700 swordsmen to try to break through to the king of Edom. But they couldn’t do it. ²⁷Then he took his firstborn son, who would have succeeded him as king, and sacrificed him on the wall as a burnt offering. There was bitter anger against the Israelites. So they went home to their own country. 

4TH CHAPTER

Elisha and the Widow’s Olive Oil

¹One of the wives of a disciple of the prophets called to Elisha, “Sir, my husband is dead! You know how he feared the Lord. Now a creditor has come to take my two children as slaves.” 

²Elisha asked her, “What should I do for you? Tell me, what do you have in your house?” 

She answered, “I have nothing in the house except a jar of olive oil.” 

³Elisha said, “Borrow many empty containers from all your neighbors. ⁴Then close the door behind you and your children, and pour oil into all those containers. When one is full, set it aside.” 

⁵So she left him and closed the door behind her and her children. The children kept bringing containers to her, and she kept pouring. ⁶When the containers were full, she told her son, “Bring me another container.” 

He told her, “There are no more containers.” So the olive oil stopped flowing. ⁷She went and told the man of God. 

He said, “Sell the oil, and pay your debt. The rest is for you and your children.” 

Elisha Brings a Shunem Woman’s Son Back to Life

⁸One day Elisha was traveling through Shunem, where a rich woman lived. She had invited him to eat ⸤with her⸥. So whenever he was in the area, he stopped in to eat. 

⁹She told her husband, “I know he’s a holy man of God. And he regularly travels past our house. ¹⁰Let’s make a small room on the roof and put a bed, table, chair, and lamp stand there for him. He can stay there whenever he comes to visit us.” 

¹¹One day he came ⸤to their house⸥, went into the upstairs room, and rested there. ¹²He told his servant Gehazi, “Call this Shunem woman.” 

Gehazi called her, and she stood in front of him. ¹³Elisha said to Gehazi, “Ask her what we can do for her, since she has gone to a lot of trouble for us. Maybe she would like us to speak to the king or the commander of the army for her.” 

She answered, “I’m already living among my own people.” 

¹⁴“What should…