2 Kings 1–2

Ahaziah’s Sickness and Death

1After the death of Ahab, Moab ^arebelled against Israel. ^b2Ahaziah ^chad fallen through the latticed window of his upper room in Samaria ^dand was injured. So he sent messengers instructing them: “Go inquire of Baal-zebub, ^efthe god of Ekron, ^gif I will recover from this injury.” ^h

³But the angel of the Lord said to Elijah the Tishbite, ⁱ“Go and meet the messengers of the king of Samaria ^jand ask 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.” ^k

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

⁹So King Ahaziah sent a captain of 50 with his 50 men ^mto Elijah. When the captain went up to him, he was sitting on top of the hill. He announced, “Man of God, ⁿthe king declares, ‘Come down!’ ”

¹⁰Elijah responded to the captain of the 50, “If I am a man of God, may fire come down from heaven and consume you and your 50 men.” Then fire came down from heaven and consumed him and his 50 men. ^o

¹¹So the king sent another captain of 50 with his 50 men to Elijah. He took in the situation ^pand 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 50 men.” So a divine fire ^qcame down from heaven and consumed him and his 50 men.

¹³Then the king sent a third captain of 50 with his 50 men. The third captain of 50 went up and fell on his knees in front of Elijah and begged him, “Man of God, ^rplease let my life and the lives of these 50 servants of yours be precious in your sight. ^s14Already fire has come down from heaven and consumed the first two captains of 50 with their fifties, but this time let my life be precious in your sight.”

¹⁵The angel of the Lord ^tsaid to Elijah, “Go down with him. Don’t be afraid of him.” ^uSo 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 ^vwbecame king in his place. This happened in the second year of Judah’s King Jehoram ^xson of Jehoshaphat. ^y18The rest of the events of Ahaziah’s reign, along with his accomplishments, are written in the Historical Record of Israel’s Kings. ^za

Elijah in the Whirlwind

2The time had come for the Lord to take Elijah up to heaven ^bin a whirlwind. ^cElijah and Elisha ^dwere traveling from Gilgal, ^e2and Elijah said to Elisha, ^f“Stay here; ^gthe Lord is sending me on to Bethel.” ^h

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

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

He said, “Yes, I know. Be quiet.”

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

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.” ^m

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 facing them from a distance while the two of them stood by the Jordan. ⁸Elijah took his mantle, ⁿrolled it up, and struck the waters, which parted to the right and left. Then the two of them crossed over on dry ground. ^o9After 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 ^pof your spirit.” ^q

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

¹¹As they continued walking and talking, a chariot of fire with horses of fire ^ssuddenly appeared and separated the two of them. Then Elijah went up into heaven in the whirlwind. ^t12As Elisha watched, he kept crying out, “My father, my father, the chariots and horsemen of Israel!” ^uThen he never saw Elijah again. He took hold of his own clothes and tore them into two pieces. ^v

Elisha Succeeds Elijah

¹³Elisha picked up the mantle ^wthat had fallen off Elijah and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan. ¹⁴Then he took the mantle Elijah had dropped and struck the waters. “Where is the Lord God of Elijah?” he asked. He struck the waters himself, and they parted to the right and the left, and Elisha crossed over.

¹⁵When the sons of the prophets from Jericho who were facing him 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 50 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.” ^x

He answered, “Don’t send them.”

¹⁷However, they urged him to the point of embarrassment, ^yso he said, “Send them.” They sent 50 men, who looked for three days but did not find him. ¹⁸When they returned to him in Jericho ^zwhere he was staying, he said to them, “Didn’t I tell you not to go?”

¹⁹Then the men of the city said to Elisha, “Even though our lord can see that the city’s location is good, the water is bad and the land unfruitful.” ^a

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

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

²³From there Elisha went up to Bethel. ^dAs he was walking up the path, some small boys came out of the city and harassed him, ^echanting, “Go up, baldy! Go up, baldy!” ²⁴He turned around, looked at them, and cursed them in the name of the Lord. ^fThen two female bears came out of the woods and mauled 42 of the children. ²⁵From there Elisha went to Mount Carmel, ^gand then he returned to Samaria. ^h