2 Kings 1–2

Elijah and the Messengers of Ahaziah

1Moab rebelled against Israel after the death of Ahab. ²Ahaziah had fallen through the lattice in his upper room, which was in Samaria, and he was injured. So he sent messengers, and he said to them, “Go, inquire of Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron, if I will survive this injury.”

³Then the angel of Yahweh spoke to Elijah the Tishbite, “Get up, go up to meet the messengers of the king of Samaria and speak 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, thus says Yahweh, ‘The bed upon which you have gone, you will not come down from it, but you shall surely die.’ ” So Elijah went.

⁵When the messengers returned to him, he asked them, “Why have you returned?” ⁶Then they said to him, “A man came up to meet us, and he said to us, ‘Go, return to the king who sent you and speak to him, “Thus says Yahweh, ‘Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are sending to inquire of Baal-Zebub the god of Ekron? Therefore the bed upon which you have gone, you will not come down from it, for you will surely die.’ ” ’ ” ⁷Then he spoke to them, “What was the manner of the man who came up to meet you and spoke to you all these things?” ⁸They answered him, “A hairy man^a with a leather belt girded around his waist.” And he said, “It is Elijah the Tishbite.”

⁹So Ahaziah^b sent to him the commander of fifty with his fifty men, and he went up to him while he was sitting on the top of the hill. He said to him, “O man of God, the king says, ‘Come down.’ ” ¹⁰Then Elijah answered and said to the commander of the fifty, “If I am a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty!” Then fire came down from heaven and consumed him and his fifty.

¹¹So he again sent^c another commander of fifty and his fifty men. He answered and said to him, “O man of God, thus says the king, ‘Come down quickly!’ ” ¹²Then Elijah answered and said to them, “If I am a man of God, then let fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty!” Then the fire of God came down from heaven and consumed him and his fifty.

¹³So he again sent^d a third time a commander of fifty and his fifty, and the commander of the third fifty went up and came and knelt down on his knees before Elijah and entreated him. He said to him, “O man of God, please let my life and the lives of your servants, these fifty, be precious in your eyes. ¹⁴Behold, fire from heaven came down and consumed the first two commanders of fifty and their fifties, so then let my life be precious in your eyes.” ¹⁵Then the angel of Yahweh spoke to Elijah, “Go down with him. Do not be afraid because of him.” So he got up and went down with him to the king, ¹⁶and he said to him, “Thus says Yahweh, ‘Because you have sent messengers to inquire of Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron—is it because there is no God in Israel from whom to inquire his word?—therefore the bed upon which you went, you shall not come down from it, for you shall surely die.’ ”

Epitaph for Ahaziah

¹⁷So he died, according to the word of Yahweh that Elijah had spoken, and Joram became king in his place in the second year of Joram the son of Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, because he had no son. ¹⁸The remainder of the acts of Ahaziah which he did, are they not written in the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Israel?

Elijah Taken Away from Elisha

2When Yahweh was about to take Elijah up in the storm to heaven, Elijah and Elisha went from Gilgal. ²Elijah said to Elisha, “Please stay here, for Yahweh has sent me up to Bethel.” Elisha said, “As Yahweh lives^a and as your soul lives,^b I will certainly not leave you!” So they went down to Bethel. ³Then the sons of the prophets who were in Bethel came out to Elisha, and they said to him, “Do you know that Yahweh is going to take your master from you^c today?” He said, “I also know; be quiet!”

⁴Elijah said to him, “Elisha, please stay here because Yahweh has sent me to Jericho.” And he said, “As Yahweh lives^d and as your soul lives,^e I will certainly not leave you!” So they came to Jericho. ⁵Then the sons of the prophets who were in Jericho came near to Elisha, and they said to him, “Do you know that Yahweh is going to take your master from you^f today?” He said, “I also know; be quiet!”

⁶Then Elijah said to him, “Please stay here, because Yahweh has sent me to the Jordan.” He said, “As Yahweh lives^g and as your soul lives,^h I will certainly not leave you!” So the two of them went on. ⁷Then fifty men from the sons of the prophets went and stood opposite them at a distance while the two of them stood by the Jordan. ⁸Elijah took his cloak, rolled it up, and struck the water. It divided in two,ⁱ and the two of them crossed over on dry land.

⁹After they crossed over, Elijah said to Elisha, “Ask what I may do for you before I am taken away from you.” Then Elisha said, “Please let there come to me a double portion of your spirit.” ¹⁰He said, “What you ask is difficult. If you see me being taken from you, it will be so for you, but if not, it will not happen.” ¹¹Then they were walking, talking as they went. Suddenly a fiery chariot with horses of fire appeared and separated between the two of them. Elijah went up in the storm to the heavens ¹²while Elisha was watching and crying out, “My father, my father; the chariot of Israel and its horsemen!” But he could not see him any longer, and he grasped his clothes and tore them in two pieces.

¹³Then he picked up Elijah’s cloak that had fallen off of him, and he returned and stood on the bank of the Jordan. ¹⁴He took Elijah’s cloak that had fallen from upon him and struck the water. Then he said, “Where is Yahweh, the God of Elijah?” So he also struck the water, and it divided in two,^j and Elisha crossed over.

Elisha Begins His Ministry

¹⁵When the sons of the prophets who were at Jericho saw him from the other side, they declared, “The spirit of Elijah rests upon Elisha,” and they came to meet him and bowed down to him to the ground. ¹⁶Then they said to him, “Look, there are with your servants fifty able men. Please let them go and look for your master, lest the Spirit of Yahweh has lifted him up and thrown him on one of the mountains or into one of the valleys,” but he said, “You must not send them.” ¹⁷But they urged him until embarrassing him, so he said, “Send them.” So they sent fifty men, and they looked for three days, but they could not find him. ¹⁸Then they returned to him while he was staying in Jericho. He said to them, “Did I not tell you not to go?”

¹⁹The men of the city said to Elisha, “Please now, the location of the city is good, as my master can see, but the water is bad and the land unproductive.” ²⁰So he said, “Bring me a new bowl and put salt in it.” So they brought it to him. ²¹Then he went out to the spring of waters and threw the salt into it there and said, “Thus says Yahweh, ‘I hereby purify these waters; let there be no longer any death or unproductiveness from it.’ ” ²²Then the waters were purified until this very day according to the word of Elisha that he spoke.

²³Then he went up from there to Bethel; as he was going up along the way, young boys came out from the city and mocked at him and said to him, “Go up, baldhead; go up, baldhead!” ²⁴When he turned around and saw them, he cursed them in the name of Yahweh. Then two bears came out of the forest and mauled forty-two boys among them. ²⁵Then he went from there to Mount Carmel and from there he returned to Samaria.