2 Kings 2–4

CHAPTER 2

Elijah Taken to Heaven

¹Now it happened when Yahweh was about to ^atake up Elijah by a ¹whirlwind to heaven, that Elijah went with ^bElisha from ^cGilgal.

²And Elijah said to Elisha, “^aStay here please, for Yahweh has sent me as far as ^bBethel.” But Elisha said, “^cAs Yahweh lives and as your soul lives, I will not forsake you.” So they went down to Bethel.

³Then ^athe sons of the prophets who were at Bethel came out to Elisha and said to him, “Do you know that Yahweh will take away your master from over ¹you today?” And he said, “Yes, I know; be silent.”

⁴And Elijah said to him, “Elisha, please ^astay here, for Yahweh has sent me to ^bJericho.” But he said, “^cAs Yahweh lives and as your soul lives, I will not forsake you.” So they came to Jericho.

^5aThen the sons of the prophets who were at Jericho approached Elisha and said to him, “^bDo you know that Yahweh will take away your master from over ¹you today?” And he ²answered, “Yes, I know; be silent.”

⁶Then Elijah said to him, “Please ^astay here, for Yahweh has sent me to ^bthe Jordan.” And he said, “As Yahweh lives and as your soul lives, I will not forsake you.” So the two of them went on.

⁷Now ^afifty men of the sons of the prophets went and stood opposite them at a distance, but the two of them stood by the Jordan.

⁸And Elijah ^atook his mantle and folded it together and ^bstruck the waters, and they were divided here and there, so that the two of them crossed over on dry ground.

⁹Now it happened when they crossed over, that Elijah said to Elisha, “Ask what I shall do for you before I am taken from you.” And Elisha said, “Please, let a ^adouble portion of your spirit be upon me.”

¹⁰And he said, “You have asked a hard thing. Nevertheless, if you ^asee me when I am taken from you, it shall be so for you; but if not, it shall not be so.”

¹¹As they were going along and talking, behold, there appeared ^aa chariot of fire and horses of fire, and it separated the two of them. And Elijah went up by a ¹whirlwind to heaven.

¹²And Elisha was seeing this and he was crying out, “^aMy father, my father, the ¹chariots of Israel and its horsemen!” And he saw ²Elijah no more. Then ^bhe took hold of his own clothes and tore them in two pieces.

¹³He also took up the mantle of Elijah that fell from him and returned and stood by the bank of the Jordan.

¹⁴And he took the mantle of Elijah that fell from him and struck the waters and said, “Where is Yahweh, the God of Elijah?” Indeed, he himself also ^astruck the waters, and they were divided here and there! And Elisha crossed over.

Elisha Has the Spirit of Elijah

¹⁵Then ^athe sons of the prophets who were at Jericho opposite him saw him and said, “The spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha.” And they came to meet him and bowed themselves to the ground before him.

¹⁶Then they said to him, “Behold now, there are with your servants fifty excellent men, please let them go and search for your master, lest ^athe Spirit of Yahweh has taken him up and cast him on some mountain or into some valley.” And he said, “You shall not send.”

¹⁷But when ^athey urged him until he was ashamed, he said, “Send.” They sent therefore fifty men; and they searched three days but did not find him.

¹⁸So they returned to him while he was staying at Jericho; and he said to them, “Did I not say to you, ‘Do not go’?”

¹⁹Then the men of the city said to Elisha, “Behold now, the habitat of this city is pleasant, as my lord sees; but the water is bad and the land ¹is unfruitful.”

²⁰And he said, “Bring me a new jar, and put salt ¹in it.” So they brought it to him.

²¹And he went out to the spring of water and ^athrew salt ¹in it and said, “Thus says Yahweh, ‘I have ²purified these waters; there shall not be from there death or barrenness any longer.’”

²²So the waters have been ¹purified to this day, according to the word of Elisha which he spoke.

²³Then he went up from there to Bethel; and as he was going up by the way, young boys came out from the city and ^amocked him and said to him, “Go up, you baldhead; go up, you baldhead!”

²⁴Then he looked behind him and saw them. And he ^acursed them in the name of Yahweh. Then two female bears came out of the woods and tore up forty-two lads of ¹their number.

²⁵And he went from there to ^aMount Carmel, and from there he returned to Samaria.

CHAPTER 3

Moab Rebels Against Israel

¹Now Jehoram the son of Ahab became king over Israel at Samaria ^ain the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and reigned twelve years.

²And he did what was evil in the sight of Yahweh, though not like his father and his mother; and ^ahe took away the sacred pillar of Baal ^bwhich his father had made.

³Nevertheless, ^ahe clung to the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, ^bwhich he made Israel sin; he did not turn away from them.

⁴Now Mesha king of Moab was a sheep breeder and ^aused to pay the king of Israel 100,000 lambs and the wool of 100,000 rams.

⁵But it happened that ^awhen Ahab died, the king of Moab rebelled against the king of Israel.

⁶And King Jehoram went out of Samaria ¹at that time and mustered all Israel.

⁷Then he went and sent word to Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, saying, “The king of Moab has rebelled against me. Will you go with me to fight against Moab?” And he said, “I will go up; ^aI am as you are, my people as your people, my horses as your horses.”

⁸And he said, “Which way shall we go up?” And he ¹answered, “The way of the wilderness of Edom.”

⁹So ^athe king of Israel went with ^bthe king of Judah and ^cthe king of Edom; and they went around on a seven days’ journey, and there was no water for the camp or for the cattle that ¹followed them.

¹⁰Then the king of Israel said, “Alas! For Yahweh has called these three kings to give them into the hand of Moab.”

¹¹But Jehoshaphat said, “^aIs there not a prophet of Yahweh here, that we may inquire of Yahweh by him?” And one of the king of Israel’s servants answered and said, “^bElisha the son of Shaphat is here, ^cwho used to pour water on the hands of Elijah.”

¹²And Jehoshaphat said, “The word of Yahweh is with him.” So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat and the king of Edom went down to him.

¹³Now Elisha said to the king of Israel, “What do I have to do with you? ^aGo to the prophets of your father and to the prophets of your mother.” And the king of Israel said to him, “No, for Yahweh has called these three kings together to give them into the hand of Moab.”

¹⁴And Elisha said, “^aAs Yahweh of hosts lives, before whom I stand, were it not that I regard the presence of Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, I would not look at you nor see you.

¹⁵“So now ^abring me a musician.” And it came about, when the musician played, that ^bthe hand of Yahweh came upon him.

¹⁶And he said, “Thus says Yahweh, ‘Make this valley full of trenches.’

¹⁷“For thus says Yahweh, ‘You shall not see wind nor shall you see rain; yet that valley ^ashall be filled with water, so that you shall drink, both you and your livestock and your cattle.

¹⁸‘And this is but a ^alight thing in the sight of Yahweh; He will also give the Moabites into your hand.

¹⁹‘^aThen you shall strike every fortified city and every choice city, and fell every good tree and stop all springs of water, and mar every good piece of land with stones.’”

²⁰Then it happened in the morning ^aabout the time of offering the sacrifice, that behold, water came by the way of Edom, and the country was filled with water.

²¹Now all the Moabites heard that the kings had come up to fight against them. And they summoned all who were able to ¹put on armor and older, and they stood on the border.

²²Then they rose early in the morning, and the sun shone on the water, and the Moabites saw the water opposite them as red as blood.

²³Then they said, “This is blood; the kings have surely fought together, and they have struck down one another. So now, Moab, to the spoil!”

²⁴So they came to the camp of Israel. And the Israelites arose and struck the Moabites. So they fled before them; and they went forward ¹into the land, striking down the Moabites.

^25aThus they ¹tore down the cities; and each one threw a stone on every piece of good land and filled it. And they stopped all the springs of water and felled all the good trees, until in ^bKir-hareseth they let its stones remain; however, the slingers went about it and struck it.

²⁶Then the king of Moab saw that the battle was too strong for him, so he took with him 700 men who drew swords, to break through to the king of Edom; but they could not.

²⁷So he took his oldest son, who was to reign in his place, and ^aoffered him as a burnt offering on the wall. And there came great wrath against Israel, and they set out from him and returned to their own land.

CHAPTER 4

The Widow’s Oil

¹Now a certain woman of the wives of ^athe sons of the prophets cried out to ¹Elisha, “Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that your servant feared Yahweh; and ^bthe creditor has come to take my two children to be his slaves.”

²And Elisha said to her, “What shall I do for you? Tell me, what do you have in the house?” And she said, “Your servant-woman has nothing in the house except ^aa jar of oil.”

³Then he said, “Go, ask for vessels for yourself, from those outside, from all your neighbors, even empty vessels; do not get a few.

⁴“And you shall go in and shut the door behind you and your sons, and pour out into all these vessels, and you shall set aside what is full.”

⁵So she went from him and shut the door behind her and her sons; they were bringing the vessels to her and she poured.

⁶Now it happened that when ^athe vessels were full, she said to her son, “Bring me another vessel.” And he said to her, “There is not one vessel more.” And the oil stopped.

⁷Then she came and told ^athe man of God. And he said, “Go, sell the oil and pay your debt, and you and your sons can live on the rest.”

The Shunammite Woman Will Bear a Son

⁸Now there came a day when Elisha passed over to ^aShunem, where there was a ¹prominent woman, and she prevailed upon him to eat ²food. Now it happened, as often as he passed…