2 Kings 1–2

Chapter 1

Ahaziah’s Messengers Meet Elijah

¹Now ^aMoab rebelled against Israel after the death of Ahab.

²And Ahaziah fell through the lattice in his upper chamber which was in Samaria, and became ill. So he sent messengers and said to them, “Go, ^ainquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, ^bwhether I will recover from this sickness.”

³But the angel of the Lord said to ^aElijah the Tishbite, “Arise, go up to meet the messengers of the king of Samaria and say to them, ‘Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are going to inquire of ^bBaal-zebub, the god of Ekron?’

⁴“Now therefore thus says the Lord, ‘^1aYou shall not come down from the bed where you have gone up, but you shall surely die.’ ” Then Elijah departed.

⁵When the messengers returned to him he said to them, “¹Why have you returned?”

⁶They said to him, “A man came up to meet us and said to us, ‘Go, return to the king who sent you and say to him, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are sending ^ato inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron? Therefore ¹you shall not come down from the bed where you have gone up, but shall surely die.’ ” ’ ”

⁷He said to them, “What kind of man was he who came up to meet you and spoke these words to you?”

⁸They ¹answered him, “^aHe was a hairy man with a leather girdle ²bound about his loins.” And he said, “It is Elijah the Tishbite.”

⁹Then the king ^asent to him a captain of fifty with his fifty. And he went up to him, and behold, he was sitting on the top of the hill. And he said to him, “O man of God, the king says, ‘Come down.’ ”

¹⁰Elijah replied to the captain of fifty, “If I am a man of God, ^alet fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty.” ^bThen fire came down from heaven and consumed him and his fifty.

¹¹So he again sent to him another captain of fifty with his fifty. And he said to him, “O man of God, thus says the king, ‘Come down quickly.’ ”

¹²Elijah replied to them, “If I am a man of God, 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 ^aagain sent the captain of a third fifty with his fifty. When the third captain of fifty went up, he came and bowed down on his knees before Elijah, and begged him and said to him, “O man of God, please let my life and the lives of these fifty servants of yours be precious in your sight.

¹⁴“Behold fire came down from heaven and consumed the first two captains of fifty with their fifties; but now let my ¹life be precious in your sight.”

^15aThe angel of the Lord said to Elijah, “Go down with him; ^bdo not be afraid of him.” So he arose and went down with him to the king.

¹⁶Then he said to him, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Because you have sent messengers ^ato inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron—is it because there is no God in Israel to inquire of His word?—therefore ¹you shall not come down from the bed where you have gone up, but shall surely die.’ ”

Jehoram Reigns over Israel

¹⁷So Ahaziah died according to the word of the Lord which Elijah had spoken. And because he had no son, Jehoram became king in his place ^ain the second year of Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah.

¹⁸Now the rest of the acts of Ahaziah which he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?

Chapter 2

Elijah Taken to Heaven

¹And it came about when the Lord was about to ^atake up Elijah by a ¹whirlwind to heaven, that Elijah went with ^bElisha from ^cGilgal.

²Elijah said to Elisha, “^aStay here please, for the Lord has sent me as far as ^bBethel.” But Elisha said, “^cAs the Lord lives and as you yourself live, I will not leave 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 the Lord will take away your master from over ¹you today?” And he said, “Yes, I know; be still.”

⁴Elijah said to him, “Elisha, please ^astay here, for the Lord has sent me to ^bJericho.” But he said, “As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So they came to Jericho.

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

⁶Then Elijah said to him, “Please ^astay here, for the Lord has sent me to ^bthe Jordan.” And he said, “As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave 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, while the two of them stood by the Jordan.

⁸Elijah ^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.

⁹When they had crossed over, 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.”

¹⁰He 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 which separated the two of them. And Elijah went up by a ¹whirlwind to heaven.

¹²Elisha saw it and cried 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.

¹⁴He took the mantle of Elijah that fell from him and struck the waters and said, “Where is the Lord, the God of Elijah?” And when he also had ^astruck the waters, they were divided here and there; and Elisha crossed over.

Elisha Succeeds Elijah

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

¹⁶They said to him, “Behold now, there are with your servants fifty strong men, please let them go and search for your master; perhaps ^athe Spirit of the Lord 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.

¹⁸They 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 situation of this city is pleasant, as my lord sees; but the water is bad and the land ¹is unfruitful.”

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

²¹He went out to the spring of water and ^athrew salt ¹in it and said, “Thus says the Lord, ‘I have ²purified these waters; there shall not be from there death or ³unfruitfulness 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 lads came out from the city and ^amocked him and said to him, “Go up, you baldhead; go up, you baldhead!”

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

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