2 Kings 2–4

Elijah Ascends to Heaven

2And it came to pass, when the Lord was about to ^atake up Elijah into heaven by a whirlwind, that Elijah went with ^bElisha from Gilgal. ²Then Elijah said to Elisha, ^c“Stay here, please, for the Lord has sent me on to Bethel.”

But Elisha said, “As the Lord lives, and ^das your soul lives, I will not leave you!” So they went down to Bethel.

³Now ^ethe 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 ¹from over you today?”

And he said, “Yes, I know; keep silent!”

⁴Then Elijah said to him, “Elisha, stay here, please, for the Lord has sent me on to Jericho.”

But he said, “As the Lord lives, and as your soul lives, I will not leave you!” So they came to Jericho.

⁵Now the sons of the prophets who were at Jericho came to Elisha and said to him, “Do you know that the Lord will take away your master from over you today?”

So he answered, “Yes, I know; keep silent!”

⁶Then Elijah said to him, “Stay here, please, for the Lord has sent me on to the Jordan.”

But he said, “As the Lord lives, and as your soul lives, I will not leave you!” So the two of them went on. ⁷And fifty men of the sons of the prophets went and stood facing them at a distance, while the two of them stood by the Jordan. ⁸Now Elijah took his mantle, rolled it up, and struck the water; and ^fit was divided this way and that, so that the two of them crossed over on dry ^gground.

⁹And so it was, when they had crossed over, that Elijah said to Elisha, “Ask! What may I do for you, before I am taken away from you?”

Elisha said, “Please let a double portion of your spirit be upon me.”

¹⁰So he said, “You have asked a hard thing. Nevertheless, if you see me when I am taken from you, it shall be so for you; but if not, it shall not be so.” ¹¹Then it happened, as they continued on and talked, that suddenly ^ha chariot of fire appeared with horses of fire, and separated the two of them; and Elijah ⁱwent up by a whirlwind into heaven.

¹²And Elisha saw it, and he cried out, ^j“My father, my father, the chariot of Israel and its horsemen!” So he saw him no more. And he took hold of his own clothes and tore them into two pieces. ¹³He also took up the mantle of Elijah that had fallen from him, and went back and stood by the bank of the Jordan. ¹⁴Then he took the mantle of Elijah that had fallen from him, and struck the water, and said, “Where is the Lord God of Elijah?” And when he also had struck the water, ^kit was divided this way and that; and Elisha crossed over.

¹⁵Now when the sons of the prophets who were ^lfrom ²Jericho saw him, they said, “The spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha.” And they came to meet him, and bowed to the ground before him. ¹⁶Then they said to him, “Look now, there are fifty strong men with your servants. Please let them go and search for your master, ^mlest perhaps the Spirit of the Lord has taken him up and cast him upon some mountain or into some valley.”

And he said, “You shall not send anyone.”

¹⁷But when they urged him till he was ⁿashamed, he said, “Send them!” Therefore they sent fifty men, and they searched for three days but did not find him. ¹⁸And when they came back to him, for he had stayed in Jericho, he said to them, “Did I not say to you, ‘Do not go’?”

Elisha Performs Miracles

¹⁹Then the men of the city said to Elisha, “Please notice, the situation of this city is pleasant, as my lord sees; but the water is bad, and the ground barren.”

²⁰And he said, “Bring me a new bowl, and put salt in it.” So they brought it to him. ²¹Then he went out to the source of the water, and ^ocast in the salt there, and said, “Thus says the Lord: ‘I have ³healed this water; from it there shall be no more death or barrenness.’ ” ²²So the water remains ^phealed 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 the road, some youths came from the city and mocked him, and said to him, “Go up, you baldhead! Go up, you baldhead!”

²⁴So he turned around and looked at them, and ^qpronounced a curse on them in the name of the Lord. And two female bears came out of the woods and mauled forty-two of the youths.

²⁵Then he went from there to ^rMount Carmel, and from there he returned to Samaria.

Moab Rebels Against Israel

3Now ^aJehoram the son of Ahab became king over Israel at Samaria in the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and reigned twelve years. ²And he did evil in the sight of the Lord, but not like his father and mother; for he put away the sacred pillar of Baal ^bthat his father had made. ³Nevertheless he persisted in ^cthe sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who had made Israel sin; he did not depart from them.

⁴Now Mesha king of Moab was a sheepbreeder, and he ^dregularly paid the king of Israel one hundred thousand ^elambs and the wool of one hundred thousand rams. ⁵But it happened, when ^fAhab died, that the king of Moab rebelled against the king of Israel.

⁶So King Jehoram went out of Samaria at that time and mustered all Israel. ⁷Then he went and sent to Jehoshaphat 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; ^gI am as you are, my people as your people, my horses as your horses.” ⁸Then he said, “Which way shall we go up?”

And he answered, “By way of the Wilderness of Edom.”

⁹So the king of Israel went with the king of Judah and the king of Edom, and they marched on that roundabout route seven days; and there was no water for the army, nor for the animals that followed them. ¹⁰And the king of Israel said, “Alas! For the Lord has called these three kings together to deliver them into the hand of Moab.”

¹¹But ^hJehoshaphat said, “Is there no prophet of the Lord here, that we may inquire of the Lord by him?”

So one of the servants of the king of Israel answered and said, “Elisha the son of Shaphat is here, who ⁱpoured ¹water on the hands of Elijah.”

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

¹³Then Elisha said to the king of Israel, ^k“What have I to do with you? ^lGo to ^mthe prophets of your father and the ⁿprophets of your mother.”

But the king of Israel said to him, “No, for the Lord has called these three kings together to deliver them into the hand of Moab.”

¹⁴And Elisha said, ^o“As the Lord of hosts lives, before whom I stand, surely were it not that I regard the presence of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, I would not look at you, nor see you. ¹⁵But now bring me ^pa musician.”

Then it happened, when the musician ^qplayed, that ^rthe hand of the Lord came upon him. ¹⁶And he said, “Thus says the Lord: ^s‘Make this valley full of ²ditches.’ ¹⁷For thus says the Lord: ‘You shall not see wind, nor shall you see rain; yet that valley shall be filled with water, so that you, your cattle, and your animals may drink.’ ¹⁸And this is a simple matter in the sight of the Lord; He will also deliver the Moabites into your hand. ¹⁹Also you shall attack every fortified city and every choice city, and shall cut down every good tree, and stop up every spring of water, and ruin every good piece of land with stones.”

²⁰Now it happened in the morning, when ^tthe grain offering was offered, that suddenly water came by way of Edom, and the land was filled with water.

²¹And when all the Moabites heard that the kings had come up to fight against them, all who were able to bear arms and older were ³gathered; and they stood at the border. ²²Then they rose up early in the morning, and the sun was shining on the water; and the Moabites saw the water on the other side as red as blood. ²³And they said, “This is blood; the kings have surely struck swords and have killed one another; now therefore, Moab, to the spoil!”

²⁴So when they came to the camp of Israel, Israel rose up and attacked the Moabites, so that they fled before them; and they entered their land, killing the Moabites. ²⁵Then they destroyed the cities, and each man threw a stone on every good piece of land and filled it; and they stopped up all the springs of water and cut down all the good trees. But they left the stones of ^uKir Haraseth intact. However the slingers surrounded and attacked it.

²⁶And when the king of Moab saw that the battle was too fierce for him, he took with him seven hundred men who drew swords, to break through to the king of Edom, but they could not. ²⁷Then ^vhe took his eldest son who would have reigned in his place, and offered him as a burnt offering upon the wall; and there was great ⁴indignation against Israel. ^wSo they departed from him and returned to their own land.

Elisha and the Widow’s Oil

4A certain woman of the wives of ^athe sons of the prophets cried out to Elisha, saying, “Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that your servant feared the Lord. And the creditor is coming ^bto take my two sons to be his slaves.”

²So Elisha said to her, “What shall I do for you? Tell me, what do you have in the house?” And she said, “Your maidservant has nothing in the house but a jar of oil.”

³Then he said, “Go, borrow vessels from everywhere, from all your neighbors—empty vessels; ^cdo not gather just a few. ⁴And when you have come in, you shall shut the door behind you and your sons; then pour it into all those vessels, and set aside the full ones.”

⁵So she went from him and shut the door behind her and her sons, who brought the vessels to her; and she poured it out. ⁶Now it came to pass, when the vessels were full, that she said to her son, “Bring me another vessel.”

And he said to her, “There is not another vessel.” So the oil ceased. ⁷Then she came and told the man of God. And he said, “Go, sell the oil and pay your debt; and you and your sons live on the rest.”

Elisha Raises the Shunammite’s Son

⁸Now it happened one day that Elisha went to ^dShunem, where there was a ¹notable woman, and she ²persuaded him to eat some food. So it was, as…