2 Kings 2–4

¹And it cometh to pass, at Jehovah’s taking up Elijah in a whirlwind to the heavens, that Elijah goeth, and Elisha, from Gilgal, ²and Elijah saith unto Elisha, ‘Abide, I pray thee, here, for Jehovah hath sent me unto Beth-El;’ and Elisha saith, ‘Jehovah liveth, and thy soul liveth, if I leave thee;’ and they go down to Beth-El. ³And sons of the prophets who are in Beth-El come out unto Elisha, and say unto him, ‘Hast thou known that to-day Jehovah is taking thy lord from thy head?’ and he saith, ‘I also have known—keep silent.’ ⁴And Elijah saith to him, ‘Elisha, abide, I pray thee, here, for Jehovah hath sent me to Jericho;’ and he saith, ‘Jehovah liveth, and thy soul liveth, if I leave thee;’ and they come in to Jericho. ⁵And sons of the prophets who are in Jericho come nigh unto Elisha, and say unto him, ‘Hast thou known that to-day Jehovah is taking thy lord from thy head?’ and he saith, ‘I also have known—keep silent.’ ⁶And Elijah saith to him, ‘Abide, I pray thee, here, for Jehovah hath sent me to the Jordan;’ and he saith, ‘Jehovah liveth, and thy soul liveth, if I leave thee;’ and they go on both of them, —and fifty men of the sons of the prophets have gone on, and stand over-against afar off—and both of them have stood by the Jordan. ⁸And Elijah taketh his robe, and wrappeth it together, and smiteth the waters, and they are halved, hither and thither, and they pass over both of them on dry land.

⁹And it cometh to pass, at their passing over, that Elijah hath said unto Elisha, ‘Ask, what do I do for thee before I am taken from thee?’ and Elisha saith, ‘Then let there be, I pray thee, a double portion of thy spirit unto me;’ ¹⁰and he saith, ‘Thou hast asked a hard thing; if thou dost see me taken from thee, it is to thee so; and if not, it is not.’ ¹¹And it cometh to pass, they are going, going on and speaking, and lo, a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and they separate between them both, and Elijah goeth up in a whirlwind, to the heavens. ¹²And Elisha is seeing, and he is crying, ‘My father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and its horsemen;’ and he hath not seen him again; and he taketh hold on his garments, and rendeth them into two pieces.

¹³And he taketh up the robe of Elijah, that fell from off him, and turneth back and standeth on the edge of the Jordan, ¹⁴and he taketh the robe of Elijah that fell from off him, and smiteth the waters, and saith, ‘Where is Jehovah, God of Elijah—even He?’ and he smiteth the waters, and they are halved, hither and thither, and Elisha passeth over. ¹⁵And they see him—the sons of the prophets who are in Jericho—over-against, and they say, ‘Rested hath the spirit of Elijah on Elisha;’ and they come to meet him, and bow themselves to him to the earth, ¹⁶and say unto him, ‘Lo, we pray thee, there are with thy servants fifty men, sons of valour: let them go, we pray thee, and they seek thy lord, lest the Spirit of Jehovah hath taken him up, and doth cast him on one of the hills, or into one of the valleys;’ and he saith, ‘Ye do not send.’ ¹⁷And they press upon him, till he is ashamed, and he saith, ‘Send ye;’ and they send fifty men, and they seek three days, and have not found him; ¹⁸and they turn back unto him—and he is abiding in Jericho—and he saith unto them, ‘Did I not say unto you, Do not go?’

¹⁹And the men of the city say unto Elisha, ‘Lo, we pray thee, the site of the city is good, as my lord seeth, and the waters are bad, and the earth sterile.’ ²⁰And he saith, ‘Bring to me a new dish, and place there salt;’ and they bring it unto him, ²¹and he goeth out unto the source of the waters, and casteth there salt, and saith, ‘Thus said Jehovah, I have given healing to these waters; there is not thence any more death and sterility.’ ²²And the waters are healed unto this day, according to the word of Elisha, that he spake. ²³And he goeth up thence to Beth-El, and he is going up in the way, and little youths have come out from the city, and scoff at him, and say to him, ‘Go up, bald-head! go up, bald-head!’ ²⁴And he looketh behind him, and seeth them, and declareth them vile in the name of Jehovah, and two bears come out of the forest, and rend of them forty and two lads. ²⁵And he goeth thence unto the hill of Carmel, and thence he hath turned back to Samaria.

Chapter 3

¹And Jehoram son of Ahab hath reigned over Israel, in Samaria, in the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and he reigneth twelve years, ²and doth the evil thing in the eyes of Jehovah, only not like his father, and like his mother, and he turneth aside the standing-pillar of Baal that his father made; ³only to the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat that he caused Israel to sin he hath cleaved, he hath not turned aside from it. ⁴And Mesha king of Moab was a sheep-master, and he rendered to the king of Israel a hundred thousand lambs, and a hundred thousand rams, with wool, ⁵and it cometh to pass at the death of Ahab, that the king of Moab transgresseth against the king of Israel.

⁶And king Jehoram goeth out in that day from Samaria, and inspecteth all Israel, ⁷and goeth and sendeth unto Jehoshaphat king of Judah, saying, ‘The king of Moab hath transgressed against me; dost thou go with me unto Moab for battle?’ and he saith, ‘I go up, as I, so thou; as my people, so thy people; as my horses, so thy horses. ⁸And he saith, ‘Where is this—the way we go up?’ and he saith, ‘The way of the wilderness of Edom.’ ⁹And the king of Israel goeth, and the king of Judah, and the king of Edom, and they turn round the way seven days, and there hath been no water for the camp, and for the cattle that are at their feet, ¹⁰and the king of Israel saith, ‘Alas, for Jehovah hath called for these three kings, to give them into the hand of Moab.’ ¹¹And Jehoshaphat saith, ‘Is there not here a prophet of Jehovah, and we seek Jehovah by him?’ And one of the servants of the king of Israel answereth and saith, ‘Here is Elisha son of Shaphat, who poured water on the hands of Elijah.’ ¹²And Jehoshaphat saith, ‘The word of Jehovah is with him;’ and go down unto him do the king of Israel, and Jehoshaphat, and the king of Edom. ¹³And Elisha saith unto the king of Israel, ‘What—to me and to thee? go unto the prophets of thy father, and unto the prophets of thy mother;’ and the king of Israel saith to him, ‘Nay, for Jehovah hath called for these three kings to give them into the hand of Moab.’ ¹⁴And Elisha saith, ‘Jehovah of Hosts liveth, before whom I have stood; for unless the face of Jehoshaphat king of Judah I am lifting up, I do not look unto thee, nor see thee; ¹⁵and now, bring to me a minstrel; and it hath been, at the playing of the minstrel, that the hand of Jehovah is on him, ¹⁶and he saith, ‘Thus said Jehovah, Make this valley ditches—ditches; ¹⁷for thus said Jehovah, Ye do not see wind, nor do ye see rain, and that valley is full of water, and ye have drunk—ye, and your cattle, and your beasts.

¹⁸‘And this hath been light in the eyes of Jehovah, and he hath given Moab into your hand, ¹⁹and ye have smitten every fenced city, and every choice city, and every good tree ye cause to fall, and all fountains of waters ye stop, and every good portion ye mar with stones.’

²⁰And it cometh to pass in the morning, at the ascending of the morning -present, that lo, waters are coming in from the way of Edom, and the land is filled with the waters, ²¹and all Moab have heard that the kings have come up to fight against them, and they are called together, from every one girding on a girdle and upward, and they stand by the border. ²²And they rise early in the morning, and the sun hath shone on the waters, and the Moabites see, from over-against, the waters red as blood, ²³and say, ‘Blood this is; the kings have been surely destroyed, and they smite each his neighbour; and now for spoil, Moab!’ ²⁴And they come in unto the camp of Israel, and the Israelites rise, and smite the Moabites, and they flee from their face; and they enter into Moab, so as to smite Moab, ²⁵and the cities they break down, and on every good portion they cast each his stone, and have filled it, and every fountain of water they stop, and every good tree they cause to fall—till one had left its stones in Kir-Haraseth, and the slingers go round and smite it. ²⁶And the king of Moab seeth that the battle has been too strong for him, and he taketh with him seven hundred men, drawing sword, to cleave through unto the king of Edom, and they have not been able, ²⁷and he taketh his son, the first-born who reigneth in his stead, and causeth him to ascend—a burnt-offering on the wall, and there is great wrath against Israel, and they journey from off him, and turn back to the land.

Chapter 4

¹And a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets hath cried unto Elisha, saying, ‘Thy servant, my husband, is dead, and thou hast known that thy servant was fearing Jehovah, and the lender hath come to take my two children to him for servants.’ ²And Elisha saith unto her, ‘What do I do for thee? declare to me, what hast thou in the house?’ and she saith, ‘Thy maid-servant hath nothing in the house except a pot of oil.’ ³And he saith, ‘Go, ask for thee vessels from without, from all thy neighbours—empty vessels—let them not be few; ⁴and thou hast entered, and shut the door upon thee, and upon thy sons, and hast poured out into all these vessels, and the full ones thou dost remove.’ ⁵And she goeth from him, and shutteth the door upon her, and upon her sons; they are bringing nigh unto her, and she is pouring out, ⁶and it cometh to pass, at the filling of the vessels, that she saith unto her son, ‘Bring nigh unto me a vessel more,’ and he saith unto her, ‘There is not a vessel more;’ and the oil stayeth. ⁷And she cometh and declareth to the man of God, and he saith, ‘Go, sell the oil, and repay thy loan; and thou and thy sons do live of the rest.’

⁸And the day cometh that Elisha passeth over unto Shunem, and there is a great woman, and she layeth hold on him to eat bread, and it cometh to…