2 Kings 1

Elijah and King Ahaziah

1 After Ahab died, Moab broke away from Israel’s rule.

2 Ahaziah fell down through the wooden bars in his upstairs room in Samaria and was badly hurt. He sent messengers and told them, “Go, ask Baal-Zebub, god of Ekron, if I will recover from my injuries.”
3 But the Lord’s angel said to Elijah the Tishbite, “Go up and meet the messengers sent by the king of Samaria. Ask them, ‘Why are you going to ask questions of Baal-Zebub, god of Ekron? Is it because you think there is no God in Israel?’

4 This is what the Lord says: ‘You will never get up from the bed you are lying on; you will die.’ ” Then Elijah left.

5 When the messengers returned to Ahaziah, he asked them, “Why have you returned?”

6 They said, “A man came to meet us. He said, ‘Go back to the king who sent you and tell him what the Lord says: “Why do you send messengers to ask questions of Baal-Zebub, god of Ekron? Is it because you think there is no God in Israel? You will never get up from the bed you are lying on; you will die.” ’ ”

7 Ahaziah asked them, “What did the man look like who met you and told you this?”

8 They answered, “He was a hairy man and wore a leather belt around his waist.”
Ahaziah said, “It was Elijah the Tishbite.”

9 Then he sent a captain with his fifty men to Elijah. The captain went to Elijah, who was sitting on top of the hill, and said to him, “Man of God, the king says, ‘Come down!’ ”

10 Elijah answered the captain, “If I am a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and burn up you and your fifty men.” Then fire came down from heaven and burned up the captain and his fifty men.

11 Ahaziah sent another captain and fifty men to Elijah. The captain said to him, “Man of God, this is what the king says: ‘Come down quickly!’ ”

12 Elijah answered, “If I am a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and burn up you and your fifty men!” Then fire came down from heaven and burned up the captain and his fifty men.
13 Ahaziah then sent a third captain with his fifty men. The third captain came and fell down on his knees before Elijah and begged, “Man of God, please respect my life and the lives of your fifty servants.

14 See, fire came down from heaven and burned up the first two captains of fifty with all their men. But now, respect my life.”

15 The Lord’s angel said to Elijah, “Go down with him and don’t be afraid of him.” So Elijah got up and went down with him to see the king.
16 Elijah told Ahaziah, “This is what the Lord says: ‘You have sent messengers to ask questions of Baal-Zebub, god of Ekron. Is it because you think there is no God in Israel to ask? Because of this, you will never get up from your bed; you will die.’ ”

17 So Ahaziah died, just as the Lord, through Elijah, had said he would.
Joram became king in Ahaziah’s place during the second year Jehoram son of Jehoshaphat was king of Judah. Joram ruled because Ahaziah had no son to take his place.18 The other things Ahaziah did are written in the book of the history of the kings of Israel.

2 Kings 2

Elijah Is Taken to Heaven

1 It was almost time for the Lord to take Elijah by a whirlwind up into heaven. While Elijah and Elisha were leaving Gilgal,

2 Elijah said to Elisha, “Please stay here. The Lord has told me to go to Bethel.”
But Elisha said, “As the Lord lives, and as you live, I won’t leave you.” So they went down to Bethel.

3 The groups of prophets at Bethel came out to Elisha and said to him, “Do you know the Lord will take your master away from you today?”
Elisha said, “Yes, I know, but don’t talk about it.”

4 Elijah said to him, “Stay here, Elisha, because the Lord has sent me to Jericho.”
But Elisha said, “As the Lord lives, and as you live, I won’t leave you.”
So they went to Jericho.

5 The groups of prophets at Jericho came to Elisha and said, “Do you know that the Lord will take your master away from you today?”
Elisha answered, “Yes, I know, but don’t talk about it.”

6 Elijah said to Elisha, “Stay here. The Lord has sent me to the Jordan River.”
Elisha answered, “As the Lord lives, and as you live, I won’t leave you.”
So the two of them went on.7 Fifty men of the groups of prophets came and stood far from where Elijah and Elisha were by the Jordan.

8 Elijah took off his coat, rolled it up, and hit the water. The water divided to the right and to the left, and Elijah and Elisha crossed over on dry ground.

9 After they had crossed over, Elijah said to Elisha, “What can I do for you before I am taken from you?”
Elisha said, “Leave me a double share of your spirit.” 

10 Elijah said, “You have asked a hard thing. But if you see me when I am taken from you, it will be yours. If you don’t, it won’t happen.”
11 As they were walking and talking, a chariot and horses of fire appeared and separated Elijah from Elisha. Then Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind.

12 Elisha saw it and shouted, “My father! My father! The chariots of Israel and their horsemen!” And Elisha did not see him anymore. Then Elisha grabbed his own clothes and tore them to show how sad he was.
13 He picked up Elijah’s coat that had fallen from him. Then he returned and stood on the bank of the Jordan.

14 Elisha hit the water with Elijah’s coat and said, “Where is the Lord, the God of Elijah?” When he hit the water, it divided to the right and to the left, and Elisha crossed over.
15 The groups of prophets at Jericho were watching and said, “Elisha now has the spirit Elijah had.” And they came to meet him, bowing down to the ground before him.

16 They said to him, “There are fifty strong men with us. Please let them go and look for your master. Maybe the Spirit of the Lord has taken Elijah up and set him down on some mountain or in some valley.”
But Elisha answered, “No, don’t send them.”
17 When the groups of prophets had begged Elisha until he couldn’t refuse them anymore, he said, “Send them.” So they sent fifty men who looked for three days, but they could not find him.

18 Then they came back to Elisha at Jericho where he was staying. He said to them, “I told you not to go, didn’t I?”

Elisha Makes the Water Pure

19 The people of the city said to Elisha, “Look, master, this city is a nice place to live as you can see. But the water is so bad the land cannot grow crops.”

20 Elisha said, “Bring me a new bowl and put salt in it.” So they brought it to him.
21 Then he went out to the spring and threw the salt in it. He said, “This is what the Lord says: ‘I have healed this water. From now on it won’t cause death, and it won’t keep the land from growing crops.’ ”

22 So the water has been healed to this day just as Elisha had said.

Boys Make Fun of Elisha

23 From there Elisha went up to Bethel. On the way some boys came out of the city and made fun of him. They said to him, “Go up too, you baldhead! Go up too, you baldhead!”24 Elisha turned around, looked at them, and put a curse on them in the name of the Lord. Then two mother bears came out of the woods and tore forty-two of the boys to pieces.25 Elisha went to Mount Carmel and from there he returned to Samaria.

2 Kings 3

War Between Israel and Moab

1 Joram son of Ahab became king over Israel at Samaria in Jehoshaphat’s eighteenth year as king of Judah. And Joram ruled twelve years.2 He did what the Lord said was wrong, but he was not like his father and mother; he removed the stone pillars his father had made for Baal.

3 But he continued to sin like Jeroboam son of Nebat who had led Israel to sin. Joram did not stop doing these same sins.
4 Mesha king of Moab raised sheep. He paid the king of Israel one hundred thousand lambs and the wool of one hundred thousand sheep.5 But when Ahab died, the king of Moab turned against the king of Israel.6 So King Joram went out from Samaria and gathered Israel’s army.

7 He also sent messengers to Jehoshaphat king of Judah. “The king of Moab has turned against me,” he said. “Will you go with me to fight Moab?”
Jehoshaphat replied, “I will go with you. My soldiers and my horses are yours.”

8 Jehoshaphat asked, “Which way should we attack?”
Joram answered, “Through the Desert of Edom.”
9 So the king of Israel went with the king of Judah and the king of Edom. After they had marched seven days, there was no more water for the army or for their animals that were with them.

10 The king of Israel said, “This is terrible! The Lord has called us three kings together to hand us over to the Moabites!”

11 But Jehoshaphat asked, “Is there a prophet of the Lord here? We can ask the Lord through him.”
An officer of the king of Israel answered, “Elisha son of Shaphat is here. He was Elijah’s servant.”

12 Jehoshaphat said, “He speaks the Lord’s truth.” So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat and the king of Edom went down to see Elisha.

13 Elisha said to the king of Israel, “I have nothing to do with you. Go to the prophets of your father and to the prophets of your mother!”
The king of Israel said to Elisha, “No, the Lord has called us three kings together to hand us over to the Moabites.”
14 Elisha said, “As surely as the Lord All-Powerful lives, whom I serve, I tell you the truth. I wouldn’t even look at you or notice you if Jehoshaphat king of Judah were not here. I respect him.

15 Now bring me someone who plays the harp.”
While the harp was being played, the Lord gave Elisha power.16 Then Elisha said, “The Lord says to dig holes in the valley.17 The Lord says you won’t see wind or rain, but the valley will be filled with water. Then you, your cattle, and your other animals can drink.18 This is easy for the Lord to do; he will also hand Moab over to you.

19 You will destroy every strong, walled city and every important town. You will cut down every good tree and stop up all springs. You will ruin every good field with rocks.”

20 The next morning, about the time the sacrifice was offered, water came from the direction of Edom and filled the valley.
21 All the Moabites heard that the kings had come up to fight against them. So they gathered everyone old enough to put on armor and waited at the border.22 But when the Moabites got up early in the morning, the sun was shining on the water. They saw the water across from them, and it looked as red as blood.

23 Then they said, “This is blood! The kings must have fought and killed each other! Come, Moabites, let’s take the valuables from the dead bodies!”
24 When the Moabites came to the camp of Israel, the Israelites came out and fought them until they ran away. Then the Israelites went on into the land, killing the Moabites.

25 They tore down the cities and threw rocks all over every good field. They stopped up all the springs and cut down all the good trees. Kir Hareseth was the only city with its stones still in place, but the men with slingshots surrounded it and conquered it, too.
26 When the king of Moab saw that the battle was too much for him, he took seven hundred men with swords to try to break through to the king of Edom. But they could not break through.27 Then the king of Moab took his oldest son, who would have been king after him, and offered him as a burnt offering on the wall. So there was great anger against the Israelites, who left and went back to their own land.