Elijah Taken to Heaven

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

2 Elijah 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.

3 Then 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.”

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

5 aThe 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.”

6 Then 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.

7 Now 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.

8 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.

9 When 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.”

10 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.”

11 As 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.

12 Elisha 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.

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

14 He 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

15 Now 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.

16 They 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.”

17 But 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.

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

19 Then 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.”

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

21 He 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.’ ”

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

23 Then 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!”

24 When 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.

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

Chapter 3

Jehoram Meets Moab Rebellion

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

2 He did evil in the sight of the Lord, though not like his father and his mother; for ahe put away the sacred pillar of Baal bwhich his father had made.

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

4 Now 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.

5 But awhen Ahab died, the king of Moab rebelled against the king of Israel.

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

7 Then 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.”

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

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

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

11 But Jehoshaphat said, “aIs there not a prophet of the Lord here, that we may inquire of the Lord 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.”

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

13 Now 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 the Lord has called these three kings together to give them into the hand of Moab.”

14 Elisha said, “aAs the Lord 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 “But now abring me a minstrel.” And it came about, when the minstrel played, that bthe hand of the Lord came upon him.

16 He said, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Make this valley full of trenches.’

17 “For thus says the Lord, ‘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 cattle and your beasts.

18 ‘This is but a aslight thing in the sight of the Lord; 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.’ ”

20 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.

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

22 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.

23 Then they said, “This is blood; the kings have surely fought together, and they have slain one another. Now therefore, Moab, to the spoil!”

24 But when they came to the camp of Israel, the Israelites arose and struck the Moabites, so that they fled before them; and they went forward 1into the land, 2slaughtering the Moabites.

25 aThus they destroyed the cities; and each one threw a stone on every piece of good land and filled it. So they stopped all the springs of water and felled all the good trees, until in bKir-hareseth only they left its stones; however, the slingers went about it and struck it.

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

27 Then 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 departed from him and returned to their own land.

Chapter 4

The Widow’s Oil

1 Now 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 the Lord; and bthe creditor has come to take my two children to be his slaves.”

2 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 except aa jar of oil.”

3 Then he said, “Go, borrow vessels at large for yourself 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.”

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

6 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.

7 Then 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

8 Now there came a day when Elisha passed over to aShunem, where there was a 1prominent woman, and she persuaded him to eat 2food. And so it was, as often as he passed by, he turned in there to eat 2food.

9 She said to her husband, “Behold now, I perceive that this is a holy aman of God passing by us continually.

10 “Please, let us amake a…