Elijah Denounces Ahaziah

1 ^(A)After the death of Ahab, Moab ^(B)rebelled against Israel.

² Now Ahaziah fell through the lattice in his upper chamber in Samaria, and lay sick; so he sent messengers, telling them, “Go, inquire of ^(C)Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, ^(D)whether I shall recover from this sickness.” ³ But the angel of the Lord said to Elijah ^(E)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 ^(F)Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron? ⁴ Now therefore thus says the Lord, ^(G)You shall not come down from the bed to which you have gone up, but you shall surely die.’” So Elijah went.

⁵ The messengers returned to the king, and he said to them, “Why have you returned?” ⁶ And they said to him, “There came a man to meet us, and said to us, ‘Go back 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 to inquire of ^(H)Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron? Therefore you shall not come down from the bed to which you have gone up, but you shall surely die.’” ⁷ He said to them, “What kind of man was he who came to meet you and told you these things?” ⁸ They answered him, ^(I)“He wore a garment of hair, with a belt of leather about his waist.” And he said, “It is Elijah the Tishbite.”

⁹ Then the king sent to him a captain of fifty men with his fifty. He went up to Elijah, who was sitting on the top of a hill, and said to him, ^(J)“O man of God, the king says, ‘Come down.’” ¹⁰ But Elijah answered the captain of fifty, “If I am a man of God, ^(K)let fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty.” Then fire came down from heaven and consumed him and his fifty.

¹¹ Again the king sent to him another captain of fifty men with his fifty. And he answered and said to him, “O man of God, this is the king's order, ‘Come down quickly!’” ¹² But Elijah answered them, “If I am a man of God, ^(L)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.

¹³ Again the king sent the captain of a third fifty with his fifty. And the third captain of fifty went up and came and fell on his knees before Elijah and entreated him, “O man of God, please let my life, and the life of these fifty servants of yours, ^(M)be precious in your sight. ¹⁴ Behold, fire came down from heaven and consumed the two former captains of fifty men with their fifties, but now let my life be precious in your sight.” ¹⁵ Then the angel of the Lord said to Elijah, “Go down with him; do not be afraid of him.” So he arose and went down with him to the king ¹⁶ and said to him, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Because you have sent messengers to inquire of ^(N)Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron—is it because there is no God in Israel to inquire of his word?—therefore you shall not come down from the bed to which you have gone up, but you shall surely die.’”

¹⁷ So he died according to the word of the Lord that Elijah had spoken. Jehoram became king in his place ^(O)in the second year of Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, because Ahaziah had no son. ¹⁸ Now the rest of the acts of Ahaziah that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?

Elijah Taken to Heaven

2 Now when the Lord was about to ^(P)take Elijah up to heaven by a whirlwind, Elijah and ^(Q)Elisha were on their way from ^(R)Gilgal. ² And Elijah said to Elisha, ^(S)“Please stay here, for the Lord has sent me as far as Bethel.” But Elisha said, ^(T)“As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So they went down to Bethel. ³ And ^(U)the sons of the prophets who were in Bethel came out to Elisha and said to him, “Do you know that today the Lord will take away your master from over you?” And he said, “Yes, I know it; keep quiet.”

⁴ Elijah said to him, “Elisha, ^(V)please stay here, for the Lord has sent me to ^(W)Jericho.” But he said, ^(X)“As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So they came to Jericho. ^5 (Y)The sons of the prophets who were at Jericho drew near to Elisha and said to him, “Do you know that today the Lord will take away your master from over you?” And he answered, “Yes, I know it; keep quiet.”

⁶ Then Elijah said to him, ^(Z)“Please stay here, for the Lord has sent me to the Jordan.” But he said, “As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So the two of them went on. ⁷ Fifty men of ^(AA)the sons of the prophets also went and stood at some distance from them, as they both were standing by the Jordan. ⁸ Then Elijah ^(AB)took his cloak and rolled it up and struck the water, ^(AC)and the water was parted to the one side and to the other, till the two of them could go over on dry ground.

⁹ When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, “Ask what I shall do for you, before I am taken from you.” And Elisha said, “Please let there be a double portion of your spirit on me.” ¹⁰ And he said, “You have asked a hard thing; yet, if you see me as I am being taken from you, it shall be so for you, but if you do not see me, it shall not be so.” ¹¹ And as they still went on and talked, behold, ^(AD)chariots of fire and horses of fire separated the two of them. And Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. ¹² And Elisha saw it and he cried, “My father, my father! ^(AE)The chariots of Israel and its horsemen!” And he saw him no more.

Then he took hold of his own clothes ^(AF)and tore them in two pieces. ¹³ And he took up the cloak of Elijah that had fallen from him and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan. ¹⁴ Then he took the cloak of Elijah that had fallen from him and struck the water, saying, “Where is the Lord, the God of Elijah?” And when he had struck the water, ^(AG)the water was parted to the one side and to the other, and Elisha went over.

Elisha Succeeds Elijah

¹⁵ Now when ^(AH)the sons of the prophets who were at Jericho saw him opposite them, they said, “The spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha.” And they came to meet him and bowed to the ground before him. ¹⁶ And they said to him, “Behold now, there are with your servants fifty strong men. Please let them go and seek your master. It may be that ^(AI)the Spirit of the Lord has caught him up and cast him upon some mountain or into some valley.” And he said, “You shall not send.” ¹⁷ But when they urged him ^(AJ)till he was ashamed, he said, “Send.” They sent therefore fifty men. And for three days they sought him but did not find him. ¹⁸ And they came back to him while he was staying at Jericho, and he said to them, “Did I not say to you, ‘Do not go’?”

¹⁹ Now the men of the city said to Elisha, “Behold, the situation of this city is pleasant, as my lord sees, but the water is bad, and the land is unfruitful.” ²⁰ He said, “Bring me a new bowl, and put salt in it.” So they brought it to him. ²¹ Then he went to the spring of water and ^(AK)threw salt in it and said, “Thus says the Lord, I have healed this water; from now on neither death nor miscarriage shall come from it.” ²² So the water has been healed to this day, according to the word that Elisha spoke.

²³ He went up from there to Bethel, and while he was going up on the way, some small boys came out of the city and jeered at him, saying, “Go up, you baldhead! Go up, you baldhead!” ²⁴ And he turned around, and when he saw them, ^(AL)he cursed them in the name of the Lord. And two she-bears came out of the woods and tore forty-two of the boys. ²⁵ From there he went on to ^(AM)Mount Carmel, and from there he returned ^(AN)to Samaria.

Who Is like the Lord Our God?

Paul Before Felix at Caesarea

24 And ^(A)after five days the high priest ^(B)Ananias came down with some elders and a spokesman, one Tertullus. They laid before ^(C)the governor their case against Paul. ² And when he had been summoned, Tertullus began to accuse him, saying:

“Since through you we enjoy much peace, and since by your foresight, ^(D)most excellent Felix, reforms are being made for this nation, ³ in every way and everywhere we accept this with all gratitude. ⁴ But, to detain^[a] you no further, I beg you in your kindness to hear us briefly. ⁵ For we have found this man a plague, ^(E)one who stirs up riots among all the Jews throughout the world and is a ringleader of ^(F)the sect of the Nazarenes. ^6 (G)He even tried to profane the temple, but we seized him.^{[b] 8} By examining him yourself you will be able to find out from him about everything of which we accuse him.”

⁹ The Jews also joined in the charge, affirming that all these things were so.

¹⁰ And when the governor had nodded to him to speak, Paul replied:

“Knowing that for many years you have been a judge over this nation, I cheerfully make my defense. ¹¹ You can verify that ^(H)it is not more than twelve days since I ^(I)went up ^(J)to worship in Jerusalem, ¹² and ^(K)they did not find me disputing with anyone or stirring up a crowd, either in the temple or in the synagogues or in the city. ^13 (L)Neither can they prove to you what they now bring up against me. ¹⁴ But this I confess to you, that according to ^(M)the Way, which they call ^(N)a sect, ^(O)I worship ^(P)the God of our fathers, believing everything ^(Q)laid down by the Law and written in the Prophets, ^15 (R)having ^(S)a hope in God, which these men themselves accept, that there will be ^(T)a resurrection ^(U)of both the just and the unjust. ¹⁶ So I always ^(V)take pains to have a ^(W)clear conscience toward both God and man. ¹⁷ Now ^(X)after several years ^(Y)I came to bring alms to ^(Z)my nation and to present ^(AA)offerings. ¹⁸ While I was doing this, they found me ^(AB)purified in the temple, without any crowd or tumult. But ^(AC)some Jews from Asia— ^19 (AD)they ought to be here before you and to make an accusation, should they have anything against me. ²⁰ Or else let these men themselves say what wrongdoing they found when I stood before the council, ²¹ other than this one thing ^(AE)that I cried out while standing among them: ‘It is with respect to the resurrection of the dead that I am on trial before you this day.’”

Paul Kept in Custody

²² But Felix, having a rather accurate knowledge of ^(AF)the Way, put them off, saying, “When Lysias the tribune comes down, I will decide your case.” ²³ Then he gave orders to the centurion that he ^(AG)should be kept in custody but have some liberty, and that ^(AH)none of his friends should be prevented from attending to his needs.

²⁴ After some days Felix came with his wife Drusilla, who was Jewish, and he sent for Paul and heard him speak about ^(AI)faith ^(AJ)in Christ Jesus. ²⁵ And as he reasoned ^(AK)about righteousness and self-control and the coming judgment, Felix was alarmed and said, “Go away for the present. ^(AL)When I get an opportunity I will summon you.” ²⁶ At the same time he hoped ^(AM)that money would be given him by Paul. So he sent for him often and conversed with him. ²⁷ When two years had elapsed, Felix was succeeded by Porcius ^(AN)Festus. And ^(AO)desiring to do the Jews a favor, ^(AP)Felix left Paul in prison.