Elijah and the Messengers of Ahaziah

1 Moab rebelled against Israel after the death of Ahab. ² Ahaziah had fallen through the lattice in his upper room, which was in Samaria, and he was injured. So he sent messengers, and he said to them, “Go, inquire of Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron, if I will survive this injury.”

³ Then the angel of Yahweh spoke to Elijah the Tishbite, “Get up, go up to meet the messengers of the king of Samaria and speak to them, ‘Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are going to inquire of Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron?’ ⁴ Therefore, thus says Yahweh, ‘The bed upon which you have gone, you will not come down from it, but you shall surely die.’” So Elijah went.

⁵ When the messengers returned to him, he asked them, “Why have you returned?” ⁶ Then they said to him, “A man came up to meet us, and he said to us, ‘Go, return to the king who sent you and speak to him, “Thus says Yahweh, ‘Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are sending to inquire of Baal-Zebub the god of Ekron? Therefore the bed upon which you have gone, you will not come down from it, for you will surely die.’”’” ⁷ Then he spoke to them, “What was the manner of the man who came up to meet you and spoke to you all these things?” ⁸ They answered him, “A hairy man^[a] with a leather belt girded around his waist.” And he said, “It is Elijah the Tishbite.”

⁹ So Ahaziah^[b] sent to him the commander of fifty with his fifty men, and he went up to him while he was sitting on the top of the hill. He said to him, “O man of God, the king says, ‘Come down.’” ¹⁰ Then Elijah answered and said to the commander of the fifty, “If I am a man of God, 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 So he again sent^[c] another commander of fifty and his fifty men. He answered and said to him, “O man of God, thus says the king, ‘Come down quickly!’” ¹² Then Elijah answered and said to them, “If I am a man of God, then 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 So he again sent^[d] a third time a commander of fifty and his fifty, and the commander of the third fifty went up and came and knelt down on his knees before Elijah and entreated him. He said to him, “O man of God, please let my life and the lives of your servants, these fifty, be precious in your eyes. ¹⁴ Behold, fire from heaven came down and consumed the first two commanders of fifty and their fifties, so then let my life be precious in your eyes.” ¹⁵ Then the angel of Yahweh spoke to Elijah, “Go down with him. Do not be afraid because of him.” So he got up and went down with him to the king, ¹⁶ and he said to him, “Thus says Yahweh, ‘Because you have sent messengers to inquire of Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron—is it because there is no God in Israel from whom to inquire his word?—therefore the bed upon which you went, you shall not come down from it, for you shall surely die.’”

Epitaph for Ahaziah

¹⁷ So he died, according to the word of Yahweh which Elijah had spoken, and Joram became king in his place in the second year of Joram the son of Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, because he had no son. ¹⁸ The remainder of the acts of Ahaziah which he did, are they not written in the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Israel?

Elijah Taken Away from Elisha

2 When Yahweh was about to take Elijah up in the storm to heaven, Elijah and Elisha went from Gilgal. ² Elijah said to Elisha, “Please stay here, for Yahweh has sent me up to Bethel.” Elisha said, “As Yahweh lives^[e] and as your soul lives,^[f] I will certainly not leave you!” So they went down to Bethel. ³ Then the sons of the prophets who were in Bethel came out to Elisha, and they said to him, “Do you know that Yahweh is going to take your master from you^[g] today?” He said, “I also know; be quiet!”

⁴ Elijah said to him, “Elisha, please stay here because Yahweh has sent me to Jericho.” And he said, “As Yahweh lives^[h] and as your soul lives,^[i] I will certainly not leave you!” So they came to Jericho. ⁵ Then the sons of the prophets who were in Jericho came near to Elisha, and they said to him, “Do you know that Yahweh is going to take your master from you^[j] today?” He said, “I also know; be quiet!”

⁶ Then Elijah said to him, “Please stay here, because Yahweh has sent me to the Jordan.” He said, “As Yahweh lives^[k] and as your soul lives,^[l] I will certainly not leave you!” So the two of them went on. ⁷ Then fifty men from the sons of the prophets went and stood opposite them at a distance while the two of them stood by the Jordan. ⁸ Elijah took his cloak, rolled it up, and struck the water. It divided in two,^[m] and the two of them crossed over on dry land.

⁹ After they crossed over, Elijah said to Elisha, “Ask what I may do for you before I am taken away from you.” Then Elisha said, “Please let there come to me a double portion of your spirit.” ¹⁰ He said, “What you ask is difficult. If you see me being taken from you, it will be so for you, but if not, it will not happen.” ¹¹ Then they were walking, talking as they went. Suddenly a fiery chariot with horses of fire appeared and separated between the two of them. Elijah went up in the storm to the heavens ¹² while Elisha was watching and crying out, “My father, my father; the chariot of Israel and its horsemen!” But he could not see him any longer, and he grasped his clothes and tore them in two pieces.

¹³ Then he picked up Elijah’s cloak that had fallen off of him, and he returned and stood on the bank of the Jordan. ¹⁴ He took Elijah’s cloak that had fallen from upon him and struck the water. Then he said, “Where is Yahweh, the God of Elijah?” So he also struck the water, and it divided in two,^[n] and Elisha crossed over.

Elisha Begins His Ministry

¹⁵ When the sons of the prophets who were at Jericho saw him from the other side, they declared, “The spirit of Elijah rests upon Elisha,” and they came to meet him and bowed down to him to the ground. ¹⁶ Then they said to him, “Look, there are with your servants fifty able men. Please let them go and look for your master, lest the Spirit of Yahweh has lifted him up and thrown him on one of the mountains or into one of the valleys,” but he said, “You must not send them.” ¹⁷ But they urged him until embarrassing him, so he said, “Send them.” So they sent fifty men, and they looked for three days, but they could not find him. ¹⁸ Then they returned to him while he was staying in Jericho. He said to them, “Did I not tell you not to go?”

¹⁹ The men of the city said to Elisha, “Please now, the location of the city is good, as my master can see, but the water is bad and the land unproductive.” ²⁰ So he 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 of waters and threw the salt into it there and said, “Thus says Yahweh, ‘I hereby purify these waters; let there be no longer any death or unproductiveness from it.’” ²² Then the waters were purified until this very day according to the word of Elisha that he spoke.

²³ Then he went up from there to Bethel; as he was going up along the way, young boys came out from the city and mocked at him and said to him, “Go up, baldhead; go up, baldhead!” ²⁴ When he turned around and saw them, he cursed them in the name of Yahweh. Then two bears came out of the forest and mauled forty-two boys among them. ²⁵ Then he went from there to Mount Carmel and from there he returned to Samaria.

Joram Meets Moab in Battle

3 Now Joram the son of Ahab had become king over Israel in Samaria in the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah. He reigned twelve years ² and did evil in the eyes of Yahweh, yet not as his father or his mother, as he removed the stone pillars of Baal that his father had made. ³ But he did cling to the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat who caused Israel to sin, and he did not depart from it.

⁴ Now Mesha king of Moab was a sheep breeder, and he used to deliver to the king of Israel a hundred thousand male lambs and a hundred thousand wool rams. ⁵ It happened that when Ahab died, Mesha king of Moab rebelled against the king of Israel. ⁶ So King Joram went out on that day from Samaria, and he mustered all of Israel. ⁷ He went and sent a message to Jehoshaphat king of Judah, saying, “The king of Moab has rebelled against me. Will you go with me against Moab for the battle?” And he said, “I will go up. I am like you;^[o] my people are like your people;^[p] my horses are like your horses.”^{[q] 8} Then he said, “Which way shall we go up?” And he answered, “By way of the wilderness of Edom.”

⁹ So the king of Israel and the king of Judah and the king of Edom went around, a way of seven days, but there was no water for the army or for the animals which were with them.^{[r] 10} Then the king of Israel said, “Aha, Yahweh has called for these three kings to give them into the hand of Moab.” ¹¹ Then Jehoshaphat asked, “Is there no prophet of Yahweh here that we might inquire guidance from Yahweh?” One of the servants of the king of Israel answered and said, “Elisha the son of Shaphat is here, who poured water on the hands of Elijah.”^{[s] 12} Jehoshaphat said, “The word of Yahweh is with him.” So the king of Israel, Jehoshaphat, and the king of Edom went down to him.

¹³ Then Elisha said to the king of Israel, “What do we have in common?^[t] Go to the prophets of your father and to the prophets of your mother.” Then the king of Israel said to him, “No, for Yahweh has called for these three kings to give them into the hand of Moab.” ¹⁴ Then Elisha said, “As Yahweh of hosts lives,^[u] before whom I stand, surely if I was not regarding the face^[v] of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, I would have not looked at you nor even glanced at you. ¹⁵ But now, bring me a musician.” It happened that at the moment the musician played, the hand of Yahweh came upon him. ¹⁶ He said, “Thus says Yahweh, ‘Make this wadi full of cisterns,’^{[w] 17} for thus says Yahweh, ‘You will see neither wind nor rain, yet this wadi will be full of water; and you and all of your livestock and your animals shall drink.’ ¹⁸ And since this is too trivial in the eyes of Yahweh, he will also give Moab into your hand, ¹⁹ and you shall defeat every fortified city, every choice city, and you shall fell every good tree. All of the springs of water you shall stop up, and every tract of good land you shall ruin with the stones.” ²⁰ It happened in the morning about the time of the morning offering, that water was suddenly coming from the direction of Edom and the land was filled with water.

²¹ Now all of Moab had heard that the kings had come up to fight against them, and all who were fighting age and up^[x] were called up, and they stood at the border. ²² When they arose early in the morning, the sun shone on the waters, and Moab saw the waters from the opposite side as red as blood. ²³ Then they said, “This is blood! Certainly the kings have fought one another, and each has killed his neighbor. Now, to the war booty, O Moab!” ²⁴ But when they came to the camp of Israel, Israel stood up and killed Moab, so that they fled from before them. They came at her and defeated Moab. ²⁵ The cities they tore down, on every good tract of land they threw stones until it was filled up, every spring of water they stopped up, and every good tree they felled. They let the stone walls at Kir Hareseth remain, but the slingers surrounded and attacked it. ²⁶ When the king of Moab saw that the battle was too heavy for him, he took with him seven hundred men who drew the sword to break through to the king of Edom, but they were not able. ²⁷ He took his firstborn son who was to become king in his place and offered him as a burnt offering on the wall. Great wrath came upon Israel, and they withdrew from him and returned to the land.