1 Kings 17-19
GOD’S WORD Translation
Elijah Prophesies a Drought
17 Elijah, who was from Tishbe but had settled in Gilead, said to Ahab, “I solemnly swear, as the Lord God of Israel whom I serve lives, there will be no dew or rain during the next few years unless I say so.”
2 Then the Lord spoke his word to Elijah: 3 “Leave here, turn east, and hide beside the Cherith River, which is east of the Jordan River. 4 You can drink from the stream, and I’ve commanded ravens to feed you there.”
5 Elijah left and did what the Lord’s word ⌞had told him⌟. He went to live by the Cherith River, which is east of the Jordan River. 6 Ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and in the evening. And he drank from the stream.
7 But after some time the stream dried up because no rain had fallen in the land.
Elijah and the Widow at Zarephath
8 Then the Lord spoke his word to Elijah: 9 “Get up, go to Zarephath (which belongs to Sidon), and stay there. I’ve commanded a widow there to feed you.”
10 He got up and went to Zarephath. As he came to the town’s entrance, a widow was gathering wood. He called to her, “Please bring me a drink of water.” 11 As she was going to get it, he called to her again, “Please bring me a piece of bread too.”
12 She said, “I solemnly swear, as the Lord your God lives, I didn’t bake any bread. I have one handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. I’m gathering wood. I’m going to prepare something for myself and my son so that we can eat it and then die.”
13 Then Elijah told her, “Don’t be afraid. Go home, and do as you’ve said. But first make a small loaf and bring it to me. Then prepare something for yourself and your son. 14 This is what the Lord God of Israel says: Until the Lord sends rain on the land, the jar of flour will never be empty and the jug will always contain oil.”
15 She did what Elijah had told her. So she, Elijah, and her family had food for a long time. 16 The jar of flour never became empty, and the jug always contained olive oil, as the Lord had promised through Elijah.
17 Afterwards, the son of the woman who owned the house got sick. He got so sick that finally no life was left in him. 18 The woman asked Elijah, “What do you and I have in common, man of God? Did you come here to remind me of my sin and kill my son?”
19 He said to her, “Give me your son.” Elijah took him from her arms, carried him to the upstairs room where he was staying, and laid him on his own bed. 20 Then he called to the Lord, “Lord my God, have you brought misery on the widow I’m staying with by killing her son?” 21 Then Elijah stretched himself over the boy three times and called to the Lord, “Lord my God, please make this child’s life return to him.” 22 The Lord heard Elijah’s request, and the child’s life returned to him. He was alive again.
23 Elijah took the child, brought him down from the upstairs room of the house, and gave him to his mother. He said, “Look! Your son is alive.”
24 The woman said to Elijah, “Now I’m convinced that you are a man of God and that the Lord’s word from your mouth is true.”
Elijah Comes to King Ahab
18 A while later in the third year of the drought, the Lord spoke his word to Elijah: “Present yourself to Ahab. I will allow rain to fall on the ground.” 2 So Elijah went to present himself to Ahab.
The famine was particularly severe in Samaria. 3 Ahab sent for Obadiah, who was in charge of the palace. Obadiah was a devout worshiper of the Lord. 4 (When Jezebel was killing the Lord’s prophets, Obadiah had hidden 100 prophets in caves. He put 50 prophets in each cave and kept them alive by providing bread and water for them.) 5 Ahab told Obadiah, “Let’s go throughout the countryside to every spring and stream. If we can find grass, then we can keep the horses and mules alive and not lose any animals.” 6 So they split up in order to cover the entire countryside. Ahab went one way by himself, and Obadiah went the other way by himself.
7 Obadiah was on the road when he met Elijah. Obadiah recognized him and immediately bowed down to the ground. “Is it you, my master Elijah?” he asked.
8 “Yes,” Elijah answered him. “Tell your master that Elijah is here.”
9 Obadiah asked, “What have I done wrong to make you hand me over to Ahab to be killed? 10 I solemnly swear, as the Lord your God lives, my master has searched for you in every region and kingdom. When people would say, ‘He isn’t here,’ my master made that kingdom or region take an oath that they hadn’t found you.
11 “Now you say, ‘Tell your master that Elijah is here.’ 12 This is what will happen: When I leave you, the Lord’s Spirit will take you away to some unknown place. I’ll tell Ahab, but he won’t be able to find you. Then he will kill me.
“I have been faithful to the Lord since I was a child. 13 Haven’t you heard what I did when Jezebel killed the Lord’s prophets? Haven’t you heard how I hid 100 of the Lord’s prophets in caves? I hid 50 prophets in each cave and provided bread and water for them. 14 Now you say that I should tell my master that Elijah is here. He will kill me.”
15 Elijah said, “I solemnly swear, as the Lord of Armies whom I serve lives, I will present myself to Ahab.”
16 So Obadiah went to tell Ahab.
Elijah and the Prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel
Ahab went to meet Elijah. 17 When he saw Elijah, Ahab said, “Is that you, you troublemaker of Israel?”
18 Elijah answered, “I haven’t troubled Israel. You and your father’s family have done it by disobeying the Lord’s commands and following the various Baal gods. 19 Order all Israel to gather around me on Mount Carmel. And bring the 450 prophets of Baal and 400 prophets of Asherah who eat at Jezebel’s table.”
20 Ahab sent word to all the Israelites and brought the prophets together on Mount Carmel. 21 Elijah stood up in front of all the people and asked them, “How long will you try to have it both ways? If the Lord is God, follow him; if Baal is God, follow him.” The people didn’t say a word.
22 So Elijah told the people, “I’m the only surviving prophet of the Lord, but there are 450 prophets of Baal. 23 Give us two bulls. Let the prophets of Baal choose one for themselves, cut it into pieces, lay it on the wood, but not set it on fire. I’ll do the same with the other bull.
24 “You call on the name of your gods, but I will call on the name of the Lord. The god who answers by fire is the real God.”
All the people answered, “That’s fine.”
25 Elijah told the prophets of Baal, “Choose one bull for yourselves. Prepare yours first, because there are more of you. Call on the name of your god, but don’t set the wood on fire.”
26 They took the bull he gave them, prepared it, and called on the name of Baal from morning until noon. They said, “Baal, answer us!” But there wasn’t a sound or an answer. So they danced around the altar they had made. 27 At noon Elijah started to make fun of them. “Shout louder, since he is a god. Maybe he’s thinking, relieving himself, or traveling! Maybe he’s sleeping, and you have to wake him!”
28 So they shouted louder. They also cut themselves with swords and spears until their blood flowed. (This is what their ritual called for.) 29 In the afternoon they continued to rant and rave until the time for the evening sacrifice. But there was no sound, no answer, no attention given to them.
30 Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come over here.” So all the people came to him. He rebuilt the Lord’s altar that had been torn down. 31 Elijah took 12 stones, one for each of the tribes named after Jacob’s sons. (The Lord had spoken his word to Jacob: “Your name will be Israel.”) 32 Elijah built an altar in the Lord’s name with those stones. He also made a trench that could hold 12 quarts of grain around the altar. 33 He arranged the wood, cut up the bull, and put it on the wood.
34 He said, “Fill four jars with water. Pour the water on the offering and on the wood.” Then he said, “Do it again,” and they did it again. Then he said, “Do it a third time,” and they did it a third time. 35 The water flowed around the altar, and even the trench was filled with water.
36 When it was time to offer the sacrifice, the prophet Elijah stepped forward. He said, “Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, make known today that you are God in Israel and that I’m your servant and have done all these things by your instructions. 37 Answer me, Lord! Answer me! Then these people will know that you, Lord, are God and that you are winning back their hearts.”
38 So a fire from the Lord fell down and consumed the burnt offering, wood, stones, and dirt. The fire even dried up the water that was in the trench. 39 All the people saw it and immediately bowed down to the ground. “The Lord is God!” they said. “The Lord is God!”
40 Elijah told them, “Seize the prophets of Baal. Don’t let any of them escape.” The people seized them, and Elijah took them to the Kishon River and slaughtered them there.
The Drought Ends
41 Then Elijah told Ahab, “Get up, eat, and drink. It sounds like a heavy rain ⌞is coming⌟.” 42 Ahab got up to eat and drink.
Elijah went to the top of Carmel and bowed down on the ground to pray. 43 He said to his servant, “Please go back to ⌞Mount Carmel⌟, and look toward the sea.”
He went up, looked, ⌞came back,⌟ and said, “There’s nothing.”
Seven times Elijah told him, “Go back.”
44 After the seventh time the servant said, “A little cloud like a man’s hand is coming from the sea.”
Elijah said, “Go and tell Ahab, ‘Prepare ⌞your chariot⌟, and leave before the rain delays you.’ ”
45 Gradually, the sky grew darker with clouds and wind, and there was a heavy rain. Ahab got into his chariot to go back to Jezreel. 46 The Lord’s power was on Elijah. He hiked up his robe and ran ahead of Ahab until they came to Jezreel.
Elijah Flees from Jezebel
19 Ahab told Jezebel everything Elijah had done, including how he had executed all the prophets. 2 Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah. She said, “May the gods strike me dead if by this time tomorrow I don’t take your life the way you took the lives of Baal’s prophets.”
3 Frightened, Elijah fled to save his life. He came to Beersheba in Judah and left his servant there. 4 Then he traveled through the wilderness for a day. He sat down under a broom plant and wanted to die. “I’ve had enough now, Lord,” he said. “Take my life! I’m no better than my ancestors.” 5 Then he lay down and slept under the broom plant.
An angel touched him and said, “Get up and eat.” 6 When he looked, he saw near his head some bread baked on hot stones and a jar of water. So he ate, drank, and went to sleep again.
7 The angel of the Lord came back and woke him up again. The angel said, “Get up and eat, or your journey will be too much for you.”
8 He got up, ate, and drank. Strengthened by that food, he traveled for 40 days and nights until he came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 9 There he went into a cave and spent the night.
Then the Lord spoke his word to Elijah. He asked, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
10 He answered, “Lord God of Armies, I have eagerly served you. The Israelites have abandoned your promises,[a] torn down your altars, and executed your prophets. I’m the only one left, and they’re trying to take my life.”
11 God said, “Go out and stand in front of the Lord on the mountain.”
As the Lord was passing by, a fierce wind tore mountains and shattered rocks ahead of the Lord. But the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind came an earthquake. But the Lord wasn’t in the earthquake. 12 After the earthquake there was a fire. But the Lord wasn’t in the fire. And after the fire there was a quiet, whispering voice. 13 When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his coat, went out, and stood at the entrance of the cave.
Then the voice said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
14 He answered, “Lord God of Armies, I have eagerly served you. The Israelites have abandoned your promises, torn down your altars, and executed your prophets. I’m the only one left, and they’re trying to take my life.”
15 The Lord told him, “Go back to the wilderness near Damascus, the same way you came. When you get there, anoint Hazael as king of Aram. 16 Anoint Jehu, son of Nimshi, as king of Israel. And anoint Elisha, son of Shaphat, from Abel Meholah as prophet to take your place. 17 If anyone escapes from Hazael’s sword, Jehu will kill him. And if anyone escapes from Jehu’s sword, Elisha will kill him. 18 But I still have 7,000 people in Israel whose knees have not knelt to worship Baal and whose mouths have not kissed him.”
The Call of Elisha
19 Elijah found Elisha, son of Shaphat. Elisha was plowing behind 12 pairs of oxen. He was using the twelfth pair. Elijah took off his coat and put it on Elisha. 20 So Elisha left the oxen, ran after Elijah, and said, “Please let me kiss my father and mother goodbye. Then I will follow you.”
“Go back,” Elijah answered him. “I’m not stopping you.”
21 Elisha left him, took two oxen, and butchered them. He boiled the meat, using the oxen’s yoke [b] ⌞for firewood⌟. He gave the meat to the people to eat. Then he left to follow and assist Elijah.
2 Kings 2
GOD’S WORD Translation
Elijah Taken to Heaven
2 When the Lord was going to take Elijah to heaven in a windstorm, Elijah and Elisha left Gilgal. 2 Elijah said to Elisha, “Please stay here because the Lord is sending me to Bethel.”
Elisha answered, “I solemnly swear, as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not abandon you.” So they went to Bethel.
3 Some of the disciples of the prophets at Bethel came to Elisha. They asked him, “Do you know that the Lord is going to take your master from you today?”
He answered, “Yes, I know. Be quiet.”
4 Elijah said, “Elisha, please stay here because the Lord is sending me to Jericho.”
Elisha answered, “I solemnly swear, as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not abandon you.” So they went to Jericho.
5 Then some of the disciples of the prophets who were in Jericho approached Elisha. They asked, “Do you know that the Lord is going to take your master from you today?”
He answered, “Yes, I know. Be quiet.”
6 Elijah said to Elisha, “Please stay here because the Lord is sending me to the Jordan River.”
Elisha answered, “I solemnly swear, as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not abandon you.”
7 Fifty disciples of the prophets stood at a distance as Elijah and Elisha stood by the Jordan River. 8 Elijah took his coat, rolled it up, and struck the water with it. The water divided to their left and their right, and the two men crossed ⌞the river⌟ on dry ground.
9 While they were crossing, Elijah asked Elisha, “What should I do for you before I’m taken from you?”
Elisha answered, “Let me inherit a double share of your spirit.”
10 Elijah said, “You have asked for something difficult. If you see me taken from you, it will be yours. Otherwise, it will not.”
11 As they continued walking and talking, a fiery chariot with fiery horses separated the two of them, and Elijah went to heaven in a windstorm.
12 When Elisha saw this, he cried out, “Master! Master! Israel’s chariot and horses!” When he couldn’t see Elijah anymore, he grabbed his own garment and tore it in two ⌞to show his grief⌟. 13 Then he picked up Elijah’s coat (which had fallen off Elijah), went back, and stood on the bank of the Jordan River. 14 He took the coat and struck the water with it. He asked, “Where is the Lord God of Elijah?” As he struck the water, it divided to his left and his right, and Elisha crossed ⌞the river⌟.
15 The disciples of the prophets who were at Jericho saw him from a distance. They said, “Elijah’s spirit rests on Elisha!” Then they went to meet him and bowed in front of him with their faces touching the ground. 16 They said to him, “There are 50 strong men here with us. Please let them go and search for your master. Maybe the Lord’s Spirit lifted him up and dropped him on one of the hills or in one of the valleys.”
Elisha answered, “Don’t send them ⌞to look⌟.” 17 But the disciples kept urging him ⌞to send the men⌟ until he was embarrassed. So he said, “Send them.” They sent 50 men who searched for three days without finding him. 18 They returned to Elisha in Jericho, where he was waiting. He said, “Didn’t I tell you not to go?”
Elisha Purifies Jericho’s Water
19 The people of the city ⌞of Jericho⌟ told Elisha, “This city’s location is as good as you will ever find. But the water is bad, and the land cannot grow crops.”
20 Elisha said, “Bring me a new jar, and put salt in it.” They brought it to him. 21 He went to the spring and threw the salt into it. Then he said, “This is what the Lord says: I have purified this water. No more deaths or crop failures will come from this water.” 22 To this day the water is still pure, as Elisha had said.
23 From there he went to Bethel. As he walked along the road, some boys came out of the city and mocked him. They said, “Go away, baldy! Go away!”
24 Looking back, he saw them and cursed them in the Lord’s name. Two bears came out of the woods and tore 42 of these youths apart. 25 He left that place, went to Mount Carmel, and returned to Samaria.
2 Kings 4
GOD’S WORD Translation
Elisha and the Widow’s Olive Oil
4 One of the wives of a disciple of the prophets called to Elisha, “Sir, my husband is dead! You know how he feared the Lord. Now a creditor has come to take my two children as slaves.”
2 Elisha asked her, “What should I do for you? Tell me, what do you have in your house?”
She answered, “I have nothing in the house except a jar of olive oil.”
3 Elisha said, “Borrow many empty containers from all your neighbors. 4 Then close the door behind you and your children, and pour oil into all those containers. When one is full, set it aside.”
5 So she left him and closed the door behind her and her children. The children kept bringing containers to her, and she kept pouring. 6 When the containers were full, she told her son, “Bring me another container.”
He told her, “There are no more containers.” So the olive oil stopped flowing. 7 She went and told the man of God.
He said, “Sell the oil, and pay your debt. The rest is for you and your children.”
Elisha Brings a Shunem Woman’s Son Back to Life
8 One day Elisha was traveling through Shunem, where a rich woman lived. She had invited him to eat ⌞with her⌟. So whenever he was in the area, he stopped in to eat.
9 She told her husband, “I know he’s a holy man of God. And he regularly travels past our house. 10 Let’s make a small room on the roof and put a bed, table, chair, and lamp stand there for him. He can stay there whenever he comes to visit us.”
11 One day he came ⌞to their house⌟, went into the upstairs room, and rested there. 12 He told his servant Gehazi, “Call this Shunem woman.”
Gehazi called her, and she stood in front of him. 13 Elisha said to Gehazi, “Ask her what we can do for her, since she has gone to a lot of trouble for us. Maybe she would like us to speak to the king or the commander of the army for her.”
She answered, “I’m already living among my own people.”
14 “What should we do for her?” Elisha asked.
Gehazi answered, “Well, she has no son, and her husband is old.”
15 Elisha said, “Call her.” So Gehazi called her, and she stood in the doorway. 16 Elisha said, “At this time next spring, you will hold a baby boy in your arms.”
She answered, “Don’t say that, sir. Don’t lie to me. You’re a man of God.”
17 But the woman became pregnant and had a son at that time next year, as Elisha had told her.
18 Several years later the boy went to his father, who was with the harvest workers. 19 ⌞Suddenly,⌟ he said to his father, “My head! My head!”
The father told his servant, “Carry him to his mother.”
20 The servant picked him up and brought him to his mother. The boy sat on her lap until noon, when he died. 21 She took him upstairs and laid him on the bed of the man of God, left ⌞the room⌟, and shut the door behind her. 22 She called her husband and said, “Please send me one of the servants and one of the donkeys. I will go quickly to the man of God and come back again.”
23 Her husband asked, “Why are you going to him today? It isn’t a New Moon Festival or a day of rest—a holy day.”
But she said goodbye to him.
24 She saddled the donkey. Then she told her servant, “Lead on. Don’t slow down unless I tell you.” 25 So she came to the man of God at Mount Carmel.
When he saw her coming at a distance, he told his servant Gehazi, “There is the woman from Shunem. 26 Run to meet her and ask her how she, her husband, and the boy are doing.”
“Everyone’s fine,” she answered.
27 When she came to the man of God at the mountain, she took hold of his feet. Gehazi went to push her away. But the man of God said, “Leave her alone. She is bitter. The Lord has hidden the reason from me. He hasn’t told me.”
28 The woman said, “I didn’t ask you for a son. I said, ‘Don’t raise my hopes.’ ”
29 The man of God told Gehazi, “Put on a belt, take my shepherd’s staff in your hand, and go. Whenever you meet anyone, don’t stop to greet him. If he greets you, don’t stop to answer him. Lay my staff on the boy’s face.”
30 The boy’s mother said, “I solemnly swear, as the Lord and you live, I will not leave without you.” So Elisha got up and followed her.
31 Gehazi went ahead of them and put the staff on the boy’s face, but there was no sound or sign of life. So Gehazi came back to meet the man of God. Gehazi told him, “The boy didn’t wake up.”
32 When Elisha came to the house, the dead boy was lying on Elisha’s bed. 33 He went into the room, closed the door, and prayed to the Lord. 34 Then he lay on the boy, putting his mouth on the boy’s mouth, his eyes on the boy’s eyes, his hands on the boy’s hands. He crouched over the boy’s body, and it became warm. 35 Elisha got up, walked across the room and came back, and then got back on the bed and crouched over him. The boy sneezed seven times and opened his eyes. 36 Elisha called Gehazi and said, “Call the Shunem woman.” Gehazi called her. When she came to him, he said, “Take your son.”
37 Then she immediately bowed at his feet. She took her son and left.
Elisha and the Poisoned Food
38 When Elisha went back to Gilgal, there was a famine in the country. ⌞One day,⌟ while the disciples of the prophets were meeting with him, he told his servant, “Put a large pot on the fire, and cook some stew for the disciples of the prophets.”
39 One of them went into the field to gather vegetables and found a wild vine. He filled his clothes with wild gourds. Then he cut them into the pot of stew without knowing what they were. 40 They dished out the food for the men to eat. As they were eating the stew, they cried out, “There’s death in the pot, man of God!” So they couldn’t eat it.
41 Elisha said, “Bring some flour.” He threw it into the pot and said, “Dish it out for the people to eat.” Then there was nothing harmful in the pot.
Elisha Feeds a Hundred People
42 A man from Baal Shalisha brought bread made from the first harvested grain, 20 barley loaves, and fresh grain to the man of God. The man of God said, “Give it to the people to eat.”
43 But his servant asked, “How can I set this in front of a hundred people?”
“Give it to the people to eat,” the man of God said. “This is what the Lord says: They will eat and even have some left over.”
44 The servant set it in front of them. They ate and had some left over, as the Lord had predicted.
2 Kings 6
GOD’S WORD Translation
Elisha and the Floating Ax Head
6 The disciples of the prophets said to Elisha, “The place where we’re staying is too small for us. 2 Let’s go to the Jordan River. Each of us can get some logs and make a place for us to live there.”
Elisha said, “Go ahead.”
3 Then one of the disciples asked, “Won’t you please come with us?”
Elisha answered, “I’ll go.”
4 So he went with them. They came to the Jordan River and began to cut down trees. 5 As one of them was cutting down a tree, the ax head fell into the water. He cried out, “Oh no, master! It was borrowed!”
6 The man of God asked, “Where did it fall?” When he showed Elisha the place, Elisha cut off a piece of wood. He threw it into the water at that place and made the ax head float. 7 Elisha said, “Pick it up.” The disciple reached for it and picked it up.
The Aramean Army Is Struck with Blindness
8 Whenever the king of Aram was fighting against Israel, he asked for advice from his officers about where they were to camp.
9 So the man of God would send a message to the king of Israel, “Be careful not to go by that place. The Arameans are hiding there.” 10 Then the king of Israel would send someone to the place that the man of God told him about. Elisha warned them so that they would be on their guard. He did this repeatedly.
11 The king of Aram was very angry about this. He called his officers and asked them, “Won’t you tell me who among us is ⌞a spy⌟ for the king of Israel?”
12 One of his officers answered, “No one, Your Majesty. Elisha, the prophet in Israel, tells the king of Israel everything you say—even what you say in your bedroom.”
13 The king said, “Find out where he is. Then I will send men to capture him.”
The king was told, “He is in Dothan.” 14 So the king sent horses and chariots and a large fighting unit there. They came at night and surrounded the city.
15 When the servant of the man of God got up in the morning and went outside, he saw troops, horses, and chariots surrounding the city. Elisha’s servant asked, “Master, what should we do?”
16 Elisha answered, “Don’t be afraid. We have more forces on our side than they have on theirs.” 17 Then Elisha prayed, “Lord, please open his eyes so that he may see.” The Lord opened the servant’s eyes and let him see. The mountain around Elisha was full of fiery horses and chariots.
18 As the Arameans came down to get him, Elisha prayed to the Lord, “Please strike these people with blindness.” The Lord struck them with blindness, as Elisha had asked. 19 Elisha told them, “This isn’t the way! This isn’t the city. Follow me, and I will lead you to the man you’re looking for.” So he led them into Samaria. 20 When they came into Samaria, Elisha said, “Lord, open the eyes of these men, and let them see.” The Lord opened their eyes and let them see that they were in the middle of Samaria.
21 When the king of Israel saw them, he asked Elisha, “Master, should I kill them? Should I kill them?”
22 Elisha answered, “Don’t kill them. Do you kill everyone you take captive in combat? Give them food and water. Let them eat and drink. Then let them go back to their master.”
23 So the king prepared a great feast for them. They ate and drank, and then he sent them back to their master. After this, Aramean troops didn’t raid Israel’s territory anymore.
The Aramean Army Blockades Samaria
24 Later King Benhadad of Aram assembled his whole army. They went to Samaria and blockaded it. 25 The shortages caused by the blockade of Samaria became so severe that a donkey’s head sold for two pounds of silver and a half-pint of dove [a] manure for two ounces of silver.
26 As the king of Israel was walking on the city wall, a woman cried to him, “Help me, Your Majesty!”
27 He answered, “If the Lord doesn’t help you, how can I help you? I can’t give you something from the threshing floor [b] or the winepress.” 28 Then the king asked her, “What’s the matter?”
She answered, “This woman told me, ‘Give up your son. Let’s eat him today. We’ll eat my son tomorrow.’ 29 So we boiled my son and ate him. The next day I told her, ‘Give up your son. We’ll eat him,’ but she hid her son.”
30 When the king heard the woman say this, he tore his clothes ⌞in distress⌟. As he was walking on the city wall, the people saw that he was wearing sackcloth under his clothes. 31 He said, “May God strike me dead if the head of Elisha, son of Shaphat, stays on his ⌞body⌟ today.”
32 Elisha was sitting in his home with the ⌞city’s⌟ leaders. The king had sent one of his men ahead of him ⌞to Elisha’s house⌟. But before the messenger arrived, Elisha asked the leaders, “Do you see how this murderer has sent someone to tear off my head? When the messenger comes, close the door. Hold it shut because the king will be following him.”
33 While he was still talking to them, the messenger arrived. He said to Elisha, “This severe famine is from the Lord. Why should I wait any longer for the Lord ⌞to help us⌟?”
Hosea 4-5
GOD’S WORD Translation
The Lord’s Legal Case against Israel
4 Listen to the Lord’s word, you Israelites. The Lord has brought these charges against those who live in the land:
“There is no faith, no love, and no knowledge of God in the land.
2 There is cursing, lying, murdering, stealing, and adultery.
People break ⌞my laws⌟, and there is one murder after another.
3 That is why the land is drying up,
and everyone who lives in it is passing away.
Wild animals, birds, and fish are dying.
4 “No one should accuse other people or bring charges against them.
My case is against you priests.
5 During the day you stumble,
and during the night the prophets stumble with you.
So I will destroy your mother, ⌞the nation of Israel⌟.
6 I will destroy my people because they are ignorant.
You have refused to learn,
so I will refuse to let you be my priests.
You have forgotten the teachings of your God,
so I will forget your children.
7 The more priests there are,
the more they sin against me.
So I will turn their glory into shame.
8 They feed on the sins of my people,
and they want them to do wicked things.
9 So the priests will be punished like the people.
I will punish them for their wicked ways
and pay them back for what they have done.
10 “They will eat, but they’ll never be full.
They will have sex with prostitutes, but they’ll never have children.
They have abandoned the Lord.
11 Prostitutes, old wine, and new wine have robbed them of their senses.
12 My people ask their wooden idols for help.
A piece of wood tells them what to do.
A spirit of prostitution leads them astray.
They commit adultery
by giving themselves to other gods.
13 They offer sacrifices on mountaintops,
and they burn incense on the hills
under oaks, poplars, and other trees.
They think that these trees provide good shade.
“That is why your daughters become prostitutes,
and your daughters-in-law commit adultery.
14 Yet, I will not punish your daughters when they become prostitutes
or your daughters-in-law when they commit adultery.
The men go to prostitutes
and offer sacrifices with temple prostitutes.
These foolish people will be trampled.
15 “Israel, you act like a prostitute.
Don’t let Judah become guilty too.
Don’t go to Gilgal.
Don’t go to Beth Aven.
Don’t take the oath, ‘As the Lord lives. …’
16 “The people of Israel are as stubborn as a bull.
How can the Lord feed them like lambs in an open pasture?
17 The people of Ephraim have chosen to worship idols. Leave them alone!
18 When they’re done drinking their wine,
they continue to have sex with the prostitutes.
Their rulers dearly love to act shamefully.
19 The wind will carry them away in its wings,
and their sacrifices will bring them shame.
The Lord Announces the Verdict against Israel
5 “Listen to this, you priests!
Pay attention, nation of Israel!
Open your ears, royal family!
This is my decision about you.
You set traps at Mizpah
and spread out nets on Mount Tabor.
2 You are deeply involved in sin.
So I will punish all of you.
3 I know Ephraim,
and Israel isn’t a stranger to me.
Now, Ephraim, you are acting like a prostitute,
and Israel is unclean.[a]
4 “The wicked things that the people have done
keep them from returning to their God.
They have a spirit of prostitution,
and they don’t know the Lord.
5 The people of Israel’s arrogance testifies against them.
Israel and Ephraim stumble because of their sins,
and Judah stumbles with them.
6 They go with their sheep and their cattle to search for the Lord,
but they can’t find him.
He has left them.
7 They have been unfaithful to the Lord,
because their children do not belong to him.
Now their New Moon ⌞Festivals⌟ will devour them and their fields.
8 “Blow the ram’s horn in Gibeah.
Blow the trumpet in Ramah.
Sound the alarm at Beth Aven, you descendants of Benjamin.
9 Ephraim will become a wasteland
when the time for punishment comes.
I will make the truth known among the tribes of Israel.
10 The leaders of Judah are like those who move boundary markers.
I will pour my fury on them like water.
11 Ephraim is oppressed—crushed by punishment,
because its people are determined to chase idols.[b]
12 I will destroy Ephraim as a moth destroys clothing.
I will destroy the nation of Judah as rot destroys wood.
13 “When Ephraim saw that he was sick
and when Judah saw his own wounds,
Ephraim went to Assyria to ask the great king for help.[c]
But the king couldn’t cure them or heal their wounds.
14 I will be like a lion to Ephraim
and like a young lion to the nation of Judah.
I will carry ⌞them⌟ off, and no one will rescue ⌞them⌟.
15 I will go back to my place until they admit that they are guilty.
Then they will search for me.
In their distress they will eagerly look for me.”
Hosea 8-9
GOD’S WORD Translation
The Lord Will Punish Israel for Its Rebellion
8 “Sound the alarm on the ram’s horn.
The enemy swoops down on the Lord’s temple like an eagle.
The people of Israel have rejected my promise
and rebelled against my teachings.
2 They cry out to me, ‘We acknowledge you as our God.’
3 However, they have rejected what is good.
The enemy will persecute them.
4 “They chose their own kings, kings I didn’t approve.
They chose their own princes, princes I didn’t know.
They chose to make idols with their own silver and gold.
Because of this, they will be destroyed.
5 Get rid of your calf-shaped idol, Samaria.
My anger burns against these people.
How long will they remain unclean? [a]
6 Samaria’s calf-shaped idol was made in Israel.
Skilled workers made it.
It is not a god.
It will be smashed to pieces.
7 “The people of Israel plant the wind, but they harvest a storm.
A field of grain that doesn’t ripen will never produce any grain.
Even if it did produce grain, foreigners would eat it all.
8 Israel will be swallowed up.
It has already mixed in with the other nations.
It has become worthless.
9 “The people of Israel went to Assyria.
They were like wild donkeys wandering off alone.
The people of Ephraim sold themselves to their lovers.
10 Even though they sold themselves among the nations,
I will gather them now.
They will suffer for a while under the burdens of kings and princes.
11 “The more altars that the people of Ephraim build
to make offerings to pay for their sins,
the more places they have for sinning.
12 I have written many things for them in my teachings,
but they consider these things strange and foreign.
13 They offer sacrifices to me and eat the meat of sacrifices,
but I, the Lord, do not accept these sacrifices.
Now I will remember their wickedness
and punish them because of their sins.
They will go back to Egypt.
14 The people of Israel have built palaces,
and they have forgotten their maker.
The people of Judah have built many fortified cities.
I will send a fire on their cities and burn down their palaces.”
9 Israel, don’t rejoice.
Don’t celebrate as other nations do.
You have been unfaithful to your God.
You have sold sex on every threshing floor.[b]
2 There won’t be enough grain to feed people.
There won’t be enough wine to go around.
3 The people of Ephraim won’t stay in the Lord’s land.
They will return to Egypt,
and they will eat unclean [c] food in Assyria.
4 They won’t pour wine offerings to the Lord,
and their sacrifices won’t please him.
Their sacrifices will be like the food that mourners eat.
All who eat this food will be unclean.
Their food will only satisfy their hunger.
It will not be brought ⌞as an offering⌟ to the Lord’s temple.
5 What will they do on the day of an appointed festival
or on the Lord’s festival days?
6 Even if they escape without being destroyed,
Egypt will capture them
and Memphis will bury them.
Weeds will grow over their silver treasures.
Thorns will grow over their tents.
7 The time for them to be punished will come.
The time for them to pay for their sins will come.
⌞When this happens,⌟ Israel will know it.
⌞They think that⌟ prophets are fools
and that spiritual people are crazy.
They have sinned a lot, and they are very hostile.
8 Prophets are God’s watchmen over Ephraim.
Yet, traps are set on every prophet’s path,
and people are hostile in the temple of their God.
9 People have deeply corrupted themselves as they once did at Gibeah.
God will remember their wickedness
and punish them because of their sins.
Israel Is Like Rotten Grapes or Rotten Figs
10 ⌞The Lord said,⌟ “When I found Israel,
it was like finding grapes in the desert.
When I saw your ancestors,
it was like seeing the first figs of the harvest.
But they went to Baal Peor and worshiped shameful idols.
They became as disgusting as the things they worshiped.
11 “Ephraim’s glory will fly away like a bird.
There will be no more pregnancies, births, or babies.
12 Even if they bring up children,
I will take those children away before they grow up.
Yes, how horrible it will be for them when I leave them.
13 I have seen Ephraim, like Tyre, planted in a pleasant place.
But the people of Ephraim will bring out their children
to be killed.”
14 Lord, give them what they deserve.
Make the women miscarry,
or else make them unable to nurse their babies.
15 “All Ephraim’s wickedness began in Gilgal; I hated the people there.
I will force them out of my temple because of their wickedness,
and I won’t love them anymore.
All their officials are rebellious.
16 “The people of Ephraim are like sick plants.
Their roots are dried up.
They have no fruit.
Even if they were to have children,
I would kill their dear children.”
17 My God will reject them
because they refused to listen to him.
They will wander among the nations.
Hosea 14
GOD’S WORD Translation
The Lord Offers to Forgive Israel
14 [a]Israel, return to the Lord your God.
You have stumbled because of your sins.
2 Return to the Lord, and say these things to him:
“Forgive all our sins, and kindly receive us.
Then we’ll praise you with our lips.
3 Assyria cannot save us.
We won’t ride on horses anymore.
We will never again say
that the things our hands have made are our gods.
You love orphans.”
4 ⌞The Lord says,⌟ “I will cure them of their unfaithfulness.
I will love them freely.
I will no longer be angry with them.
5 I will be like dew to the people of Israel.
They will blossom like flowers.
They will be firmly rooted like cedars from Lebanon.
6 They will be like growing branches.
They will be beautiful like olive trees.
They will be fragrant like cedars from Lebanon.
7 They will live again in God’s shadow.
They will grow like grain.
They will blossom like grapevines.
They will be as famous as the wines from Lebanon.
8 “The people of Ephraim will have nothing more to do with idols.
I will answer them and take care of them.
I am like a growing pine tree.
Their fruit comes from me.”
9 Wise people will understand these things.
A person with insight will recognize them.
The Lord’s ways are right.
Righteous people live by them.
Rebellious people stumble over them.
Footnotes
- 14:1 Hosea 14:1–9 in English Bibles is Hosea 14:2–10 in the Hebrew Bible.
Amos 1
GOD’S WORD Translation
1 These are the words of Amos, one of the sheep farmers from Tekoa. He saw ⌞a vision⌟ about Israel during the reigns of Judah’s King Uzziah and Israel’s King Jeroboam, son of Joash. This happened two years before the earthquake.
2 He said:
The Lord roars from Zion,
and his voice thunders from Jerusalem.
The pastures of the shepherds are turning brown,
and the top of ⌞Mount⌟ Carmel is dried up.
Damascus Will Be Judged for Its Crimes
3 This is what the Lord says:
Because Damascus has committed three crimes, and now a fourth crime,
I will not change my plans.
The Arameans have crushed ⌞the people of⌟ Gilead
with iron-spiked threshing [a] sledges.
4 I will send a fire on the house of Hazael
and burn down the palaces of Ben Hadad.
5 I will break the bars ⌞on the gates⌟ of Damascus.
I will cut off those living in Aven Valley
and the one who holds the scepter in Beth Eden.
The people of Aram will go into captivity at Kir.
The Lord has said this.
Gaza Will Be Judged for Its Crimes
6 This is what the Lord says:
Because Gaza has committed three crimes, and now a fourth crime,
I will not change my plans.
The Philistines have taken all the people captive
in order to hand them over to the Edomites.
7 I will send a fire on the walls of Gaza
and burn down its palaces.
8 I will cut off those living in Ashdod
and the one who holds the scepter in Ashkelon.
I will turn my power against Ekron.
The rest of the Philistines will die.
The Almighty Lord has said this.
Tyre Will Be Judged for Its Crimes
9 This is what the Lord says:
Because Tyre has committed three crimes, and now a fourth crime,
I will not change my plans.
The Tyrians have handed all the people over to the Edomites.
The Tyrians didn’t remember their treaty with their relatives.
10 I will send a fire on the walls of Tyre
and burn down its palaces.
Edom Will Be Judged for Its Crimes
11 This is what the Lord says:
Because Edom has committed three crimes, and now a fourth crime,
I will not change my plans.
The Edomites pursued their relatives with swords.
They refused to show any compassion to them.
Their anger was unstoppable.
They refused to control their fury.
12 I will send a fire on Teman
and burn down the palaces of Bozrah.
Ammon Will Be Judged for Its Crimes
13 This is what the Lord says:
Because Ammon has committed three crimes, and now a fourth crime,
I will not change my plans.
The Ammonites enlarged their territory
by ripping open pregnant women in Gilead.
14 I will set fire to the walls of Rabbah
and burn down its palaces
while troops are shouting on the day of battle
and winds are howling on the day of the storm.
15 Their king will go into captivity along with his officials.
The Lord has said this.
Footnotes
- 1:3 Threshing is the process of beating stalks to separate them from the grain.
Amos 3-5
GOD’S WORD Translation
The Lord Will Punish Israel for Its Immoral Behavior
3 Listen to this message which I, the Lord, have spoken against you Israelites, against your whole family that I brought out of Egypt.
2 Out of all the families on earth, I have known no one else but you.
That is why I am going to punish you for all your sins.
3 Do two people ever walk together without meeting first?
4 Does a lion roar in the forest if it has no prey?
Does a young lion growl in its den unless it has caught something?
5 Does a bird land in a trap on the ground if there’s no bait in it?
Does a trap spring up from the ground unless it has caught something?
6 If a ram’s horn sounds an alarm in a city, won’t the people be alarmed?
If there is a disaster in a city, hasn’t the Lord done it?
7 Certainly, the Almighty Lord doesn’t do anything
unless he ⌞first⌟ reveals his secret to his servants the prophets.
8 The lion has roared. Who isn’t afraid?
The Almighty Lord has spoken. Who can keep from prophesying?
9 Announce in the palaces of Ashdod and in the palaces of Egypt,
“Gather together on the mountains of Samaria.
See the widespread confusion and oppression in Samaria.”
10 Those who collect profits in their palaces
through violent and destructive acts
don’t know how to do what is right, declares the Lord.
11 This is what the Almighty Lord says:
An enemy will surround your land,
strip you of your defenses,
and loot your palaces.
12 This is what the Lord says:
As a shepherd rescues two legs or a piece of an ear out of a lion’s mouth,
so the Israelites living in Samaria will be rescued,
⌞having only⌟ a corner of a bed or a piece of a couch.[a]
13 Listen, and testify against the descendants of Jacob,
declares the Almighty Lord, the God of Armies.
14 On the day I punish Israel for its disobedience,
I will also destroy the altars at Bethel.
The horns of the altar will be cut off and will fall to the ground.
15 I will tear down winter houses as well as summer houses.
Houses ⌞decorated⌟ with ivory will be destroyed.
Mansions will be demolished, declares the Lord.
The Lord Will Punish the Women of Samaria
4 Listen to this message, you cows of Bashan who live on Mount Samaria.
You women oppress the poor and abuse the needy.
You say to your husbands, “Get some wine! Let’s drink!”
2 The Almighty Lord has taken an oath on his holiness:
Surely, the time is going to come
when you will be taken away on hooks,
and the rest of you on fishhooks.
3 Each of you will leave ⌞the city⌟
through breaks in the wall, one woman ahead of another.
You will be thrown into a garbage dump.
The Lord declares this.
4 Go to Bethel and sin.
Go to Gilgal and sin even more.
Bring your sacrifices every morning.
Bring a tenth of your income every three days.
5 Burn bread as a thank offering.
Brag and boast about your freewill offerings.
This is what you people of Israel love to do.
The Almighty Lord declares this.
6 I left you with nothing to eat in any of your cities.
I left you with no food in your entire land.
And you still didn’t return to me, declares the Lord.
7 I stopped the rain from falling
three months before the harvest.
I sent rain on one city and not on another.
One field had rain.
Another field had none and dried up.
8 So people from two or three cities staggered
as they walked to another city in order to get a drink of water.
But they couldn’t get enough.
And you still didn’t return to me, declares the Lord.
9 I struck your ⌞crops⌟ with blight and mildew.
Locusts repeatedly devoured your gardens, vineyards,
fig trees, and olive trees.
And you still didn’t return to me, declares the Lord.
10 I sent plagues on you as I did to Egypt.
With swords I killed your best young men along with your captured horses.
I made the stench from your camps fill your noses.
And you still didn’t return to me, declares the Lord.
11 I destroyed some of you as I destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.
You were like a burning log snatched from a fire.
And you still didn’t return to me, declares the Lord.
12 This is what I will do to you, Israel.
Prepare to meet your God.
This is what I will do to you, Israel!
13 God forms the mountains and creates the wind.
He reveals his thoughts to humans.
He makes dawn and dusk ⌞appear⌟.
He walks on the high places of the earth.
His name is the Lord God of Armies.
A Funeral Song about Israel
5 Listen to this message, this funeral song that I sing about you, nation of Israel:
2 The people of Israel have fallen,
never to rise again.
They lie abandoned in their own land.
There is no one to help them.
3 This is what the Almighty Lord says:
The city that sends 1,000 troops off to war
will have ⌞only⌟ 100 left.
The one that sends 100 troops off to war
will have ⌞only⌟ 10 left for the nation of Israel.
A Threefold Call to Turn Away from Sin
4 This is what the Lord says to the nation of Israel:
Search for me and live!
5 But don’t search ⌞for me⌟ at Bethel.
Don’t go to Gilgal.
Don’t travel to Beersheba.
Gilgal will certainly go into exile.
Bethel will come to nothing.
6 Search for the Lord and live!
If you don’t, he will spread like a fire through the house of Joseph
and burn it down.
Bethel will have no one to put it out.
7 You, Israel, turn justice into poison
and throw righteousness on the ground.
8 God made the ⌞constellations⌟ Pleiades and Orion.
He turns deep darkness into dawn.
He turns day into night.
He calls for water from the sea
to pour it over the face of the earth.
His name is the Lord.
9 He destroys strongholds and ruins fortresses.
10 Israel, you hate anyone who speaks out against injustice.
You are disgusted by anyone who speaks the truth.
11 You trample on the poor
and take their wheat from them for taxes.
That is why you build houses from hand-cut stones,
but you will not live in them.
You plant beautiful vineyards,
but you will not drink their wine.
12 I know that your crimes are numerous and your sins are many.
You oppress the righteous by taking bribes.
You deny the needy access to the courts.
13 That is why a wise person remains silent at such times,
because those times are so evil.
14 Search for good instead of evil so that you may live.
Then the Lord God of Armies will be with you, as you have said.
15 Hate evil and love good.
Then you will be able to have justice in your courts.
Maybe the Lord God of Armies
will have pity on the faithful few of Joseph.
16 This is what the Lord, the Almighty God of Armies, says:
There will be loud crying in every city square,
and people will say in every street, “Oh, no!”
They will call on farmers to mourn
and on professional mourners to cry loudly.
17 There will be loud crying in every vineyard,
because I will pass through your land ⌞with death⌟.
The Lord has said this.
The Terrifying Day of the Lord
18 How horrible it will be for those who long for the day of the Lord!
Why do you long for that day?
The day of the Lord is one of darkness and not light.
19 It is like a person who flees from a lion
only to be attacked by a bear.
It is like a person who goes home and puts his hand on the wall
only to be bitten by a snake.
20 The day of the Lord brings darkness and not light.
It is pitch black, with no light.
The Lord Rejects Israel’s Worship
21 I hate your festivals; I despise them.
I’m not pleased with your religious assemblies.
22 Even though you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings,
I won’t accept them.
I won’t even look at the fellowship offerings of your choicest animals.
23 Spare me the sound of your songs.
I won’t listen to the music of your harps.
24 But let justice flow like a river
and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.
25 Did you bring me sacrifices and grain offerings
in the desert for 40 years, nation of Israel?
26 You carried along the statues of ⌞the god⌟ Sikkuth as your king
and the star Kiyyun,
the gods you made for yourselves.
27 I will send you into exile beyond Damascus,
says the Lord, whose name is the God of Armies.
Footnotes
- 3:12 Or “a couch of Damascus.”
Amos 9
GOD’S WORD Translation
The Lord Will Sift Israel out of All the Nations
9 I saw the Lord standing by the altar, and he said:
Strike the tops of the pillars so that the foundations shake.
Cut off everyone’s head.
I will kill with a sword all who are left.
None of them will be able to get away.
None of them will be able to escape.
2 Even if they dig their way into Sheol,
my hand will take them from there.
Even if they go up to heaven,
I will bring them down from there.
3 Even if they hide on top of Mount Carmel,
I will look for them and take them from there.
Even if they hide from me at the bottom of the sea,
I will command a sea snake to bite them.
4 Even if they go into exile ahead of their enemies,
I will command a sword to kill them.
I will keep my eyes on them
so that I can bring disaster on them and not help them.
5 The Almighty Lord of Armies touches the earth.
It quakes, and all who live on it mourn.
All of it rises like the Nile
and sinks like Egypt’s river.
6 The one who builds stairs up to heaven
and sets their foundation on the earth,
the one who calls for the water in the sea
and pours it over the face of the earth—
His name is the Lord.
7 You people of Israel are like the people from Sudan, says the Lord.
Didn’t I bring Israel from Egypt?
Didn’t I bring the Philistines from Crete and the Arameans from Kir?
8 I, the Almighty Lord, have my eyes on this sinful kingdom.
I will wipe it off the face of the earth.
But I won’t totally destroy the descendants of Jacob, declares the Lord.
9 I’m going to give the order.
I will sift the nation of Israel out of all the nations
as if I were using a sieve.
Not one pebble will fall to the ground.
10 All the sinners among my people are thinking,
“Destruction will not catch up to us or run into us.”
In spite of this, they will be killed with swords.
The Lord Will Restore His People
11 On that day I will set up David’s fallen tent.
I will repair the holes in it.
I will restore its ruined places.
I will rebuild them as they were a long time ago.
12 They will capture the few survivors of Edom
and all the other nations that were under my authority,
declares the Lord, who will do these things.
13 The days are going to come, declares the Lord,
when the one who plows will catch up to the one who harvests,
and the one who stomps on grapes will catch up to the one who plants.
New wine will drip from the mountains
and flow from all the hills.
14 I will restore my people Israel.
They will rebuild the ruined cities and live in them.
They will plant vineyards and drink the wine from them.
They will plant gardens and eat their fruit.
15 I will plant the people of Israel in their land,
and they won’t be uprooted again from the land that I gave them,
says the Lord your God.
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