Elijah Denounces Ahaziah

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

² Ahaziah had fallen through the lattice in his upper chamber in Samaria and was injured, so he sent messengers, telling them, “Go, inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, whether I shall recover from this injury.”^{(B) 3} But the angel of the Lord said to Elijah the Tishbite, “Get up, go 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 Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron? ⁴ Now therefore thus says the Lord: You shall not leave the bed to which you have gone, but you shall surely die.” So Elijah went.^(C)

⁵ The messengers returned to the king, who said to them, “Why have you returned?” ⁶ They answered him, “There came a man to meet us, who 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 Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron? Therefore you shall not leave the bed to which you have gone but shall surely die.’ ” ⁷ He said to them, “What sort of man was he who came to meet you and told you these things?” ⁸ They answered him, “A hairy man with a leather belt around his waist.” He said, “It is Elijah the Tishbite.”^(D)

⁹ Then the king sent to him a captain of fifty with his fifty men. He went up to Elijah, who was sitting on the top of a hill and said to him, “O man of God, the king says: Come down.” ¹⁰ But Elijah answered the captain of 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.^(E)

¹¹ Again the king sent to him another captain of fifty with his fifty. He went up^[a] and said to him, “O man of God, this is the king’s order: Come down quickly!” ¹² But Elijah answered him,^[b] “If I am a man of God, 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. So 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 be precious in your sight.^{(F) 14} Look, 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 set out and went down with him to the king^{(G) 16} and said to him, “Thus says the Lord: Because you have sent messengers to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron—is it because there is no God in Israel to inquire of his word?—therefore you shall not leave the bed to which you have gone, but you shall surely die.”^(H)

Death of Ahaziah

¹⁷ So he died according to the word of the Lord that Elijah had spoken. His brother^[c] Jehoram succeeded him as king in the second year of King Jehoram son of Jehoshaphat of Judah, because Ahaziah had no son.^{(I) 18} Now the rest of the acts of Ahaziah that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Annals of the Kings of Israel?

Paul Defends His Ministry

10 I myself, Paul, appeal to you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ—I who am humble when face to face with you but bold toward you when I am away!^(A)— ² I ask that when I am present I need not show boldness by daring to oppose those who think we are acting according to human standards.^{[a](B) 3} Indeed, we live as humans^[b] but do not wage war according to human standards,^{[c] 4} for the weapons of our warfare are not merely human,^[d] but they have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments^{(C) 5} and every proud obstacle raised up against the knowledge of God, and we take every thought captive to obey Christ.^{(D) 6} We are ready to punish every disobedience when your obedience is complete.^(E)

⁷ Look^[e] at what is before your eyes. If you are confident that you belong to Christ, remind yourself of this, that just as you belong to Christ, so also do we.^{(F) 8} Now, even if I boast a little too much of our authority, which the Lord gave for building you up and not for tearing you down, I will not be ashamed of it.^{(G) 9} I do not want to seem as though I am trying to frighten you with my letters. ¹⁰ For someone says,^[f] “His letters are weighty and strong, but his bodily presence is weak and his speech contemptible.”^{(H) 11} Let such a person understand that what we say by letter when absent we will also do when present.

¹² We do not dare to classify or compare ourselves with some of those who commend themselves. But when they measure themselves by one another and compare themselves with one another, they do not show good sense.^{(I) 13} We, however, will not boast beyond limits but will keep within the field that God has assigned to us, to reach out even as far as you. ¹⁴ For we were not overstepping our limits when we reached you; we were the first to come all the way to you with the good news^[g] of Christ.^{(J) 15} We do not boast beyond limits, that is, in the labors of others, but our hope is that, as your faith increases, our field among you may be greatly enlarged, ¹⁶ so that we may proclaim the good news^[h] in lands beyond you, without boasting of work already done in someone else’s field. ¹⁷ “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”^{(K) 18} For it is not those who commend themselves that are approved but those whom the Lord commends.^(L)

Elijah Ascends to Heaven

2 Now when the Lord was about to take Elijah up to heaven by a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal.^{(A) 2} Elijah said to Elisha, “Stay here, for the Lord has sent me as far as Bethel.” But Elisha said, “As the Lord lives and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So they went down to Bethel.^{(B) 3} The company of prophets who were in Bethel came out to Elisha and said to him, “Do you know that today the Lord will take your master away from you?” And he said, “Yes, I know; keep silent.”^(C)

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

⁶ Then Elijah said to him, “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.^{(F) 7} Fifty men of the company of prophets also went and stood at some distance from them, as they both were standing by the Jordan.^{(G) 8} Then Elijah took his mantle and rolled it up and struck the water; the water was parted to the one side and to the other, and the two of them crossed on dry ground.^(H)

⁹ When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, “Tell me what I may do for you before I am taken from you.” Elisha said, “Please let me inherit a double share of your spirit.” ¹⁰ He responded, “You have asked a hard thing, yet if you see me as I am being taken from you, it will be granted you; if not, it will not.” ¹¹ As they continued walking and talking, a chariot of fire and horses of fire separated the two of them, and Elijah ascended in a whirlwind into heaven.^{(I) 12} Elisha kept watching and crying out, “Father, father! The chariots of Israel and its horsemen!” But when he could no longer see him, he grasped his own clothes and tore them in two pieces.^(J)

Elisha Succeeds Elijah

¹³ He picked up the mantle of Elijah that had fallen from him and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan. ¹⁴ He took the mantle of Elijah that had fallen from him and struck the water. He said, “Where is the Lord, the God of Elijah? Where is he?” He struck the water again, and the water was parted to the one side and to the other, and Elisha crossed over.^(K)

¹⁵ When the company of prophets who were at Jericho saw him at a distance, they declared, “The spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha.” They came to meet him and bowed to the ground before him.^{(L) 16} They said to him, “See now, we have fifty strong men among your servants; please let them go and seek your master; it may be that the spirit of the Lord has caught him up and thrown him down on some mountain or into some valley.” He responded, “No, do not send them.”^{(M) 17} But when they urged him to the point of embarrassment, he said, “Send them.” So they sent fifty men who searched for three days but did not find him.^{(N) 18} When they came back to him (he had remained at Jericho), he said to them, “Did I not say to you, ‘Do not go’?”

Elisha Performs Miracles

¹⁹ Now the people of the city said to Elisha, “The location of this city is good, 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 threw the salt into it and said, “Thus says the Lord: I have made this water wholesome; from now on neither death nor miscarriage shall come from it.”^{(O) 22} So the water has been wholesome to this day, according to the word that Elisha spoke.

Jesus before Pilate

23 Then the assembly rose as a body and brought Jesus^[a] before Pilate.^{(A) 2} They began to accuse him, saying, “We found this man inciting our nation, forbidding us to pay taxes to Caesar and saying that he himself is the Messiah, a king.”^{[b](B) 3} Then Pilate asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?” He answered, “You say so.”^{(C) 4} Then Pilate said to the chief priests and the crowds, “I find no basis for an accusation against this man.”^{(D) 5} But they were insistent and said, “He stirs up the people by teaching throughout all Judea, from Galilee where he began even to this place.”

Jesus before Herod

⁶ When Pilate heard this, he asked whether the man was a Galilean. ⁷ And when he learned that he was under Herod’s jurisdiction, he sent him off to Herod, who was himself in Jerusalem at that time.^{(E) 8} When Herod saw Jesus, he was very glad, for he had been wanting to see him for a long time because he had heard about him and was hoping to see him perform some sign.^{(F) 9} He questioned him at some length, but Jesus^[c] gave him no answer. ¹⁰ The chief priests and the scribes stood by vehemently accusing him. ¹¹ Even Herod with his soldiers treated him with contempt and mocked him; then he put an elegant robe on him and sent him back to Pilate.^{(G) 12} That same day Herod and Pilate became friends with each other; before this they had been enemies.^(H)

Jesus Sentenced to Death

¹³ Pilate then called together the chief priests, the leaders, and the people ¹⁴ and said to them, “You brought me this man as one who was inciting the people, and here I have examined him in your presence and have not found this man guilty of any of your charges against him.^{(I) 15} Neither has Herod, for he sent him back to us. Indeed, he has done nothing to deserve death. ¹⁶ I will therefore have him flogged and release him.”^[d](J)

¹⁸ Then they all shouted out together, “Away with this fellow! Release Barabbas for us!”^{(K) 19} (This was a man who had been put in prison for an insurrection that had taken place in the city and for murder.) ²⁰ Pilate, wanting to release Jesus, addressed them again, ²¹ but they kept shouting, “Crucify, crucify him!” ²² A third time he said to them, “Why, what evil has he done? I have found in him no ground for the sentence of death; I will therefore have him flogged and then release him.”^{(L) 23} But they kept urgently demanding with loud shouts that he should be crucified, and their voices prevailed. ²⁴ So Pilate gave his verdict that their demand should be granted. ²⁵ He released the man they asked for, the one who had been put in prison for insurrection and murder, and he handed Jesus over as they wished.