2 Kings 1-6

World English Bible

1 Moab rebelled against Israel after the death of Ahab.

² Ahaziah fell down through the lattice in his upper room that was in Samaria, and was sick. So he sent messengers, and said to them, “Go, inquire of Baal Zebub, the god of Ekron, whether I will recover of this sickness.”

³ But Yahweh’s^[a] angel said to Elijah the Tishbite, “Arise, go up to meet the messengers of the king of Samaria, and tell them, ‘Is it because there is no God^[b] in Israel that you go to inquire of Baal Zebub, the god of Ekron? ⁴ Now therefore Yahweh says, “You will not come down from the bed where you have gone up, but you will surely die.”’” Then Elijah departed.

⁵ The messengers returned to him, and he said to them, “Why is it that you have returned?”

⁶ They said to him, “A man came up to meet us, and said to us, ‘Go, return to the king who sent you, and tell him, “Yahweh says, ‘Is it because there is no God in Israel that you send to inquire of Baal Zebub, the god of Ekron? Therefore you will not come down from the bed where you have gone up, but you will surely die.’”’”

⁷ He said to them, “What kind of man was he who came up to meet you and told you these words?”

⁸ They answered him, “He was a hairy man, and wearing a leather belt around his waist.”

He said, “It’s Elijah the Tishbite.”

⁹ Then the king sent a captain of fifty with his fifty to him. He went up to him; and behold,^[c] he was sitting on the top of the hill. He said to him, “Man of God, the king has said, ‘Come down!’”

¹⁰ Elijah answered to the captain of fifty, “If I am a man of God, then let fire come down from the sky and consume you and your fifty!” Then fire came down from the sky, and consumed him and his fifty.

¹¹ Again he sent to him another captain of fifty with his fifty. He answered him, “Man of God, the king has said, ‘Come down quickly!’”

¹² Elijah answered them, “If I am a man of God, then let fire come down from the sky and consume you and your fifty!” Then God’s fire came down from the sky, and consumed him and his fifty.

¹³ Again he sent the captain of a third fifty with his fifty. The third captain of fifty went up, and came and fell on his knees before Elijah, and begged him, and said to him, “Man of God, please let my life and the life of these fifty of your servants be precious in your sight. ¹⁴ Behold, fire came down from the sky and consumed the last two captains of fifty with their fifties. But now let my life be precious in your sight.”

¹⁵ Yahweh’s angel said to Elijah, “Go down with him. Don’t be afraid of him.”

Then he arose and went down with him to the king. ¹⁶ He said to him, “Yahweh says, ‘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 will not come down from the bed where you have gone up, but you will surely die.’”

¹⁷ So he died according to Yahweh’s word which Elijah had spoken. Jehoram began to reign in his place in the second year of Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, because he had no son. ¹⁸ Now the rest of the acts of Ahaziah which he did, aren’t they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?

2 When Yahweh was about to take Elijah up by a whirlwind into heaven, Elijah went with Elisha from Gilgal. ² Elijah said to Elisha, “Please wait here, for Yahweh has sent me as far as Bethel.”

Elisha said, “As Yahweh lives, and as your soul lives, I will not leave you.” So they went down to Bethel.

³ The sons of the prophets who were at Bethel came out to Elisha, and said to him, “Do you know that Yahweh will take away your master from over you today?”

He said, “Yes, I know it. Hold your peace.”

⁴ Elijah said to him, “Elisha, please wait here, for Yahweh has sent me to Jericho.”

He said, “As Yahweh lives, and as your soul lives, I will not leave you.” So they came to Jericho.

⁵ The sons of the prophets who were at Jericho came near to Elisha, and said to him, “Do you know that Yahweh will take away your master from over you today?”

He answered, “Yes, I know it. Hold your peace.”

⁶ Elijah said to him, “Please wait here, for Yahweh has sent me to the Jordan.”

He said, “As Yahweh lives, and as your soul lives, I will not leave you.” Then they both went on. ⁷ Fifty men of the sons of the prophets went and stood opposite them at a distance; and they both stood by the Jordan. ⁸ Elijah took his mantle, and rolled it up, and struck the waters; and they were divided here and there, so that they both went over on dry ground. ⁹ When they had gone over, Elijah said to Elisha, “Ask what I shall do for you, before I am taken from you.”

Elisha said, “Please let a double portion of your spirit be on me.”

¹⁰ He said, “You have asked a hard thing. If you see me when I am taken from you, it will be so for you; but if not, it will not be so.”

¹¹ As they continued on and talked, behold, a chariot of fire and horses of fire separated them; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. ¹² Elisha saw it, and he cried, “My father, my father, the chariots of Israel and its horsemen!”

He saw him no more. Then he took hold of his own clothes and tore them in two pieces. ¹³ He also took up Elijah’s mantle that fell from him, and went back and stood by the bank of the Jordan. ¹⁴ He took Elijah’s mantle that fell from him, and struck the waters, and said, “Where is Yahweh, the God of Elijah?” When he also had struck the waters, they were divided apart, and Elisha went over.

¹⁵ When the sons of the prophets who were at Jericho facing him saw him, they said, “The spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha.” They came to meet him, and bowed themselves to the ground before him. ¹⁶ They said to him, “See now, there are with your servants fifty strong men. Please let them go and seek your master. Perhaps Yahweh’s Spirit has taken him up, and put him on some mountain or into some valley.”

He said, “Don’t send them.”

¹⁷ When they urged him until he was ashamed, he said, “Send them.”

Therefore they sent fifty men; and they searched for three days, but didn’t find him. ¹⁸ They came back to him while he stayed at Jericho; and he said to them, “Didn’t I tell you, ‘Don’t go’?”

¹⁹ The men of the city said to Elisha, “Behold, please, the situation of this city is pleasant, as my lord sees; but the water is bad, and the land is barren.”

²⁰ He said, “Bring me a new jar, and put salt in it.” Then they brought it to him. ²¹ He went out to the spring of the waters, and threw salt into it, and said, “Yahweh says, ‘I have healed these waters. There shall not be from there any more death or barren wasteland.’” ²² So the waters were healed to this day, according to Elisha’s word which he spoke.

²³ He went up from there to Bethel. As he was going up by the way, some youths came out of the city and mocked him, and said to him, “Go up, you baldy! Go up, you baldy!” ²⁴ He looked behind him and saw them, and cursed them in Yahweh’s name. Then two female bears came out of the woods and mauled forty-two of those youths. ²⁵ He went from there to Mount Carmel, and from there he returned to Samaria.

3 Now Jehoram the son of Ahab began to reign over Israel in Samaria in the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and reigned twelve years. ² He did that which was evil in Yahweh’s sight, but not like his father and like his mother, for he put away the pillar of Baal that his father had made. ³ Nevertheless he held to the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, with which he made Israel to sin. He didn’t depart from them.

⁴ Now Mesha king of Moab was a sheep breeder; and he supplied the king of Israel with one hundred thousand lambs and the wool of one hundred thousand rams. ⁵ But when Ahab was dead, the king of Moab rebelled against the king of Israel. ⁶ King Jehoram went out of Samaria at that time, and mustered all Israel. ⁷ He went and sent to Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, saying, “The king of Moab has rebelled against me. Will you go with me against Moab to battle?”

He said, “I will go up. I am as you are, my people as your people, my horses as your horses.” ⁸ Then he said, “Which way shall we go up?”

Jehoram answered, “The way of the wilderness of Edom.”

⁹ So the king of Israel went with the king of Judah and the king of Edom, and they marched for seven days along a circuitous route. There was no water for the army or for the animals that followed them. ¹⁰ The king of Israel said, “Alas! For Yahweh has called these three kings together to deliver them into the hand of Moab.”

¹¹ But Jehoshaphat said, “Isn’t there a prophet of Yahweh here, that we may inquire of Yahweh by him?”

One of the king of Israel’s servants answered, “Elisha the son of Shaphat, who poured water on the hands of Elijah, is here.”

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

¹³ Elisha said to the king of Israel, “What have I to do with you? Go to the prophets of your father, and to the prophets of your mother.”

The king of Israel said to him, “No, for Yahweh has called these three kings together to deliver them into the hand of Moab.”

¹⁴ Elisha said, “As Yahweh of Armies lives, before whom I stand, surely, were it not that I respect the presence of Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, I would not look toward you, nor see you. ¹⁵ But now bring me a musician.” When the musician played, Yahweh’s hand came on him. ¹⁶ He said, “Yahweh says, ‘Make this valley full of trenches.’ ¹⁷ For Yahweh says, ‘You will not see wind, neither will you see rain, yet that valley will be filled with water, and you will drink, both you and your livestock and your other animals. ¹⁸ This is an easy thing in Yahweh’s sight. He will also deliver the Moabites into your hand. ¹⁹ You shall strike every fortified city and every choice city, and shall fell every good tree, and stop all springs of water, and mar every good piece of land with stones.’”

²⁰ In the morning, about the time of offering the sacrifice, behold, water came by the way of Edom, and the country was filled with water.

²¹ Now when all the Moabites heard that the kings had come up to fight against them, they gathered themselves together, all who were able to put on armor, young and old, and stood on the border. ²² They rose up early in the morning, and the sun shone on the water, and the Moabites saw the water opposite them as red as blood. ²³ They said, “This is blood. The kings are surely destroyed, and they have struck each other. Now therefore, Moab, to the plunder!”

²⁴ When they came to the camp of Israel, the Israelites rose up and struck the Moabites, so that they fled before them; and they went forward into the land attacking the Moabites. ²⁵ They beat down the cities; and on every good piece of land each man cast his stone, and filled it. They also stopped all the springs of water and cut down all the good trees, until in Kir Hareseth all they left was its stones; however the men armed with slings went around it and attacked it. ²⁶ When the king of Moab saw that the battle was too severe for him, he took with him seven hundred men who drew a sword, to break through to the king of Edom; but they could not. ²⁷ Then he took his oldest son who would have reigned in his place, and offered him for a burnt offering on the wall. There was great wrath against Israel; and they departed from him, and returned to their own land.

4 Now a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets cried out to Elisha, saying, “Your servant my husband is dead. You know that your servant feared Yahweh. Now the creditor has come to take for himself my two children to be slaves.”

² Elisha said to her, “What should I do for you? Tell me, what do you have in the house?”

She said, “Your servant has nothing in the house, except a pot of oil.”

³ Then he said, “Go, borrow empty containers from all your neighbors. Don’t borrow just a few containers. ⁴ Go in and shut the door on you and on your sons, and pour oil into all those containers; and set aside those which are full.”

⁵ So she went from him, and shut the door on herself and on her sons. They brought the containers to her, and she poured oil. ⁶ When the containers were full, she said to her son, “Bring me another container.”

He said to her, “There isn’t another container.” Then the oil stopped flowing.

⁷ Then she came and told the man of God. He said, “Go, sell the oil, and pay your debt; and you and your sons live on the rest.”

⁸ One day Elisha went to Shunem, where there was a prominent woman; and she persuaded him to eat bread. So it was, that as often as he passed by, he turned in there to eat bread. ⁹ She said to her husband, “See now, I perceive that this is a holy man of God who passes by us continually. ¹⁰ Please, let’s make a little room on the roof. Let’s set a bed, a table, a chair, and a lamp stand for him there. When he comes to us, he can stay there.”

¹¹ One day he came there, and he went to the room and lay there. ¹² He said to Gehazi his servant, “Call this Shunammite.” When he had called her, she stood before him. ¹³ He said to him, “Say now to her, ‘Behold, you have cared for us with all this care. What is to be done for you? Would you like to be spoken for to the king, or to the captain of the army?’”

She answered, “I dwell among my own people.”

¹⁴ He said, “What then is to be done for her?”

Gehazi answered, “Most certainly she has no son, and her husband is old.”

¹⁵ He said, “Call her.” When he had called her, she stood in the door. ¹⁶ He said, “At this season next year, you will embrace a son.”

She said, “No, my lord, you man of God, do not lie to your servant.”

¹⁷ The woman conceived, and bore a son at that season when the time came around, as Elisha had said to her. ¹⁸ When the child was grown, one day he went out to his father to the reapers. ¹⁹ He said to his father, “My head! My head!”

He said to his servant, “Carry him to his mother.”

²⁰ When he had taken him and brought him to his mother, he sat on her knees until noon, and then died. ²¹ She went up and laid him on the man of God’s bed, and shut the door on him, and went out. ²² She called to her husband and said, “Please send me one of the servants, and one of the donkeys, that I may run to the man of God and come again.”

²³ He said, “Why would you want to go to him today? It is not a new moon or a Sabbath.”

She said, “It’s all right.”

²⁴ Then she saddled a donkey, and said to her servant, “Drive, and go forward! Don’t slow down for me, unless I ask you to.”

²⁵ So she went, and came to the man of God to Mount Carmel. When the man of God saw her afar off, he said to Gehazi his servant, “Behold, there is the Shunammite. ²⁶ Please run now to meet her, and ask her, ‘Is it well with you? Is it well with your husband? Is it well with your child?’”

She answered, “It is well.”

²⁷ When she came to the man of God to the hill, she caught hold of his feet. Gehazi came near to thrust her away; but the man of God said, “Leave her alone, for her soul is troubled within her; and Yahweh has hidden it from me, and has not told me.”

²⁸ Then she said, “Did I ask you for a son, my lord? Didn’t I say, ‘Do not deceive me’?”

²⁹ Then he said to Gehazi, “Tuck your cloak into your belt, take my staff in your hand, and go your way. If you meet any man, don’t greet him; and if anyone greets you, don’t answer him again. Then lay my staff on the child’s face.”

³⁰ The child’s mother said, “As Yahweh lives, and as your soul lives, I will not leave you.”

So he arose, and followed her.

³¹ Gehazi went ahead of them, and laid the staff on the child’s face; but there was no voice and no hearing. Therefore he returned to meet him, and told him, “The child has not awakened.”

³² When Elisha had come into the house, behold, the child was dead, and lying on his bed. ³³ He went in therefore, and shut the door on them both, and prayed to Yahweh. ³⁴ He went up and lay on the child, and put his mouth on his mouth, and his eyes on his eyes, and his hands on his hands. He stretched himself on him; and the child’s flesh grew warm. ³⁵ Then he returned, and walked in the house once back and forth, then went up and stretched himself out on him. Then the child sneezed seven times, and the child opened his eyes. ³⁶ He called Gehazi, and said, “Call this Shunammite!” So he called her.

When she had come in to him, he said, “Take up your son.”

³⁷ Then she went in, fell at his feet, and bowed herself to the ground; then she picked up her son, and went out.

³⁸ Elisha came again to Gilgal. There was a famine in the land; and the sons of the prophets were sitting before him; and he said to his servant, “Get the large pot, and boil stew for the sons of the prophets.”

³⁹ One went out into the field to gather herbs, and found a wild vine, and gathered a lap full of wild gourds from it, and came and cut them up into the pot of stew; for they didn’t recognize them. ⁴⁰ So they poured out for the men to eat. As they were eating some of the stew, they cried out and said, “Man of God, there is death in the pot!” And they could not eat it.

⁴¹ But he said, “Then bring meal.” He threw it into the pot; and he said, “Serve it to the people, that they may eat.” And there was nothing harmful in the pot.

⁴² A man from Baal Shalishah came, and brought the man of God some bread of the first fruits: twenty loaves of barley and fresh ears of grain in his sack. Elisha said, “Give to the people, that they may eat.”

⁴³ His servant said, “What, should I set this before a hundred men?”

But he said, “Give it to the people, that they may eat; for Yahweh says, ‘They will eat, and will have some left over.’”

⁴⁴ So he set it before them and they ate and had some left over, according to Yahweh’s word.

5 Now Naaman, captain of the army of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master, and honorable, because by him Yahweh had given victory to Syria; he was also a mighty man of valor, but he was a leper. ² The Syrians had gone out in bands, and had brought away captive out of the land of Israel a little girl, and she waited on Naaman’s wife. ³ She said to her mistress, “I wish that my lord were with the prophet who is in Samaria! Then he would heal him of his leprosy.”

⁴ Someone went in and told his lord, saying, “The girl who is from the land of Israel said this.”

⁵ The king of Syria said, “Go now, and I will send a letter to the king of Israel.”

He departed, and took with him ten talents^[d] of silver, six thousand pieces of gold, and ten changes of clothing. ⁶ He brought the letter to the king of Israel, saying, “Now when this letter has come to you, behold, I have sent Naaman my servant to you, that you may heal him of his leprosy.”

⁷ When the king of Israel had read the letter, he tore his clothes and said, “Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man sends to me to heal a man of his leprosy? But please consider and see how he seeks a quarrel against me.”

⁸ It was so, when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, that he sent to the king, saying, “Why have you torn your clothes? Let him come now to me, and he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel.”

⁹ So Naaman came with his horses and with his chariots, and stood at the door of the house of Elisha. ¹⁰ Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, “Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall come again to you, and you shall be clean.”

¹¹ But Naaman was angry, and went away and said, “Behold, I thought, ‘He will surely come out to me, and stand, and call on the name of Yahweh his God, and wave his hand over the place, and heal the leper.’ ¹² Aren’t Abanah and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Couldn’t I wash in them and be clean?” So he turned and went away in a rage.

¹³ His servants came near and spoke to him, and said, “My father, if the prophet had asked you do some great thing, wouldn’t you have done it? How much rather then, when he says to you, ‘Wash, and be clean’?”

¹⁴ Then went he down and dipped himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God; and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean. ¹⁵ He returned to the man of God, he and all his company, and came, and stood before him; and he said, “See now, I know that there is no God in all the earth, but in Israel. Now therefore, please take a gift from your servant.”

¹⁶ But he said, “As Yahweh lives, before whom I stand, I will receive none.”

He urged him to take it; but he refused. ¹⁷ Naaman said, “If not, then, please let two mules’ load of earth be given to your servant; for your servant will from now on offer neither burnt offering nor sacrifice to other gods, but to Yahweh. ¹⁸ In this thing may Yahweh pardon your servant: when my master goes into the house of Rimmon to worship there, and he leans on my hand, and I bow myself in the house of Rimmon. When I bow myself in the house of Rimmon, may Yahweh pardon your servant in this thing.”

¹⁹ He said to him, “Go in peace.”

So he departed from him a little way. ²⁰ But Gehazi the servant of Elisha the man of God, said, “Behold, my master has spared this Naaman the Syrian, in not receiving at his hands that which he brought. As Yahweh lives, I will run after him, and take something from him.”

²¹ So Gehazi followed after Naaman. When Naaman saw one running after him, he came down from the chariot to meet him, and said, “Is all well?”

²² He said, “All is well. My master has sent me, saying, ‘Behold, even now two young men of the sons of the prophets have come to me from the hill country of Ephraim. Please give them a talent^[e] of silver and two changes of clothing.’”

²³ Naaman said, “Be pleased to take two talents.” He urged him, and bound two talents of silver in two bags, with two changes of clothing, and laid them on two of his servants; and they carried them before him. ²⁴ When he came to the hill, he took them from their hand, and stored them in the house. Then he let the men go, and they departed. ²⁵ But he went in, and stood before his master. Elisha said to him, “Where did you come from, Gehazi?”

He said, “Your servant went nowhere.”

²⁶ He said to him, “Didn’t my heart go with you when the man turned from his chariot to meet you? Is it a time to receive money, and to receive garments, and olive groves and vineyards, and sheep and cattle, and male servants and female servants? ²⁷ Therefore the leprosy of Naaman will cling to you and to your offspring^[f] forever.”

He went out from his presence a leper, as white as snow.

6 The sons of the prophets said to Elisha, “See now, the place where we live and meet with you is too small for us. ² Please let us go to the Jordan, and each man take a beam from there, and let’s make us a place there, where we may live.”

He answered, “Go!”

³ One said, “Please be pleased to go with your servants.”

He answered, “I will go.” ⁴ So he went with them. When they came to the Jordan, they cut down wood. ⁵ But as one was cutting down a tree, the ax head fell into the water. Then he cried out and said, “Alas, my master! For it was borrowed.”

⁶ The man of God asked, “Where did it fall?” He showed him the place. He cut down a stick, threw it in there, and made the iron float. ⁷ He said, “Take it.” So he put out his hand and took it.

⁸ Now the king of Syria was at war against Israel; and he took counsel with his servants, saying, “My camp will be in such and such a place.”

⁹ The man of God sent to the king of Israel, saying, “Beware that you not pass this place, for the Syrians are coming down there.” ¹⁰ The king of Israel sent to the place which the man of God told him and warned him of; and he saved himself there, not once or twice. ¹¹ The king of Syria’s heart was very troubled about this. He called his servants, and said to them, “Won’t you show me which of us is for the king of Israel?”

¹² One of his servants said, “No, my lord, O king; but Elisha, the prophet who is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the words that you speak in your bedroom.”

¹³ He said, “Go and see where he is, that I may send and get him.”

He was told, “Behold, he is in Dothan.”

¹⁴ Therefore he sent horses, chariots, and a great army there. They came by night and surrounded the city. ¹⁵ When the servant of the man of God had risen early and gone out, behold, an army with horses and chariots was around the city. His servant said to him, “Alas, my master! What shall we do?”

¹⁶ He answered, “Don’t be afraid, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” ¹⁷ Elisha prayed, and said, “Yahweh, please open his eyes, that he may see.” Yahweh opened the young man’s eyes, and he saw; and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire around Elisha. ¹⁸ When they came down to him, Elisha prayed to Yahweh, and said, “Please strike this people with blindness.”

He struck them with blindness according to Elisha’s word.

¹⁹ Elisha said to them, “This is not the way, neither is this the city. Follow me, and I will bring you to the man whom you seek.” He led them to Samaria. ²⁰ When they had come into Samaria, Elisha said, “Yahweh, open these men’s eyes, that they may see.”

Yahweh opened their eyes, and they saw; and behold, they were in the middle of Samaria.

²¹ The king of Israel said to Elisha, when he saw them, “My father, shall I strike them? Shall I strike them?”

²² He answered, “You shall not strike them. Would you strike those whom you have taken captive with your sword and with your bow? Set bread and water before them, that they may eat and drink, then go to their master.”

²³ He prepared a great feast for them. After they ate and drank, he sent them away and they went to their master. So the bands of Syria stopped raiding the land of Israel.

²⁴ After this, Benhadad king of Syria gathered all his army, and went up and besieged Samaria. ²⁵ There was a great famine in Samaria. Behold, they besieged it until a donkey’s head was sold for eighty pieces of silver, and the fourth part of a kab^[g] of dove’s dung for five pieces of silver. ²⁶ As the king of Israel was passing by on the wall, a woman cried to him, saying, “Help, my lord, O king!”

²⁷ He said, “If Yahweh doesn’t help you, where could I get help for you? From the threshing floor, or from the wine press?” ²⁸ Then the king asked her, “What is your problem?”

She answered, “This woman said to me, ‘Give your son, that we may eat him today, and we will eat my son tomorrow.’ ²⁹ So we boiled my son and ate him; and I said to her on the next day, ‘Give up your son, that we may eat him;’ and she has hidden her son.”

³⁰ When the king heard the words of the woman, he tore his clothes. Now he was passing by on the wall, and the people looked, and behold, he had sackcloth underneath on his body. ³¹ Then he said, “God do so to me, and more also, if the head of Elisha the son of Shaphat stays on him today.”

³² But Elisha was sitting in his house, and the elders were sitting with him. Then the king sent a man from before him; but before the messenger came to him, he said to the elders, “Do you see how this son of a murderer has sent to take away my head? Behold, when the messenger comes, shut the door, and hold the door shut against him. Isn’t the sound of his master’s feet behind him?”

³³ While he was still talking with them, behold, the messenger came down to him. Then he said, “Behold, this evil is from Yahweh. Why should I wait for Yahweh any longer?”