Elijah Taken to Heaven

2 Now it came about, when the Lord was about to ^(A)bring Elijah up by a ^[a]whirlwind to heaven, that Elijah left ^(B)Gilgal with ^(C)Elisha. ² And Elijah said to Elisha, “^(D)Stay here please, for the Lord has sent me as far as ^(E)Bethel.” But Elisha said, “^(F)As surely as the Lord lives and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So they went down to Bethel. ³ Then ^(G)the sons of the prophets who were at Bethel went out to Elisha and said to him, “Are you aware that the Lord will take away your master from over ^[b]you today?” And he said, “Yes, I am aware; say nothing about it.”

⁴ And Elijah said to him, “Elisha, please ^(H)stay here, for the Lord has sent me to ^(I)Jericho.” But he said, “^(J)As surely as the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So they came to Jericho. ⁵ Then ^(K)the sons of the prophets who were at Jericho approached Elisha and said to him, “^(L)Do you know that the Lord will take away your master from over ^[c]you today?” And he ^[d]answered, “Yes, I know; say nothing about it.” ⁶ And Elijah said to him, “Please ^(M)stay here, for the Lord has sent me to ^(N)the Jordan.” But he said, “As surely as the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So the two of them went on.

⁷ Now ^(O)fifty men of the sons of the prophets went and stood opposite them at a distance, while the two of them stood by the Jordan. ⁸ And Elijah ^(P)took his coat, folded it, and ^(Q)struck the waters, and they were divided here and there, so that the two of them crossed over on dry ground.

⁹ When they had crossed over, Elijah said to Elisha, “Ask me what I should do for you before I am taken from you.” And Elisha said, “Please let a ^(R)double portion of your spirit be upon me.” ¹⁰ He said, “You have asked a hard thing. Nevertheless, if you ^(S)see me when I am taken from you, it shall be so for you; but if not, it shall not be so.” ¹¹ And as they were walking along and talking, behold, ^(T)a chariot of fire appeared with horses of fire, and they separated the two of them. Then Elijah went up by a ^[e]whirlwind to heaven. ¹² And Elisha was watching it and he was crying out, “^(U)My father, my father, the chariot of Israel and its horsemen!” And he did not see ^[f]Elijah again. Then ^(V)he took hold of his own clothes and tore them in two pieces. ¹³ He also took up the coat of Elijah that had fallen from him, and he went back and stood by the bank of the Jordan. ¹⁴ Then he took the coat of Elijah that had fallen from him and struck the waters, and said, “Where is the Lord, the God of Elijah?” And when he also had ^(W)struck the waters, they were divided here and there; and Elisha crossed over.

Elisha Succeeds Elijah

¹⁵ Now when ^(X)the sons of the prophets who were at Jericho opposite him saw him, they said, “The spirit of Elijah has settled on Elisha.” And they came to meet him and bowed down to the ground before him. ¹⁶ Then they said to him, “Behold now, there are with your servants fifty strong men; please let them go and search for your master, in case ^(Y)the Spirit of the Lord has taken him up and cast him on some mountain or into some valley.” But he said, “You shall not send anyone.” ¹⁷ Yet when ^(Z)they urged him until he was ashamed to refuse, he said, “Send them.” So they sent fifty men; and they searched for three days, but did not find him. ¹⁸ They returned to him while he was staying in Jericho; and he said to them, “Did I not say to you, ‘Do not go’?”

¹⁹ Then the men of the city said to Elisha, “Behold now, the site of the city is pleasant, as my lord sees; but the water is bad and the land ^[g]is unfruitful.” ²⁰ And he said, “Bring me a new jar, and put salt ^[h]in it.” So they brought it to him. ²¹ Then he went out to the spring of water and ^(AA)threw salt ^[i]in it and said, “This is what the Lord says: ‘I have ^[j]purified these waters; there shall not come from there death or ^[k]unfruitfulness any longer.’” ²² So the waters have been ^[l]purified to this day, in accordance with the word of Elisha which he spoke.

²³ Now he went up from there to Bethel; and as he was going up by the road, some young boys came out from the city and ^(AB)ridiculed him and said to him, “Go up, you baldhead; go up, you baldhead!” ²⁴ When he looked behind him and saw them, he ^(AC)cursed them in the name of the Lord. Then two female bears came out of the woods and tore up forty-two ^[m]of the boys. ²⁵ He then went on from there to ^(AD)Mount Carmel, and from there he returned to Samaria.

Jehoram Meets Moabite Rebellion

3 Now Jehoram the son of Ahab became king over Israel at Samaria ^(AE)in the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and he reigned for twelve years. ² He did evil in the sight of the Lord, though not like his father and his mother; for ^(AF)he removed the memorial stone of Baal ^(AG)which his father had made. ³ Nevertheless, ^(AH)he clung to the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, into ^(AI)which he misled Israel; he did not abandon them.

⁴ Now Mesha the king of Moab was a sheep breeder, and he ^(AJ)used to make tribute payments to the king of Israel of a hundred thousand lambs, and the wool of a hundred thousand rams. ⁵ However, ^(AK)when King Ahab died, the king of Moab broke with the ^[n]king of Israel. ⁶ So King Jehoram left Samaria for battle ^[o]at that time and mustered all Israel. ⁷ Then he went and sent word to Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, saying, “The king of Moab has broken away from me. Will you go with me to fight against Moab?” And he said, “I will go up. ^[p](AL)Consider me yours, my people as your people, my horses as your horses.” ⁸ Then he said, “Which way shall we go up?” And he ^[q]answered, “The way of the wilderness of Edom.”

⁹ So ^(AM)the king of Israel went with ^(AN)the king of Judah and ^(AO)the king of Edom, and they made a circuit of seven days’ journey. But there was no water for the army or for the cattle that ^[r]followed them. ¹⁰ Then the king of Israel said, “It is hopeless! For the Lord has called these three kings to hand them over to Moab!” ¹¹ But Jehoshaphat said, “^(AP)Is there no prophet of the Lord here, that we may inquire of the Lord by him?” And one of the king of Israel’s servants answered and said, “^(AQ)Elisha the son of Shaphat is here, ^(AR)who used to pour water on the hands of Elijah.” ¹² And Jehoshaphat said, “The word of the Lord is with him.” So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat and the king of Edom went down to him.

¹³ Now Elisha said to the king of Israel, “^[s]What business do you have with me? ^(AS)Go to your father’s prophets and your mother’s prophets.” But the king of Israel said to him, “No, for the Lord has called these three kings together to hand them over to Moab.” ¹⁴ Elisha said, “^(AT)As surely as the Lord of armies lives, before whom I stand, if I did not respect Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, I would not look at you nor see you. ¹⁵ But now ^(AU)bring me a ^[t]musician.” And it came about, when the ^[u]musician played, that ^(AV)the hand of the Lord came upon him. ¹⁶ And he said, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Make this valley ^[v]full of trenches.’ ¹⁷ For the Lord says this: ‘You will not see wind, nor will you see rain; yet that valley ^(AW)shall be filled with water, so that you will drink, you, your livestock, and your other animals. ¹⁸ And this is an ^(AX)insignificant thing in the sight of the Lord; He will also give the Moabites into your hand. ^19 (AY)Then you shall strike every fortified city and every choice city, and ^[w]cut down every good tree and stop up all the springs of water, and spoil every good plot of land with stones.’” ²⁰ And it happened in the morning ^(AZ)about the time of offering the sacrifice, that behold, water came from the direction of Edom, and the country was filled with water.

²¹ Now all the Moabites heard that the kings had come up to fight against them. And all who were able to ^[x]put on armor and older were summoned and they took their positions on the border. ²² Then they got 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 So they said, “This is blood; the kings must have fought each other, and they have killed one another. Now then, Moab, to the spoils!” ²⁴ But when they came to the camp of Israel, the Israelites rose up and struck the Moabites, so that they fled from them; and the Israelites invaded ^[y]the land, ^[z]killing the Moabites. ^25 (BA)So they destroyed the cities; and each one threw a stone on every plot of good land and filled it. So they stopped up every spring of water and ^[aa]cut down every good tree, until in ^(BB)Kir-hareseth only they left its stones; however, the rock slingers surrounded it and struck it. ²⁶ When the king of Moab saw that the battle was too fierce for him, he took with him seven hundred men who drew swords, to break through to the king of Edom; but they could not. ²⁷ Then the king of Moab took his oldest son who was to reign in his place, and ^(BC)offered him as a burnt offering on the wall. And great anger came upon Israel, and they departed from him and returned to their own land.

The Beauty and Glory of Zion.

A Song; a Psalm of the sons of Korah.

The Temptation of Jesus

4 ^(A)Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness ^(B)to be tempted by the devil. ² And after He had ^(C)fasted for forty days and forty nights, He ^[a]then became hungry. ³ And ^(D)the tempter came and said to Him, “If You are the ^(E)Son of God, command that these stones become bread.” ⁴ But He answered and said, “It is written: ‘^(F)Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes out of the mouth of God.’”

⁵ Then the devil *took Him along into ^(G)the holy city and had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, ⁶ and he *said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down; for it is written:

and

⁷ Jesus said to him, “^[b]On the other hand, it is written: ‘^(I)You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’”

^8 (J)Again, the devil *took Him along to a very high mountain and *showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory; ⁹ and he said to Him, “^(K)All these things I will give You, if You fall down and ^[c]worship me.” ¹⁰ Then Jesus *said to him, “Go away, Satan! For it is written: ‘^(L)You shall worship the Lord your God, and ^[d]serve Him only.’” ¹¹ Then the devil *left Him; and behold, ^(M)angels came and began to serve Him.

Jesus Begins His Ministry

¹² Now when Jesus heard that ^(N)John had been taken into custody, ^(O)He withdrew into Galilee; ¹³ and leaving Nazareth, He came and ^(P)settled in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali. ¹⁴ This happened so that what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet would be fulfilled:

^17 (S)From that time Jesus began to ^[g]preach and say, “^(T)Repent, for the kingdom of heaven ^[h]is at hand.”

The First Disciples

^18 (U)Now as Jesus was walking by ^(V)the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, ^(W)Simon, who was called Peter, and his brother Andrew, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. ¹⁹ And He *said to them, “^[i]Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of people.” ²⁰ Immediately they left their nets and followed Him. ²¹ Going on from there He saw two other brothers, ^[j](X)James the son of Zebedee, and his brother ^[k]John, in the boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets; and He called them. ²² Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him.

Ministry in Galilee

²³ Jesus was going ^(Y)about in all of Galilee, ^(Z)teaching in their synagogues and ^(AA)proclaiming the ^[l]gospel of the kingdom, and ^(AB)healing every disease and every sickness among the people.

²⁴ And the news about Him spread ^(AC)throughout Syria; and they brought to Him all who were ill, those suffering with various diseases and severe pain, ^(AD)demon-possessed, people with ^(AE)epilepsy, and people who were ^(AF)paralyzed; and He healed them. ²⁵ Large crowds ^(AG)followed Him from Galilee and ^(AH)the Decapolis, and Jerusalem, and Judea, and from ^(AI)beyond the Jordan.