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The Death of Elisha

14 Now Elisha [a]became sick with the illness of which he was to die. So Joash the king of Israel came down to him and wept over [b]him and said, “(A)My father, my father, the chariots of Israel and its horsemen!” 15 And Elisha said to him, “Take a bow and arrows.” So he [c]took a bow and arrows. 16 Then he said to the king of Israel, “Put your hand on the bow.” And he put his hand on it, then Elisha placed his hands on the king’s hands. 17 And he said, “Open the window toward the east,” and he opened it. Then Elisha said, “Shoot!” And he shot. And he said, “Yahweh’s arrow of salvation, even the arrow of salvation over Aram; for you will strike the Arameans at (B)Aphek until you have consumed them.” 18 Then he said, “Take the arrows,” and he took them. And he said to the king of Israel, “Strike the ground,” and he struck it three times and stood still. 19 So (C)the man of God was angry with him and said, “You should have struck five or six times, then you would have struck Aram until you would have consumed it. But now you shall strike Aram (D)only three times.”

20 And Elisha died, and they buried him. Now (E)the marauding bands of the Moabites would enter into the land in the spring of the year. 21 Now it happened that they were burying a man, and behold, they saw a marauding band; and they cast the man into the grave of Elisha. And when the man [d]touched the bones of Elisha he (F)became alive and stood up on his feet.

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Footnotes

  1. 2 Kings 13:14 Lit was sick with his sickness
  2. 2 Kings 13:14 Lit his face
  3. 2 Kings 13:15 Lit took to himself
  4. 2 Kings 13:21 Lit went and touched

Elisha’s last days

14 Now Elisha became sick with the illness that would kill him. So Israel’s King Joash went down to see him. Joash cried over Elisha, saying, “Oh, my father, my father! Israel’s chariots and its riders!”

15 Elisha told Joash, “Get a bow and some arrows.” So he brought Elisha a bow and some arrows. 16 Elisha then said to Israel’s king, “Put your hand on the bow.” So Joash put his hand on the bow. Elisha then put his hands over the king’s hands 17 and said, “Open the window to the east.” The king did so. “Now shoot!” Elisha told him. Joash shot, then Elisha announced, “That’s the Lord’s rescue arrow! The rescue arrow against the Arameans! You will finish the Arameans off at Aphek.” 18 Then Elisha said, “Take the arrows!” so Joash took them. Elisha then said to Israel’s king, “Hit the ground with them!” Joash hit the ground three times and stopped. 19 The man of God became angry with him. He said, “If only you had struck five or six times, you would have finished the Arameans off. As it is, you will defeat them only three times.”

20 So Elisha died, and he was buried.

Sometimes Moabite raiding parties used to come into the land each spring. 21 Now it happened once that while a man was being buried, the people at the funeral suddenly saw a raiding party. They threw the body into Elisha’s tomb and ran off. When the body touched Elisha’s bones, the man came to life and stood up on his feet!

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