^4 [a]And the other was named ^[b](A)Eliezer, for he said, “^(B)The God of my father was my help and delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh.”

^11 (A)Then Saul hurled the spear for he thought, “I will ^[a]pin David to the wall.” But David ^[b]escaped from his presence twice.

^10 (A)And Saul tried to ^[a]pin David to the wall with the spear, but he slipped away out of Saul’s presence, so that he ^[b]stuck the spear into the wall. And David fled and escaped that night.

Elijah Runs from Jezebel

19 Now Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and ^[a](A)how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. ² Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “^(B)So may the gods do to me and even more, if I do not make your ^[b]life as the ^[c]life of one of them by about this time tomorrow.” ³ And he ^[d]was afraid and arose and ^[e]ran for his ^[f]life and came to ^(C)Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his young man there. ⁴ But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a broom tree; and ^(D)he asked for himself that he might die, and said, “It is enough; now, O Yahweh, take my ^[g]life, for I am not better than my fathers.” ⁵ Then he lay down and slept under a broom tree; and behold, there was ^(E)an angel touching him, and he said to him, “Arise, eat.” ⁶ Then he looked and behold, there was at his head a bread cake baked on hot stones, and a jar of water. So he ate and drank and lay down again. ⁷ And the angel of Yahweh came again a second time and touched him and said, “Arise, eat, because the journey is too great for you.” ⁸ So he arose and ate and drank, and went in the strength of that food ^(F)forty days and forty nights to ^(G)Horeb, the mountain of God.

Elijah at Horeb

⁹ Then he came there to a cave and lodged there; and behold, ^(H)the word of Yahweh came to him, and He said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” ¹⁰ And he said, “^(I)I have been very zealous for Yahweh, the God of hosts; for the sons of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, ^(J)pulled down Your altars and killed Your prophets with the sword. And ^(K)I alone am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.”

¹¹ So He said, “^(L)Go forth and stand on the mountain before Yahweh.” And behold, Yahweh was passing by! And ^(M)a great and strong wind was tearing up the mountains and breaking in pieces the rocks before Yahweh; but Yahweh was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but Yahweh was not in the earthquake. ¹² Then after the earthquake a fire, but Yahweh was not in the fire; and after the fire ^(N)a sound of a thin ^[h]gentle whisper. ¹³ Now it happened that when Elijah heard it, ^(O)he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave. And behold, ^(P)a voice came to him and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” ¹⁴ Then he said, “^(Q)I have been very zealous for Yahweh, the God of hosts; for the sons of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, pulled down Your altars and killed Your prophets with the sword. And I alone am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.”

¹⁵ And Yahweh said to him, “Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus, and you will arrive and ^(R)anoint Hazael king over Aram; ¹⁶ and ^(S)Jehu the son of Nimshi you shall anoint king over Israel; and ^(T)Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah you shall anoint as prophet in your place. ¹⁷ And it will be that the ^(U)one who escapes from the sword of Hazael, Jehu ^(V)shall put to death, and the one who escapes from the sword of Jehu, Elisha shall put to death. ^18 (W)Yet I will leave 7,000 in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal and every mouth that has not ^(X)kissed him.”

Elijah Puts the Mantle on Elisha

¹⁹ So he went from there and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, while he was plowing with twelve pairs of oxen before him, and he with the twelfth. And Elijah passed over to him and threw ^(Y)his mantle on him. ²⁰ So he forsook the oxen and ran after Elijah and said, “Please ^(Z)let me kiss my father and my mother, then I will follow you.” And he said to him, “Go back again, for what have I done to you?” ²¹ So he returned from following him, and took the pair of oxen and sacrificed them and ^(AA)boiled their flesh with the implements of the oxen, and gave it to the people and they ate. Then he arose and followed Elijah and ministered to him.

The Axe Head Floats

6 And ^(A)the sons of the prophets said to Elisha, “Behold now, the place before you where we are living is too limited for us. ² Please let us go to the Jordan and each of us take from there a beam, and let us make a place there for ourselves where we may live.” So he said, “Go.” ³ Then one said, “Please be willing to go with your servants.” And he ^[a]answered, “I shall go.” ⁴ So he went with them; and they came to the Jordan and cut down trees. ⁵ Now it happened that as one was felling a beam, ^[b]the axe head fell into the water; and he cried out and said, “Alas, my master! For it was borrowed.” ⁶ Then the man of God said, “Where did it fall?” And when he showed him the place, ^(B)he cut off a stick and threw it in there and made the iron float. ⁷ And he said, “Take it up for yourself.” So he sent forth his hand and took it.

Horses and Chariots of Fire Around Elisha

⁸ Now the king of Aram was warring against Israel; and he ^[c]counseled with his servants saying, “In such and such a place shall be my camp.” ^9 (C)And the man of God sent word to the king of Israel saying, “Beware that you do not pass this place, for the Arameans are coming down there.” ¹⁰ And the king of Israel sent to the place about which the man of God had told him; thus he warned him, so that he guarded himself there, ^[d]more than once or twice.

¹¹ Then the heart of the king of Aram was enraged over this thing; and he called his servants and said to them, “Will you not tell me which of us is for the king of Israel?” ¹² And 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 So he said, “Go and see where he is, that I may send and take him.” And it was told to him, saying, “Behold, he is in ^(D)Dothan.” ¹⁴ So he sent horses and chariots and a heavy military force there, and they came by night and surrounded the city.

¹⁵ Then the attendant of the man of God arose early and went out, and behold, a military force with horses and chariots was all around the city. And his young man said to him, “Alas, my master! ^[e]What shall we do?” ¹⁶ So he said, “^(E)Do not fear, for ^(F)those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” ¹⁷ Then Elisha prayed and said, “^(G)O Yahweh, I pray, open his eyes that he may see.” And Yahweh opened the eyes of the young man and he saw; and behold, the mountain was full of ^(H)horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. ¹⁸ And they came down to him, and Elisha prayed to Yahweh and said, “Strike this ^[f]people with blindness, I pray.” So He ^(I)struck them with blindness according to the word of Elisha. ¹⁹ Then Elisha said to them, “This is not the way, and this is not the city; walk after me and I will walk you over to the man whom you seek.” And he walked them over to Samaria.

²⁰ Now it happened that when they had come into Samaria, Elisha said, “O ^(J)Yahweh, open the eyes of these men, that they may see.” So Yahweh opened their eyes and they saw; and behold, they were in the midst of Samaria. ²¹ Then the king of Israel when he saw them, said to Elisha, “^(K)My father, shall I strike them down? Shall I strike them down?” ²² And he said, “You shall not strike them down. Would you ^(L)strike down those you have taken captive with your sword and with your bow? ^(M)Set bread and water before them, that they may eat and drink and walk back to their master.” ²³ So he prepared a great feast for them; and when they had eaten and drunk, he sent them away, and they went to their master. And ^(N)the marauding bands of Arameans did not come again into the land of Israel.

Aram’s Siege of Samaria

²⁴ Now it happened afterwards, that ^(O)Ben-hadad king of Aram gathered all his military camp and went up and besieged Samaria. ²⁵ Now there was a great ^(P)famine in Samaria. And behold, they besieged it, until a donkey’s head was sold for ^[g]eighty shekels of silver, and a fourth of a ^[h]kab of dove’s dung for five shekels of silver. ²⁶ As the king of Israel was passing by on the wall, a woman cried out to him, saying, “Save, my lord, O king!” ²⁷ He said, “^[i]If Yahweh does not save you, from where shall I save you? From the threshing floor, or from the wine press?” ²⁸ And the king said to her, “^(Q)What ^[j]is the matter with you?” And she said, “This woman said to me, ‘Give your son that we may eat him today, and we will eat my son tomorrow.’ ^29 (R)So we boiled my son and ate him; and I said to her on the next day, ‘Give your son, that we may eat him’; but she has hidden her son.” ³⁰ Now it happened that when the king heard the words of the woman, ^(S)he tore his clothes—now he was passing by on the wall—and the people looked, and behold, he had sackcloth ^[k]beneath on his ^[l]body. ³¹ Then he said, “May ^(T)God do so to me and more also, if the head of Elisha the son of Shaphat ^[m]remains on him today.”

Flour and Barley in Samaria

³² Now Elisha was sitting in his house, and ^(U)the elders were sitting with him. And the king sent a man from his presence; but before the messenger came to him, he said to the elders, “Do you ^(V)see how this son of a murderer has sent to take away my head? Look, when the messenger comes, shut the door and ^[n]hold the door shut against him. Is not the sound of his master’s feet behind him?” ³³ While he was still speaking with them, behold, the messenger came down to him and he said, “^(W)Behold, this evil is from Yahweh; why should I wait for Yahweh any longer?”