The Death of Lazarus

11 Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha.^{(A) 2} Mary was the one who anointed the Lord with perfume and wiped his feet with her hair; her brother Lazarus was ill.^{(B) 3} So the sisters sent a message to Jesus,^[a] “Lord, he whom you love is ill.” ⁴ But when Jesus heard it, he said, “This illness does not lead to death; rather, it is for God’s glory, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”^{(C) 5} Accordingly, though Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus, ⁶ after having heard that Lazarus^[b] was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was.

⁷ Then after this he said to the disciples, “Let us go to Judea again.”^{(D) 8} The disciples said to him, “Rabbi, the Jews were just now trying to stone you, and are you going there again?”^{(E) 9} Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Those who walk during the day do not stumble because they see the light of this world. ¹⁰ But those who walk at night stumble because the light is not in them.” ¹¹ After saying this, he told them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I am going there to awaken him.” ¹² The disciples said to him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will be all right.”^{[c] 13} Jesus, however, had been speaking about his death, but they thought that he was referring merely to sleep. ¹⁴ Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead. ¹⁵ For your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.” ¹⁶ Thomas, who was called the Twin,^[d] said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”

Jesus the Resurrection and the Life

¹⁷ When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus^[e] had already been in the tomb four days. ¹⁸ Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, some two miles away, ¹⁹ and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them about their brother.^{(F) 20} When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, while Mary stayed at home. ²¹ Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. ²² But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask of him.”^{(G) 23} Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” ²⁴ Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.”^{(H) 25} Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life.^[f] Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live,^{(I) 26} and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” ²⁷ She said to him, “Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah,^[g] the Son of God, the one coming into the world.”^(J)

Jesus Weeps

²⁸ When she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary and told her privately, “The Teacher is here and is calling for you.” ²⁹ And when she heard it, she got up quickly and went to him. ³⁰ Now Jesus had not yet come to the village but was still at the place where Martha had met him. ³¹ The Jews who were with her in the house consoling her saw Mary get up quickly and go out. They followed her because they thought that she was going to the tomb to weep there. ³² When Mary came where Jesus was and saw him, she knelt at his feet and said to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”^{(K) 33} When Jesus saw her weeping and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved. ³⁴ He said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” ³⁵ Jesus began to weep.^{(L) 36} So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!” ³⁷ But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?”^(M)

Jesus Raises Lazarus to Life

³⁸ Then Jesus, again greatly disturbed, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it.^{(N) 39} Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, already there is a stench because he has been dead four days.”^{(O) 40} Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?”^{(P) 41} So they took away the stone. And Jesus looked upward and said, “Father, I thank you for having heard me.^{(Q) 42} I knew that you always hear me, but I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here, so that they may believe that you sent me.”^{(R) 43} When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” ⁴⁴ The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth and his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”^(S)

The Plot to Kill Jesus

⁴⁵ Many of the Jews, therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what Jesus did believed in him.^{(T) 46} But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. ⁴⁷ So the chief priests and the Pharisees called a meeting of the council and said, “What are we to do? This man is performing many signs.^{(U) 48} If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and destroy both our holy place^[h] and our nation.” ⁴⁹ But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all!^{(V) 50} You do not understand that it is better for you to have one man die for the people than to have the whole nation destroyed.”^{(W) 51} He did not say this on his own, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus was about to die for the nation, ⁵² and not for the nation only, but to gather into one the dispersed children of God. ⁵³ So from that day on they planned to put him to death.^(X)

⁵⁴ Jesus therefore no longer walked about openly among the Jews but went from there to a town called Ephraim in the region near the wilderness, and he remained there with the disciples.^(Y)

⁵⁵ Now the Passover of the Jews was near, and many went up from the country to Jerusalem before the Passover to purify themselves.^{(Z) 56} They were looking for Jesus and were asking one another as they stood in the temple, “What do you think? Surely he will not come to the festival, will he?” ⁵⁷ Now the chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that anyone who knew where Jesus^[i] was should let them know, so that they might arrest him.

Mary Anoints Jesus

12 Six days before the Passover Jesus came to Bethany, the home of Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead.^{(AA) 2} There they gave a dinner for him. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those reclining with him.^{(AB) 3} Mary took a pound of costly perfume made of pure nard, anointed Jesus’s feet, and wiped them^[j] with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.^{(AC) 4} But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (the one who was about to betray him), said, ⁵ “Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and the money given to the poor?” ⁶ (He said this not because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; he kept the common purse and used to steal what was put into it.) ⁷ Jesus said, “Leave her alone. She bought it^[k] so that she might keep it for the day of my burial.^{(AD) 8} You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.”^(AE)

The Plot to Kill Lazarus

⁹ When the great crowd of the Jews learned that he was there, they came not only because of Jesus but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. ¹⁰ So the chief priests planned to put Lazarus to death as well, ¹¹ since it was on account of him that many of the Jews were deserting and were believing in Jesus.^(AF)

Jesus’s Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem

¹² The next day the great crowd that had come to the festival heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. ¹³ So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, shouting,

¹⁴ Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, as it is written:

¹⁶ His disciples did not understand these things at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written of him and had been done to him.^{(AI) 17} So the crowd that had been with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to testify.^{[l] 18} It was also because they heard that he had performed this sign that the crowd went to meet him. ¹⁹ The Pharisees then said to one another, “You see, you can do nothing. Look, the world has gone after him!”^(AJ)

Some Greeks Wish to See Jesus

²⁰ Now among those who went up to worship at the festival were some Greeks.^{(AK) 21} They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and said to him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” ²² Philip went and told Andrew, then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. ²³ Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.^{(AL) 24} Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain, but if it dies it bears much fruit. ²⁵ Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life.^{(AM) 26} Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honor.^(AN)

Jesus Speaks about His Death

²⁷ “Now my soul is troubled. And what should I say: ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour.^{(AO) 28} Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.”^{(AP) 29} The crowd standing there heard it and said that it was thunder. Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.” ³⁰ Jesus answered, “This voice has come for your sake, not for mine. ³¹ Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out.^{(AQ) 32} And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people^[m] to myself.”^{(AR) 33} He said this to indicate the kind of death he was to die. ³⁴ The crowd answered him, “We have heard from the law that the Messiah^[n] remains forever. How can you say that the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man?”^{(AS) 35} Jesus said to them, “The light is in you^[o] for a little longer. Walk while you have the light, so that the darkness may not overtake you. If you walk in the darkness, you do not know where you are going. ³⁶ While you have the light, believe in the light, so that you may become children of light.”

The Unbelief of the People

After Jesus had said this, he departed and hid from them.^{(AT) 37} Although he had performed so many signs in their presence, they did not believe in him. ³⁸ This was to fulfill the word spoken by the prophet Isaiah:

³⁹ And so they could not believe, because Isaiah also said,

⁴¹ Isaiah said this because^[p] he saw his glory and spoke about him.^{(AW) 42} Nevertheless many, even of the authorities, believed in him. But because of the Pharisees they did not confess it, for fear that they would be put out of the synagogue,^{(AX) 43} for they loved human glory more than the glory that comes from God.

Summary of Jesus’s Teaching

⁴⁴ Then Jesus cried aloud: “Whoever believes in me believes not in me but in him who sent me.^{(AY) 45} And whoever sees me sees him who sent me.^{(AZ) 46} I have come as light into the world, so that everyone who believes in me should not remain in the darkness.^{(BA) 47} I do not judge anyone who hears my words and does not keep them, for I came not to judge the world but to save the world.^{(BB) 48} The one who rejects me and does not receive my words has a judge; on the last day the word that I have spoken will serve as judge,^{(BC) 49} for I have not spoken on my own, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment about what to say and what to speak. ⁵⁰ And I know that his commandment is eternal life. What I speak, therefore, I speak just as the Father has told me.”

Jesus Washes the Disciples’ Feet

13 Now before the festival of the Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart from this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.^{(BD) 2} The devil had already decided^[q] that Judas son of Simon Iscariot would betray Jesus. And during supper^{(BE) 3} Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands and that he had come from God and was going to God,^{(BF) 4} got up from supper, took off his outer robe, and tied a towel around himself.^{(BG) 5} Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was tied around him. ⁶ He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” ⁷ Jesus answered, “You do not know now what I am doing, but later you will understand.” ⁸ Peter said to him, “You will never wash my feet.” Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no share with me.”^{(BH) 9} Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!” ¹⁰ Jesus said to him, “One who has bathed does not need to wash, except for the feet,^[r] but is entirely clean. And you^[s] are clean, though not all of you.” ¹¹ For he knew who was to betray him; for this reason he said, “Not all of you are clean.”^(BI)

¹² After he had washed their feet, had put on his robe, and had reclined again, he said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you? ¹³ You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for that is what I am.^{(BJ) 14} So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.^{(BK) 15} For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you.^{(BL) 16} Very truly, I tell you, slaves are not greater than their master, nor are messengers^[t] greater than the one who sent them.^{(BM) 17} If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them. ¹⁸ I am not speaking of all of you; I know whom I have chosen. But it is to fulfill the scripture, ‘The one who ate my bread^[u] has lifted his heel against me.’^{(BN) 19} I tell you this now, before it occurs, so that when it does occur you may believe that I am he.^{[v](BO) 20} Very truly, I tell you, whoever receives one whom I send receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me.”^(BP)

Jesus Foretells His Betrayal

²¹ After saying this Jesus was troubled in spirit and declared, “Very truly, I tell you, one of you will betray me.”^{(BQ) 22} The disciples looked at one another, uncertain of whom he was speaking. ²³ One of his disciples—the one whom Jesus loved—was reclining close to his heart;^{[w](BR) 24} Simon Peter therefore motioned to him to ask Jesus of whom he was speaking. ²⁵ So while reclining next to Jesus, he asked him, “Lord, who is it?”^{(BS) 26} Jesus answered, “It is the one to whom I give this piece of bread when I have dipped it in the dish.”^[x] So when he had dipped the piece of bread, he gave it to Judas son of Simon Iscariot.^{[y](BT) 27} After he received the piece of bread, Satan entered into him. Jesus said to him, “Do quickly what you are going to do.”^{(BU) 28} Now no one knew why he said this to him. ²⁹ Some thought that, because Judas had the common purse, Jesus was telling him, “Buy what we need for the festival,” or that he should give something to the poor. ³⁰ So, after receiving the piece of bread, he immediately went out. And it was night.

The New Commandment

³¹ When he had gone out, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him.^{(BV) 32} If God has been glorified in him,^[z] God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once. ³³ Little children, I am with you only a little longer. You will look for me, and as I said to the Jews so now I say to you, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come.’^{(BW) 34} I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.^{(BX) 35} By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”^(BY)

Jesus Foretells Peter’s Denial

³⁶ Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, where are you going?” Jesus answered, “Where I am going, you cannot follow me now, but you will follow afterward.”^{(BZ) 37} Peter said to him, “Lord, why can I not follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.”^{(CA) 38} Jesus answered, “Will you lay down your life for me? Very truly, I tell you, before the cock crows, you will have denied me three times.

Jesus the Way to the Father

14 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe^[aa] in God; believe also in me.^{(CB) 2} In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?^{[ab] 3} And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also.^{(CC) 4} And you know the way to the place where I am going.”^{[ac] 5} Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” ⁶ Jesus said to him, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.^{(CD) 7} If you know me, you will know^[ad] my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”

⁸ Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.” ⁹ Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?^{(CE) 10} Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own, but the Father who dwells in me does his works.^{(CF) 11} Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, but if you do not, then believe^[ae] because of the works themselves.^{(CG) 12} Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father. ¹³ I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. ¹⁴ If in my name you ask me^[af] for anything, I will do it.

The Promise of the Holy Spirit

¹⁵ “If you love me, you will keep^[ag] my commandments.^{(CH) 16} And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate,^[ah] to be with you forever.^{(CI) 17} This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him because he abides with you, and he will be^[ai] in^[aj] you.^(CJ)

¹⁸ “I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you. ¹⁹ In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I live, you also will live. ²⁰ On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.^{(CK) 21} They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me, and those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them.”^{(CL) 22} Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, “Lord, how is it that you will reveal yourself to us and not to the world?” ²³ Jesus answered him, “Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.^{(CM) 24} Whoever does not love me does not keep my words, and the word that you hear is not mine but is from the Father who sent me.^(CN)

²⁵ “I have said these things to you while I am still with you. ²⁶ But the Advocate,^[ak] the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and remind you of all that I have said to you.^{(CO) 27} Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.^{(CP) 28} You heard me say to you, ‘I am going away, and I am coming to you.’ If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father, because the Father is greater than I.^{(CQ) 29} And now I have told you this before it occurs, so that when it does occur you may believe. ³⁰ I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming. He has no power over me,^{(CR) 31} but I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father. Rise, let us be on our way.^(CS)

Jesus the True Vine

15 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinegrower. ² He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit he prunes^[al] to make it bear more fruit. ³ You have already been cleansed^[am] by the word that I have spoken to you.^{(CT) 4} Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me.^{(CU) 5} I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing. ⁶ Whoever does not abide in me is thrown away like a branch and withers; such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. ⁷ If you abide in me and my words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.^{(CV) 8} My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become^[an] my disciples.^{(CW) 9} As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love. ¹⁰ If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love.^{(CX) 11} I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.^(CY)

¹² “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.^{(CZ) 13} No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.^{(DA) 14} You are my friends if you do what I command you.^{(DB) 15} I do not call you servants^[ao] any longer, because the servant^[ap] does not know what the master is doing, but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father. ¹⁶ You did not choose me, but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name.^{(DC) 17} I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another.

The World’s Hatred

¹⁸ “If the world hates you, be aware that it hated me before it hated you.^{(DD) 19} If you belonged to the world, the world would love you as its own. Because you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. ²⁰ Remember the word that I said to you, ‘Slaves are not greater than their master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you; if they kept my word, they will keep yours also.^{(DE) 21} But they will do all these things to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me.^{(DF) 22} If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin.^{(DG) 23} Whoever hates me hates my Father also.^{(DH) 24} If I had not done among them the works that no one else did, they would not have sin. But now they have seen and hated both me and my Father.^{(DI) 25} It was to fulfill the word that is written in their law, ‘They hated me without a cause.’^(DJ)

²⁶ “When the Advocate^[aq] comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who comes from the Father, he will testify on my behalf.^{(DK) 27} You also are to testify, because you have been with me from the beginning.^(DL)

16 “I have said these things to you to keep you from falling away.^{[ar](DM) 2} They will put you out of the synagogues. Indeed, an hour is coming when those who kill you will think that by doing so they are offering worship to God.^{(DN) 3} And they will do this because they have not known the Father or me.^{(DO) 4} But I have said these things to you so that when their hour comes you may remember that I told you about them.

The Work of the Spirit

“I did not say these things to you from the beginning, because I was with you. ⁵ But now I am going to him who sent me, yet none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’^{(DP) 6} But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your hearts. ⁷ Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Advocate^[as] will not come to you, but if I go, I will send him to you. ⁸ And when he comes, he will prove the world wrong about^[at] sin and righteousness and judgment: ⁹ about sin, because they do not believe in me; ¹⁰ about righteousness, because I am going to the Father, and you will see me no longer; ¹¹ about judgment, because the ruler of this world has been condemned.^(DQ)

¹² “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.^{(DR) 13} When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.^{(DS) 14} He will glorify me because he will take what is mine and declare it to you. ¹⁵ All that the Father has is mine. For this reason I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.^(DT)

Sorrow Will Turn into Joy

¹⁶ “A little while, and you will no longer see me, and again a little while, and you will see me.”^{(DU) 17} Then some of his disciples said to one another, “What does he mean by saying to us, ‘A little while, and you will no longer see me, and again a little while, and you will see me,’ and ‘because I am going to the Father’?” ¹⁸ They said, “What does he mean by this ‘a little while’? We do not know what he is talking about.” ¹⁹ Jesus knew that they wanted to ask him, so he said to them, “Are you discussing among yourselves what I meant when I said, ‘A little while, and you will no longer see me, and again a little while, and you will see me’? ²⁰ Very truly, I tell you, you will weep and mourn, but the world will rejoice; you will have pain, but your pain will turn into joy. ²¹ When a woman is in labor, she has pain because her hour has come. But when her child is born, she no longer remembers the anguish because of the joy of having brought a human being into the world.^{(DV) 22} So you have pain now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you.^{(DW) 23} On that day you will ask nothing of me.^[au] Very truly, I tell you, if you ask anything of the Father in my name, he will give it to you.^{[av] 24} Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete.^(DX)

Peace for the Disciples

²⁵ “I have said these things to you in figures of speech. The hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures but will tell you plainly of the Father. ²⁶ On that day you will ask in my name. I do not say to you that I will ask the Father on your behalf, ²⁷ for the Father himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God.^{[aw](DY) 28} I came from the Father and have come into the world; again, I am leaving the world and am going to the Father.”^(DZ)

²⁹ His disciples said, “Yes, now you are speaking plainly, not in any figure of speech! ³⁰ Now we know that you know all things and do not need to have anyone question you; by this we believe that you came from God.”^{(EA) 31} Jesus answered them, “Do you now believe? ³² The hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be scattered, each one to his home, and you will leave me alone. Yet I am not alone because the Father is with me.^{(EB) 33} I have said this to you so that in me you may have peace. In the world you face persecution, but take courage: I have conquered the world!”^(EC)

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?

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.^{(J) 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.^{(K) 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.”^(L)

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.^{(M) 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.”^(N)

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.^{(O) 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.^{(P) 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.^(Q)

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.^{(R) 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.^(S)

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.^(T)

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.^{(U) 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.”^{(V) 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.^{(W) 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.”^{(X) 22} So the water has been wholesome to this day, according to the word that Elisha spoke.

²³ He went up from there to Bethel, and while he was going up on the way, some small boys came out of the city and jeered at him, saying, “Go away, baldhead! Go away, baldhead!” ²⁴ When he turned around and saw them, he cursed them in the name of the Lord. Then two she-bears came out of the woods and mauled forty-two of the boys.^{(Y) 25} From there he went on to Mount Carmel and then returned to Samaria.^(Z)

Jehoram Reigns over Israel

3 In the eighteenth year of King Jehoshaphat of Judah, Jehoram son of Ahab became king over Israel in Samaria; he reigned twelve years.^{(AA) 2} He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, though not like his father and mother, for he removed the pillar of Baal that his father had made.^{(AB) 3} Nevertheless, he clung to the sin of Jeroboam son of Nebat that he caused Israel to commit; he did not depart from it.^(AC)

War with Moab

⁴ Now King Mesha of Moab was a sheep breeder who used to deliver to the king of Israel one hundred thousand lambs and the wool of one hundred thousand rams.^{(AD) 5} But when Ahab died, the king of Moab rebelled against the king of Israel.^{(AE) 6} So King Jehoram marched out of Samaria at that time and mustered all Israel. ⁷ As he went he sent word to King Jehoshaphat of Judah, “The king of Moab has rebelled against me; will you go with me to battle against Moab?” He answered, “I will; I am as you are; my people are your people; my horses are your horses.”^{(AF) 8} Then he asked, “By which way shall we march?” Jehoram answered, “By the way of the wilderness of Edom.”

⁹ So the king of Israel, the king of Judah, and the king of Edom set out, and when they had made a roundabout march of seven days, there was no water for the army or for the animals that were with them.^{(AG) 10} Then the king of Israel said, “Alas! The Lord has summoned these three kings to hand them over to Moab.” ¹¹ But Jehoshaphat said, “Is there no prophet of the Lord here through whom we may inquire of the Lord?” Then one of the servants of the king of Israel answered, “Elisha son of Shaphat, who used to pour water on the hands of Elijah, is here.”^{(AH) 12} 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 Elisha said to the king of Israel, “What have I to do with you? Go to your father’s prophets or to your mother’s.” But the king of Israel said to him, “No; it is the Lord who has summoned these three kings to hand them over to Moab.”^{(AI) 14} Elisha said, “As the Lord of hosts lives, whom I serve, were it not that I have regard for King Jehoshaphat of Judah, I would give you neither a look nor a glance.^{(AJ) 15} But get me a musician.” And then, while the musician was playing, the hand of the Lord came on him.^{(AK) 16} And he said, “Thus says the Lord: I will make this wadi full of pools. ¹⁷ For thus says the Lord: You shall see neither wind nor rain, but the wadi shall be filled with water, so that you shall drink, you, your army,^[d] and your animals. ¹⁸ This is only a trifle in the sight of the Lord, for he will also hand Moab over to you. ¹⁹ You shall conquer every fortified city and every choice city; every good tree you shall fell, all springs of water you shall stop up, and every good piece of land you shall ruin with stones.”^{(AL) 20} The next day, about the time of the morning offering, suddenly water began to flow from the direction of Edom until the country was filled with water.^(AM)

²¹ When all the Moabites heard that the kings had come up to fight against them, all who were able to put on armor, from the youngest to the oldest, were called out and were drawn up at the frontier.^{(AN) 22} When they rose early in the morning and the sun shone upon the water, the Moabites saw the water opposite them as red as blood. ²³ They said, “This is blood; the kings must have fought together and killed one another. Now then, Moab, to the spoil!” ²⁴ But when they came to the camp of Israel, the Israelites rose up and attacked the Moabites, who fled before them; as they entered Moab, they continued the attack.^{[e] 25} The cities they overturned, and on every good piece of land everyone threw a stone until it was covered; every spring of water they stopped up, and every good tree they felled. Only at Kir-hareseth did the stone walls remain until the slingers surrounded and attacked it.^{(AO) 26} When the king of Moab saw that the battle was going against him, he took with him seven hundred swordsmen to break through opposite the king of Edom, but they could not. ²⁷ Then he took his firstborn son who was to succeed him and offered him as a burnt offering on the wall. And great wrath came upon Israel, so they withdrew from him and returned to their own land.^(AP)

Elisha and the Widow’s Oil

4 Now the wife of a member of the company of prophets cried to Elisha, “Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that your servant feared the Lord, but a creditor has come to take my two children as slaves.”^{(AQ) 2} Elisha said to her, “What shall I do for you? Tell me, what do you have in the house?” She answered, “Your servant has nothing in the house except a jar of oil.” ³ He said, “Go outside, borrow vessels from all your neighbors, empty vessels—and not just a few. ⁴ Then go in, shut the door behind you and your children, and start pouring into all these vessels; when each is full, set it aside.” ⁵ So she left him and shut the door behind her and her children; they kept bringing vessels to her, and she kept pouring. ⁶ When the vessels were full, she said to her son, “Bring me another vessel.” But he said to her, “There are no more.” Then the oil stopped flowing. ⁷ She came and told the man of God, and he said, “Go sell the oil and pay your debts, and you and your children can live on the rest.”^(AR)

Elisha Raises the Shunammite’s Son

⁸ One day Elisha was passing through Shunem, where a wealthy woman lived, who urged him to have a meal. So whenever he passed that way, he would stop there for a meal.^{(AS) 9} She said to her husband, “Look, I am sure that this man who regularly passes our way is a holy man of God.^{(AT) 10} Let us make a small roof chamber with walls and put there for him a bed, a table, a chair, and a lamp, so that he can stay there whenever he comes to us.”

¹¹ One day when he came there, he went up to the chamber and lay down there. ¹² He said to his servant Gehazi, “Call the Shunammite woman.” When he had called her, she stood before him.^{(AU) 13} He said to him, “Say to her: Since you have taken all this trouble for us, what may be done for you? Would you have a word spoken on your behalf to the king or to the commander of the army?” She answered, “I live among my own people.” ¹⁴ He said, “What then may be done for her?” Gehazi answered, “Well, she has no son, and her husband is old.” ¹⁵ He said, “Call her.” When he had called her, she stood at the door. ¹⁶ He said, “At this season, in due time, you shall embrace a son.” She replied, “No, my lord, O man of God; do not deceive your servant.”^(AV)

¹⁷ The woman conceived and bore a son at that season, in due time, as Elisha had declared to her.

¹⁸ When the child was older, he went out one day to his father among the reapers. ¹⁹ He complained to his father, “Oh, my head, my head!” The father said to his servant, “Carry him to his mother.” ²⁰ He carried him and brought him to his mother; the child sat on her lap until noon, and he died. ²¹ She went up and laid him on the bed of the man of God, closed the door on him, and left.^{(AW) 22} Then she called to her husband and said, “Send me one of the servants and one of the donkeys, so that I may quickly go to the man of God and come back again.” ²³ He said, “Why go to him today? It is neither new moon nor Sabbath.” She said, “It will be all right.”^{(AX) 24} Then she saddled the donkey and said to her servant, “Urge the animal on; do not hold back for me unless I tell you.” ²⁵ So she set out and came to the man of God at Mount Carmel.

When the man of God saw her coming, he said to Gehazi his servant, “Look, there is the Shunammite woman;^{(AY) 26} run at once to meet her and say to her: Are you all right? Is your husband all right? Is the child all right?” She answered, “It is all right.” ²⁷ When she came to the man of God at the mountain, she caught hold of his feet. Gehazi approached to push her away, but the man of God said, “Let her alone, for she is in bitter distress; the Lord has hidden it from me and has not told me.” ²⁸ Then she said, “Did I ask my lord for a son? Did I not say, ‘Do not mislead me?’ ”^{(AZ) 29} He said to Gehazi, “Gird up your loins, and take my staff in your hand, and go. If you meet anyone, give no greeting, and if anyone greets you, do not answer, and lay my staff on the face of the child.”^{(BA) 30} Then the mother of the child said, “As the Lord lives and as you yourself live, I will not leave without you.” So he rose up and followed her.^{(BB) 31} Gehazi went on ahead and laid the staff on the face of the child, but there was no sound or sign of life. He came back to meet him and told him, “The child has not awakened.”

³² When Elisha came into the house, he saw the child lying dead on his bed. ³³ So he went in and closed the door on the two of them and prayed to the Lord.^{(BC) 34} Then he got up on the bed^[f] and lay upon the child, putting his mouth upon his mouth, his eyes upon his eyes, and his hands upon his hands, and while he lay bent over him, the flesh of the child became warm.^{(BD) 35} He got down, walked once to and fro in the room, then got up again and bent over him; the child sneezed seven times, and the child opened his eyes.^{(BE) 36} Elisha^[g] summoned Gehazi and said, “Call the Shunammite woman.” So he called her. When she came to him, he said, “Take your son.” ³⁷ She came and fell at his feet, bowing to the ground; then she took her son and left.^(BF)

Elisha Purifies the Pot of Stew

³⁸ When Elisha returned to Gilgal, there was a famine in the land. As the company of prophets was sitting before him, he said to his servant, “Put the large pot on, and make some stew for the company of prophets.”^{(BG) 39} One of them went out into the field to gather herbs; he found a wild vine and gathered from it a lapful of wild gourds and came and cut them up into the pot of stew, not knowing what they were. ⁴⁰ They served some for the men to eat. But while they were eating the stew, they cried out, “O man of God, there is death in the pot!” They could not eat it. ⁴¹ He said, “Then bring some flour.” He threw it into the pot and said, “Serve the people and let them eat.” And there was nothing harmful in the pot.^(BH)

Elisha Feeds One Hundred Men

⁴² A man came from Baal-shalishah bringing food from the first fruits to the man of God: twenty loaves of barley and fresh ears of grain in his sack. Elisha said, “Give it to the people and let them eat.”^{(BI) 43} But his servant said, “How can I set this before a hundred people?” So he repeated, “Give it to the people and let them eat, for thus says the Lord: They shall eat and have some left.” ⁴⁴ He set it before them; they ate and had some left, according to the word of the Lord.^(BJ)

The Healing of Naaman

5 Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Aram, was a great man and in high favor with his master because by him the Lord had given victory to Aram. The man, though a mighty warrior, suffered from a skin disease.^{(BK) 2} Now the Arameans on one of their raids had taken a young girl captive from the land of Israel, and she served Naaman’s wife. ³ She said to her mistress, “If only my lord were with the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his skin disease.” ⁴ So Naaman^[h] went in and told his lord just what the girl from the land of Israel had said. ⁵ And the king of Aram said, “Go, then, and I will send along a letter to the king of Israel.”

He went, taking with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold, and ten sets of garments.^{(BL) 6} He brought the letter to the king of Israel, which read, “When this letter reaches you, know that I have sent to you my servant Naaman, that you may cure him of his skin disease.” ⁷ When the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes and said, “Am I God, to give death or life, that this man sends word to me to cure a man of his skin disease? Just look and see how he is trying to pick a quarrel with me.”^(BM)

⁸ But when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, he sent a message to the king, “Why have you torn your clothes? Let him come to me, that he may learn that there is a prophet in Israel.”^{(BN) 9} So Naaman came with his horses and chariots and halted at the entrance of Elisha’s house. ¹⁰ Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, “Go, wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored, and you shall be clean.”^{(BO) 11} But Naaman became angry and went away, saying, “I thought that for me he would surely come out and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God and would wave his hand over the spot and cure the skin disease! ¹² Are not Abana^[i] and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them and be clean?” He turned and went away in a rage. ¹³ But his servants approached and said to him, “Father, if the prophet had commanded you to do something difficult, would you not have done it? How much more, when all he said to you was, ‘Wash, and be clean’?”^{(BP) 14} So he went down and immersed himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God; his flesh was restored like the flesh of a young boy, and he was clean.^(BQ)

¹⁵ Then he returned to the man of God, he and all his company; he came and stood before him and said, “Now I know that there is no God in all the earth except in Israel; please accept a present from your servant.”^{(BR) 16} But he said, “As the Lord lives, whom I serve, I will accept nothing!” He urged him to accept, but he refused.^{(BS) 17} Then Naaman said, “If not, please let two mule loads of earth be given to your servant, for your servant will no longer offer burnt offering or sacrifice to any god except the Lord. ¹⁸ But may the Lord pardon your servant on one count: when my master goes into the house of Rimmon to worship there, leaning on my arm, and I bow down in the house of Rimmon, when I do bow down in the house of Rimmon, may the Lord pardon your servant on this one count.”^{(BT) 19} He said to him, “Go in peace.”

Gehazi’s Greed

But when Naaman had gone from him a short distance, ²⁰ Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, thought, “My master has let that Aramean Naaman off too lightly by not accepting from him what he offered. As the Lord lives, I will run after him and get something from him.”^{(BU) 21} So Gehazi went after Naaman. When Naaman saw someone running after him, he jumped down from the chariot to meet him and said, “Is everything all right?” ²² He replied, “Yes, but my master has sent me to say, ‘Two members of a company of prophets have just come to me from the hill country of Ephraim; please give them a talent of silver and two changes of clothing.’ ”^{(BV) 23} Naaman said, “Please accept two talents.” He urged him and tied up two talents of silver in two bags, with two changes of clothing, and gave them to two of his servants, who carried them in front of Gehazi.^{[j] 24} When he came to the citadel, he took the bags^[k] from them and stored them inside; he dismissed the men, and they left.

²⁵ He went in and stood before his master, and Elisha said to him, “Where have you been, Gehazi?” He answered, “Your servant has not gone anywhere at all.”^{(BW) 26} But he said to him, “Did I not go with you in spirit when someone left his chariot to meet you? Is this a time to accept silver and to accept clothing, olive orchards and vineyards, sheep and oxen, and male and female slaves?^{(BX) 27} Therefore the skin disease of Naaman shall cling to you and to your descendants forever.” So he left his presence diseased, as white as snow.^(BY)

The Miracle of the Ax Head

6 Now the company of prophets said to Elisha, “As you see, the place where we live under your charge is too small for us.^{(BZ) 2} Let us go to the Jordan, and let us collect logs there, one for each of us, and build a place there for us to live.” He answered, “Do so.” ³ Then one of them said, “Please come with your servants.” And he answered, “I will.” ⁴ So he went with them. When they came to the Jordan, they cut down trees. ⁵ But as one was felling a log, his ax head fell into the water; he cried out, “Alas, master! It was borrowed.” ⁶ Then the man of God said, “Where did it fall?” When he showed him the place, he cut off a stick and threw it in there and made the iron float.^{(CA) 7} He said, “Pick it up.” So he reached out his hand and took it.

The Aramean Attack Is Thwarted

⁸ Once when the king of Aram was at war with Israel, he took counsel with his officers. He said, “At such and such a place shall be my camp.” ⁹ But the man of God sent word to the king of Israel, “Take care not to pass this place, for the Arameans are going down there.”^{(CB) 10} The king of Israel sent word to the place of which the man of God spoke. More than once or twice he warned a place^[l] so that it was on the alert.

¹¹ The mind of the king of Aram was greatly perturbed because of this; he called his officers and said to them, “Now tell me: Who among us is betraying us to^[m] the king of Israel?” ¹² Then one of his officers said, “No one, my lord king. It is Elisha, the prophet in Israel, who tells the king of Israel the words that you speak in your bedchamber.” ¹³ He said, “Go and find where he is; I will send and seize him.” He was told, “He is in Dothan.”^{(CC) 14} So he sent horses and chariots there and a great army; they came by night and surrounded the city.

¹⁵ When an attendant of the man of God rose early in the morning and went out, an army with horses and chariots was all around the city. His servant said, “Alas, master! What shall we do?” ¹⁶ He replied, “Do not be afraid, for there are more with us than there are with them.”^{(CD) 17} Then Elisha prayed, “O Lord, please open his eyes that he may see.” So the Lord opened the eyes of the servant, and he saw; the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.^{(CE) 18} When the Arameans^[n] came down against him, Elisha prayed to the Lord and said, “Strike this people, please, with blindness.” So he struck them with blindness as Elisha had asked.^{(CF) 19} Elisha said to them, “This is not the way, and this is not the city; follow me, and I will bring you to the man whom you seek.” And he led them to Samaria.

²⁰ As soon as they entered Samaria, Elisha said, “O Lord, open the eyes of these men so that they may see.” The Lord opened their eyes, and they saw that they were inside Samaria.^{(CG) 21} When the king of Israel saw them he said to Elisha, “Father, shall I strike them? Shall I strike them?”^{(CH) 22} He answered, “No! Would you strike those whom you have taken captive with your sword and with your bow? Set food and water before them so that they may eat and drink, and let them go to their master.”^{(CI) 23} So he prepared for them a great feast; after they ate and drank, he sent them on their way, and they went to their master. And the Arameans no longer came raiding into the land of Israel.^(CJ)

Ben-hadad’s Siege of Samaria

²⁴ Some time later King Ben-hadad of Aram mustered his entire army; he marched against Samaria and laid siege to it.^{(CK) 25} As the siege continued, famine in Samaria became so great that a donkey’s head was sold for eighty shekels of silver and one-fourth of a kab of dove’s dung for five shekels of silver. ²⁶ Now as the king of Israel was walking on the city wall, a woman cried out to him, “Help, my lord king!” ²⁷ He said, “If the Lord does not help you, where would my help come from? From the threshing floor or from the winepress?” ²⁸ But then the king asked her, “What is your complaint?” She answered, “This woman said to me, ‘Give up your son; we will eat him today, and we will eat my son tomorrow.’ ²⁹ So we cooked my son and ate him. The next day I said to her, ‘Give up your son, and we will eat him.’ But she has hidden her son.”^{(CL) 30} When the king heard the words of the woman he tore his clothes—now since he was walking on the city wall, the people could see that he had sackcloth on his body underneath^(CM)— ³¹ and he said, “So may God do to me and more, if the head of Elisha son of Shaphat stays on his shoulders today.”^{(CN) 32} So he dispatched a man from his presence.

Now Elisha was sitting in his house, and the elders were sitting with him. Before the messenger arrived, Elisha said to the elders, “Are you aware that this murderer has sent someone to take off my head? When the messenger comes, see that you shut the door and hold it closed against him. Is not the sound of his master’s feet behind him?”^{(CO) 33} While he was still speaking with them, the king^[o] came down to him and said, “This trouble is from the Lord! Why should I hope in the Lord any longer?”^(CP)

Psalm 66

Praise for God’s Goodness to Israel

To the leader. A Song. A Psalm.

Psalm 67

The Nations Called to Praise God

To the leader: with stringed instruments. A Psalm. A Song.