Bible in 90 Days

Omri, king of Israel

²¹ At that time, half of the Israelite people wanted Omri to be their king. But half of the people wanted Ginath's son Tibni to be their king. The two groups of people could not agree together. ²² But the group who wanted Omri to be king was stronger than the other group. As a result, Tibni died. Then Omri became the king of Israel.^[a]

²³ Omri became king of Israel when Asa had been king of Judah for 31 years. Omri ruled Israel as king for 12 years. He lived in Tirzah for the first six years. ²⁴ Then Omri bought a hill from a man called Shemer. He paid Shemer 70 kilograms of silver for it. He built a city on the hill and he called the city Samaria. That was because the hill had belonged to Shemer.^[b]

²⁵ But Omri did many things that the Lord said were evil. He did more evil things than all the kings of Israel who lived before him. ²⁶ He did the same bad things that Nebat's son Jeroboam had done and that he caused the Israelites to do. The useless idols that they worshipped caused the Lord, Israel's God, to be very angry.

²⁷ The other things that happened while Omri was king are written in a book. The book is called ‘The history of Israel's kings’. It tells about the things that he did and the power that he had. ²⁸ Omri died and they buried him in Samaria. His son Ahab became king of Israel after him.

Ahab, king of Israel

²⁹ Omri's son Ahab became king of Israel when Asa had been king of Judah for 38 years. Ahab ruled Israel as king in Samaria for 22 years.

³⁰ Omri's son Ahab did many things that the Lord said were evil. He did more evil things than all the kings of Israel who lived before him. ³¹ He did the same bad things that Nebat's son Jeroboam had done. He even did something that was even worse. He married Jezebel, the daughter of Ethbaal, the king of Sidon. Ahab served Baal as his god and he worshipped him. ³² Ahab built a temple for Baal in Samaria. He made an altar for Baal in this temple. ³³ Ahab also made an Asherah pole to worship. He did many bad things that made the Lord, Israel's God, angry. He did more bad things than all the kings of Israel who lived before him.

³⁴ While Ahab ruled as king, Hiel built Jericho city again. Hiel came from Bethel. Abiram, his firstborn son, died when Hiel built the city's foundation. Segub, his youngest son, died when he built the gates in the city's wall. The Lord had told Nun's son Joshua that this would happen.^[c]

Elijah and the widow

17 There was a prophet called Elijah who came from Tishbe in Gilead. He said to King Ahab, ‘I am a servant of the Lord, Israel's God. As surely as God lives, there will be no rain or dew for the next few years. Nothing will make the ground wet until I command it to happen.’

² Then the Lord told Elijah, ³ ‘Leave here! Go to the east. Hide in the Kerith valley, east of the Jordan River.^{[d] 4} You will drink water from the stream. I have also commanded the ravens to feed you there.’ ⁵ Elijah obeyed the Lord's message. He went to live in the Kerith valley, near the Jordan River. ⁶ The ravens brought him bread and meat to eat, every morning and every evening. He drank water from the stream.

⁷ After some time the stream became dry, because there had been no rain in the whole land.

⁸ Then the Lord told Elijah, ⁹ ‘Go now to Zarephath in the region of Sidon. Go and live there. I have told a widow who lives there that she must give you food to eat.’

¹⁰ So Elijah went to Zarephath. When he arrived at the town gate, he met a widow.^[e] She was picking up some sticks. Elijah asked her, ‘Please bring me some water in a jar, so that I can drink it.’ ¹¹ While she went to get it, he said, ‘Please bring me a piece of bread too.’ ¹² She replied, ‘As surely as the Lord your God lives, I do not have any bread. I have only a small amount of flour in a bowl and some olive oil in a small jar. I am now picking up a few sticks to take home. Then I will cook a meal for myself and for my son. We will eat it. Then we will die because there is nothing else to eat.’

¹³ Elijah said to her, ‘Do not be afraid. Go home and do what you have said. But first, use some of your flour to make a small piece of bread for me. Then bring it to me. After that, you should make something for yourself and for your son. ¹⁴ This is what the Lord, Israel's God, says: “You will not use all the flour in your bowl. You will not use all the oil in your jar. They will not become empty until the day when the Lord causes rain to fall on the ground again.” ’

¹⁵ Then the widow went home. She did what Elijah had told her to do. After that, there was enough food every day for Elijah and for the widow and her family. ¹⁶ The flour in the bowl and the olive oil in the jar never finished. The Lord had promised Elijah that this would happen.

¹⁷ Some time after that, the widow's son became ill. He became very ill until he could no longer breathe. ¹⁸ The woman said to Elijah, ‘Servant of God, why have you come to hurt me like this? Did you come to kill my son so that I would remember all my sins?’ ¹⁹ Elijah replied, ‘Give your son to me.’ He took her son from her arms. He carried the boy upstairs, to the room where he was staying. He put the boy down to lie on his bed. ²⁰ Then Elijah prayed to the Lord, ‘Lord, my God! Why have you caused such bad trouble to happen to this kind widow? I came to stay with her and now you have killed her son!’ ²¹ Then Elijah lay with his body across the boy. He did that three times. He prayed to the Lord, ‘Lord, my God, please cause this boy's life to return to him!’ ²² The Lord answered Elijah's prayer. The boy started to breathe again. He was alive! ²³ Elijah picked up the boy. He carried him down from his room into the house. He gave the boy to his mother and he said, ‘Look! Your son is alive!’ ²⁴ Then the woman said to Elijah, ‘Now I know that you are a servant of God. The words that you speak are truly a message from the Lord.’

Elijah and Obadiah

18 When there had been no rain for three years, the Lord told Elijah, ‘Go and meet King Ahab. After that, I will send rain to make the ground wet again.’ ² So Elijah went to meet Ahab.

At that time, the famine in Samaria was very bad. ³ King Ahab told his officer Obadiah to come and meet him. Obadiah had authority over the king's palace.

Obadiah obeyed the Lord very faithfully.^{[f] 4} At one time, Ahab's wife Jezebel was killing many of the Lord's prophets. While she was doing this, Obadiah had kept 100 prophets safe. He had hidden them in two caves, with 50 prophets in each cave. He had also given them food and water.

⁵ Now Ahab said to Obadiah, ‘Go through all the land to where there are valleys and springs of water. See if we can find some grass to feed the horses and mules. Then we will not have to kill our animals.’ ⁶ So Ahab and Obadiah went to different parts of the country. Ahab went in one direction and Obadiah went in another direction.

⁷ While Obadiah was walking along, Elijah met him. Obadiah recognized Elijah. He bent his body down towards the ground in front of Elijah. Obadiah said, ‘Is it really you, my master, Elijah?’ ⁸ Elijah replied. ‘Yes! Now go and tell your master that Elijah is here again.’ ⁹ Obadiah said, ‘Why are you sending me to my death? What have I done to hurt you? Ahab will certainly kill me if I tell him you are here! ¹⁰ As surely as the Lord your God lives, my master, King Ahab, has sent people everywhere to look for you. He has looked in every nation and every kingdom. When they say, “Elijah is not here!” he makes them promise that they are speaking the truth. ¹¹ But now you are telling me to go to my master. You want me to say, “Elijah is here!” ¹² When I leave you, I do not know where the Lord's Spirit will take you. I may not be able to find you again. Then if I tell Ahab that I have seen you, he still will not find you. So he will kill me.

But I have served the Lord faithfully since I was a young man. ¹³ You know, sir, about what I did when Jezebel was killing the Lord's prophets. I hid 100 prophets in two caves. I put 50 prophets in each cave. I gave them food and water. ¹⁴ But now you tell me to go to my master and say, “Elijah is here!” I know that he will kill me!’

¹⁵ Elijah said, ‘I serve the Lord Almighty. As surely as he lives, I promise that I will meet with King Ahab today.’

Elijah and Baal's prophets

¹⁶ So Obadiah went to Ahab. He told Ahab where Elijah was. So King Ahab went to meet Elijah. ¹⁷ When Ahab saw Elijah, he said to him, ‘Is that really you, the man who brings trouble to Israel?’ ¹⁸ Elijah replied, ‘I have not brought trouble to Israel. But you and your father's family have done that. You have refused to obey the Lord's commands. Instead, you have worshipped the false gods of Baal. ¹⁹ Now, tell people from all over Israel to come and meet me. They must meet me on Mount Carmel. Also, bring the 450 prophets who serve Baal and the 400 prophets of Asherah that Jezebel provides with food.’

²⁰ So Ahab sent men to take that message to all the Israelites. He brought the prophets to meet together at Mount Carmel. ²¹ Elijah stood up in front of the people and he said, ‘You must now decide who to worship! If the Lord is the true God, worship him. But if Baal is God, worship him.’ But the people said nothing.

²² Then Elijah said to them, ‘I am the only prophet of the Lord who is still here. Baal has 450 prophets here.^{[g] 23} Now fetch two bulls for us. Baal's prophets can choose one bull for themselves. Then they must cut it into pieces. They must put the pieces on the wood on the altar. But they must not light the fire. After that, I will prepare the other bull and I will put it on the wood. But I will not light the fire. ²⁴ Then, you pray to your god, and I will pray to the Lord. The god who answers and who sends fire to light the wood, he is the true God!’ All the people agreed that this was a good idea.

²⁵ Elijah said to Baal's prophets, ‘There are many of you, so choose one of the bulls and prepare it first. Pray to your god, but do not light the fire.’ ²⁶ So Baal's prophets took a bull as Elijah had told them. They prepared it and they put it on the altar that they had made. Then they prayed to Baal all the time, from morning until noon. They shouted, ‘Baal, answer us!’ But there was no voice that answered them. They jumped and they danced around the altar. ²⁷ At noon, Elijah began to laugh at them. ‘Shout louder!’ he said. ‘He is a god, isn't he? Maybe he is thinking about something else! Or has he left the room for a moment? Maybe he has gone away from home on a journey. Or perhaps he is asleep and you need to wake him up!’

²⁸ So Baal's prophets shouted louder. They cut themselves with swords and knives, as their customs taught them to do. Soon, there was blood all over them. ²⁹ They continued to shout and dance all the afternoon, until the time of the evening offering. But there was no voice to reply. There was no answer at all.

³⁰ Then Elijah said to all the people, ‘Come nearer to me.’ When they came, Elijah mended the Lord's altar that had broken into pieces. ³¹ Elijah picked up 12 stones, one for each of the tribes that were Jacob's descendants. Jacob was the man that the Lord had given the new name ‘Israel’. ³² Elijah used the 12 stones to build an altar that would give honour to the Lord. He dug a hole in the ground all around it. The hole was big enough to contain 15 litres of seeds. ³³ Then he put wood on the altar. He cut the bull into pieces and he put the pieces on top of the wood. Then he said to the people, ‘Fill four large jars with water. Pour the water all over the offering and the wood.’ ³⁴ After they did that, Elijah told them, ‘Do it again!’ So they did it again. Then he told them, ‘Do it a third time!’ So they did it for the third time. ³⁵ The water poured down all the sides of the altar. It filled the hole that was around the altar.

³⁶ The time came for the evening offering. Then God's prophet Elijah came to the front of the altar. He prayed, ‘Lord, you are the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel. Show people clearly today that you are the God who rules over Israel. Show that I am your servant. Show that I have done all these things because you commanded me to do them. ³⁷ Please answer me, Lord! Answer me so that these people will know that you, Lord, are the true God. They will know that you have caused them to turn back to serve you again.’

³⁸ Then the Lord sent fire down from above. It burned the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the dirt. It made all the water in the hole around the altar disappear! ³⁹ When all the people saw this, they threw themselves down on the ground. They shouted, ‘The Lord is the true God! Yes, the Lord is God!’ ⁴⁰ Then Elijah said, ‘Take hold of Baal's prophets! Do not let any of them run away!’ So they caught them. Then Elijah took the prophets down to the Kishon Valley. There, he punished them with death.

Elijah waits for rain

⁴¹ Then Elijah said to Ahab, ‘Go now and have some food to eat. Go quickly, because there is the sound of heavy rain that is coming.’ ⁴² So Ahab went away to eat and to drink. But Elijah climbed to the top of Mount Carmel. He bent low down towards the ground. He put his face between his knees. ⁴³ He said to his servant, ‘Go up and look towards the sea.’ So his servant did that. He said to Elijah, ‘There is nothing to see there.’ Elijah told his servant seven times, ‘Go back and look again.’ ⁴⁴ The seventh time, the servant said, ‘I can see a small cloud above the sea that is coming this way. It is only as big as a man's hand.’^[h] So Elijah said, ‘Go and tell Ahab, “Prepare your chariot now! Go back down quickly before the rain stops you.” ’ ⁴⁵ As Elijah said this, the sky became very dark with black clouds. The wind started to blow and there was a heavy storm of rain.

King Ahab rode away towards Jezreel. ⁴⁶ Then the Lord gave Elijah special power. Elijah tied his robe into his belt and he ran all the way to Jezreel. Ahab followed him.

Elijah runs away

19 King Ahab told Jezebel about everything that Elijah had done. He told her how Elijah had killed all Baal's prophets with a sword. ² So Jezebel sent someone with this message to Elijah: ‘By this time tomorrow, I will make sure that you are dead, the same as Baal's prophets! If I do not do that, I pray that the gods will kill me instead.’

³ Elijah became very afraid. He ran away to save his life. He arrived at Beersheba in Judah.^[i] He left his servant there. ⁴ Then Elijah went into the desert by himself. He travelled for about a day. He found a small tree there and he sat down under it. He prayed that he might die. He said, ‘Lord, I have had enough trouble! Take my life from me. It is no better for me here than to be with my dead ancestors.’ ⁵ Then he lay down under the tree and he slept. Suddenly, an angel came and touched him. The angel said, ‘Get up and eat something.’ ⁶ When Elijah looked, he saw some bread near his head. Someone had baked it on a fire. There was also a jar of water. So he ate the bread and he drank the water. Then he lay down again to sleep. ⁷ The angel of the Lord came back a second time. He touched Elijah and he said, ‘Get up and eat more food. Then you will be strong enough to go on a long journey.’ ⁸ So Elijah got up. He ate the food and he drank the water. The meal made him strong enough to travel for 40 days and 40 nights. He travelled to Sinai, the mountain of God.^[j]

The Lord appears to Elijah

⁹ Elijah went into a cave on Sinai mountain and he stayed there all night. Suddenly, the Lord spoke to Elijah. He asked Elijah, ‘Elijah, why have you come here?’ ¹⁰ Elijah replied, ‘The Israelites have turned away from the covenant that you made with them. They have destroyed your altars.^[k] They have killed your prophets with swords. But I have always served the Lord God Almighty faithfully. Now I am the only prophet that is still alive and they are trying to kill me too.’ ¹¹ The Lord said, ‘Go out from the cave and stand on the mountain, in front of me. I, the Lord, will pass in front of you.’

Then a very strong wind broke the mountain apart. It broke the rocks into pieces as the Lord came near. But the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind, there was an earthquake. But the Lord was not in the earthquake. ¹² After the earthquake, there was a fire. But the Lord was not in the fire. After the fire, there was a very quiet voice. ¹³ When Elijah heard that, he covered his face with his robe. He went out and he stood at the entrance of the cave. Then a voice said to him, ‘Elijah, why have you come here?’^{[l] 14} Elijah said, ‘The Israelites have turned away from the covenant that you made with them. They have destroyed your altars. They have killed your prophets with swords. But I have always served the Lord God Almighty faithfully. Now I am the only prophet that is still alive and they are trying to kill me too.’

¹⁵ The Lord said to Elijah, ‘Go back again along the way that you came. Go to the desert which is near Damascus. When you arrive there, anoint Hazael to make him king of Syria. ¹⁶ You must also anoint Nimshi's grandson Jehu to make him king of Israel. Then anoint Shapat's son Elisha from Abel Meholah to be my prophet after you. ¹⁷ Jehu's army will kill anyone that Hazael's army does not kill. Then Elisha will kill anyone who escapes from Jehu. ¹⁸ But remember this: I still have 7,000 people in Israel who have not worshipped Baal. They have not kissed his idols.’

Elisha becomes Elijah's servant

¹⁹ Elijah went away from Sinai. He found Shaphat's son, Elisha. Elisha was ploughing a field with 12 pairs of oxen. Elisha himself was using the 12th pair of oxen to plough. Elijah went to Elisha and he threw his robe over him.^{[m] 20} So Elisha left his oxen in the field and he ran after Elijah.

Elisha said, ‘Let me go home first to kiss my father and my mother and say “goodbye”. Then I will come with you.’ Elijah replied, ‘Yes, go back home. But do not forget about what I have done to you.’

²¹ So Elisha went back to his field. He took his pair of oxen and he killed them as a sacrifice. He burned wood from the plough to cook the meat. He gave the meat to the people who were there and they ate it. Then he left home to go with Elijah and to become his helper.

Ben-Hadad attacks Samaria

20 Ben-Hadad was the king of Syria.^[n] He got all his army together. 32 other kings with their horses and chariots joined with him. He went to attack the city of Samaria. He put his army all around it and then he attacked it. ² He sent men to take a message to Ahab, the king of Israel, who was in the city. ³ The message said: ‘This message is from King Ben-Hadad. He says, “Your silver and your gold now belong to me. Your best wives and your strongest children will also be mine.” ’

⁴ The king of Israel replied, ‘My master, the king, I agree with what you have said. I, and everything that I have, belongs to you.’

⁵ Ben-Hadad's men then took another message to Ahab. They said to him, ‘This is what Ben-Hadad says: “I already told you that you must give me your silver, your gold, your wives and your children. ⁶ At this time tomorrow, I will send my officers to look for things in your palace. They will also look in the houses of your officers. They will take away everything that is valuable.” ’

⁷ Then King Ahab told all the leaders of Israel to come to him. He said to them, ‘See what this man is doing! He wants to cause trouble! He asked me to give him my wives, my children, my silver and my gold. And I did not refuse to do it.’ ⁸ The leaders and the people answered King Ahab, ‘Do not listen to that man. Do not agree to do what he is asking for.’

⁹ So King Ahab said to the men who brought the messages from King Ben-Hadad, ‘Say this to my master, the king of Syria: “I agree to do everything that you asked for the first time. But I will not let you take the other things that you want.” ’

So the men took Ahab's answer back to Ben-Hadad. ¹⁰ Then Ben-Hadad sent men with another message to Ahab. He said, ‘I promise that my soldiers will completely destroy Samaria! There will be nothing left! There will not even be enough dirt to fill the hands of each of my soldiers. I pray that the gods will punish me very much if that does not happen!’ ¹¹ The king of Israel replied, ‘Tell King Ben-Hadad, “Do not boast when you are preparing for a battle. Wait until the battle has finished and you know that you have won.” ’

¹² When Ben-Hadad received Ahab's message, he and the other kings were drinking wine in their tents. Ben-Hadad told his officers, ‘Prepare to attack!’ So they prepared to attack the city of Samaria.

The Lord rescues Israel

¹³ Then a prophet came to Ahab, the king of Israel. He said, ‘The Lord says this to you: “Look at Ben-Hadad's great army! Today I will put them under your power. Then you will know that I am the Lord.” ’ ¹⁴ King Ahab asked, ‘But who will fight this battle?’ The prophet answered, ‘This is what the Lord says: “The young soldiers who are under the authority of each region's officer will do it.” ’ Then Ahab asked, ‘Who will lead them into the battle?’ The prophet answered, ‘You will do that.’

¹⁵ So Ahab brought together the young soldiers of each region. There were 232 of them. Then he brought together the whole Israelite army. There were 7,000 of them.

¹⁶ The soldiers marched out of Samaria at noon. Ben-Hadad and the 32 other kings were still drinking in their tents. They were drunk. ¹⁷ The young soldiers of each region's officers went in front of the Israelite army.

Ben-Hadad had sent men out to watch the Israelites. They told him, ‘Men are marching out from Samaria.’ ¹⁸ Ben-Hadad commanded, ‘If they are coming to make peace with me, catch them alive. If they have come out to fight a battle, do the same thing.’

¹⁹ The Israelites marched out of the city as the young soldiers led the whole army. ²⁰ Each of the Israelite soldiers killed one of the enemy's soldiers. Then the Syrian soldiers ran away as the Israelites chased them. Ben-Hadad, the king of Syria, rode away on his horse and he escaped. Some of his soldiers who rode on horses went with him. ²¹ Then the king of Israel came out of the city and he attacked the Syrian horses and chariots. He destroyed them and he won the battle against the Syrian army.

²² After the battle, the prophet came to the king of Israel again. He said to him, ‘Now go and make your army strong. Decide what you need to do. Do this, because next spring the king of Syria will attack you again.’

²³ At the same time, some of the king of Syria's officers said to him, ‘The gods of the Israelites are gods who live in the hills. That is why the Israelites were too strong for us. But if we fight them on the lower ground, we will surely be stronger than them. ²⁴ You should do this: Remove all the other kings. Put your own officers to lead the army instead. ²⁵ Bring together enough men to make an army as big as the one that lost the battle. There must be the same number of horses and chariots. Then we will fight the Israelites on the low ground. If we do that, we will surely be stronger than them.’ Ben-Hadad agreed with them. He did what they had suggested.

²⁶ The next spring, King Ben-Hadad brought together the men for his army. The Syrian army marched to Aphek to fight against the Israelites. ²⁷ King Ahab brought together the Israelite army and he gave them food and weapons. Then they marched out to fight against the Syrian army. The Israelite soldiers stood there in two groups. They looked like two small groups of goats! The Syrian soldiers were so many that they covered all the land around.

²⁸ God's servant, the prophet, went to the king of Israel. He said to the king, ‘This is what the Lord says: “The Syrians think that the Lord is a god who lives only in the hills. They think that he has no authority in the valleys. But I will give you power over all their great army. Then you will know that I am the Lord” ’

²⁹ For seven days, the two armies stayed in their camps where they could see each other. On the seventh day, the battle started. The Israelites killed 100,000 Syrian soldiers on that one day. ³⁰ The other soldiers ran back to Aphek. When they went into the city, the city wall fell on 27,000 of them. King Ben-Hadad also ran into the city. He hid in a room at the back of a house.

³¹ Some of Ben-Hadad's officers said to him, ‘We have heard that the family of kings who rule Israel are kind men. We should show that we are sorry. We will tie sackcloth around our bodies. We will put ropes around our heads. Then maybe King Ahab will let you live.’ ³² So they tied sackcloth around themselves. They put ropes around their heads.^[o] They went to the king of Israel and they said, ‘Your servant Ben-Hadad says, “Please let me live.” ’ King Ahab asked, ‘Is Ben-Hadad still alive? He is like my own brother.’^{[p] 33} When Ben-Hadad's men heard this, they thought that it was a friendly answer. So they quickly agreed, ‘Yes! Ben-Hadad is like your own brother.’ King Ahab said, ‘Go and fetch him.’

So Ben-Hadad came out from Aphek city. Ahab took him up into his chariot. ³⁴ Ben-Hadad said, ‘I will give back to you the cities that my father took from your father. Your traders can have their own markets in Damascus, as my father had in Samaria.’ Ahab answered, ‘If you do that, I will agree to let you go as a free man.’ So King Ahab made an agreement with King Ben-Hadad. Then he let him go home.

A prophet warns King Ahab

³⁵ At this time, the Lord gave a message to a prophet who belonged to a group of prophets. He told the prophet to say to one of his friends, ‘Hit me with your stick.’ But his friend refused to do it.^{[q] 36} So the prophet said to him, ‘You have not obeyed the Lord's command. Because of that, a lion will kill you as soon as you leave here.’ After the man left the prophet, a lion attacked him and it killed him.

³⁷ Then the prophet found another man. He said to him, ‘Please hit me!’ So the man hit him. He hurt the prophet very much. ³⁸ Then the prophet went and he stood beside the road. He was waiting for king Ahab to come. He tied a cloth over his eyes so that the king would not recognize him.

³⁹ When the king came along the road, the prophet shouted to him, ‘Please sir, I went to fight in the middle of the battle. Then someone brought an enemy soldier to me as a prisoner. He said to me, “Keep this prisoner safe. If he escapes for any reason, you will die! To save your life, you will have to pay 3,000 silver coins.” ⁴⁰ But I had other things to do, sir. While I was doing them, the prisoner escaped.’

King Ahab replied, ‘What you have just said shows that you deserve your punishment.’

⁴¹ Then the prophet quickly took away the cloth that covered his eyes. The king recognized that the man was one of the prophets. ⁴² The prophet said to the king, ‘This is what the Lord says to you: “I decided that a man should die, but you have let him go free. So you must pay for his life with your life. Your people will receive the trouble that his people deserved.” ’

⁴³ So King Ahab of Israel went home to his palace in Samaria. He was angry and upset.

Naboth's vineyard

21 Naboth lived in a town called Jezreel. He had a vineyard in Jezreel, near to the palace of Ahab, the king of Samaria. ² King Ahab said to Naboth, ‘Give me your vineyard. I want to grow vegetables in it, because it is near to my palace. I will give you a better vineyard instead of that one. Or, if you want, I will pay you its value in money.’ ³ Naboth replied to Ahab, ‘The Lord will never allow that to happen! It belongs to me because it belonged to my ancestors.’^[r]

⁴ So Ahab went home to his palace. He was angry and upset because of what Naboth had said. He had said, ‘I will not sell you my vineyard that belonged to my ancestors.’ Ahab lay on his bed. He covered his face and he would not eat any food.

⁵ Ahab's wife, Jezebel, came in to his room. She asked him, ‘Why are you so upset? Why do you refuse to eat anything?’ ⁶ Ahab answered her, ‘It is because of Naboth, the man from Jezreel. I said to him, “Sell your vineyard to me. Or, if you want, I will give you another vineyard instead of that one.” But he said, “I will not give you my vineyard.” ’

⁷ Jezebel said, ‘You are the king who rules Israel! Now get up from your bed and eat something. Do not be upset! I will get Naboth's vineyard for you.’

⁸ Jezebel wrote some letters as if King Ahab had written them. She used his special seal as a mark on them. Then she sent them to the older leaders and important men who lived in Jezreel with Naboth. ⁹ This is what she wrote in those letters: ‘Choose a day for everyone to fast. Give Naboth a seat where the people can see him. ¹⁰ Put two wicked men in seats near him. Tell them to accuse Naboth that he has insulted God and the king. Then take him out. Throw stones at him until he is dead.’

¹¹ So the leaders and the important men who lived in Naboth's city, obeyed Jezebel. They did what she commanded them to do in the letters that she sent to them. ¹² They chose a day for the people to fast. They put Naboth in a seat where the people could see him. ¹³ Then two wicked men came and they sat near to him. They accused Naboth so that the people could all hear them. They said, ‘Naboth has insulted God and the king.’ So the people took him outside the city. They threw stones at him until he was dead. ¹⁴ Then the city's leaders sent a message to Jezebel. They told her, ‘The people have killed Naboth with stones.’

¹⁵ When Jezebel heard that Naboth was dead, she said to Ahab, ‘Get up from your bed! Go to Jezreel and take Naboth's vineyard for yourself. He refused to sell it to you when he was alive. But now he is dead.’ ¹⁶ When Ahab knew that Naboth was dead, he got up from his bed. He went to Naboth's vineyard to take it for himself.

¹⁷ After this, the Lord gave a message to Elijah, the prophet from Tishbe. ¹⁸ He said to Elijah, ‘Go now to meet King Ahab of Israel who rules in Samaria. He is at Naboth's vineyard to take it as his own vineyard. ¹⁹ Say to Ahab, “This is what the Lord says to you: You have murdered a man. You have taken the dead man's field for yourself.” Then say to him, “This is what the Lord says: In the place where the dogs drank Naboth's blood from the ground, dogs will drink your blood. Yes, they will drink your blood there too!” ’

²⁰ When Elijah met Ahab, Ahab said to him, ‘So, my enemy, now you have found me!’ Elijah answered, ‘Yes, I have found you to warn you! You have decided to do things that the Lord says are evil. ²¹ So the Lord says, “Now I will bring great trouble on you. I will destroy you and your family. I will kill every male among Ahab's descendants in Israel, whoever they are. ²² I will destroy your family as I did to the family of Nebat's son Jeroboam and the family of Ahijah's son Baasha. I will do this because you have made me angry and you have caused Israel's people to do wrong things.” ²³ The Lord says this about Jezebel: “Dogs will eat Jezebel's dead body beside the city wall of Jezreel.”^{[s] 24} If people of Ahab's family die in the city, dogs will eat their bodies. If they die in the country, vultures will eat them.’

²⁵ Ahab had decided to do everything that the Lord said was evil. He was more wicked than any other person who had lived. His wife Jezebel helped him to be like that. ²⁶ Ahab was so wicked that he worshipped useless idols, as the Amorites did. The Lord had chased those people out of the land so that the Israelites could live there.

²⁷ When Ahab heard Elijah's message, he tore his clothes into pieces. He dressed himself in sackcloth and he did not eat any food. He even wore sackcloth when he slept on his bed. He walked slowly with a sad face.^[t]

²⁸ Then the Lord said to Elijah, ²⁹ ‘You have surely seen that Ahab now respects me. Because he has become humble, I will not destroy his family while he is alive. I will wait until his son rules as king. Then I will bring great trouble on Ahab's descendants.’

The prophet Micaiah

22 There was no war between Syria and Israel for three years. ² But after three years, Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, went to visit the king of Israel.

³ The king of Israel said to his leaders, ‘You know that Ramoth Gilead belongs to us. But we are not doing anything to take it back from the king of Syria.’ ⁴ So the king of Israel asked Jehoshaphat, ‘Will you go with me to attack Ramoth Gilead?’ Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, ‘Yes, we should work together! Use my soldiers and my horses as if they belonged to you.’

⁵ Then Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, ‘Before we go to fight, we must ask the Lord what we should do.’ ⁶ So the king of Israel brought together about 400 prophets. He asked them, ‘Should I attack Ramoth Gilead, or not?’ They answered, ‘Yes, go and attack it, because the Lord God will give it to you, our king.’

⁷ But Jehoshaphat then asked, ‘Is there any other prophet of the Lord that we could ask?’^{[u] 8} The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, ‘There is still one man. We could ask him what the Lord wants us to do. But I do not like him, because he never says that anything good will happen to me. He only says that I will have trouble. He is Imlah's son, Micaiah.’ Jehoshaphat said, ‘The king should not talk like that.’ ⁹ So the king of Israel said to one of his officers, ‘Bring Imlah's son Micaiah here quickly.’

¹⁰ The king of Israel and Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, were each sitting on their thrones. They were wearing their royal clothes. They sat near the threshing floor at Samaria's city gate.^[v] All the prophets stood in front of them and they were speaking messages from God. ¹¹ Kenaanah's son Zedekiah had used iron to make sharp points like a bull's horns. He said, ‘This is what the Lord says: “With these sharp horns you will attack Syria's army. You will destroy them all.” ’^{[w] 12} All the other prophets were speaking the same message. They said, ‘Attack Ramoth Gilead. You will win the fight. The Lord will give the city to you, our king.’

¹³ The man who had gone to fetch Micaiah said to him, ‘All the other prophets are saying the same thing. They say that the king will win the fight. So you must agree with what they are saying. Promise that something good will happen.’ ¹⁴ But Micaiah said, ‘I can only speak what the Lord tells me to say. As surely as the Lord lives, that is what I must do.’

¹⁵ When Micaiah arrived, the king asked him, ‘Micaiah, should we attack Ramoth Gilead or not?’ Micaiah answered, ‘Yes, attack it. You will surely win the fight. The Lord will give it to you, our king.’ ¹⁶ Then King Ahab said to Micaiah, ‘I have already told you many times to tell me only what is true! You must promise to do this in the name of the Lord!’

¹⁷ Then Micaiah said, ‘I saw the whole army of Israel and they were walking about on the hills without any leader. They were like sheep with no shepherd as their guide. The Lord told me, “These people have no master. They should go home quietly and they should not fight.” ’

¹⁸ The king of Israel said to King Jehoshaphat, ‘I told you what he would say! He never says that anything good will happen to me. He only says that I will have trouble.’ ¹⁹ Then Micaiah said, ‘So now listen to the Lord's message! I saw the Lord as he was sitting on his throne. The great crowd of his angels in heaven were standing around him, on his right side and on his left side. ²⁰ The Lord asked, “Who will go and deceive King Ahab so that he attacks Ramoth Gilead and he dies there?” Many of the angels suggested different things. ²¹ Then a spirit came and stood in front of the Lord. The spirit said, “I will deceive Ahab.”^[x] The Lord asked him, “How will you do it?” ²² The spirit said, “I will give a message to all Ahab's prophets. I will cause them to speak lies.” The Lord said, “Go and deceive King Ahab, as you have said. He will do what you say.”

²³ So you see what has happened. The Lord has sent a spirit to all these prophets who serve you. This spirit has caused them to speak lies. The Lord has decided that terrible trouble will come on you.’

²⁴ Then Kenaanah's son Zedekiah went to Micaiah. He hit Micaiah on his face. He asked Micaiah, ‘Do you say that the Lord's spirit has gone away from me and has spoken to you instead? How did he do that?’ ²⁵ Micaiah answered him, ‘One day, you will know which of us has spoken the truth. That will be the day that you go to hide in a room at the back of a house.’^[y]

²⁶ Then the king of Israel said to his men, ‘Take hold of Micaiah. Take him back to Amon, the city officer, and to Joash, the king's son. ²⁷ Say to them, “The king commands you to put this man in prison. Feed him with only a little bread and water until I return safely from the battle.” ’ ²⁸ Micaiah said, ‘If you do return safely, it will show that I have not spoken the Lord's message.’ Then he said to all the people who were there, ‘Remember what I have said to King Ahab!’

King Ahab dies in battle

²⁹ So King Ahab of Israel and King Jehoshaphat of Judah went to attack Ramoth Gilead. ³⁰ King Ahab said to Jehoshaphat, ‘When we go into the battle, I will wear ordinary clothes. People will not recognize me as the king. But you should wear your royal clothes.’ So the king of Israel went into the battle as if he was an ordinary soldier.

³¹ The king of Syria had said to his 32 chariot officers, ‘Only fight the king of Israel. Do not fight against anyone else, whoever they are.’^{[z] 32} The chariot officers saw King Jehoshaphat in his royal clothes. They thought, ‘Surely that man is the king of Israel.’ So they turned towards him to attack him. When King Jehoshaphat saw them, he shouted out. ³³ Then the chariot officers realized that he was not the king of Israel. So they did not chase him any more.

³⁴ Then a Syrian soldier shot an arrow into the air. He did not try to shoot at anyone, but the arrow hit the king of Israel. The arrow went through a space in the king's armour. The king commanded the man who drove his chariot, ‘Turn the chariot around. Take me away from the battle. An arrow has hit me.’

³⁵ The soldiers fought the battle all day. While they were fighting, King Ahab sat in his chariot where he could see the Syrian soldiers. His blood poured out and it covered the floor of the chariot. When evening came, Ahab died. ³⁶ At sunset, the Israelite soldiers shouted to each other, ‘Leave the battle! Every man should return home to the city where he lives.’

³⁷ So the king of Israel died. They took him to Samaria. They buried him there. ³⁸ They washed his blood from the chariot at the pool of water in Samaria. It was the place where the prostitutes washed themselves. The dogs drank Ahab's blood there. The Lord had said that this would happen.^[aa]

³⁹ The other things that happened while Ahab was king are written in a book. The book is called ‘The history of Israel's kings’. It tells about all the great things that he did. It also tells about the beautiful palace and the cities that he built.

⁴⁰ Ahab died and they buried him beside his ancestors. His son Ahaziah became king after him.

King Jehoshaphat of Judah

⁴¹ In the fourth year that Ahab ruled Israel as king, Asa's son Jehoshaphat became the king of Judah. ⁴² Jehoshaphat was 35 years old when he became king. He ruled in Jerusalem for 25 years. His mother's name was Azubah. She was the daughter of Shilhi.

⁴³ Jehoshaphat lived in the good way that his father Asa had lived. He only did things that the Lord says are right. But he did not remove all the altars that were on the hills. People continued to offer sacrifices on those altars and they continued to burn incense there. ⁴⁴ Jehoshaphat agreed not to fight against the king of Israel.

⁴⁵ The other things that happened while Jehoshaphat was king are written in a book. The book is called ‘The history of Judah's kings’. It tells about the great things that he did and the battles that he fought. ⁴⁶ He also removed the male prostitutes who lived near the special altars.^[ab] His father Asa had removed many of them when he ruled as king. Jehoshaphat removed those who were still there.

⁴⁷ At this time there was no king who ruled Edom. Their ruler was an officer that King Jehoshaphat had chosen. ⁴⁸ Jehoshaphat built some big ships to bring back gold from Ophir. But they never left Ezion-Geber because a storm destroyed them. So they never travelled anywhere. ⁴⁹ At that time, Ahab's son Ahaziah said to Jehoshaphat, ‘Let my sailors join with your sailors on the ships.’ But Jehoshaphat refused.

⁵⁰ Jehoshaphat died and they buried him beside his ancestors in the City of David, his ancestor. Jehoshaphat's son Jehoram became king after him.

King Ahaziah of Israel

⁵¹ When Jehoshaphat had ruled Judah for 17 years, Ahab's son Ahaziah became the king of Israel in Samaria. Ahaziah ruled Israel as king for two years. ⁵² He did things that the Lord said were evil. He lived in the way that his father and mother had lived. He caused the Israelites to do bad things, as Nebat's son Jeroboam had done. ⁵³ Ahaziah served Baal as his god and he worshipped him. He made the Lord, Israel's God, very angry, as his father had also done.^[ac]

King Ahaziah dies

1 After King Ahab's death, the country of Moab turned against Israel. ² At this time, Ahaziah was king of Israel. He lived in the city of Samaria. One day he fell from the window of an upstairs room in his palace. He became very ill. So he sent men to the temple of Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron. He told them, ‘Ask their god if I will become well again after my disease.’

³ Then the angel of the Lord spoke to Elijah.^[ad] He was a prophet who came from Tishbe. The angel said, ‘Go and meet the men that the king of Samaria has sent. Say to them, “Do you think that there is no God in Israel? Is that why you are going to Ekron's god, Baal-Zebub, to ask if the king will be well again?” ⁴ Because you are doing this, the Lord says to you, Ahaziah, “You will never leave the bed that you are lying on. You will certainly die.” ’

⁵ Elijah went to tell the men the Lord's message. So the men returned to the king. He asked them, ‘Why have you returned already?’ ⁶ They replied, ‘A man came to meet us. He told us to go back to the king who had sent us. He says to you, “This is what the Lord says: Why have you sent men to speak to Ekron's god, Baal-Zebub? You seem to think that there is no God in Israel. Because of that, you will not leave the bed that you are lying on. You will certainly die.” ’

⁷ The king asked them, ‘Describe the man who came to meet you. What did he look like?’ ⁸ They replied, ‘He was wearing rough clothes. He had tied a leather belt around him.’ Then the king said, ‘That was Elijah, the prophet from Tishbe.’

⁹ Then the king sent 50 soldiers with their captain to fetch Elijah. Elijah was sitting on the top of a hill. The captain went up and he said to Elijah, ‘Man of God, the king says, “Come down with us.” ’

¹⁰ Elijah replied to the captain, ‘If I am really a man of God, fire will come down from the sky. It will destroy you and your 50 soldiers.’ Then fire did come down from the sky. It destroyed the captain and his 50 soldiers.

¹¹ Then the king sent another captain with 50 more soldiers to fetch Elijah. The captain went up and he said to Elijah, ‘Man of God, the king says, “Come down immediately!” ’ ¹² Elijah answered, ‘If I am really a man of God, fire will come down from the sky. It will destroy you and your 50 soldiers.’ Then fire from God did come down from the sky. It destroyed the captain and his 50 soldiers.

¹³ So the king sent a third captain, with 50 more soldiers. This captain went up to Elijah. He bent down on his knees in front of Elijah to ask him to be kind to them. He said, ‘Man of God, we are your servants. Please do not kill me and my 50 soldiers. ¹⁴ We know that fire came down from the sky. It destroyed the two captains who came before me and all their soldiers. But now, please be kind and do not kill me.’

¹⁵ The angel of the Lord said to Elijah, ‘Go down with him. Do not be afraid of him.’ So Elijah went down with the captain to meet the king. ¹⁶ Elijah said to the king, ‘This is what the Lord says: You sent men to speak to Ekron's god, Baal-Zebub, to find out what would happen to you. Did you think that there is no God in Israel? You did not ask him what would happen. Because of that, you will not leave the bed that you are lying on. You will certainly die.’

¹⁷ So Ahaziah died. The Lord had told Elijah that this would happen. Ahaziah had no son, so his brother, Joram, became king after him. This happened in the second year that Jehoshaphat's son, Jehoram, ruled Judah as king.

¹⁸ The other things that happened while Ahaziah was king are written in a book. The book is called ‘The history of Israel's kings’. It tells about the things that King Ahaziah did.^[ae]

Elijah goes up to heaven

2 The Lord was now ready to take Elijah up to heaven in a storm of wind. At this time, Elijah and Elisha were travelling from Gilgal. ² Elijah said to Elisha, ‘Stay here, because the Lord has sent me to Bethel.’ But Elisha replied, ‘I will not leave you. I promise that, as surely as the Lord lives and as surely as you also live.’

So they went down to Bethel together. ³ A group of prophets lived in Bethel. They came out to Elisha and they asked him, ‘Do you know that the Lord will take your master away from you today?’ Elisha replied, ‘Yes, I do know that, but do not talk about it now.’

⁴ Then Elijah said to Elisha, ‘Stay here, because the Lord has sent me to Jericho.’ But Elisha replied, ‘I will not leave you. I promise that, as surely as the Lord lives and as surely as you live.’

So they went to Jericho together. ⁵ A group of prophets lived in Jericho. They went out to Elisha and they asked him, ‘Do you know that the Lord will take your master away from you today?’ Elisha replied, ‘Yes, I do know that, but do not talk about it now.’

⁶ Then Elijah said to Elisha, ‘Stay here, because the Lord has sent me to the Jordan River.’ But Elisha replied, ‘I will not leave you. I promise that, as surely as the Lord lives and as surely as you live.’

So they continued to travel together. ⁷ 50 men who belonged to the group of prophets went and they stood near the Jordan River. They were standing not far away from Elijah and Elisha. They watched what happened. ⁸ Elijah took off his coat. He rolled it up and he hit the water with it. The water became separate to the left side and to the right side. Elijah and Elisha went across the river on dry ground.

⁹ After they had crossed the river, Elijah said to Elisha, ‘The Lord will soon take me away from you. What do you want me to do for you before that happens?’ Elisha replied, ‘Please let me have twice as much of your spirit.’ ¹⁰ Elijah said, ‘You have asked a difficult thing. But watch carefully when God takes me from you. If you see it happen, you will receive that spirit. If you do not see me, you will not receive it.’

¹¹ So they walked along and they talked together. Suddenly a chariot that was burning with fire appeared. The horses that pulled it were also burning with fire. The chariot went between Elijah and Elisha. Elijah went up to heaven in a storm of wind. ¹² When Elisha saw this, he shouted, ‘My father! My father!^[af] You are riding in Israel's chariot! Israel's men are riding on the horses!’

After that, Elisha could not see Elijah again. He took hold of his own clothes and he tore them into pieces because he was very upset. ¹³ He picked up Elijah's coat that had fallen off. He went and he stood on the shore of the Jordan River. ¹⁴ He took Elijah's coat and he hit the water with it. He said, ‘Now is the Lord, Elijah's God, with me?’ When he hit the water with Elijah's coat, the water became separate, to the left side and to the right side. Elisha went across the river.

¹⁵ The group of prophets from Jericho were standing not far away. They saw what happened. They said, ‘The spirit that gave power to Elijah is now with Elisha.’ They went to meet Elisha. They bent down low to the ground to respect him. ¹⁶ They said to him, ‘Please, sir! We are your servants. We have 50 strong men with us. Let them go and look for your master. Perhaps the Spirit^[ag] of the Lord has carried him away. Maybe it has dropped him somewhere on a mountain or in a valley.’ But Elisha replied, ‘No. Do not send them to look for him.’

¹⁷ But the prophets asked him many times to do this. Elisha was too ashamed to refuse. So he said, ‘Send them to look.’ They sent 50 men who looked for Elijah for three days. But they did not find him. ¹⁸ When they returned, Elisha was waiting for them in Jericho. He said to them, ‘I told you not to go and look for Elijah.’

Elisha shows that he has God's authority

¹⁹ One day, the leaders in Jericho said to Elisha, ‘Please listen to us, sir. You can see that our city is in a good place. But the water here is bad. The land does not give us good crops.’ ²⁰ Elisha said, ‘Bring a new bowl to me with some salt in it.’ So they brought it to him. ²¹ Then Elisha went out to the city's spring of water. He threw the salt into it. He said, ‘This is what the Lord says: “I have made this water clean again. It will no longer cause people to die. The land will no longer be useless for crops.” ’

²² Since that time, the water has always been pure. This is what Elisha had said would happen.

²³ Elisha went from Jericho to Bethel. While he travelled along the road, some boys came out of the town. They laughed at Elisha. They shouted at him, ‘Bald man, move on! Go away, you bald man!’ ²⁴ Elisha turned around and he looked at them. He asked the Lord to punish them. Two bears came out from the forest. They tore 42 of the boys in pieces.

²⁵ Then Elisha travelled to Mount Carmel. From there, he returned to Samaria.

Moab's people fight against Israel

3 Ahab's son Jehoram became the king of Israel in Samaria.^[ah] This happened when Jehoshaphat had been the king of Judah for 18 years. Jehoram ruled Israel as king for 12 years. ² He did things that the Lord said were evil. But he was not as bad as his father and his mother had been. Jehoram did throw away the stone pillar where people worshipped Baal. His father Ahab had made that pillar.^{[ai] 3} But Jehoram continued to do the same bad things that Nebat's son Jeroboam had done. Jeroboam had caused many people in Israel to do those sins, and Jehoram did not stop doing them himself.

⁴ Mesha, the king of Moab, was a sheep farmer. Every year he had to pay the king of Israel 100,000 male lambs and the wool from 100,000 male sheep. ⁵ But after King Ahab died, the king of Moab turned against the king of Israel. ⁶ So King Jehoram left Samaria to bring all Israel's army together. They were ready to attack Moab. ⁷ He also sent this message to Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah: ‘The king of Moab has turned against me. Will you go with me to fight against the Moabites?’

Jehoshaphat replied, ‘Yes, I will go with you. We will have one army. My soldiers will join with your soldiers. My horses will be under your authority.’

⁸ King Jehoram asked, ‘What road should we go on to attack Moab?’ King Jehoshaphat replied, ‘We should travel through the Edom desert.’

⁹ So the king of Israel, the king of Judah and the king of Edom joined together to attack Moab.^[aj] They were travelling along the road for seven days. After that time, there was no more water for the army or for their animals. ¹⁰ The king of Israel was very upset. He said, ‘What has happened? Perhaps the Lord has brought us three kings here to put us under the power of the king of Moab!’ ¹¹ But King Jehoshaphat asked, ‘There must surely be a prophet of the Lord here somewhere. We could ask him what the Lord wants us to do.’

An officer of the king of Israel answered him, ‘Yes, Shaphat's son Elisha is here. He was Elijah's servant.’ ¹² Jehoshaphat said, ‘He will tell us what the Lord is saying.’ So the king of Israel, King Jehoshaphat and the king of Edom went to meet Elisha.

¹³ Elisha said to the king of Israel, ‘We have nothing to say to each other! Instead, go to the prophets that your father and your mother liked to listen to.’ The king of Israel replied, ‘No! The Lord told us three kings to come here together. Now he is putting us under Moab's power.’ ¹⁴ Elisha said to him, ‘I serve the Lord Almighty. I promise you, as surely as the Lord lives, I would never even look at you! But I do respect Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, who is with you. So I will help you. ¹⁵ But now, bring someone to play music on a harp for me.’

While the man was making music, the Lord's power came to Elisha. ¹⁶ Elisha said, ‘This is what the Lord says: Dig many holes in this dry valley, ¹⁷ because the Lord says this: You will not see any wind or any rain. But this valley will become full of water! You, your cows and your other animals will have water to drink. ¹⁸ This is an easy thing for the Lord to do. He will also put the Moabites under your power. ¹⁹ You will destroy all their strong cities and all their important towns. You will cut down every good tree. You will stop their springs giving any water. You will cover their fields with stones so that nothing grows there.’

²⁰ The next morning, at the time when they offered the morning sacrifice, the water appeared! It came from the direction of Edom so that the land was full of water!

²¹ All the people in Moab had heard that the kings had come to attack them. So the leaders of Moab brought together every man who was old enough to fight. They put these men on Moab's border. ²² When the Moabites woke up early the next morning, the sun was shining on the water. When they looked at the water from where they were, it looked like blood! ²³ They said to each other, ‘That is blood! The armies of those kings have fought against each other. Now they are all dead! We must go and take all their valuable things!’

²⁴ So the Moabites arrived at the camp of the Israelite army. Then Israel's soldiers attacked the Moabites. The Moabites ran away back to their own land. The Israelites chased them and they completely destroyed them. ²⁵ They destroyed the Moabites' towns. Each Israelite soldier threw a stone onto all the good fields, until they covered them with stones. They filled the springs so that they gave no water. They cut down all the good trees.

Only the city of Kir-Hareseth was still there with its stone walls.^[ak] But the Israelite soldiers stood all around the city. They attacked it with stones from their slings. ²⁶ The king of Moab realized that he was not winning the battle. So he took 700 of his soldiers who had swords. They tried to attack their enemies and reach the king of Edom. But they failed to do that. ²⁷ So the king of Moab took his oldest son who would have become king after him. He killed him on the wall of the city as a burnt offering to their god.^[al] This made the Israelite soldiers become very upset. So they went away from the city and they returned to their own land.

Elisha helps a poor widow

4 There was a woman whose husband belonged to the group of prophets. When her husband died, she called out to Elisha for help. She said, ‘Your servant, my husband, is dead. He served the Lord faithfully. My husband was in debt to a certain man. Now that man wants to take my two children to be his slaves.’

² Elisha said to her, ‘How can I help you? Tell me, what things do you have in your house?’

She said to Elisha, ‘Please sir, I have nothing in the house. All I have is a small jar of olive oil.’

³ Then Elisha said to her, ‘Go to all your neighbours. Ask them to lend you empty jars. Make sure that you get a lot of them. ⁴ Then take the jars into your house. Go in with your sons and shut the door behind you. Pour the olive oil from your jar into all the other jars. When each jar is full, put it in a safe place.’

⁵ The widow left Elisha. She went into her house with her sons and she shut the door behind her. They brought the jars to her and she poured the oil into them. ⁶ When all the jars were full, she said to one of her sons, ‘Bring me another jar.’ But he said, ‘There are no more jars.’ Then there was no more olive oil to pour from her jar.

⁷ Then the widow went back to Elisha, the man of God. She told him what had happened. He said, ‘Go and sell the oil. Use some of the money to pay the debt to the man. Use the money that remains to buy food for you and your sons. Then you will live.’

Elisha gives life to a boy

⁸ One day, Elisha went to Shunem. A rich woman lived there. She asked Elisha to eat a meal with her family. So every time that he went near her house, he stopped there to eat a meal. ⁹ Then the woman said to her husband, ‘Listen! I believe that this man who often eats with us is a holy man who serves God. ¹⁰ We should make a small room on the roof of our house for him.^[am] We can put a bed, a table, a chair and a lamp in the room. Then, when he comes to visit us, he can stay there.’

¹¹ One day, Elisha came to Shunem again. He went up to the room on the roof. He lay down to rest there. ¹² He told Gehazi, his servant, ‘Ask the woman to come here.’ So Gehazi did that. The woman came and she stood in front of Elisha. ¹³ Elisha said to Gehazi, ‘Say to her, “You have done a lot to take care of us. So what can we do for you? Can we speak on your behalf to the king, or to the officer who leads the army?” ’ The woman replied, ‘I live here safely among my own people.’ ¹⁴ But Elisha asked Gehazi again, ‘What can we do to help her?’ Gehazi said, ‘She has no son. But her husband is an old man.’ ¹⁵ Elisha said, ‘Ask her to come here.’ When Gehazi did that, she came and she stood near the door. ¹⁶ Elisha said to her, ‘About this time next year, you will hold a son in your arms.’ The woman said, ‘No, my master! You are a man of God. Please do not tell me lies.’

¹⁷ But the woman did become pregnant. At that time next year she gave birth to a son. Elisha had said that this would happen.

¹⁸ One day, when the child was older, he went out to see his father. His father was working in a field with his men at harvest time. ¹⁹ He said to his father, ‘My head is hurting! Yes, it hurts!’ His father said to a servant, ‘Carry the boy to his mother.’ ²⁰ So the servant lifted him up and he carried him to his mother. The boy sat on his mother's knees until midday. Then he died. ²¹ She took the boy upstairs and she put him on the bed of the man of God. Then she went out of the room and she shut the door. ²² She sent a message to her husband. She said, ‘Send to me one of the servants with one of the donkeys. I must go quickly to see the man of God and then I will return.’ ²³ Her husband asked, ‘Why do you want to go and see him today? It is not a special day with a new moon. It is not a Sabbath day.’ She said, ‘All is well.’ ²⁴ Then she prepared the donkey. She said to her servant, ‘You go ahead and lead! Go as fast as you can unless I say, “Go more slowly.” ’

²⁵ So the woman went to see Elisha, the man of God, at Mount Carmel. Elisha saw her when she was a long way away. He said to his servant Gehazi, ‘Look! There is the woman from Shunem! ²⁶ Run to meet her. Ask her, “Are you well? Is your husband well? Is your son well?” ’ The woman replied, ‘All is well.’ ²⁷ But when she reached the man of God at Mount Carmel, she took hold of his feet. Gehazi came to push her away. But the man of God said, ‘Leave her alone. She is very upset. But the Lord has hidden the reason from me. He did not tell me about her problem.’

²⁸ The woman said, ‘My master, I did not ask you for a son, did I? I told you not to tell me lies. ’

²⁹ Elisha said to Gehazi, ‘Tie your belt around you. Prepare to travel! Take my stick with you and run there quickly. If you meet anyone, do not stop to speak. If anyone speaks to you, do not stop to answer them. When you get there, put my stick on the boy's face.’ ³⁰ But the child's mother said, ‘I promise you, as surely as the Lord lives and you live, I will not leave you.’ So Elisha got up and he went back to Shunem with her.

³¹ Gehazi ran ahead and he arrived before they did. He put Elisha's stick on the boy's face. But the boy did not move or make any sound. So Gehazi went back to meet Elisha. He said to him, ‘The boy did not wake up.’

³² When Elisha arrived at the house, the boy was lying on the bed. He saw that the boy was dead. ³³ Elisha went into the room by himself. He shut the door. Elisha prayed to the Lord. ³⁴ Then he got onto the bed and he lay across the boy. He put his mouth on the boy's mouth. He put his eyes over the boy's eyes. He put his hands on the boy's hands. When he lay across the boy's body, it became warm.

³⁵ Elisha went away from the bed. He walked round the room a few times. Then he got onto the bed again. He lay down across the boy. The boy sneezed seven times and then he opened his eyes.^{[an] 36} Then Elisha called Gehazi to come to him. He said, ‘Tell the boy's mother to come here.’ Gehazi did that. When the woman came, Elisha said to her, ‘Take your son.’ ³⁷ She came in to the room. She bent down low near Elisha's feet with her face towards the ground. Then she took her son and she left the room.