Chronological
1 ¶ Then Moab rebelled against Israel after the death of Ahab.
2 And Ahaziah fell down through a lattice in his upper chamber that was in Samaria and was sick, and he sent messengers and said unto them, Go, enquire of Baalzebub, the god of Ekron, whether I shall recover of this disease.
3 But the angel of the LORD said to Elijah, the Tishbite, Arise, go up to meet the messengers of the king of Samaria, and thou shalt say unto them, Is there no God in Israel, that ye go to enquire of Baalzebub, the god of Ekron?
4 Now therefore, thus hath the LORD said, Thou shalt not come down from that bed on which thou art gone up, but shalt surely die. And Elijah departed.
5 And when the messengers turned back unto him, he said unto them, Why are ye now turned back?
6 And they said unto him, We met a man who said unto us, Go, turn again unto the king that sent you and say unto him, Thus hath the LORD said, Is there no God in Israel, that thou dost send to enquire of Baalzebub, the god of Ekron? Therefore thou shalt not come down from that bed on which thou art gone up, but shalt surely die.
7 Then he said unto them, What manner of man was he who came up to meet you and told you these words?
8 And they answered him, He was a hairy man and girt with a girdle of leather about his loins. And he said, It is Elijah, the Tishbite.
9 ¶ Then the king sent unto him a captain of fifty with his fifty. And he went up to him, and, behold, he sat on the top of a mountain. And he spoke unto him, Man of God, the king has commanded thee to come down.
10 And Elijah answered and said to the captain of fifty, If I am a man of God, then let fire come down from heaven, and consume thee and thy fifty. And fire came down from heaven, that consumed him and his fifty.
11 Again also he sent unto him another captain of fifty with his fifty. And he answered and said unto him, O man of God, thus hath the king said, Come down quickly.
12 And Elijah answered and said unto them, If I am a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and consume thee and thy fifty. And the fire of God came down from heaven and consumed him and his fifty.
13 And he sent again a captain of the third fifty with his fifty. And the third captain of fifty went up and came and fell on his knees before Elijah and besought him and said unto him, O man of God, I pray thee, let my life and the life of these fifty thy slaves, be precious in thy sight.
14 Behold, fire has come down from heaven and burnt up the two captains of the former fifties with their fifties; therefore, let my soul now be precious in thy sight.
15 Then the angel of the LORD said unto Elijah, Go down with him; do not be afraid of him. And he arose and went down with him unto the king.
16 And he said unto him, Thus hath the LORD said, Forasmuch as thou hast sent messengers to enquire of Baalzebub, the god of Ekron, peradventure is there no God in Israel to enquire of his word? Therefore, thou shalt not come down off that bed on which thou art gone up, but shalt surely die.
17 So he died according to the word of the LORD which Elijah had spoken. And Jehoram (son of Ahab) reigned in his stead, in the second year of Jehoram, the son of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, because Ahaziah had no son.
18 Now the rest of the acts of Ahaziah which he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?
2 ¶ And it came to pass, when the LORD would take Elijah up into heaven by a whirlwind, that Elijah went with Elisha from Gilgal.
2 And Elijah said unto Elisha, Tarry here, I pray thee; for the LORD has sent me to Bethel. And Elisha said unto him, As the LORD lives and as thy soul lives, I will not leave thee. So they went down to Bethel.
3 And the sons of the prophets that were at Bethel came forth to Elisha and said unto him, Knowest thou that the LORD will take away thy master from thy head today? And he said, Yes, I know it; be silent.
4 And Elijah said unto him again, Elisha, tarry here, for the LORD has sent me to Jericho. And he said, As the LORD lives and as thy soul lives, I will not leave thee. So they came to Jericho.
5 And the sons of the prophets that were at Jericho came to Elisha and said unto him, Knowest thou that the LORD will take away thy master from thy head today? And he answered, Yes, I know it; be silent.
6 And Elijah said unto him, Tarry, I pray thee, here, for the LORD has sent me to the Jordan. And he said, As the LORD lives and as thy soul lives, I will not leave thee. And thus the two went on.
7 And fifty men of the sons of the prophets went and stood in front of them afar off; and the two of them stood by the Jordan.
8 And Elijah took his mantle and wrapped it together and smote the waters, and they separated to one side and the other so that they both went over on dry ground.
9 ¶ And when they had gone over, Elijah said unto Elisha, Ask what I shall do for thee before I am taken away from thee. And Elisha said, I pray thee, let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me.
10 And he said, Thou hast asked a difficult thing. If thou shalt see me when I am taken from thee, it shall be so unto thee, but if not, it shall not be so.
11 And it came to pass, as they still went on and talked, that, behold, a chariot of fire with horses of fire separated the two, and Elijah went up into heaven in a whirlwind.
12 And as Elisha saw it, he cried, My father, my father, the chariot of Israel and the horsemen thereof. And he saw him no more, and he took hold of his own clothes and rent them in two pieces.
13 ¶ And lifting up the mantle of Elijah that had fallen from him, he went back and stood by the bank of the Jordan.
14 And taking up the mantle of Elijah that had fallen from him, he smote the waters, and said, Where is the LORD God of Elijah? And when he smote the waters, they separated to one side and the other, and Elisha went over.
15 And seeing him, the sons of the prophets who were at Jericho said, The spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha. And they came to meet him and bowed themselves to the ground before him.
16 And they said unto him, Behold now, there are fifty strong men with thy slaves; let them go and seek thy master; peradventure the Spirit of the LORD has taken him up and cast him upon some mountain or into some valley. And he said, Do not send them.
17 But when they urged him until he was ashamed, he said, Send. They sent therefore fifty men, and they sought him three days, but did not find him.
18 And when they came again to him (for he tarried at Jericho), he said unto them, Did I not tell you to not go?
19 ¶ And the men of the city said unto Elisha, Behold, the seat of this city is good, as my lord sees, but the water is evil, and the ground barren.
20 Then he said, Bring me a new cruse and put salt in it. And they brought it to him.
21 And he went forth unto the springs of the waters and cast the salt in there and said, Thus hath the LORD said, I have healed these waters; there shall be no more death or barrenness in them.
22 So the waters were healed unto this day, according to the word which Elisha spoke.
23 Then he went up from there unto Bethel, and as he was going up by the way, the young men {or servants} of the city came forth and mocked him, saying, Go up, thou bald head; go up, thou bald head.
24 And he turned back and looked on them and cursed them in the name of the LORD. And two bears came forth out of the forest and tore apart forty-two young men of them.
25 And he went from there to Mount Carmel, and from there he returned to Samaria.
3 ¶ Now Jehoram, the son of Ahab, began to reign over Israel in Samaria the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, and reigned twelve years.
2 And he did evil in the sight of the LORD, but not like his father and like his mother, for he put away the images of Baal that his father had made.
3 Nevertheless, he cleaved unto the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, who made Israel sin; he did not depart from them.
4 And Mesha, king of Moab, was a pastor and rendered unto the king of Israel one hundred thousand lambs and one hundred thousand rams, with the wool.
5 But it came to pass, when Ahab was dead, that the king of Moab rebelled against the king of Israel.
6 ¶ And King Jehoram went out of Samaria the same time and numbered all Israel.
7 And he went and sent to Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, saying, The king of Moab has rebelled against me; wilt thou go with me against Moab to battle? And he said, I will go up; I am as thou art, my people as thy people and my horses as thy horses.
8 And he said, Which way shall we go up? And he answered, The way through the wilderness of Edom.
9 So the king of Israel went and the king of Judah and the king of Edom, and as they walked round about seven days’ journey through the desert, there was no water for the host or for the beasts that followed them.
10 Then the king of Israel said, Alas! The LORD has called these three kings together, to deliver them into the hand of Moab!
11 But Jehoshaphat said, Is there not a prophet of the LORD here, that we may enquire of the LORD by him? And one of the king of Israel’s slaves answered and said, Here is Elisha, the son of Shaphat, who poured water on the hands of Elijah.
12 And Jehoshaphat said, The word of the LORD is with him. So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat and the king of Edom went down to him.
13 Then Elisha said unto the king of Israel, What have I to do with thee? Go to the prophets of thy father and to the prophets of thy mother. And the king of Israel said unto him, No, for the LORD has called these three kings together, to deliver them into the hand of Moab.
14 And Elisha said, As the LORD of the hosts lives, before whom I stand, surely, were it not that I regard the presence of Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, I would not look toward thee nor see thee.
15 But now bring me a minstrel. And when the minstrel played, the hand of the LORD came upon him;
16 and he said, Thus hath the LORD said, Make this valley full of ditches.
17 For thus hath the LORD said, Ye shall not see wind, neither shall ye see rain; yet this valley shall be filled with water, that ye may drink, both ye and your livestock and your beasts.
18 And this is but a light thing in the sight of the LORD; he will also deliver the Moabites into your hands.
19 And ye shall smite every fenced city and every choice city and shall fell every good tree and stop every fountain of water and mar every good piece of land with stones.
20 ¶ And it came to pass in the morning, when the present was offered, that water came by the way of Edom, and the land was filled with water.
21 And when all the Moabites heard that the kings were come up to fight against them, they gathered all that were able to gird on a girdle and upward and stood in the border.
22 And when they rose up early in the morning, and the sun shone upon the water, and the Moabites saw the water before them as red as blood;
23 and they said, This is blood; the kings are surely slain, and they have smitten one another. Now therefore, Moab, to the spoil.
24 But when they came to the camp of Israel, the Israelites rose up and smote the Moabites so that they fled before them, but they went forward smiting the Moabites, even in their country.
25 And they beat down the cities, and on every good piece of land each man cast his stone and filled it, and they stopped all the fountains of water and felled all the good trees until they left their stones only in Kirharaseth, for the slingers went about it and smote it.
26 And when the king of Moab saw that the battle was overcoming him, he took with him seven hundred men that drew swords to break through unto the king of Edom, but they could not.
27 Then he took his eldest son that should have reigned in his stead and offered him for a burnt offering upon the wall. And there was great indignation in Israel, and they departed from him and returned to their own land.
4 ¶ Now a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets cried unto Elisha, saying, Thy slave, my husband, is dead; and thou knowest that thy slave feared the LORD; and the creditor is come to take my two sons to be his slaves.
2 And Elisha said unto her, What shall I do for thee? Tell me what thou hast in the house? And she said, Thy handmaid has nothing in the house except a flask of oil.
3 And he said, Go, borrow vessels from all thy neighbours, empty vessels; borrow not a few.
4 Then enter in and shut the door upon thee and upon thy sons and pour out into all those vessels, and as each one is full, set it aside.
5 So she went from him and shut the door upon her and upon her sons, who brought the vessels to her, and she poured out the oil.
6 And when the vessels were full, she said unto her son, Bring me yet another vessel. And he said unto her, There are no more vessels. Then the oil stopped flowing.
7 Then she came and told the man of God. And he said, Go, sell this oil and pay thy debtors and live thou and thy sons of the rest.
8 ¶ And it also happened that one day Elisha passed through Shunem, where there was an important woman, and she constrained him to eat bread. And so it was, that as often as he passed by, he turned in there to eat bread.
9 And she said to her husband, Behold now, I perceive that this is a holy man of God, who passes by us continually.
10 Let us make a little chamber, I pray thee, on the wall, and let us set for him there a bed and a table and a stool and a lampstand so that when he comes to us, he shall turn in there.
11 And it came to pass one day that he came there, and he turned into the chamber and slept there.
12 Then he said to Gehazi, his servant, Call this Shunammite. And when he had called her, she stood before him.
13 And he said unto Gehazi, Say now unto her, Behold, thou hast been diligent for us with all this care; what shall I do for thee? Dost thou have need that I speak for thee unto the king or to the captain of the host? And she answered, I dwell among my own people.
14 And he said, What then shall we do for her? And Gehazi answered, Verily she has no child, and her husband is old.
15 Then he said, Call her. And when he had called her, she stood in the door.
16 And he said, At the appointed time, according to the time of life, thou shalt embrace a son. And she said, No, my lord, thou man of God, do not deceive thy handmaid.
17 But the woman conceived and gave birth to a son at the appointed time that Elisha had said unto her, according to the time of life.
18 ¶ And when the child was grown, it came to pass one day, that he went out to his father to the reapers.
19 And he said unto his father, My head, my head. And he said to a servant, Carry him to his mother.
20 And when he had taken him and brought him to his mother, he sat on her knees until noon and then died.
21 Then she went up and laid him on the bed of the man of God and shut the door upon him and went out.
22 And calling her husband, she said, Send me, I pray thee, one of the young men and one of the asses that I may run to the man of God and come again.
23 And he said, Why must thou go to him today? It is neither new moon nor sabbath. And she said, Peace.
24 Then she caused the ass to be saddled and said to her servant, Lead and go forward; slack not the pace for me except I bid thee.
25 So she went and came unto the man of God to Mount Carmel. And it came to pass, when the man of God saw her afar off, that he said to Gehazi, his servant, Behold, yonder is that Shunammite.
26 Run now, I pray thee, to meet her and say unto her, Dost thou have peace? And thy husband? And the child? And she answered, Peace.
27 And when she came to the man of God in the mountain, she caught him by the feet. And Gehazi came near to thrust her away; but the man of God said, Let her alone, for her soul is bitter within her; and the LORD has hid it from me and has not revealed it to me.
28 Then she said, Did I desire a son of my lord? Did I not say, Do not deceive me?
29 Then he said to Gehazi, Gird up thy loins and take my staff in thy hand and go; if thou meet anyone, salute him not; and if anyone salutes thee, answer him not again, and lay my staff upon the face of the child.
30 Then the mother of the child said, As the LORD lives and as thy soul lives, I will not leave thee. And he arose and followed her.
31 And Gehazi had gone on before them and had laid the staff upon the face of the child, but there was neither voice, nor attention. Therefore he went again to meet him and told him, saying, The child is not awaked.
32 And when Elisha was come into the house, behold, the child was laid dead upon his bed.
33 He went in therefore and shut the door upon both of them and prayed unto the LORD.
34 Then he went up and lay upon the child and put his mouth upon his mouth and his eyes upon his eyes and his hands upon his hands; thus he stretched himself upon the child; and the flesh of the child waxed warm.
35 Then he returned and walked through the house to and fro and went up and stretched himself upon him again; and the child sneezed seven times, and the child opened his eyes.
36 And he called Gehazi and said, Call this Shunammite. So he called her. And as she was coming in unto him, he said, Take up thy son.
37 Then she entered in and fell at his feet and bowed herself to the ground and took up her son and went out.
38 ¶ And Elisha returned to Gilgal. Then there was a famine in the land; and the sons of the prophets were sitting before him, so he said unto his servant, Set on the great pot and make pottage for the sons of the prophets.
39 And one went out into the field to gather herbs and found a wild vine and gathered his lap full of wild grapes and came and shred them into the pot of pottage, for they knew them not.
40 So they poured out for the men to eat. And it came to pass, as they were eating of that pottage, that they cried out and said, O thou man of God, there is death in the pot. And they could not eat it.
41 But he said, Then bring meal. And he cast it into the pot, and he said, Pour out for the people that they may eat. And there was no evil thing in the pot.
42 Then a man came from Baalshalisha, who brought the man of God bread of the firstfruits, twenty loaves of barley, and full ears of wheat in the head. And he said, Give unto the people that they may eat.
43 And his minister said, How can I set this before one hundred men? He said again, Give the people, that they may eat, for thus hath the LORD said, They shall eat, and some shall be left over.
44 So he set it before them, and they ate, and some was left over, according to the word of the LORD.
Copyright © 2013, 2020 by Ransom Press International