1 After the death of Israel’s King Ahab, Moab rebelled against Israel.

2 One day, King Ahazyah fell through a lattice in his upper room in Shomron (Samaria) and was injured, so he sent messengers to go and ask Ekron’s God Baal-Zevuv if he would recover. 3 But Yahweh’s messenger told Eliyyah (from Tishbe), “Leave here and go and meet the Shomron king’s messengers and ask them, ‘Is it because there’s no God in Israel that you’re all going to inquire from Ekron’s God Baal-Zevuv? 4 Becase of that, Yahweh says that the king won’t get out of the bed that he’s lying in—he’s definitely going to die.”

So Eliyyah told them and continued on his way. 5 When the messengers returned to the king, he asked them, “What’s this? Why are you back here so soon?”

6 “A man came to meet us,” they told him, “and he said to us, ‘Go and return to the king who sent you, and tell him that Yahweh says this: Is it because there’s no God in Israel that you are sending messengers to inquire from Ekron’s God Baal-Zevuv? Therefore you’ll never leave that bed that you’re lying in but you’ll certainly die in it.’ ”

7 “What was the man like,” the king asked them, “who meet you and gave you all that message?”

8 “He had a cloak made of animal hair,” they answered, “and was wearing a leather belt.”

“Ah,” said the king. “That’s Eliyyah from Tishbe.”

9 So he sent a captain with his fifty soldiers to look for Eliyyah and they found him sitting on the top of a hill. The captain called out, “Man of God, the king wants to see you.”

10 But Eliyyah replied, “Well, if I am a man of God, let fire come down from the sky and consume you and your men,” and fire came down from the sky, and it burnt up the captain and his men.

11 So the king sent another captain with his fifty men and they went to where Eliyyah was and called out to him, “Prophet, the king commands that you come with us right now.”

12 Again Eliyyah replied, “If I am a man of God, let fire come down from the sky and consume you and your men,” and the God’s fire came down from the sky, and it burnt up the captain and his men.

13 So the king sent a third captain with his fifty men. They went to where Eliyyah was and the officer knelt down in front of him and pleaded, “Prophet, I beg you, be kind to me and my fifty soldiers, and don’t kill us. 14 Listen, fire came down from the sky and burnt up the first two captains and their men, but please treat my life as valuable in your sight.”

15 Then Yahweh’s messenger told Eliyyah, “Go with them. Don’t be afraid of him.”

So Eliyyah went with them to the king 16 and told him, “Yahweh says that you sent messengers to inquire from Ekron’s God Baal-Zevuv, the god of Ekron as if there’s no God in Israel to ask? Therefore, he says, you certainly won’t get off that bed that you’re on because you’ll die in it.”

17 So King Ahazyah died just as Yahweh had said via Eliyyah. Then Ahazyah’s younger brother Yehoram (Joram) became king in his place, because Ahazyah didn’t have any sons. This happened in the second year of the reign of Yehoshafat’s son King Yehoram over Yehudah. 18 Everything else that Ahazyah said and did is written in the book of the events of the kings of Israel.

2 One day as Eliyyah and Elisha had left Gilgal, Yahweh took Eliyyah up to heaven in a storm. 2 Eliyyah had told Elisha, “Now, you stay here because Yahweh has told me to go to Beyt-El.”

“By the life of Yahweh,” Elisha had responded, “and by the life of your spirit, I won’t leave you.” So they’d headed to Beyt-El.

3 Also the prophets-in-training who were in Beyt-El had gone out to Elisha and told him, “Do you know that today Yahweh is going to take your master away from you?”

“I already know that,” he’d replied. “Don’t say anything.”

4 Then Eliyyah had informed Elisha, “Yahweh has sent me to Yericho (Jericho). You stay here.”

He’d answered, “By the life of Yahweh and the life of your spirit, I won’t leave you.” So they had gone to Jericho.

5 The prophets-in-training who were in Yericho had approached Elisha and briefed him, “Do you know that today Yahweh is taking your master away from you?”

“Yes, I realise that,” he’d responded. “Say no more.”

6 Again Eliyyah had told him, “You stay here, because Yahweh has sent me to the Yordan.”

And he’d countered, “By the life of Yahweh and the life of your spirit, I won’t leave you.” So the two of them had gone there together. 7 Fifty of the prophets-in-training had also gone, but they’d stood back watching from a distance, so the two of them had stood there by the Yordan. 8 Then Eliyyah had taken off his cloak and doubled it over and hit the river with it. The water divided leaving a dry path and the two of them had walked across to the other side. 9 As they’d crossed over, Eliyyah had told Elisha, “Tell me what you’d like me to do for you before I get taken away.”

“Please,” Elisha had answered, “I’d like a double amount of the spirit that you have.”

10 “Oh, that’s a difficult request,” Eliyyah had responded. “Well, if you see me being taken away from you, then you’ll get what you asked for, but if you miss seeing me go, you won’t.”

11 Then it had happened while they were walking and talking together. Wow, a chariot of fire and horses of fire drove between the two of them, separating them. Then Eliyyah went up to the heavens in the gale. 12 Elisha was watching, and he cried out, “My father, my father, Israel’s chariot and its horsemen.”

But then Elisha could no longer see him, and he grabbed his own cloak, and tore it in half, 13 and he picked up Eliyyah’s cloak that had fallen down to the ground. Then he went back and stood on the bank of the Yordan, 14 and he took Eliyyah’s cloak and hit the river with it, saying, “Where is Eliyyah’s God Yahweh?” Then as he hit the water, the river divided into two parts and Elisha crossed through the middle. 15 The prophets-in-training who were on the Yericho side, affirmed, “Elisha now has the spirit that Eliyyah had.” Then they came forward to meet him and knelt down in front of him as a sign of respect, 16 and they requested, “Listen please, fifty of us here have military training. Please, let them go to search for your master, in case Yahweh’s spirit of Yahweh lifted him and dropped him on a hill somewhere or into one of the valleys.”

“Don’t waste your time,” he replied. 17 But they kept insisting so much that Elisha was embarrassed and he said, “Ok then.”

So they sent fifty men, and they searched for three days, but they didn’t find Eliyyah. 18 When they returned to Elisha (he was staying in Yericho), he said to them, “Didn’t I tell you not to bother?”

19 Then the leaders of Yericho city said to Elisha, “Please, this city is a good place to live, just as my master can see, but the water supplies around here are bad so our crops don’t thrive.”

20 “Bring me a brand new bowl,” he said, “and put salt there.” So they brought one to him, 21 and he went out to the spring and threw the salt at it, and announced, “Yahweh says that he’s healed these water supplies and they’ll no longer cause death or barrenness.” 22 So now those water supplies have been healthy and beneficial until this day, just as Elisha had said.

23 From there Elisha went to Beyt-El, and as he was going up on the road, some young men came out from the city, and started mocking him, saying, “Keep moving, baldy. Keep moving, baldy.”

24 Then Elisha he turned back around and looked at them, and he cursed them in Yahweh’s name. Just then, two female bears came out from the forest and mauled forty-two of them.

25 Elisha carried on from there to Mt. Karmel, and from there, he returned to Shomron (Samaria).

3 Ahab’s son Yehoram (Jehoram) became king over Israel in the eighteenth year of King Yehoshafat’s reign over Yehudah, and he reigned from Shomron (Samaria) for twelve years. 2 He did what Yahweh had said was evil, but not as bad as his father and mother had been, and he did remove the pillar of Baal that his father had made. 3 However, he committed similar sins to those of Nebat’s son Yarave’am who had caused Israel to sin and didn’t stop doing them. 4 Now Moab’s King Mesha was a sheep breeder, and he would pay an annual tribute to Israel’s king of a hundred thousand young rams, plus the wool of a hundred thousand rams. 5 However, after King Ahab died, Moab’s king rebelled against Israel’s control over them. 6 So King Yehoram set out from Shomron and mustered all of Israel’s fighters. 7 Then he sent this message to King Yehoshafat of Yehudah, “Moab’s king has rebelled against me. Will you join in battle with me against them?”

“I’ll join you,” he replied. “You and me are together. My people are your people, and my horses are your horses.” 8 “What’s our strategy? Which way should we go in?” he asked.

“Through the Edom wilderness,” he replied.

9 So the kings of Israel, Yehudah, and Edom took their armies on a seven day trip circling around, but they didn’t find enough water for the men or their animals, 10 and Israel’s king complained, “Oh dear, it seems that Yahweh has sent in us three kings to allow Moab to defeat us.” 11 But Yehoshafat asked, “Isn’t there one of Yahweh’s prophets here, so we might inquire from Yahweh through him?”

“There’s Elisha,” one of the servants of Israel’s king answered, “Shafat’s son, the prophet who was Eliyyah’s assistant.”

12 “Yes, he receives Yahweh’s messages,” said Yehoshafat.

So the kings of Israel, Yehudah, and Edom, went to see him. 13 But Elisha asked Israel’s king, “What do you and me have in common? Go and inquire from your father’s prophets and your mother’s prophets.”

“No,” the king of Israel said. “We came because Yahweh has called for us three kings to allow us to be defeated by Moab.”

14 “As army commander Yahweh lives,” Elisha responded, “the one who I serve, I wouldn’t be talking to you or even face you, if I hadn’t recognised King Yehoshafat of Yehudah. 15 So now bring me a musician.

Then while the musician played, Yahweh spoke to him 16 and he said, “Yahweh says that this valley will store lots of water[fn] 17 He says that you all won’t see any wind or rain, yet this valley will be filled with water, and you and your animals will have plenty to drink. 18 That’s a piece of cake for Yahweh. What’s more, he’ll give you victory over Moab. 19 You’ll all attack every important city, including their fortified ones. You can chop down their fruit trees, block up their springs, and ruin their good land with stones.”

20 The next day at the time of the morning sacrifice, to their amazement there was water flowing from Edom and covering the ground.

21 By then, the people of Moab had heard that the kings had come to battle them, so they summoned everyone who could wear a sword and stationed them beside the border. 22 But when they got up early the next morning and the sun rose, from the direction where they were, the water appeared to be red like blood. 23 “That’s blood,” they exclaimed. “Those three kings must have turned against each other and killed each other. So let’s go, Moab, and collect the spoil.”

24 But when they reached the allied camp, the allies attacked and they fled away. Then the allies entered Moab and attacked there. 25 They tore down the cities, and each person threw a stone onto the good land, making it useless. They blocked up every spring, and they chopped down every good tree. Eventually, only their capital city of Kir-Hareset remained standing with its stone walls, but they attacked that as well using slingshots.

26 When Moab’s king saw that the attackers were stronger than them, he took a team of seven hundred swordsmen to try to break through to the king of Edom, but they failed. 27 So he took his oldest son (who would have become the next king) and sacrificed him publicly on top of the city wall. This made their people crazy furious against Israel, so they left and returned home.

4 One day a woman who was a wife of one of the prophets-in-training, called out to Elisha, “Your servant, my husband, died, and you yourself know that your servant served Yahweh. Now the moneylender has come to take two of my children in payment to become his slaves.”

2 “Hmmh, what could I do to help you?” Elisha responded. “Tell me, what have you got in your house?”

“Your servant’s got nothing in the house except a flask of oil,” she replied.

3 He told her, “Go and ask for empty containers from all of your neighbours. Make sure you get plenty of them. 4 Then go and shut the door behind you and your sons, and pour oil into all those containers. Once each one’s full, set it aside.” 5 So she went and she shut the door of her house with her and her sons inside. They would bring the empty containers to her, and she poured the oil. 6 Eventually when she told one of her sons to bring the next container, he told her that there wasn’t any more, and at that point, the oil stopped flowing.

7 Then she went and informed the man of God, and he told her, “Go and sell the oil and pay off your debt. Then you and your sons can live on the rest.”

8 One day, Elisha went to Shunem, and there was a wealthy woman there who invited him in for a meal. After that, he dropped in there for a meal whenever he was going past, 9 and the woman said to her husband, “You know, I’m sure that this man who often drops in on us is a holy man of God. 10 Please, can we make a small upstairs room on our flat roof, and we could put a bed and a lampstand in it for him, plus a table and chair . Then whenever he’s passing through here, he’ll have his own spot to stay.”

11 Another day when Elisha arrived, he went up to his room and lay down. 12 Then he told his servant Gehazi to call the Shunammite woman, so he called her and she came and stood in front of Elisha. 13 He told Gehazi, “Now tell her that we’ve noticed how she looks after us, and ask her what we can do for her? Can we speak to the king for her or to the captain of the army?”

But she replied, “I have family and friends all around me.”

14 After she’d left again, he asked Gehazi, “Well, what can I do for her?”

“Hmmh,,” Gehazi replied. “She doesn’t have a son, and her husband is old.”

15 “Call her then,” Elisha said. So he called her and she came and stood in the doorway, 16 and Elisha told her, “In due course after the normal months, you’ll have a son to hold.”

“No, my master, man of God,” she stammered. “Don’t lie to your female servant.”

17 Then the woman became pregnant and gave birth to a son after the normal time, just as Elisha had told her.

18 The child grew up and one day he went out to his father who was with the harvesters, 19 and he called to his father, “My head, my head.”

His father told one of the servants, “Carry him home to his mother.”

20 So the servant carried him back to his mother, and he sat on her knees until noon when he died. 21 His mother carried him up and laid him on the bed of the man of God, shutting the door behind her as she went out. 22 Then she called her husband and told him, “Please send one of the young men and one of the donkeys to me so I can run and see the man of God and then come back.” 23 “Why are you going there today?” he asked. “It’s not a religious holiday.”

“It’ll be okay,” she answered, 24 and she saddled the donkey, and told the young man, “Now, let’s go! You lead and don’t slacken off for my comfort unless I tell you to.” 25 So they set off to see out the man of God at Mt. Carmel.

When Elisha saw her coming from a distance, he told Gehazi, “Look, there’s the Shunammite woman. 26 Now, please, run to meet her and ask her, ‘Are you all right? Is your husband all right? Is your child all right?’ ”

“Everything’s all right,” she answered. 27 Then she got to the mountain and to the man of God, and she knelt and grabbed his feet. Gehazi came over to push her away, but the man of God said, “Leave her because she’s upset, but Yahweh has hidden the problem from me—he hasn’t informed me.”

28 “Did I ask for a son from you, my master?” she said. “No, but didn’t I say, ‘Don’t mislead me?’ ” 29 Then he told Gehazi, “Tuck in your robe and take my staff in your hand, and go quickly. If you meet anyone, just keep going and don’t stop to bless them, and if someone blesses you, don’t stop to answer them. When you get there, lay my staff on the young man’s face.”

30 But the mother of the young man said, “By the life of Yahweh and the life of your spirit, I won’t leave without you.” So he got ready, and went with her. 31 However, Gehazi had gone ahead and he put the staff on the young man’s face, but he didn’t open his eyes or make a sound. So he returned to meet Elisha and told him that the young man didn’t wake up.

32 When Elisha reached the house, it was a shock to see the young man lying on his bed, dead. 33 He went in and he shut the door behind the other two, and he prayed to Yahweh. 34 Then he got on the bed, and he lay on the child and bent down near him, putting his mouth on his mouth, and his eyes on his eyes, and his palms on his palms. Then the child’s body started getting warmer, 35 and he got down and walked around the room several times. Then he got on the bed again, and bent down near him. The young man gasped several times, and then opened his eyes. 36 Then he called to Gehazi, and told him to call the Shunammite woman, and he called her, and she came and Elisha told her, “Here, take your son.” 37 Then she came in and fell to her knees in front of him with her face to the ground. Then she picked up her son and went out, 38 and Elisha returned to Gilgal.

At that time, there was a drought and the prophets-in-training were sitting facing him, and Elisha told his servant, “Get the large pot and boil a stew for these prophets-in-training.” 39 One person went out to the countryside to gather herbs, and he found a wild vine, and he collected wild fruit from it—as many as he could hold in the fold of his robe. Then not realising that they were poisonous, he came and he sliced them into the pot of stew. 40 Then they served it up for the men to eat, but when they ate it, they called out, “Man of God, there’s poison in that pot!” 41 “Bring me some flour,” Elisha said. Then he threw it into the pot, and said, “Serve it up for the people to eat,” and no one was harmed.