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

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 Eliyah (from Tishbe), “Leave here and go and meet the Shomron king’s messengers and ask them, ‘Is it because there’s no god in Yisrael that you’re all going to inquire from Ekron’s god Baal-Zevuv? 4 Because 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 Eliyah 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 Yisrael 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 met 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 Eliyah from Tishbe.”

9 So he sent a captain with his fifty soldiers to look for Eliyah 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 Eliyah 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 Eliyah was and called out to him, “Prophet, the king commands that you come with us right now.”

12 Again Eliyah replied, “If I am a man of God, let fire come down from the sky and consume you and your men,” and 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 Eliyah 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 Eliyah, “Go with them. Don’t be afraid of him.”

So Eliyah went with them to the king 16 and told him, “Yahweh says that you sent messengers to inquire from Ekron’s god Baal-Zevuv, as if there’s no god in Yisrael 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 Eliyah. 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 Yisrael.

2 One day as Eliyah and Elisha had left Gilgal, Yahweh took Eliyah up to heaven in a storm. 2 Eliyah 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 Eliyah 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’d gone to Yericho.

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 Eliyah 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 Eliyah 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, Eliyah 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,” Eliyah 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 Eliyah went up to the heavens in the gale. 12 Elisha was watching, and he cried out, “My father, my father, Yisrael’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 Eliyah’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 Eliyah’s cloak and hit the river with it, saying, “Where is Eliyah’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 Eliyah 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 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 Eliyah. 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 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 Yisrael 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 Yisrael 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 Yisrael’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 Yisrael’s control over them. 6 So King Yehoram set out from Shomron and mustered all of Yisrael’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 Yisrael, 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 Yisrael’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 Yisrael’s king answered, “Shafat’s son, the prophet who was Eliyah’s assistant.”

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

So the kings of Yisrael, Yehudah, and Edom, went to see him. 13 But Elisha asked Yisrael’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 Yisrael 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 Yisrael, 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 seek out the man of God at Mt. Karmel.

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.

42 One day a man came from Baal-Shalishah, and he brought to the man of God an offering from the beginning of his harvest: twenty loaves of barley bread, and newly-harvested corn in his sack, and Elisha said to his servant, “Give it to our people so they can eat.”

43 “How can I divide that out to one hundred men?” asked his servant.

“Give them to the people so they can eat,” he replied, “because Yahweh says that they can eat and have left-overs.” 44 So he laid it out in front of them and they ate and had left-overs, just like Yahweh had said would happen.

5 Now Na’aman was the captain in Aram’s army. He was highly respected by Aram’s king, and was promoted to a high position because Yahweh had helped Aram (Syria) win many battles because of him. However, despite his military prowess, he suffered from a serious skin disease called leprosy.[ref] 2 Previously troops that had been sent out from Aram, had taken a young Israeli girl captive and she had become Na’aman’s wife’s servant. 3 One day she said to her mistress, “I wish that my master would go and see the prophet who lives in Shomron, and then he would cure him of his leprosy.” 4 In due course, Na’aman heard and went and told his master what the young Israeli girl had said. 5 The king of Aram responded, “Ok, I’ll write a letter to the king of Yisrael for you to take.”

So Na’aman set off, taking along 70kg of gold, 300kg of silver, and ten sets of fine clothes, 6 and he took the letter to the king of Yisrael. The letter said, “Greetings. When this letter gets to you, see, I’ve sent my servant Na’aman to you so that you can heal his skin disease.”

7 However when Yisrael’s king read the letter, he tore his clothes in despair, and he said, “Do they think that I’m God who ends people’s lives and gives life to others? Why’s this person sending a man here for me to take away his skin disease? Surely he must be creating a situation so he has an excuse to attack me!”

8 Later when Elisha the man of God heard that Yisrael’s king had torn his clothes, he sent a message to the king, “Why did you tear your clothes? Please, let that man come to me so he can know that there is a prophet in Yisrael.” 9 So Na’aman came on his chariots and horses, and he stood at the entrance to Elisha’s house. 10 Elisha sent a messenger out to him to tell him, “Go and wash seven times in the Yordan river, and then you’ll be better and your skin will go back to normal.

11 But Na’aman was furious, and he left, saying, “Listen, I said to myself that he’d surely come out and stand there and call on the name of his god Yahweh, then he’d wave his hand over my body and take away the skin disease. 12 Aren’t the Damascus rivers Abanah and Pharpar better than any river in Yisrael? Can’t I bathe in them instead and get healed?” So he turned and he went off angrily. 13 Then some of his servants approached him and suggested, “My master, if the prophet had told you to do something more significant, wouldn’t you have done it? So maybe you could do the simple thing that he told you: wash and get better.”

14 So Na’aman went down to the Yordan river and dipped in it seven times like the man of God had told him to. Then his skin became clear again, like the skin of a young boy, and he was healed. 15 Then he returned to the man of God along with his entire retinue. Standing in front of him, he said, “Look, please. I know that there is no god in all the earth except in Yisrael. Now, please, accept a blessing from your servant.”

16 “By the life of Yahweh who I serve,” he responded, “I won’t take anything.”

Na’aman urged him to take something, but he kept refusing. 17 Then Na’aman said, “Well if not, please, at least may we load a pair of mules with some soil to take back with us, because from now on, your servant will no longer make a burnt offering or a sacrifice to other gods—only to Yahweh. 18 However, I’ll ask in advance: May Yahweh forgive your servant when my master goes to the house of the god Rimmon to prostrate himself there, and he’s leaning on my hand, and I prostrate myself in the house of Rimmon. When I prostrate myself in the house of Rimmon, please may Yahweh forgive your servant for this one activity.”

19 “Go in peace,” Elisha replied.

After they’d gone a short distance, 20 Elisha’s servant said to himself, “Hmmh, my master wouldn’t take anything from that Na’aman the Aramean. By the life of Yahweh, I think I should run after him and take something that he brought.” 21 So Gehazi hurried after Na’aman. When Na’aman saw a person running after him, he got down from his chariot to meet him, and he said, “Is there a problem?”

22 “Peace,” he said, “My master sent me to tell you that two young prophets-in-training arrived from the hill country of Efrayim. Can we please have 30kg of silver and two sets of clothing for them?”

23 “Sure,” said Na’aman. “Take 60kg,” he urged him. Then he separated 60kg of silver into two bags along with two sets of clothes, then he gave them to two of his young men to carry back for him. 24 When Gehazi reached the hill, he sent the men back and they returned to Na’aman. Then he took the sacks that they’d brought and hid them in the house. 25 When he went back in to his master, Elisha asked him, “Where did you go, Gehazi?”

“Your servant hasn’t been anywhere,” he replied.

26 “Wasn’t I there in spirit when a man turned from on his chariot to meet you?” Elisha said to him, “Is this a time to take silver or clothing, or to take olive trees or vineyards, or sheep or cattle, or male or female servants? 27 Because of that, Na’aman’s leprosy will transfer to you and to your offspring forever.” When Gehazi left the room, his skin had gone white as snow and he was now a leper.

6 One day, the prophets-in-training said to Elisha, “Please look, The place where we’re sitting to learn from you is too narrow to fit us all in. 2 Please, let us go down by the Yordan river, and let each of us cut down and bring back a log from there to make a new classroom for us to sit in.”

“Go ahead,” he answered.

3 One of them insisted, “Please, say that you’ll come with your servants.”

“Okay then, I’ll come,” he said. 4 So he went with them to the Yordan valley to cut down some trees, 5 but while one of them was chopping down a tree, suddenly the axe head separated from the handle and went flying into the water. The man called out to Elisha, “Oh, Master, what should I do? It’s not my axe—I borrowed it!”

6 “Where did it fall in?” the man of God asked. After the man had shown him the place, Elisha cut off a stick and threw it there, and the iron axe head rose to the surface. 7 “Now get it out,” he said, and the man stretched out and grabbed it.

8 In those days, the king of Aram was fighting against Yisrael, and he’d instruct his servants, “Set up our camp in such and such a place.” 9 However, the man of God sent to Yisrael’s king to warn him, “Beware of passing by such and such a place, because the Aramean army will be attacking there.” 10 So the king would send messengers to the people at that place to warn them to watch and be prepared.

That happened several times 11 and the Aramean king got very upset about it. He called in his servants and demanded, “Which one of you is a traitor—passing military intelligence to the king of Yisrael?”

12 “No, my master the king,” a servant answered. “It’s the prophet Elisha in Yisrael who tells their king the things that you say even in your bedroom.”

13 “Go and find out where he is,” he instructed, “and I’ll send some men there to capture him.”

“He’s in Dothan,” he was told later. 14 So he sent chariots and horses and a large contingent, and they arrived there at night and surrounded the town.

15 Early the next morning, the servant of the man of God got up, and going outside he was shocked to see chariots and horses and an army surrounding the town, so he called Elisha, “Oh, my master! What will we do?”

16 “Don’t be afraid,” he said, “because we have many more than that on our side.” 17 Then Elisha prayed, “Yahweh, please enable his sight so he can see.” Then Yahweh enabled the eyes of the young man, and he was stunned to see that the hill was covered with chariots of fire and horses all around Elisha.

18 When the Arameans approached to swoop in, Elisha prayed to Yahweh, “Please, strike those warriors with blinding light.” So Yahweh struck them with blinding light just as Elisha had requested, 19 and Elisha told them, “This isn’t the right way, and this isn’t the town. Follow me, and let me lead you to the man you’re looking for.”

Then he led them to Shomron (Samaria), 20 and when they’d entered the city, Elisha said, “Yahweh, open the eyes of these people so they can see.” So Yahweh opened their eyes, and then they were stunned to see that they were in the middle of Shomron.

21 When he saw them, the king of Yisrael asked Elisha, “Should I kill them? Should I kill them, my father?” 22 “No, don’t kill them,” he replied. “Would you cold-bloodedly kill your prisoners of war? No, give them bread and water and let them eat and drink, and then they can return to their master.” 23 So the king prepared a large meal for them, and they ate and drank, and he sent them off to return to their master. After that, the Aramean troops didn’t continue their ventures into Yisrael.

24 Sometime after that, King Ben-Hadad of Aram assembled all of his warriors and attacked Shomron (Samaria), and besieged it. 25 Being surrounded like that caused a terrible famine inside the city, until a donkey’s head would be sold for eighty silver coins, and a cup of doves’ droppings was sold for five silver coins.

26 One day as the king of Yisrael was walking past on the top of the city wall, a woman cried out to him, “Save me, my master, the king!”

27 “If Yahweh won’t save you, how could I possibly save you?” he snapped. “Some grain from the threshing floor or some wine from the winepress?” 28 Then he asked her, “Okay, what’s your problem?”

“This woman said to me, ‘Let’s have your son and we’ll eat him today, then we’ll eat my son tomorrow,’ ” she answered. 29 “So we boiled my son and ate him, and then the next day I said, ‘Hand over your son and we’ll eat him,’ but she’d hidden him.”

30 When he heard that, the king (standing up on the wall) tore his clothes, and the people could see to their astonishment that he was wearing sackcloth underneath, 31 and he said, “May God do that to me and more, if Shafat’s son Elisha still has his head on him by the end of the day.”

32 Meanwhile, Elisha was sitting at home, joined by the city elders. The king had sent a warrior ahead of him, and before he’d arrived at the house, Elisha had told the elders, “Well now, that son of a murderer has sent an assassin to separate me from my head. Listen, when that hit-man arrives, shut the door and lean against it. His master won’t be far behind him.” 33 He was still talking with them, when, wow, the warrior was coming towards the house soon followed by the king who said, “Listen, Yahweh caused this disaster so why should I trust him any longer?”

7 “Listen to what Yahweh says,” Elisha responded, “Yahweh says that at this time tomorrow, a drum of flour will be sold for a shekel, and two drums of barley will be sold for for a shekel at the city gate.”

2 “That’s impossible,” interjected the captain at the king’s side. “Yahweh would have to make windows in the sky.”

“Oh, it’ll happen,” the man of God answered, “and you’ll see it with your own eyes, but you won’t get to eat any of it.”

3 That day, four men who were isolated due to a skin disease were at the city gate, and they asked each other, “Why are we just sitting here until we starve? 4 If we go into the city, we’ll starve to death in there, but if we sit here, we’ll die anyway. Why don’t we go into the Aramean army camp—if they kill us then we’ll die, but if they let us live, then we’ll live.” 5 So as it was getting dark, they went to go into the camp, but as they came to the edge of it, to their surprise there wasn’t a person in sight. 6 It turned out that the master had caused the Aramean army to hear the sounds of chariots and horses and a large army, so they’d said to each other that the king of Yisrael must have hired the Hittite and Egyptian kings to join together to fight them. 7 As a result, they’d taken off and fled in the twilight. They’d abandoned their tents and horses and donkeys—leaving the camp just as it was, and fled for their lives.

8 So those four men with leprosy approached the edge of the camp and went into the first tent, and ate and drank. Then they took some gold and silver and clothes out, and they went and hid it. Then they returned and went into another tent, and stole some stuff from that one, and went and hid that. 9 Then they said to each other, “We shouldn’t really be doing this today. It’s a day of good news, but we’ve been keeping it to ourselves. If we wait until the light of the morning, we’ll get punished for it, so let’s go now and inform the king’s household.” 10 So they went and called out to one of the city gatekeepers, and they informed them, “We went to the Aramean camp, but listen, there wasn’t anyone there, or any voices. The horses and donkeys were still tethered, and the tents were left just as they were.”

11 The gatekeepers called out, and the news was reported to the palace. 12 Although it was already night-time, the king got up and warned his servants, “I’ll tell you what’s going on here: The Arameans know that we’re hungry, so they left their camp to go and hide in the countryside, thinking that we’d go out from the city, and then they could capture us and take over the city.”

13 But one of his servants answered, “Sir, please, let us take five of the remaining horses. They’re pretty much finished anyway, like the remaining population of Yisrael, so there’s not much to lose. Let us go and investigate.” 14 So with the king’s permission, they took two chariot horses and went to check out the Aramean camp. 15 They went as far as the Yordan river, and were amazed that the whole road was full of clothing and equipment that the Arameans had thrown off in their rush, and the messengers returned and informed the king. 16 So the people went out and plundered the camp. Then it happened: a drum of fine flour was sold for a shekel, and two drums of barley for the same amount, just as Yahweh had said would happen.

17 The king had appointed the captain who had argued with Elisha to be in charge at the city gate, but the people trampled him there and he died, just as the man of God had said when the king had gone to his place. 18 When the man of God had told the king that two drums of barley would be sold for a shekel, and a drum of flour also sold for a shekel the next morning at the city gate, 19 the captain was the one who’d answered the man of God and had said that Yahweh would have to make windows in the sky to do that, and Elisha had told him that he’d see it, but wouldn’t be able to eat any of it. 20 That’s exactly what happened, because he got trampled by the rush of people at the gate and died.

8 One day Elisha spoke to the Shunammite woman whose son he’d brought back to life, “Pack up and leave here, you and your household, and go and stay somewhere else, because Yahweh’s going to send a seven-year drought.” 2 So the woman got up, and she did what the man of God told her: She packed up her household and left to go and live in the Philistines’ region for seven years.

3 Then eventually after seven years, the woman returned from the Philistines’ region and she went to petition the king about her house and land. 4 When she arrived, the king had asked Gehazi, the servant of the man of God, “Please tell me all the incredible things that Elisha has done.” 5 Then Gehazi was telling the king that Elisha had made the dead live, and how the woman who he made her son live was petitioning the king on behalf of her house and her field. Then Gehazi exclaimed, “My master, the king, this is the woman, and that’s her son, who Elisha made live!” 6 So the king questioned the woman and she told him her story. Then the king appointed a court official to attend to her case, saying, “Return everything that belongs to her plus the profit from her field from the day she left until now.”

7 Elisha went to Aram’s capital Damascus at a time when King Ben-Hadad of Aram (Syria) was very sick, and someone told him that the man of God was in town. 8 The king instructed an official named Haza’el, “Take a gift with you and go and meet the man of God. Then inquire from Yahweh through him to find out if I’ll recover from this sickness.” 9 So Haza’el went to meet Elisha and took presents with him loaded on forty camels—some of every good thing that he could find in Damascus. He went and stood in front of him and asked, “Your servant, King Ben-Hadad sent me to ask you if he’ll recover from his sickness?”

10 “Go and tell him that he’ll surely live,” Elisha answered. “But Yahweh has shown me that he’ll definitely die.” 11 Then Elisha stared at him until Haza’el felt embarrassed, and then the man of God started to cry.

12 “Why are you crying, my master?” Haza’el asked.

“Because I know what evil things you’ll do to the Israelis,” he said. “You’ll burn down their fortresses and kill their young men with the sword. You’ll smash their children’s heads on rocks, and rip open the bellies of their pregnant women.”

13 Haza’el asked, “But how could your servant be in a position to do such a major thing when he’s only minor, like a dog in the palace?”

“Yahweh has let me see you as king over Aram.” Elisha replied.

14 Then he left Elisha and went back to his master who asked him, “What did Elisha tell you?”

And he answered, “He told me that you’ll certainly live.” 15 the very next day, Haza’el dipped Ben-Hadad’s blanket in water and held it over his face until he died, and then Haza’el started to reign in his place.

9 Then the prophet Elisha called to one of the prophets-in-training and told him, “Tuck your robe in, take this flask of oil, and hurry to Ramot-Gilead. 2 When you get there, you’ll see Yehu (Jehu) (the son of Nimshi’s son Yehoshafat) there. Take him into a private inner room, away from his brothers, 3 and pour some of the olive oil over his head and tell him that Yahweh says that he’s anointed him as king over Yisrael. Then open the door and get out of there fast.” 4 So the young prophet went to Ramot-Gilead, 5 and when he arrived, he was surprised to see the army captains sitting there. He said, “I need to talk to you, captain.”

“Which one of us?” Yehu asked.

“It’s a message for you, captain,” he said. 6 So Yehu got up, and went over to the house where the prophet poured the oil on his head and told him, “Yisrael’s god Yahweh says that he’s anointed you as king over Yahweh’s people—over Yisrael. 7 You should attack the house of Ahab your master so Yahweh can avenge the murder of his servants, the prophets, and avenge the murder of all his servants who were killed by Izevel (Jezebel). 8 All of Ahab’s household should be killed, and Yahweh won’t allow any of his male descendants to live, either before or after they’ve left home. 9 Yahweh wants Ahab’s descendants to be eliminated like the descendants of Nebat’s son Yarave’am and Ahiyah’s son Baasha were. 10 The dogs will eat Izevel’s body where she dies in Yizre’el—she won’t be buried.” Then he opened the door and rushed away.

11 When Yehu came back to the room where the servants of his masters were, and they asked him, “Is everything okay? What did that madman want with you?”

“You yourselves know that man and the sort of stuff that he says,” he said.

12 “You’re lying,” they insisted. “Tell us what he told you.”

“Well, he said several things,” Yehu answered, “and then he told me that Yahweh says he’s anointed me as king over Yisrael.”

13 Then they all spread their cloaks on the steps of the building for Yehu to walk out on, and they blew a trumpet and shouted, “Yehu is now the king!”

14 So Yehu (the son of Nimshi’s son, Yehoshafat) conspired against Yoram. Yoram was busy with the army guarding Ramot-Gilead from King Haza’el of Aram. 15 Then King Yoram returned to Yizre’el to heal from the wounds from the Arameans when he’d fought with their King Haza’el.

So Yehu told his men, “If you all want me as king, then don’t let anyone leave this city of Ramot-Gilead in case they go to Yizre’el city and tell them our plans.” 16 Then Yehu rode to Yizre’el himself because Yoram was recuperating there in bed, and King Ahazyah had gone up north from Yehudah to visit him.

17 The watchman was standing on the watchtower in Yizre’el, and he could see Yehu’s party in the distance as they began approaching the city, and he reported, “I can see a large group.”

King Yoram ordered, “Send out a chariot and go and ask them if they’re coming in peace.” 18 So the horse and chariot went out to meet them and called out, “The king wants to know if you’re all coming in peace?”

But Yehu answered, “What’s that got to do with you? Turn around and follow us.”

Meanwhile the watchman announced, “The messenger has met them, but he isn’t returning.”

19 So the king sent out a second horse and chariot, and he approached and asked, “The king wants to know if you’re all coming in peace?”

Again Yehu replied, “What’s that got to do with you? Turn around and follow us.”

20 Then the watchman declared, “He also met with them but didn’t return. The leader is riding like Nimshi’s son Yehu, because he’s riding like crazy.”

21 “Quick, get my chariot ready!” Yoram ordered. They harnessed his chariot and King Yoram of Yisrael and Yehudah’s King Ahazyah both went out—each man in his chariot. They went out to meet Yehu and they found him at Navot’s field (the Yizre’elite). 22 When Yoram saw Yehu, he asked, “Have you come in peace, Yehu?”

“How could there be peace,” he answered, “when your mother Izevel is serving idols and embracing witchcraft?”

23 Then Yoram swung the chariot reigns around and fled, shouting to Ahazyah, “It’s treason, Ahazyah!” 24 Yehu grabbed his bow, and the arrow struck Yoram between his shoulder blades and came out from his heart, and he slumped down dead in his chariot. 25 Then Yehu said to his third officer Bidkar, “Pick up his body and throw it out into the field of Navot, the Yizre’elite. I’m sure you remember how you and I were riding as pairs after his father Ahab, when Yahweh said this against him: 26 ‘Yesterday I saw Navot and his sons killed here, declared Yahweh, and I will repay you in this very place, declares Yahweh.’ So now, throw his body down here because Yahweh declared that it would happen.”

27 Yehudah’s King Ahazyah saw that happen, and he sped away through the garden by a house with Yehu chasing after him shouting, “Get him too in his chariot when he starts climbing upwards to Gur near Yibleam.” So as he fled towards Megiddo, he was killed there, 28 and his servants took his body to Yerushalem, where they buried him in his ancestral tomb in the City of David.

29 (Ahazyah had become king over Yehudah in the eleventh year of the reign of Ahab’s son Yoram over Israel.)

30 Then Yehu came to Yizre’el and Queen Izevel (Jezebel) heard about it. She painted her eyelids and did her hair nicely, then she looked down through the window, 31 and when Yehu came in the gate, she said, “Greetings, Zimri the second,[ref] murderer of his master.” 32 Yehu looked up at the window and called out, “Who is with me? Who?” And two or three servants poked their heads out windows and looked down to him. 33 “Okay,” he called up, “toss her out!”

So they tossed her out the window, and some of her blood splashed onto the wall and onto the horses as she was trampled by them. 34 Then Yehu and his men went in and ate and drank, and then he said, “Now, you all better attend to that evil woman and bury her, because she’s a king’s daughter.” 35 But when they went to bury her, they could only find her skull and her hands and feet. 36 They came back inside and told him, “It’s just like what Yahweh said via his servant the Tishbite Eliyah, when he said that the dogs would eat Izevel’s flesh just outside Yizre’el, 37 and then her body would become like dung on the ground and no one would be able to recognise her specific bones.”

10 King Ahab had seventy sons who lived in Shomron (Samaria), so Yehu sent letters to the leaders and elders of Yizre’el, and to the guardians of Ahab’s children, saying, 2 “When you all receive this letter, you’ll have the sons of your masters with you, as well as chariots and horses, and weapons within your fortified city. 3 So select the best and the most honest one out of your masters’ sons or nephews, and establish him on his father’s throne, and then be prepared to defend your masters’ family.” 4 But they were extremely frightened and said, “Listen—those two kings couldn’t stand against Yehu, so how could we?” 5 Then the man who was now in charge of the household and leading the city elders sent a message to Yehu, “We are your servants and we’ll do whatever you tell us to. We don’t plan to select a king. Do whatever you think best.”

6 So Yehu sent a second letter saying, “If you’re all on my side and ready to follow me, come and meet me at Yizre’el tomorrow with the heads of your masters’ sons.”

The late King Ahab had seventy sons who were being brought up by the city leaders, 7 and when that letter arrived, they killed and beheaded all of them, put the heads in baskets, and sent them to him at Yizre’el.

8 A messenger went and informed Yehu that the heads had been brought, and he instructed them to pile them up in two piles at the city gate until the next morning. 9 In the morning he went out and stood there, and he told all the people, “You are innocent. Listen—it was me myself who conspired against my master and killed him. But who killed all these? 10 You all should know that when Yahweh says something will happen, then it will happen. He said via his servant Eliyah that this is what would happen to Ahab’s family, and so it has.” 11 Then Yehu killed all Ahab’s remaining family members in Yizre’el, and all his chosen leaders, and his associates and priests, leaving no survivors.

12 Then Yehu left Yizre’el and headed towards Shomron (Samaria). When he reached the shepherds’ shearing house, 13 he met the late King Ahazyah’s brothers there, and he asked them, “Who are you?”

“We’re King Ahazyah’s brothers,” they said, “and we’re coming to look after the sons of the king and of the queen mother.”

14 “Arrest them,” he ordered, so they grabbed and slaughtered them near the pit at the shearing house. There were forty-two men and none were spared.

15 Then continuing on from there, Yehu found Rekav’s son Yonadav coming to meet him. Yehu greeted him and asked, “Are you wanting to do what is right just like I am?” IS THAT WHAT HE WAS REALLY ASKING???

“Yes, I am.” Yonadav replied.

“Great,” Yehu said. “Give me your hand,” and he gave him his hand, and Yehu pulled him up to join him in the chariot, 16 telling him, “Come with me and see my zeal for Yahweh.” So they rode together in the chariot. 17 When they got to Shomron, Yehu killed the remainder of Ahab’s family who were there, until they were finally exterminated, just as Yahweh had said via Eliyah.

18 Then Yehu assembled all the people and told them, “Ahab served Baal a little, but Yehu will serve him a lot. 19 So now, call all the prophets of Baal to come here—all his servants and all his priests. Don’t let anyone stay away because I’m going to make a large sacrifice to Baal. Anyone who’s absent will be executed.” However Yehu was being cunning in order to destroy Baal’s followers. 20 Yehu ordered, “Announce a special holiday to assemble and worship Baal,” and so they did. 21 On that day, Yehu brought in all the people, and all the servants of the Baal came, leaving no one out. They entered the temple of the Baal and it was packed full. 22 He told the wardrobe supervisor, “Bring out uniforms for all the servants of the Baal,” so he brought robes out for them. 23 Then Yehu and Rekav’s son Yonadab entered the temple of the Baal and instructed the servants of the Baal, “Make sure that it’s only the servants of Baal in here—we don’t want any servants of Yahweh.” 24 So they entered to make sacrifices and burnt offerings.

Meanwhile, Yehu had stationed eighty men outside, and had told them, “Don’t let any of the ones I send you escape, or it will be your life in place of theirs.”

25 Then when he finished making the burnt offering in the outer area, Yehu told the guards and officers, “Come in now and strike them down. Don’t let any of them get out.” So they attacked them with swords, and the guards and officers threw the bodies over the fence. Then they went inside the temple, 26 and pulled the sacred posts outside and burnt them. 27 They broke down the pillar of the Baal, and they broke down the temple. Since then it’s been used as an out-house.

28 That’s how Yehu put an end to Baal worship in Yisrael. 29 There was only one of the things with which Nebat’s son Yarave’am had caused Yisrael to sin that Yehu didn’t destroy: the golden calves at Beyt-El and Dan. 30 Then Yahweh told Yehu, “Because you did good by following my principles and doing what I’ve said is right, including what you did to Ahab’s family, you’ll have four generations sitting on Yisrael’s throne.” 31 But Yehu didn’t take care to follow the instructions of Yisrael’s god Yahweh whole-heartedly—he didn’t reject all of Yarave’am’s evil customs which had caused Yisrael to sin.

32 During that period, Yahweh began to reduce the size of Yisrael’s territory and Aram’s King Haza’el attacked along their border 33 from the Yordan river in the east as far south as Aroer city on the Arnon river—capturing the Gilead and Bashan regions where the tribes of Gad, Reuben, and Menashsheh lived.

34 Everything else that Yehu said and did is written in the book of the events of the kings of Yisrael. 35 Then Yehu died and was buried in their ancestral tomb in Shomron (Samaria), and his son Yehoahaz replaced him as king. 36 Yehu had ruled from Shomron as the king of Yisrael for twenty-eight years.

13 In the twenty-third year of Ahazyah’s son Yoash reigning over Yehudah, Yehu’s son Yehoahaz became king over Yisrael and reigned seventeen years from Shomron (Samaria). 2 He did what Yahweh had said was evil and he imitated the customs of Nebat’s son Yarave’am who had caused Yisrael to sin—Yehoahaz didn’t end them. 3 So Yahweh got angry with Yisrael and he allowed them to be defeated by Aram’s King Haza’el and his son Ben-Hadad throughout Yehoahaz’s reign. 4 Then Yehoahaz prayed to Yahweh for help, and Yahweh listened to him because he saw how much Yisrael was being oppressed by the Aramean king. 5 So Yahweh sent a saviour to Yisrael, and they were able to stand up against the Arameans, and only then were the Israelis able to live peacefully again from day to day. 6 Despite that, they didn’t stop imitating the sins of Yarave’am’s family who caused Yisrael to sin—no, Yehoahaz kept doing them, and even the Asherah pole remained standing in Shomron.

7 The Aramean king had thoroughly destroyed much of Yisrael’s forces only leaving fifty horsemen, ten chariots, and ten thousand foot soldiers for Yehoahaz.

8 Everything else that Yehoahaz said and did, including his great achievements, is written in the book of the events of the kings of Yisrael. 9 Then Yehoahaz died and was buried in Shomron, and his son Yehoash replaced him as king.

10 In the thirty-seventh year of King Yoash reigning over Yehudah, Yehoahaz’s son Yehoash became king over Yisrael and reigned sixteen years from Shomron (Samaria). 11 He did what Yahweh had said was evil and he imitated the customs of Nebat’s son Yarave’am who had caused Yisrael to sin—Yehoash didn’t end them. 12 Everything else that Yehoash said and did, including his great achievements fighting along with Yehudah’s King Amatsyah, is written in the book of the events of the kings of Yisrael. 13 Then Yehoash died and was buried in Shomron with the former kings of Yisrael, and his son Yarave’am replaced him on the throne.

14 Meanwhile Elisha had been sick and heading for his last days, so Yisrael’s king Yehoash had been to see him, and cried as he stood in front of him and said, “My father, my father, Yisrael’s chariot and its horsemen!”[fn]

15 Then Elisha had told him, “Bring a bow and arrows.” So he’d brought them, 16 and he’d told Yisrael’s king, “Grab the bow ready to draw.” So he did that, and then Elisha put his hands over the king’s hands. 17 Then he said, “Open that window facing east.” The king opened it and Elisha said, “Shoot.” So he shot the arrow and Elisha said, “That’s an arrow of victory for Yahweh and an arrow of victory against Aram. You will thoroughly defeat Aram at Afek.” 18 Then he continued, “Take the rest of the arrows.” Yisrael’s king took them, and Elisha told him, “Strike the ground with them.” So he banged the arrows on the ground three times. 19 But the man of God was angry with him, and said, “You should have bashed them five or six times, then you would have bashed Aram up completely, but now you’ll defeat them three times.”

20 Then Elisha died and was buried.

Every year in the spring, bands of Moabites would make raids on Yisrael, 21 and once there was a group of Israelis burying a man. When they saw the raiding party, they quickly threw the body into Elisha’s tomb, and when it touched his bones, the man came back to life and stood up.

22 Aram’s King Haza’el oppressed Yisrael all through Yehoahaz’s reign, 23 but Yahweh showed favour to the Israelis and felt compassionate towards them. Because of his agreement with Abraham, Yitshak, and Yacob, he didn’t want to destroy them, and he hasn’t tossed them out even to this day.

24 When Aram’s King Haza’el died, his son Ben-Hadad replaced him as king. 25 Then Yehoahaz’s son Yehoash attacked Aram three times, and he took back the cities from Haza’el’s son Ben-Hadad that had been taken in the war in his father Yehoahaz’s time.

23 In the fifteenth year of Yoash’s son King Amatsyah’s reign over Yehudah, Yehoash’s son Yarave’am became king of Yisrael and reigned from Shomron (Samaria) for forty-one years. 24 He did what Yahweh had said was evil—he imitated the customs of Nebat’s son Yarave’am who’d caused Yisrael to sin. 25 Yarave’am restored Yisrael’s border from Lebo-Hamat through to the Sea of the Desert, as Yisrael’s god Yahweh had foretold via his servant Yonah (Jonah)—the son of the prophet Amittai from Gat-Hefer. 26 That was because Yahweh had seen how Yisrael had suffered badly and had been unable to control their own destinies, and that no other country would help them. 27 But Yahweh had said that he wouldn’t allow Yisrael to be destroyed, so he’d used Yehoash’s son Yarave’am to save them.

28 Everything else that Yarave’am said and did, including how he fought and restored Damascus and Hamat to Yisrael, is written in the book of the events of the kings of Yisrael. 29 Then Yarave’am died and was buried with the former kings of Yisrael, and his son Zekaryah replaced him as king.

8 In the thirty-eighth year of King Azaryah’s reign over Yehudah, Yarave’am’s son Zekaryah became king over Yisrael and ruled for six months from Shomron (Samaria). 9 He did what Yahweh had said was evil, just as his ancestors had done—he didn’t avoid the kinds of behaviour that had been done by Nebat’s son Yarave’am who had caused Yisrael to sin. 10 Then Yavesh’s son Shallum plotted to assassinate him, and he attacked him in front of the people and killed him, and he replaced him as king.

11 Everything else that Zekaryah said and did is written in the book of the events of the kings of Yisrael.

12 Previously Yahweh had told King Yehu that his descendants would sit on the throne for four generations, and that had come true.[ref]

13 Yavesh’s son Shallum became king in the thirty-ninth year of King Azaryah’s reign over Yehudah, but he only reigned from Shomron for one month. 14 Then Gadi’s son Menahem came to Shomron from Tirtsah, and he attacked Yabesh’s son Shallum there in Shomron and killed him, replacing him as king. 15 Everything else that Shallum said, including his assassination plot, is written in the book of the events of the kings of Yisrael. 16 At that time, Menahem attacked Tifsah and everyone in the city, and its borders from Tirtsah, because they wouldn’t open their gates. Then he ripped open the bellies of all the pregnant women there.

17 In the thirty-ninth year of King Azaryah’s reign over Yehudah, Gadi’s son Menahem became king over Yisrael and he reigned from Shomron (Samaria) for ten years. 18 He did what Yahweh had said was evil—he didn’t avoid the kinds of behaviour that had been done by Nebat’s son Yarave’am who had caused Yisrael to sin.

During his reign, 19 King Pul (Tiglat-Pileser) of Assyria attacked Israel, and Menahem gave Pul over thirty tonnes of silver, so he would support Menahem’s reign. 20 (Menahem had taxed all the wealthy families across Yisrael—fifty silver coins per adult male.) As a result, the Assyrian king cancelled his plans to attack and returned home.

21 Everything else that Menahem said and did is written in the book of the events of the kings of Yisrael. 22 Then Menahem died and was buried, and his son Pekahyah replaced him as king.

23 In the fiftieth year of King Azaryah’s reign over Yehudah, Menahem’s son Pekahyah became king over Yisrael and reigned from Shomron (Samaria) for two years. 24 He did what Yahweh had said was evil—he didn’t avoid the kinds of behaviour that had been done by Nebat’s son Yarave’am who had caused Yisrael to sin. 25 But Pekah the son of Remalyah, Pekahyah’s third officer, plotted to assassinate him, and he attacked him in the palace in Shomron with the assistance of Argov and Aryeh and fifty Gileadites. So Pekah killed King Pekahyah and replaced him as king. 26 Everything else that Pekahyah said and did is written in the book of the events of the kings of Yisrael—look at it.

27 In the fifty-second year of King Azaryah’s reign over Yehudah, Remalyah’s son Pekah became king over Yisrael and reigned from Shomron (Samaria) for twenty years. 28 He did what Yahweh had said was evil—he didn’t avoid the kinds of behaviour that had been done by Nebat’s son Yarave’am who had caused Yisrael to sin.

29 During the reign of King Pekah over Yisrael, Assyria’s King Tiglat-Pileser came, and he captured the cities of Iyyon, Avel-Beyt-Maakah, Yanoah, Kedesh, and Hatsor, and the regions of Gilead, Galilee, and Naftali, and he exiled their people to Assyria.

30 Then Elah’s son Hoshea plotted to assassinate Remalyah’s son Pekah, and he attacked him, killing him and replacing him as king in the twentieth year of King Yotam’s reign over Yehudah. 31 Everything else that Pekah said and did is written in the book of the events of the kings of Yisrael.

17 In the twelfth year of King Ahaz’s reign over Yehudah, Elah’s son Hoshea became king over Yisrael and he reigned from Shomron (Samaria) for nine years. 2 He did what Yahweh had said was evil, although nothing like the Israeli kings who’d preceded him. 3 Assyria’s King Shalmaneser attacked and defeated him, and Hoshea became his servant and paid tribute to him. 4 But the Assyrian king discovered that Hoshea was planning a revolt and had sent messengers to the Egyptian King So and hadn’t kept up the annual tribute payment. So the Assyrian king arrested Hoshea and imprisoned him.

5 Then the Assyrian king attacked the whole country, including besieging Shomron (Samaria) for three years. 6 In the ninth year of Hoshea’s reign, the Assyrian king captured Shomron. He exiled the Israelis to Assyria and settled them in Halah, and in Havor along the Gozan River, and in the cities of the Medes.

7 That happened because the Israelis had sinned against their god Yahweh who had rescued them from King Far-oh in Egypt. They had sinned by worshipping other gods 8 and imitating the customs of the people groups who Yahweh had driven out of the country ahead of them. They had also followed their kings in doing evil things. 9 The Israelis had done things secretly that their god Yahweh had said weren’t right, and they’d built hilltop shrines everywhere from the largest fortified cities to the smallest towns. 10 They’d also erected stone pillars to honour gods and Asherah poles on every high hill and under every large tree,[ref] 11 and they’d burnt incense there on all those hilltops just like the people groups that Yahweh had driven off the land ahead of them—doing those evil things had made Yahweh angry. 12 They’d served idols even when Yahweh had forbidden them from doing that.

13 So Yahweh had warned Yisrael and Yehudah by the proclamations of all of his prophets who said, “Turn from your evil ways and obey my commands and statutes, following all of the instructions that I gave your ancestors and which I delivered to you through my servants, the prophets.” 14 However, they hadn’t listened and had hardened their attitudes just like their ancestors who wouldn’t put their trust in their god Yahweh. 15 They rejected his statutes and the agreement that he made with their ancestors, and the warning that he gave them. They chose to worship lifeless objects, and they became hollow and empty themselves, just like the people of the surrounding countries which Yahweh had commanded them not to imitate. 16 They disobeyed the instructions given to them by their god Yahweh by molding two metal calves for themselves and making an Asherah pole. Then they bowed down and worshipped the sun, moon, and stars, and they served Baal.[ref] 17 They sacrificed their sons and daughters, and used fortune-tellers and witchcraft—making themselves slaves to evil by doing what Yahweh had forbidden, and so making him angry.[ref] 18 So that’s why Yahweh had become very angry at the northern kingdom of Yisrael and caused them to be removed from the land. Only the Southern kingdom of Yehudah remained, 19 but even they didn’t obey the commands of their god Yahweh, but copied much of the bad behaviour of the northern kingdom. 20 So Yahweh rejected all the Israelis and he caused them to suffer, including being plundered by enemy armies, until he banished them from his presence.

21 Firstly he’d torn the northern kingdom out from the leadership of David’s descendants and they’d made Nebat’s son Yarave’am king. Then Yarave’am had driven them away from following Yahweh, and had induced them into serious sin. 22 So the Israelis had followed Yarave’am into sin and then didn’t turn away from it, 23 and finally Yahweh had removed the people of the northern kingdom of Yisrael from his presence just like he’d warned he would through the messages of his servants, the prophets. So the people were deported to Assyria where they remain to this day.

24 Then the Assyrian king sent people from Babylon and from Kutah and from Avva and from Hamat and Sefarvayim, and he settled them in the cities of the northern kingdom in place of the Israelis. And they possessed Shomron (Samaria) and lived in its towns. 25 At first the new inhabitants living there didn’t respect Yahweh, however he sent lions among them and they started killing them. 26 They told the Assyrian king, “The people groups that you exiled from their own countries and settled in the towns around Shomron, don’t know the customs of the god of the land. So he’s sent lions against them, and look at them—killing them because they don’t know the customs of the god of the land.” 27 “Send one of the priests back that was brought from there,” the Assyrian king commanded. “He can go back there and settle there again, then he can teach them the customs of the god of that place.” 28 So they found one of the priests who had been exiled from Shomron and sent him back to Israel. He settled in Beyt-El and taught the people how Yahweh wanted to be served.

29 But each people group had made their own gods and put them in the hilltop shrines that the Israelis had made before being exiled. Each people group did that in the area where they’d been resettled. 30 Those from Babylon made their god Succot-Benot, those from Kutah made Nergal, those from Hamat made their god Ashima, 31 and the Avvites made Nivhaz and Tartak. The Sefarvites sacrificed their own sons in the fire to their gods Adrammelek and Anammelek. 32 At the same time, they tried placating Yahweh, but they also made their own priests to make sacrifices for them in their hilltop shrines. 33 So they were worshipping Yahweh along with their own gods—they’d brought those customs with them from the countries they’d been exiled from 34 and which they still follow to this day.[ref]

They’re not actually obeying Yahweh because they’re not obeying the statutes or laws, or instructions or behaviour that Yahweh commanded the descendants of Yakob (who he’d renamed to ‘Yisrael’). 35 Yahweh had made an agreement with them and had commanded them, “You all must not honour other gods or bow to them. You all must not serve them or sacrifice to them.[ref] 36 Only serve Yahweh who used his incredible power to rescue you all out of Egypt. Honour him, and only bow to him and sacrifice to him.[ref] 37 Always take care to obey the statutes and customs, and the law and the instructions that he wrote for you, and you all must not honour other gods. 38 Don’t forget the agreement that I made with you all, and don’t honour other gods—39 only your god Yahweh, and then he himself will rescue you from all your enemies.” 40 However, they didn’t listen, preferring to follow the customs from their former places of residence.

41 So those people groups honoured Yahweh, but also served their idols. This continued through the generations with their descendants continuing the same behaviour.