2 Kings 1-3

New Life Version

The Lord Speaks to Ahaziah

1 Now Moab turned against Israel after the death of Ahab. ² Ahaziah fell through the window of his second-floor room in Samaria, and lay sick. So he sent men with news, saying to them, “Go and ask Baalzebub the god of Ekron if I will get well again from this sickness.” ³ But the angel of the Lord said to Elijah the Tishbite, “Get up and go meet the men sent from the king of Samaria. Say to them, ‘Are you going to ask Baal-zebub the god of Ekron because there is no God in Israel?’ ⁴ This is what the Lord says. ‘You will not leave the bed on which you lie. You will die for sure.’” Then Elijah left.

⁵ When the men returned to Ahaziah, he said to them, “Why have you returned?” ⁶ They said, “A man came up to meet us. He said to us, ‘Go and return to the king who sent you. Tell him, “This is what the Lord says. ‘Are you asking Baal-zebub the god of Ekron because there is no God in Israel? So you will not leave the bed on which you lie. You will die for sure.’”’” ⁷ Ahaziah said to them, “What kind of man was he who came to meet you and said this to you?” ⁸ They answered, “He was a man with much hair. He wore a piece of leather around his body.” Ahaziah said, “It is Elijah the Tishbite.”

⁹ Then the king sent a captain with fifty of his men to take Elijah. The captain went up to him and saw Elijah sitting on the top of the hill. He said to him, “O man of God, the king says, ‘Come down.’” ¹⁰ Elijah said to the captain of fifty men, “If I am a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and destroy you and your fifty men.” Then fire came down from heaven and destroyed him and his fifty men. ¹¹ So Ahaziah sent to him another captain with fifty men. The captain said to Elijah, “O man of God, the king says, ‘Be quick to come down.’” ¹² Elijah answered them, “If I am a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and destroy you and your fifty men.” Then the fire of God came down from heaven and destroyed him and his fifty men. ¹³ So Ahaziah sent to him a third captain with fifty men. When the third captain of fifty men went up, he came and put his face to the ground in front of Elijah. He begged him and said, “O man of God, I beg you. Let my life and the lives of these fifty servants of yours be of great worth in your eyes. ¹⁴ Fire came down from heaven and destroyed the first two captains with their armies of fifty. But now let my life be of great worth in your eyes.” ¹⁵ The angel of the Lord said to Elijah, “Go down with him. Do not be afraid of him.” So Elijah got up and went with him to the king. ¹⁶ Then Elijah said to Ahaziah, “This is what the Lord says. ‘You have sent men to ask of Baal-zebub the god of Ekron. Is it because there is no God in Israel to ask of His Word? So now you will not leave the bed on which you lie. You will die for sure.’”

¹⁷ So Ahaziah died, just as the word of the Lord had said through Elijah. Because Ahaziah had no son, Jehoram his brother became king in his place, in the second year of Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah. ¹⁸ Now the rest of the acts of Ahaziah, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?

Elijah Is Taken Up to Heaven

2 When the Lord was about to take Elijah up to heaven by a wind-storm, Elijah and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal. ² Elijah said to Elisha, “Stay here, I ask you. For the Lord has sent me as far as Bethel.” But Elisha said, “As the Lord lives and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So they went down to Bethel. ³ Then the sons of the men who spoke for God at Bethel came out to Elisha. They said to him, “Do you know that the Lord will take Elijah from you today?” And he said, “Yes, I know. Say no more.” ⁴ Elijah said to him, “Elisha, I ask you to stay here. For the Lord has sent me to Jericho.” But Elisha said, “As the Lord lives and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So they came to Jericho. ⁵ The sons of the men who spoke for God at Jericho came to Elisha. They said to him, “Do you know that the Lord will take Elijah from you today?” And he answered, “Yes, I know. Say no more.” ⁶ Then Elijah said to him, “I ask you to stay here. For the Lord has sent me to the Jordan.” And Elisha said, “As the Lord lives and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So the two of them went on.

⁷ Now fifty sons of the men who tell what will happen in the future went and stood on the other side of the Jordan River a long way off from the two of them who were standing by the Jordan. ⁸ Then Elijah took his coat and rolled it up and hit the water. And the water divided to one side and to the other, so the two of them crossed the Jordan on dry ground. ⁹ When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, “Ask what I should do for you before I am taken from you.” And Elisha said, “I ask you, let twice the share of your spirit be upon me.” ¹⁰ Elijah said, “You have asked a hard thing. But if you see me when I am taken from you, it will be given to you. But if not, it will not be so.” ¹¹ As they went on and talked, a war-wagon of fire and horses of fire came between them. And Elijah went up by a wind-storm to heaven. ¹² Elisha saw it and cried out, “My father, my father, the war-wagon of Israel and its horsemen!” And he saw Elijah no more. Then he took hold of his own clothes and tore them in two pieces. ¹³ He picked up Elijah’s coat that had fallen from him. And he returned and stood by the side of the Jordan. ¹⁴ He took Elijah’s coat that fell from him, and hit the water and said, “Where is the Lord, the God of Elijah?” When he hit the water, it was divided to one side and to the other, and Elisha crossed the Jordan.

¹⁵ The sons of the men who tell what will happen in the future at Jericho saw him. And they said, “The spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha.” They came to meet him and bowed to the ground in front of him. ¹⁶ They said to him, “Now see, there are fifty strong men with your servants. Let them go and look for your teacher. It might be that the Spirit of the Lord has taken him up and put him down on some mountain or into some valley.” And Elisha said, “Do not send them.” ¹⁷ But they talked to him until he was ashamed, and he said, “Send them.” So they sent fifty men to look for Elijah. But after three days they did not find him. ¹⁸ They returned to Elisha while he was staying at Jericho. And he said to them, “Did I not tell you, ‘Do not go’?”

Powerful Works of Elisha

¹⁹ Then the men of the city said to Elisha, “See, it is pleasing to live in this city, as my lord sees. But the water is bad. And the land does not bring fruit.” ²⁰ Elisha said, “Bring me a new jar, and put salt in it.” So they brought it to him. ²¹ Then he went out to the well of water and threw salt into it, and said, “This is what the Lord says, ‘I have made this water pure. It will not cause death or loss of fruit any more.’” ²² So the water has been pure to this day, just as Elisha said.

²³ Then he left there and went to Bethel. On the way, some young boys came out from the city and made fun of him. They said to him, “Go up, you man with no hair! Go up, you man with no hair!” ²⁴ He looked behind him and saw them, and cursed them in the name of the Lord. Then two female bears came from among the trees and tore up forty-two of the boys. ²⁵ Elisha went from there to Mount Carmel, then returned to Samaria.

The War between Moab and Israel

3 Ahab’s son Jehoram became the king of Israel at Samaria in the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah. He ruled for twelve years. ² Jehoram did what was bad in the eyes of the Lord, but not like his father and mother. For he put away the object of Baal which his father had made. ³ But he held on to the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which made Israel sin. He did not leave them.

⁴ Now Mesha king of Moab raised sheep. He had to pay the king of Israel 100,000 lambs and the wool of 100,000 rams each year. ⁵ But when Ahab died, the king of Moab turned against the king of Israel. ⁶ So King Jehoram went out of Samaria at that time and called all Israel together. ⁷ Then he went and sent word to Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, saying, “The king of Moab has turned against me. Will you go with me to fight against Moab?” And Jehoshaphat said, “I will go. I am as you are. My people are as your people. My horses are as your horses.” ⁸ Then he said, “Which way should we go?” And he answered, “By the way of the desert of Edom.” ⁹ So the king of Israel went with the king of Judah and the king of Edom. They traveled around for seven days, but there was no water for the army or the cattle that followed them. ¹⁰ The king of Israel said, “It is bad! For the Lord has called these three kings to give them into the hand of Moab.” ¹¹ But Jehoshaphat said, “Is there not a man who speaks for God here? Is there no one we can ask to learn what the Lord would have us do?” One of the servants of the king of Israel answered, “Elisha the son of Shaphat is here. He 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 Elisha said to the king of Israel, “What have I to do with you? Go to the men who tell what will happen in the future that your father and mother have gone to.” And the king of Israel said to him, “No. It is the Lord Who has called these three kings together to give them into the hand of Moab.” ¹⁴ Elisha said, “As the Lord of all lives, before Whom I stand, if I did not care for Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, I would not look at you or see you. ¹⁵ But now bring me a man who plays music.” And when the man played music, the power of the Lord came upon Elisha. ¹⁶ He said, “This is what the Lord says, ‘Make this valley full of ditches.’ ¹⁷ For the Lord says, ‘You will not see wind or rain. But that valley will be filled with water so that you and your cattle and your animals will drink.’ ¹⁸ This is only a small thing in the eyes of the Lord. He will give you the Moabites also. ¹⁹ Then you will destroy every strong city and cut down every good tree. You will close all the wells of water, and destroy every good piece of land with stones.” ²⁰ The next morning, about the time when the gift is given on the altar, water came by the way of Edom. The country was filled with water. ²¹ Now all the Moabites heard that the kings had come up to fight against them. All who were able to wear battle-clothes, young and old, were called together. And they stood at the side of the land of Moab. ²² They got up early in the morning. The sun was shining on the water. And the Moabites saw that the water beside them was as red as blood. ²³ They said, “This is blood. For sure the kings have fought and killed one another. So now, Moab, let us take what is left!” ²⁴ But when they came to the tents of Israel, the Israelites came and fought against the Moabites. The Moabites ran from them. And Israel went on into the land, killing the Moabites. ²⁵ So they destroyed the cities. Each man threw a stone on every piece of good land until it was covered. They closed all the wells of water and cut down all the good trees. Only the stones of Kir-hareseth were left standing. But the stone-throwers went around it and fought against it. ²⁶ The king of Moab saw that the battle was too hard for him. So he took with him 700 men who used the sword, to break through to the king of Edom. But they could not. ²⁷ Then he took his oldest son who was to rule in his place, and gave him as a burnt gift on the wall. And many became very angry toward Israel. They left him and returned to their own land.