2 Kings 1-3

New American Standard Bible

Ahaziah’s Messengers Meet Elijah

1 Now ^(A)Moab broke with Israel after the death of Ahab. ² And Ahaziah fell through the window lattice in his upper chamber which was in Samaria, and became ill. So he sent messengers and said to them, “Go, ^(B)inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, ^(C)whether I will recover from this sickness.” ³ But the angel of the Lord said to ^(D)Elijah the Tishbite, “Arise, go up to meet the messengers of the king of Samaria and say to them, ‘Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are going to inquire of ^(E)Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron?’ ⁴ Now therefore, this is what the Lord says: ‘^[a](F)You will not get down from the bed upon which you have lain, but you shall certainly die.’” Then Elijah departed.

⁵ When the messengers returned to ^[b]Ahaziah, he said to them, “^[c]Why have you returned?” ⁶ They said to him, “A man came up to meet us and said to us, ‘Go, return to the king who sent you and say to him, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are sending messengers ^(G)to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron? Therefore ^[d]you will not get down from the bed upon which you have lain, but you shall certainly die.’”’” ⁷ Then he said to them, “What ^[e]did the man look like, who came up to meet you and spoke these words to you?” ⁸ And they said to him, “^(H)He was a hairy man with a leather ^[f]belt worn around his waist.” And he said, “It is Elijah the Tishbite.”

⁹ Then the king ^(I)sent to him a captain of fifty with his fifty men. And he went up to him, and behold, he was sitting on the top of the hill. And he said to him, “You man of God, the king says, ‘Come down.’” ¹⁰ But Elijah replied to the captain of fifty, “If I am a man of God, ^(J)may fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty.” ^(K)Then fire came down from heaven and consumed him and his fifty men.

¹¹ So the king again sent to him another captain of fifty with his fifty men. And he said to him, “You man of God, this is what the king says: ‘Come down quickly!’” ¹² But Elijah replied to them, “If I am a man of God, may fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty.” Then the fire of God came down from heaven and consumed him and his fifty men.

¹³ So the king ^(L)again sent the captain of a third fifty with his fifty men. When the third captain of fifty went up, he came and bowed down on his knees before Elijah, and begged him and said to him, “You man of God, please let my life and the lives of these fifty servants of yours be precious in your sight. ¹⁴ Behold, fire came down from heaven and consumed the first two captains of fifty with their fifties; but now let my ^[g]life be precious in your sight.” ¹⁵ And ^(M)the angel of the Lord said to Elijah, “Go down with him; ^(N)do not be afraid of him.” So he got up and went down with him to the king. ¹⁶ Then he said to him, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Since you have sent messengers ^(O)to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron—is it because there is no God in Israel to inquire of His word? Therefore ^[h]you will not get down from the bed upon which you have lain, but you shall certainly die.’”

Jehoram Reigns over Israel

¹⁷ So Ahaziah died in accordance with the word of the Lord which Elijah had spoken. And since he had no son, Jehoram became king in his place ^(P)in the second year of Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah. ¹⁸ Now as for the rest of the acts of Ahaziah which he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?

Elijah Taken to Heaven

2 Now it came about, when the Lord was about to ^(Q)bring Elijah up by a ^[i]whirlwind to heaven, that Elijah left ^(R)Gilgal with ^(S)Elisha. ² And Elijah said to Elisha, “^(T)Stay here please, for the Lord has sent me as far as ^(U)Bethel.” But Elisha said, “^(V)As surely as the Lord lives and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So they went down to Bethel. ³ Then ^(W)the sons of the prophets who were at Bethel went out to Elisha and said to him, “Are you aware that the Lord will take away your master from over ^[j]you today?” And he said, “Yes, I am aware; say nothing about it.”

⁴ And Elijah said to him, “Elisha, please ^(X)stay here, for the Lord has sent me to ^(Y)Jericho.” But he said, “^(Z)As surely as the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So they came to Jericho. ⁵ Then ^(AA)the sons of the prophets who were at Jericho approached Elisha and said to him, “^(AB)Do you know that the Lord will take away your master from over ^[k]you today?” And he ^[l]answered, “Yes, I know; say nothing about it.” ⁶ And Elijah said to him, “Please ^(AC)stay here, for the Lord has sent me to ^(AD)the Jordan.” But he said, “As surely as the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So the two of them went on.

⁷ Now ^(AE)fifty men of the sons of the prophets went and stood opposite them at a distance, while the two of them stood by the Jordan. ⁸ And Elijah ^(AF)took his coat, folded it, and ^(AG)struck the waters, and they were divided here and there, so that the two of them crossed over on dry ground.

⁹ When they had crossed over, Elijah said to Elisha, “Ask me what I should do for you before I am taken from you.” And Elisha said, “Please let a ^(AH)double portion of your spirit be upon me.” ¹⁰ He said, “You have asked a hard thing. Nevertheless, if you ^(AI)see me when I am taken from you, it shall be so for you; but if not, it shall not be so.” ¹¹ And as they were walking along and talking, behold, ^(AJ)a chariot of fire appeared with horses of fire, and they separated the two of them. Then Elijah went up by a ^[m]whirlwind to heaven. ¹² And Elisha was watching it and he was crying out, “^(AK)My father, my father, the chariot of Israel and its horsemen!” And he did not see ^[n]Elijah again. Then ^(AL)he took hold of his own clothes and tore them in two pieces. ¹³ He also took up the coat of Elijah that had fallen from him, and he went back and stood by the bank of the Jordan. ¹⁴ Then he took the coat of Elijah that had fallen from him and struck the waters, and said, “Where is the Lord, the God of Elijah?” And when he also had ^(AM)struck the waters, they were divided here and there; and Elisha crossed over.

Elisha Succeeds Elijah

¹⁵ Now when ^(AN)the sons of the prophets who were at Jericho opposite him saw him, they said, “The spirit of Elijah has settled on Elisha.” And they came to meet him and bowed down to the ground before him. ¹⁶ Then they said to him, “Behold now, there are with your servants fifty strong men; please let them go and search for your master, in case ^(AO)the Spirit of the Lord has taken him up and cast him on some mountain or into some valley.” But he said, “You shall not send anyone.” ¹⁷ Yet when ^(AP)they urged him until he was ashamed to refuse, he said, “Send them.” So they sent fifty men; and they searched for three days, but did not find him. ¹⁸ They returned to him while he was staying in Jericho; and he said to them, “Did I not say to you, ‘Do not go’?”

¹⁹ Then the men of the city said to Elisha, “Behold now, the site of the city is pleasant, as my lord sees; but the water is bad and the land ^[o]is unfruitful.” ²⁰ And he said, “Bring me a new jar, and put salt ^[p]in it.” So they brought it to him. ²¹ Then he went out to the spring of water and ^(AQ)threw salt ^[q]in it and said, “This is what the Lord says: ‘I have ^[r]purified these waters; there shall not come from there death or ^[s]unfruitfulness any longer.’” ²² So the waters have been ^[t]purified to this day, in accordance with the word of Elisha which he spoke.

²³ Now he went up from there to Bethel; and as he was going up by the road, some young boys came out from the city and ^(AR)ridiculed him and said to him, “Go up, you baldhead; go up, you baldhead!” ²⁴ When he looked behind him and saw them, he ^(AS)cursed them in the name of the Lord. Then two female bears came out of the woods and tore up forty-two ^[u]of the boys. ²⁵ He then went on from there to ^(AT)Mount Carmel, and from there he returned to Samaria.

Jehoram Meets Moabite Rebellion

3 Now Jehoram the son of Ahab became king over Israel at Samaria ^(AU)in the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and he reigned for twelve years. ² He did evil in the sight of the Lord, though not like his father and his mother; for ^(AV)he removed the memorial stone of Baal ^(AW)which his father had made. ³ Nevertheless, ^(AX)he clung to the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, into ^(AY)which he misled Israel; he did not abandon them.

⁴ Now Mesha the king of Moab was a sheep breeder, and he ^(AZ)used to make tribute payments to the king of Israel of a hundred thousand lambs, and the wool of a hundred thousand rams. ⁵ However, ^(BA)when King Ahab died, the king of Moab broke with the ^[v]king of Israel. ⁶ So King Jehoram left Samaria for battle ^[w]at that time and mustered all Israel. ⁷ Then he went and sent word to Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, saying, “The king of Moab has broken away from me. Will you go with me to fight against Moab?” And he said, “I will go up. ^[x](BB)Consider me yours, my people as your people, my horses as your horses.” ⁸ Then he said, “Which way shall we go up?” And he ^[y]answered, “The way of the wilderness of Edom.”

⁹ So ^(BC)the king of Israel went with ^(BD)the king of Judah and ^(BE)the king of Edom, and they made a circuit of seven days’ journey. But there was no water for the army or for the cattle that ^[z]followed them. ¹⁰ Then the king of Israel said, “It is hopeless! For the Lord has called these three kings to hand them over to Moab!” ¹¹ But Jehoshaphat said, “^(BF)Is there no prophet of the Lord here, that we may inquire of the Lord by him?” And one of the king of Israel’s servants answered and said, “^(BG)Elisha the son of Shaphat is here, ^(BH)who used to pour 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 Now Elisha said to the king of Israel, “^[aa]What business do you have with me? ^(BI)Go to your father’s prophets and your mother’s prophets.” But the king of Israel said to him, “No, for the Lord has called these three kings together to hand them over to Moab.” ¹⁴ Elisha said, “^(BJ)As surely as the Lord of armies lives, before whom I stand, if I did not respect Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, I would not look at you nor see you. ¹⁵ But now ^(BK)bring me a ^[ab]musician.” And it came about, when the ^[ac]musician played, that ^(BL)the hand of the Lord came upon him. ¹⁶ And he said, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Make this valley ^[ad]full of trenches.’ ¹⁷ For the Lord says this: ‘You will not see wind, nor will you see rain; yet that valley ^(BM)shall be filled with water, so that you will drink, you, your livestock, and your other animals. ¹⁸ And this is an ^(BN)insignificant thing in the sight of the Lord; He will also give the Moabites into your hand. ^19 (BO)Then you shall strike every fortified city and every choice city, and ^[ae]cut down every good tree and stop up all the springs of water, and spoil every good plot of land with stones.’” ²⁰ And it happened in the morning ^(BP)about the time of offering the sacrifice, that behold, water came from the direction of Edom, and the country was filled with water.

²¹ Now all the Moabites heard that the kings had come up to fight against them. And all who were able to ^[af]put on armor and older were summoned and they took their positions on the border. ²² Then they got up early in the morning, and the sun shone on the water, and the Moabites saw the water opposite them as red as blood. ²³ So they said, “This is blood; the kings must have fought each other, and they have killed one another. Now then, Moab, to the spoils!” ²⁴ But when they came to the camp of Israel, the Israelites rose up and struck the Moabites, so that they fled from them; and the Israelites invaded ^[ag]the land, ^[ah]killing the Moabites. ^25 (BQ)So they destroyed the cities; and each one threw a stone on every plot of good land and filled it. So they stopped up every spring of water and ^[ai]cut down every good tree, until in ^(BR)Kir-hareseth only they left its stones; however, the rock slingers surrounded it and struck it. ²⁶ When the king of Moab saw that the battle was too fierce for him, he took with him seven hundred men who drew swords, to break through to the king of Edom; but they could not. ²⁷ Then the king of Moab took his oldest son who was to reign in his place, and ^(BS)offered him as a burnt offering on the wall. And great anger came upon Israel, and they departed from him and returned to their own land.