1 Kings 19 to 22, 2 Kings 1 to 8

1 Kings 19

¹Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. ²Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I don’t make your life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time!”

³When he saw that, he arose and ran for his life, and came to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there. ⁴But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree. Then he requested for himself that he might die, and said, “It is enough. Now, O LORD, take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers.”

⁵He lay down and slept under a juniper tree; and behold, an angel touched him, and said to him, “Arise and eat!”

⁶He looked, and behold, there was at his head a cake baked on the coals, and a jar of water. He ate and drank, and lay down again. ⁷The LORD’s angel came again the second time, and touched him, and said, “Arise and eat, because the journey is too great for you.”

⁸He arose, and ate and drank, and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb, God’s Mountain. ⁹He came to a cave there, and camped there; and behold, the LORD’s word came to him, and he said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

¹⁰He said, “I have been very jealous for the LORD, the God of Armies; for the children of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.”

¹¹He said, “Go out and stand on the mountain before the LORD.” Behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind tore the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks before the LORD; but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake; but the LORD was not in the earthquake. ¹²After the earthquake a fire passed; but the LORD was not in the fire. After the fire, there was a still small voice. ¹³When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle, went out, and stood in the entrance of the cave. Behold, a voice came to him, and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

¹⁴He said, “I have been very jealous for the LORD, the God of Armies; for the children of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.”

¹⁵The LORD said to him, “Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus. When you arrive, anoint Hazael to be king over Syria. ¹⁶Anoint Jehu the son of Nimshi to be king over Israel; and anoint Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel Meholah to be prophet in your place. ¹⁷He who escapes from the sword of Hazael, Jehu will kill; and he who escapes from the sword of Jehu, Elisha will kill. ¹⁸Yet I reserved seven thousand in Israel, all the knees of which have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him.”

¹⁹So he departed from there and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, who was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen before him, and he with the twelfth. Elijah went over to him and put his mantle on him. ²⁰Elisha left the oxen and ran after Elijah, and said, “Let me please kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow you.” He said to him, “Go back again; for what have I done to you?”

²¹He returned from following him, and took the yoke of oxen, killed them, and boiled their meat with the oxen’s equipment, and gave to the people; and they ate. Then he arose, and went after Elijah, and served him.

1 Kings 20

¹Ben Hadad the king of Syria gathered all his army together; and there were thirty-two kings with him, with horses and chariots. He went up and besieged Samaria, and fought against it. ²He sent messengers into the city to Ahab king of Israel and said to him, “Ben Hadad says, ³‘Your silver and your gold are mine. Your wives also and your children, even the best, are mine.’”

⁴The king of Israel answered, “It is according to your saying, my lord, O king. I am yours, and all that I have.”

⁵The messengers came again and said, “Ben Hadad says, ‘I sent indeed to you, saying, “You shall deliver me your silver, your gold, your wives, and your children; ⁶but I will send my servants to you tomorrow about this time, and they will search your house and the houses of your servants. Whatever is pleasant in your eyes, they will put it in their hand, and take it away.”’”

⁷Then the king of Israel called all the elders of the land, and said, “Please notice how this man seeks mischief; for he sent to me for my wives, and for my children, and for my silver, and for my gold; and I didn’t deny him.”

⁸All the elders and all the people said to him, “Don’t listen, and don’t consent.”

⁹Therefore he said to the messengers of Ben Hadad, “Tell my lord the king, ‘All that you sent for to your servant at the first I will do, but this thing I cannot do.’” The messengers departed and brought him back the message. ¹⁰Ben Hadad sent to him, and said, “The gods do so to me, and more also, if the dust of Samaria will be enough for handfuls for all the people who follow me.”

¹¹The king of Israel answered, “Tell him, ‘Don’t let him who puts on his armor brag like he who takes it off.’”

¹²When Ben Hadad heard this message as he was drinking, he and the kings in the pavilions, he said to his servants, “Prepare to attack!” So they prepared to attack the city.

¹³Behold, a prophet came near to Ahab king of Israel, and said, “The LORD says, ‘Have you seen all this great multitude? Behold, I will deliver it into your hand today. Then you will know that I am the LORD.’”

¹⁴Ahab said, “By whom?” He said, “The LORD says, ‘By the young men of the princes of the provinces.’” Then he said, “Who shall begin the battle?” He answered, “You.”

¹⁵Then he mustered the young men of the princes of the provinces, and they were two hundred and thirty-two. After them, he mustered all the people, even all the children of Israel, being seven thousand. ¹⁶They went out at noon. But Ben Hadad was drinking himself drunk in the pavilions, he and the kings, the thirty-two kings who helped him. ¹⁷The young men of the princes of the provinces went out first; and Ben Hadad sent out, and they told him, saying, “Men are coming out from Samaria.”

¹⁸He said, “If they have come out for peace, take them alive; or if they have come out for war, take them alive.”

¹⁹So these went out of the city, the young men of the princes of the provinces, and the army which followed them. ²⁰They each killed his man. The Syrians fled, and Israel pursued them. Ben Hadad the king of Syria escaped on a horse with horsemen. ²¹The king of Israel went out and struck the horses and chariots, and killed the Syrians with a great slaughter. ²²The prophet came near to the king of Israel and said to him, “Go, strengthen yourself, and plan what you must do, for at the return of the year, the king of Syria will come up against you.”

²³The servants of the king of Syria said to him, “Their god is a god of the hills; therefore they were stronger than we. But let’s fight against them in the plain, and surely we will be stronger than they. ²⁴Do this thing: take the kings away, every man out of his place, and put captains in their place. ²⁵Muster an army like the army that you have lost, horse for horse and chariot for chariot. We will fight against them in the plain, and surely we will be stronger than they are.” He listened to their voice and did so. ²⁶At the return of the year, Ben Hadad mustered the Syrians and went up to Aphek to fight against Israel. ²⁷The children of Israel were mustered and given provisions, and went against them. The children of Israel encamped before them like two little flocks of young goats, but the Syrians filled the country. ²⁸A man of God came near and spoke to the king of Israel, and said, “The LORD says, ‘Because the Syrians have said, “The LORD is a god of the hills, but he is not a god of the valleys,” therefore I will deliver all this great multitude into your hand, and you shall know that I am the LORD.’”

²⁹They encamped opposite each other for seven days. Then on the seventh day the battle was joined; and the children of Israel killed one hundred thousand footmen of the Syrians in one day. ³⁰But the rest fled to Aphek, into the city; and the wall fell on twenty-seven thousand men who were left. Ben Hadad fled and came into the city, into an inner room. ³¹His servants said to him, “See now, we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are merciful kings. Please let us put sackcloth on our bodies and ropes on our heads, and go out to the king of Israel. Maybe he will save your life.”

³²So they put sackcloth on their bodies and ropes on their heads, and came to the king of Israel, and said, “Your servant Ben Hadad says, ‘Please let me live.’” He said, “Is he still alive? He is my brother.”

³³Now the men observed diligently and hurried to take this phrase; and they said, “Your brother Ben Hadad.” Then he said, “Go, bring him.” Then Ben Hadad came out to him; and he caused him to come up into the chariot. ³⁴Ben Hadad said to him, “The cities which my father took from your father I will restore. You shall make streets for yourself in Damascus, as my father made in Samaria.” “I”, said Ahab, “will let you go with this covenant.” So he made a covenant with him and let him go.

³⁵A certain man of the sons of the prophets said to his fellow by the LORD’s word, “Please strike me!” The man refused to strike him. ³⁶Then he said to him, “Because you have not obeyed the LORD’s voice, behold, as soon as you have departed from me, a lion will kill you.” As soon as he had departed from him, a lion found him and killed him.

³⁷Then he found another man, and said, “Please strike me.” The man struck him and wounded him. ³⁸So the prophet departed and waited for the king by the way, and disguised himself with his headband over his eyes. ³⁹As the king passed by, he cried to the king, and he said, “Your servant went out into the middle of the battle; and behold, a man came over and brought a man to me, and said, ‘Guard this man! If by any means he is missing, then your life shall be for his life, or else you shall pay a talent of silver.’ ⁴⁰As your servant was busy here and there, he was gone.” The king of Israel said to him, “So shall your judgment be. You yourself have decided it.”

⁴¹He hurried, and took the headband away from his eyes; and the king of Israel recognized that he was one of the prophets. ⁴²He said to him, “The LORD says, ‘Because you have let go out of your hand the man whom I had devoted to destruction, therefore your life will take the place of his life, and your people take the place of his people.’”

⁴³The king of Israel went to his house sullen and angry, and came to Samaria.

1 Kings 21

¹After these things, Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard which was in Jezreel, next to the palace of Ahab king of Samaria. ²Ahab spoke to Naboth, saying, “Give me your vineyard, that I may have it for a garden of herbs, because it is near my house; and I will give you for it a better vineyard than it. Or, if it seems good to you, I will give you its worth in money.”

³Naboth said to Ahab, “May the LORD forbid me, that I should give the inheritance of my fathers to you!”

⁴Ahab came into his house sullen and angry because of the word which Naboth the Jezreelite had spoken to him, for he had said, “I will not give you the inheritance of my fathers.” He laid himself down on his bed, and turned away his face, and would eat no bread. ⁵But Jezebel his wife came to him, and said to him, “Why is your spirit so sad that you eat no bread?”

⁶He said to her, “Because I spoke to Naboth the Jezreelite, and said to him, ‘Give me your vineyard for money; or else, if it pleases you, I will give you another vineyard for it.’ He answered, ‘I will not give you my vineyard.’”

⁷Jezebel his wife said to him, “Do you now govern the kingdom of Israel? Arise, and eat bread, and let your heart be merry. I will give you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.” ⁸So she wrote letters in Ahab’s name and sealed them with his seal, and sent the letters to the elders and to the nobles who were in his city, who lived with Naboth. ⁹She wrote in the letters, saying, “Proclaim a fast, and set Naboth on high among the people. ¹⁰Set two men, wicked fellows, before him, and let them testify against him, saying, ‘You cursed God and the king!’ Then carry him out, and stone him to death.”

¹¹The men of his city, even the elders and the nobles who lived in his city, did as Jezebel had instructed them in the letters which she had written and sent to them. ¹²They proclaimed a fast, and set Naboth on high among the people. ¹³The two men, the wicked fellows, came in and sat before him. The wicked fellows testified against him, even against Naboth, in the presence of the people, saying, “Naboth cursed God and the king!” Then they carried him out of the city and stoned him to death with stones. ¹⁴Then they sent to Jezebel, saying, “Naboth has been stoned and is dead.”

¹⁵When Jezebel heard that Naboth had been stoned and was dead, Jezebel said to Ahab, “Arise, take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, which he refused to give you for money; for Naboth is not alive, but dead.”

¹⁶When Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, Ahab rose up to go down to the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, to take possession of it.

¹⁷The LORD’s word came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, ¹⁸“Arise, go down to meet Ahab king of Israel, who dwells in Samaria. Behold, he is in the vineyard of Naboth, where he has gone down to take possession of it. ¹⁹You shall speak to him, saying, ‘The LORD says, “Have you killed and also taken possession?”’ You shall speak to him, saying, ‘The LORD says, “In the place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth, dogs will lick your blood, even yours.”’”

²⁰Ahab said to Elijah, “Have you found me, my enemy?” He answered, “I have found you, because you have sold yourself to do that which is evil in the LORD’s sight. ²¹Behold, I will bring evil on you, and will utterly sweep you away and will cut off from Ahab everyone who urinates against a wall, and him who is shut up and him who is left at large in Israel. ²²I will make your house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah, for the provocation with which you have provoked me to anger, and have made Israel to sin.” ²³The LORD also spoke of Jezebel, saying, “The dogs will eat Jezebel by the rampart of Jezreel. ²⁴The dogs will eat whoever dies of Ahab in the city; and the birds of the sky will eat whoever dies in the field.”

²⁵But there was no one like Ahab, who sold himself to do that which was evil in the LORD’s sight, whom Jezebel his wife stirred up. ²⁶He did very abominably in following idols, according to all that the Amorites did, whom the LORD cast out before the children of Israel.

²⁷When Ahab heard those words, he tore his clothes, put sackcloth on his body, fasted, lay in sackcloth, and went about despondently.

²⁸The LORD’s word came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, ²⁹“See how Ahab humbles himself before me? Because he humbles himself before me, I will not bring the evil in his days; but I will bring the evil on his house in his son’s day.”

1 Kings 22

¹They continued three years without war between Syria and Israel. ²In the third year, Jehoshaphat the king of Judah came down to the king of Israel. ³The king of Israel said to his servants, “You know that Ramoth Gilead is ours, and we do nothing, and don’t take it out of the hand of the king of Syria?” ⁴He said to Jehoshaphat, “Will you go with me to battle to Ramoth Gilead?” Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, “I am as you are, my people as your people, my horses as your horses.” ⁵Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, “Please inquire first for the LORD’s word.”

⁶Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets together, about four hundred men, and said to them, “Should I go against Ramoth Gilead to battle, or should I refrain?” They said, “Go up; for the Lord will deliver it into the hand of the king.”

⁷But Jehoshaphat said, “Isn’t there here a prophet of the LORD, that we may inquire of him?”

⁸The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “There is yet one man by whom we may inquire of the LORD, Micaiah the son of Imlah; but I hate him, for he does not prophesy good concerning me, but evil.” Jehoshaphat said, “Don’t let the king say so.”

⁹Then the king of Israel called an officer, and said, “Quickly get Micaiah the son of Imlah.”

¹⁰Now the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah were sitting each on his throne, arrayed in their robes, in an open place at the entrance of the gate of Samaria; and all the prophets were prophesying before them. ¹¹Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah made himself horns of iron, and said, “The LORD says, ‘With these you will push the Syrians, until they are consumed.’” ¹²All the prophets prophesied so, saying, “Go up to Ramoth Gilead and prosper; for the LORD will deliver it into the hand of the king.”

¹³The messenger who went to call Micaiah spoke to him, saying, “See now, the prophets declare good to the king with one mouth. Please let your word be like the word of one of them, and speak good.”

¹⁴Micaiah said, “As the LORD lives, what the LORD says to me, that I will speak.”

¹⁵When he had come to the king, the king said to him, “Micaiah, shall we go to Ramoth Gilead to battle, or shall we forbear?” He answered him, “Go up and prosper; and the LORD will deliver it into the hand of the king.”

¹⁶The king said to him, “How many times do I have to adjure you that you speak to me nothing but the truth in the LORD’s name?”

¹⁷He said, “I saw all Israel scattered on the mountains, as sheep that have no shepherd. The LORD said, ‘These have no master. Let them each return to his house in peace.’”

¹⁸The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “Didn’t I tell you that he would not prophesy good concerning me, but evil?”

¹⁹Micaiah said, “Therefore hear the LORD’s word. I saw the LORD sitting on his throne, and all the army of heaven standing by him on his right hand and on his left. ²⁰The LORD said, ‘Who will entice Ahab, that he may go up and fall at Ramoth Gilead?’ One said one thing, and another said another.

²¹A spirit came out and stood before the LORD, and said, ‘I will entice him.’

²²The LORD said to him, ‘How?’ He said, ‘I will go out and will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.’ He said, ‘You will entice him, and will also prevail. Go out and do so.’ ²³Now therefore, behold, the LORD has put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these your prophets; and the LORD has spoken evil concerning you.”

²⁴Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah came near and struck Micaiah on the cheek, and said, “Which way did the LORD’s Spirit go from me to speak to you?”

²⁵Micaiah said, “Behold, you will see on that day when you go into an inner room to hide yourself.”

²⁶The king of Israel said, “Take Micaiah, and carry him back to Amon the governor of the city and to Joash the king’s son. ²⁷Say, ‘The king says, “Put this fellow in the prison, and feed him with bread of affliction and with water of affliction, until I come in peace.”’”

²⁸Micaiah said, “If you return at all in peace, the LORD has not spoken by me.” He said, “Listen, all you people!”

²⁹So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead. ³⁰The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “I will disguise myself and go into the battle, but you put on your robes.” The king of Israel disguised himself and went into the battle.

³¹Now the king of Syria had commanded the thirty-two captains of his chariots, saying, “Don’t fight with small nor great, except only with the king of Israel.”

³²When the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, they said, “Surely that is the king of Israel!” and they came over to fight against him. Jehoshaphat cried out. ³³When the captains of the chariots saw that it was not the king of Israel, they turned back from pursuing him. ³⁴A certain man drew his bow at random, and struck the king of Israel between the joints of the armor. Therefore he said to the driver of his chariot, “Turn around, and carry me out of the battle, for I am severely wounded.” ³⁵The battle increased that day. The king was propped up in his chariot facing the Syrians, and died at evening. The blood ran out of the wound into the bottom of the chariot. ³⁶A cry went throughout the army about the going down of the sun, saying, “Every man to his city, and every man to his country!”

³⁷So the king died, and was brought to Samaria; and they buried the king in Samaria. ³⁸They washed the chariot by the pool of Samaria; and the dogs licked up his blood where the prostitutes washed themselves, according to the LORD’s word which he spoke.

³⁹Now the rest of the acts of Ahab, and all that he did, and the ivory house which he built, and all the cities that he built, aren’t they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? ⁴⁰So Ahab slept with his fathers; and Ahaziah his son reigned in his place.

⁴¹Jehoshaphat the son of Asa began to reign over Judah in the fourth year of Ahab king of Israel. ⁴²Jehoshaphat was thirty-five years old when he began to reign; and he reigned twenty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Azubah the daughter of Shilhi. ⁴³He walked in all the way of Asa his father. He didn’t turn away from it, doing that which was right in the LORD’s eyes. However, the high places were not taken away. The people still sacrificed and burned incense on the high places. ⁴⁴Jehoshaphat made peace with the king of Israel.

⁴⁵Now the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, and his might that he showed, and how he fought, aren’t they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? ⁴⁶The remnant of the sodomites, that remained in the days of his father Asa, he put away out of the land. ⁴⁷There was no king in Edom. A deputy ruled. ⁴⁸Jehoshaphat made ships of Tarshish to go to Ophir for gold, but they didn’t go, for the ships wrecked at Ezion Geber. ⁴⁹Then Ahaziah the son of Ahab said to Jehoshaphat, “Let my servants go with your servants in the ships.” But Jehoshaphat would not. ⁵⁰Jehoshaphat slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in his father David’s city. Jehoram his son reigned in his place.

⁵¹Ahaziah the son of Ahab began to reign over Israel in Samaria in the seventeenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and he reigned two years over Israel. ⁵²He did that which was evil in the LORD’s sight, and walked in the way of his father, and in the way of his mother, and in the way of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, in which he made Israel to sin. ⁵³He served Baal and worshiped him, and provoked the LORD, the God of Israel, to anger in all the ways that his father had done so.

2 Kings 1

¹Moab rebelled against Israel after the death of Ahab.

²Ahaziah fell down through the lattice in his upper room that was in Samaria, and was sick. So he sent messengers, and said to them, “Go, inquire of Baal Zebub, the god of Ekron, whether I will recover from this sickness.”

³But the LORD’s angel said to Elijah the Tishbite, “Arise, go up to meet the messengers of the king of Samaria, and tell them, ‘Is it because there is no God in Israel that you go to inquire of Baal Zebub, the god of Ekron? ⁴Now therefore the LORD says, “You will not come down from the bed where you have gone up, but you will surely die.”’” Then Elijah departed.

⁵The messengers returned to him, and he said to them, “Why is it that you have returned?”

⁶They said to him, “A man came up to meet us, and said to us, ‘Go, return to the king who sent you, and tell him, “The LORD says, ‘Is it because there is no God in Israel that you send to inquire of Baal Zebub, the god of Ekron? Therefore you will not come down from the bed where you have gone up, but you will surely die.’”’”

⁷He said to them, “What kind of man was he who came up to meet you and told you these words?”

⁸They answered him, “He was a hairy man, and wearing a leather belt around his waist.” He said, “It’s Elijah the Tishbite.”

⁹Then the king sent a captain of fifty with his fifty to him. He went up to him; and behold, he was sitting on the top of the hill. He said to him, “Man of God, the king has said, ‘Come down!’”

¹⁰Elijah answered to the captain of fifty, “If I am a man of God, then let fire come down from the sky and consume you and your fifty!” Then fire came down from the sky, and consumed him and his fifty.

¹¹Again he sent to him another captain of fifty with his fifty. He answered him, “Man of God, the king has said, ‘Come down quickly!’”

¹²Elijah answered them, “If I am a man of God, then let fire come down from the sky and consume you and your fifty!” Then God’s fire came down from the sky, and consumed him and his fifty.

¹³Again he sent the captain of a third fifty with his fifty. The third captain of fifty went up, and came and fell on his knees before Elijah, and begged him, and said to him, “Man of God, please let my life and the life of these fifty of your servants be precious in your sight. ¹⁴Behold, fire came down from the sky and consumed the last two captains of fifty with their fifties. But now let my life be precious in your sight.”

¹⁵The LORD’s angel said to Elijah, “Go down with him. Don’t be afraid of him.” Then he arose and went down with him to the king. ¹⁶He said to him, “The LORD says, ‘Because you have sent messengers to inquire of Baal Zebub, the god of Ekron, is it because there is no God in Israel to inquire of his word? Therefore you will not come down from the bed where you have gone up, but you will surely die.’”

¹⁷So he died according to the LORD’s word which Elijah had spoken. Jehoram began to reign in his place in the second year of Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, because he had no son. ¹⁸Now the rest of the acts of Ahaziah which he did, aren’t they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?

2 Kings 2

¹When the LORD was about to take Elijah up by a whirlwind into heaven, Elijah went with Elisha from Gilgal. ²Elijah said to Elisha, “Please wait here, for the LORD has sent me as far as Bethel.” Elisha said, “As the LORD lives, and as your soul lives, I will not leave you.” So they went down to Bethel.

³The sons of the prophets who were at Bethel came out to Elisha, and said to him, “Do you know that the LORD will take away your master from over you today?” He said, “Yes, I know it. Hold your peace.”

⁴Elijah said to him, “Elisha, please wait here, for the LORD has sent me to Jericho.” He said, “As the LORD lives, and as your soul lives, I will not leave you.” So they came to Jericho.

⁵The sons of the prophets who were at Jericho came near to Elisha, and said to him, “Do you know that the LORD will take away your master from over you today?” He answered, “Yes, I know it. Hold your peace.”

⁶Elijah said to him, “Please wait here, for the LORD has sent me to the Jordan.” He said, “As the LORD lives, and as your soul lives, I will not leave you.” Then they both went on. ⁷Fifty men of the sons of the prophets went and stood opposite them at a distance; and they both stood by the Jordan. ⁸Elijah took his mantle, and rolled it up, and struck the waters; and they were divided here and there, so that they both went over on dry ground. ⁹When they had gone over, Elijah said to Elisha, “Ask what I shall do for you, before I am taken from you.” Elisha said, “Please let a double portion of your spirit be on me.”

¹⁰He said, “You have asked a hard thing. If you see me when I am taken from you, it will be so for you; but if not, it will not be so.”

¹¹As they continued on and talked, behold, a chariot of fire and horses of fire separated them; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. ¹²Elisha saw it, and he cried, “My father, my father, the chariots of Israel and its horsemen!” He saw him no more. Then he took hold of his own clothes and tore them in two pieces. ¹³He also took up Elijah’s mantle that fell from him, and went back and stood by the bank of the Jordan. ¹⁴He took Elijah’s mantle that fell from him, and struck the waters, and said, “Where is the LORD, the God of Elijah?” When he also had struck the waters, they were divided apart, and Elisha went over.

¹⁵When the sons of the prophets who were at Jericho facing him saw him, they said, “The spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha.” They came to meet him, and bowed themselves to the ground before him. ¹⁶They said to him, “See now, there are with your servants fifty strong men. Please let them go and seek your master. Perhaps the LORD’s Spirit has taken him up, and put him on some mountain or into some valley.” He said, “Don’t send them.”

¹⁷When they urged him until he was ashamed, he said, “Send them.” Therefore they sent fifty men; and they searched for three days, but didn’t find him. ¹⁸They came back to him while he stayed at Jericho; and he said to them, “Didn’t I tell you, ‘Don’t go’?”

¹⁹The men of the city said to Elisha, “Behold, please, the situation of this city is pleasant, as my lord sees; but the water is bad, and the land is barren.”

²⁰He said, “Bring me a new jar, and put salt in it.” Then they brought it to him. ²¹He went out to the spring of the waters, and threw salt into it, and said, “The LORD says, ‘I have healed these waters. There shall not be from there any more death or barren wasteland.’” ²²So the waters were healed to this day, according to Elisha’s word which he spoke.

²³He went up from there to Bethel. As he was going up by the way, some youths came out of the city and mocked him, and said to him, “Go up, you baldy! Go up, you baldy!” ²⁴He looked behind him and saw them, and cursed them in the LORD’s name. Then two female bears came out of the woods and mauled forty-two of those youths. ²⁵He went from there to Mount Carmel, and from there he returned to Samaria.

2 Kings 3

¹Now Jehoram the son of Ahab began to reign over Israel in Samaria in the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and reigned twelve years. ²He did that which was evil in the LORD’s sight, but not like his father and like his mother, for he put away the pillar of Baal that his father had made. ³Nevertheless he held to the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, with which he made Israel to sin. He didn’t depart from them.

⁴Now Mesha king of Moab was a sheep breeder; and he supplied the king of Israel with one hundred thousand lambs and the wool of one hundred thousand rams. ⁵But when Ahab was dead, the king of Moab rebelled against the king of Israel. ⁶King Jehoram went out of Samaria at that time, and mustered all Israel. ⁷He went and sent to Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, saying, “The king of Moab has rebelled against me. Will you go with me against Moab to battle?” He said, “I will go up. I am as you are, my people as your people, my horses as your horses.” ⁸Then he said, “Which way shall we go up?” Jehoram answered, “The way of the wilderness of Edom.”

⁹So the king of Israel went with the king of Judah and the king of Edom, and they marched for seven days along a circuitous route. There was no water for the army or for the animals that followed them. ¹⁰The king of Israel said, “Alas! For the LORD has called these three kings together to deliver them into the hand of Moab.”

¹¹But Jehoshaphat said, “Isn’t there a prophet of the LORD here, that we may inquire of the LORD by him?” One of the king of Israel’s servants answered, “Elisha the son of Shaphat, who poured water on the hands of Elijah, is here.”

¹²Jehoshaphat said, “The LORD’s word is with him.” So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat and the king of Edom went down to him.

¹³Elisha said to the king of Israel, “What have I to do with you? Go to the prophets of your father, and to the prophets of your mother.” The king of Israel said to him, “No, for the LORD has called these three kings together to deliver them into the hand of Moab.”

¹⁴Elisha said, “As the LORD of Armies lives, before whom I stand, surely, were it not that I respect the presence of Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, I would not look toward you, nor see you. ¹⁵But now bring me a musician.” When the musician played, the LORD’s hand came on him. ¹⁶He said, “The LORD says, ‘Make this valley full of trenches.’ ¹⁷For the LORD says, ‘You will not see wind, neither will you see rain, yet that valley will be filled with water, and you will drink, both you and your livestock and your other animals. ¹⁸This is an easy thing in the LORD’s sight. He will also deliver the Moabites into your hand. ¹⁹You shall strike every fortified city and every choice city, and shall fell every good tree, and stop all springs of water, and mar every good piece of land with stones.’”

²⁰In the morning, about the time of offering the sacrifice, behold, water came by the way of Edom, and the country was filled with water.

²¹Now when all the Moabites heard that the kings had come up to fight against them, they gathered themselves together, all who were able to put on armor, young and old, and stood on the border. ²²They rose up early in the morning, and the sun shone on the water, and the Moabites saw the water opposite them as red as blood. ²³They said, “This is blood. The kings are surely destroyed, and they have struck each other. Now therefore, Moab, to the plunder!”

²⁴When they came to the camp of Israel, the Israelites rose up and struck the Moabites, so that they fled before them; and they went forward into the land attacking the Moabites. ²⁵They beat down the cities; and on every good piece of land each man cast his stone, and filled it. They also stopped all the springs of water and cut down all the good trees, until in Kir Hareseth all they left was its stones; however the men armed with slings went around it and attacked it. ²⁶When the king of Moab saw that the battle was too severe for him, he took with him seven hundred men who drew a sword, to break through to the king of Edom; but they could not. ²⁷Then he took his oldest son who would have reigned in his place, and offered him for a burnt offering on the wall. There was great wrath against Israel; and they departed from him, and returned to their own land.

2 Kings 4

¹Now a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets cried out to Elisha, saying, “Your servant my husband is dead. You know that your servant feared the LORD. Now the creditor has come to take for himself my two children to be slaves.”

²Elisha said to her, “What should I do for you? Tell me, what do you have in the house?” She said, “Your servant has nothing in the house, except a pot of oil.”

³Then he said, “Go, borrow empty containers from all your neighbors. Don’t borrow just a few containers. ⁴Go in and shut the door on you and on your sons, and pour oil into all those containers; and set aside those which are full.”

⁵So she went from him, and shut the door on herself and on her sons. They brought the containers to her, and she poured oil. ⁶When the containers were full, she said to her son, “Bring me another container.” He said to her, “There isn’t another container.” Then the oil stopped flowing.

⁷Then she came and told the man of God. He said, “Go, sell the oil, and pay your debt; and you and your sons live on the rest.”

⁸One day Elisha went to Shunem, where there was a prominent woman; and she persuaded him to eat bread. So it was, that as often as he passed by, he turned in there to eat bread. ⁹She said to her husband, “See now, I perceive that this is a holy man of God who passes by us continually. ¹⁰Please, let’s make a little room on the roof. Let’s set a bed, a table, a chair, and a lamp stand for him there. When he comes to us, he can stay there.”

¹¹One day he came there, and he went to the room and lay there. ¹²He said to Gehazi his servant, “Call this Shunammite.” When he had called her, she stood before him. ¹³He said to him, “Say now to her, ‘Behold, you have cared for us with all this care. What is to be done for you? Would you like to be spoken for to the king, or to the captain of the army?’” She answered, “I dwell among my own people.”

¹⁴He said, “What then is to be done for her?” Gehazi answered, “Most certainly she has no son, and her husband is old.”

¹⁵He said, “Call her.” When he had called her, she stood in the door. ¹⁶He said, “At this season next year, you will embrace a son.” She said, “No, my lord, you man of God, do not lie to your servant.”

¹⁷The woman conceived, and bore a son at that season when the time came around, as Elisha had said to her. ¹⁸When the child was grown, one day he went out to his father to the reapers. ¹⁹He said to his father, “My head! My head!” He said to his servant, “Carry him to his mother.”

²⁰When he had taken him and brought him to his mother, he sat on her knees until noon, and then died. ²¹She went up and laid him on the man of God’s bed, and shut the door on him, and went out. ²²She called to her husband and said, “Please send me one of the servants, and one of the donkeys, that I may run to the man of God and come again.”

²³He said, “Why would you want to go to him today? It is not a new moon or a Sabbath.” She said, “It’s all right.”

²⁴Then she saddled a donkey, and said to her servant, “Drive, and go forward! Don’t slow down for me, unless I ask you to.”

²⁵So she went, and came to the man of God to Mount Carmel. When the man of God saw her afar off, he said to Gehazi his servant, “Behold, there is the Shunammite. ²⁶Please run now to meet her, and ask her, ‘Is it well with you? Is it well with your husband? Is it well with your child?’” She answered, “It is well.”

²⁷When she came to the man of God to the hill, she caught hold of his feet. Gehazi came near to thrust her away; but the man of God said, “Leave her alone, for her soul is troubled within her; and the LORD has hidden it from me, and has not told me.”

²⁸Then she said, “Did I ask you for a son, my lord? Didn’t I say, ‘Do not deceive me’?”

²⁹Then he said to Gehazi, “Tuck your cloak into your belt, take my staff in your hand, and go your way. If you meet any man, don’t greet him; and if anyone greets you, don’t answer him again. Then lay my staff on the child’s face.”

³⁰The child’s mother said, “As the LORD lives, and as your soul lives, I will not leave you.” So he arose, and followed her.

³¹Gehazi went ahead of them, and laid the staff on the child’s face; but there was no voice and no hearing. Therefore he returned to meet him, and told him, “The child has not awakened.”

³²When Elisha had come into the house, behold, the child was dead, and lying on his bed. ³³He went in therefore, and shut the door on them both, and prayed to the LORD. ³⁴He went up and lay on the child, and put his mouth on his mouth, and his eyes on his eyes, and his hands on his hands. He stretched himself on him; and the child’s flesh grew warm. ³⁵Then he returned, and walked in the house once back and forth, then went up and stretched himself out on him. Then the child sneezed seven times, and the child opened his eyes. ³⁶He called Gehazi, and said, “Call this Shunammite!” So he called her. When she had come in to him, he said, “Take up your son.”

³⁷Then she went in, fell at his feet, and bowed herself to the ground; then she picked up her son, and went out.

³⁸Elisha came again to Gilgal. There was a famine in the land; and the sons of the prophets were sitting before him; and he said to his servant, “Get the large pot, and boil stew for the sons of the prophets.”

³⁹One went out into the field to gather herbs, and found a wild vine, and gathered a lap full of wild gourds from it, and came and cut them up into the pot of stew; for they didn’t recognize them. ⁴⁰So they poured out for the men to eat. As they were eating some of the stew, they cried out and said, “Man of God, there is death in the pot!” And they could not eat it.

⁴¹But he said, “Then bring meal.” He threw it into the pot; and he said, “Serve it to the people, that they may eat.” And there was nothing harmful in the pot.

⁴²A man from Baal Shalishah came, and brought the man of God some bread of the first fruits: twenty loaves of barley and fresh ears of grain in his sack. Elisha said, “Give to the people, that they may eat.”

⁴³His servant said, “What, should I set this before a hundred men?” But he said, “Give it to the people, that they may eat; for the LORD says, ‘They will eat, and will have some left over.’”

⁴⁴So he set it before them and they ate and had some left over, according to the LORD’s word.

2 Kings 5

¹Now Naaman, captain of the army of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master, and honorable, because by him the LORD had given victory to Syria; he was also a mighty man of valor, but he was a leper. ²The Syrians had gone out in bands, and had brought away captive out of the land of Israel a little girl, and she waited on Naaman’s wife. ³She said to her mistress, “I wish that my lord were with the prophet who is in Samaria! Then he would heal him of his leprosy.”

⁴Someone went in and told his lord, saying, “The girl who is from the land of Israel said this.”

⁵The king of Syria said, “Go now, and I will send a letter to the king of Israel.” He departed, and took with him ten talents of silver, six thousand pieces of gold, and ten changes of clothing. ⁶He brought the letter to the king of Israel, saying, “Now when this letter has come to you, behold, I have sent Naaman my servant to you, that you may heal him of his leprosy.”

⁷When the king of Israel had read the letter, he tore his clothes and said, “Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man sends to me to heal a man of his leprosy? But please consider and see how he seeks a quarrel against me.”

⁸It was so, when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, that he sent to the king, saying, “Why have you torn your clothes? Let him come now to me, and he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel.”

⁹So Naaman came with his horses and with his chariots, and stood at the door of the house of Elisha. ¹⁰Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, “Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall come again to you, and you shall be clean.”

¹¹But Naaman was angry, and went away and said, “Behold, I thought, ‘He will surely come out to me, and stand, and call on the name of the LORD his God, and wave his hand over the place, and heal the leper.’ ¹²Aren’t Abanah and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Couldn’t I wash in them and be clean?” So he turned and went away in a rage.

¹³His servants came near and spoke to him, and said, “My father, if the prophet had asked you do some great thing, wouldn’t you have done it? How much rather then, when he says to you, ‘Wash, and be clean’?”

¹⁴Then went he down and dipped himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God; and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean. ¹⁵He returned to the man of God, he and all his company, and came, and stood before him; and he said, “See now, I know that there is no God in all the earth, but in Israel. Now therefore, please take a gift from your servant.”

¹⁶But he said, “As the LORD lives, before whom I stand, I will receive none.” He urged him to take it; but he refused. ¹⁷Naaman said, “If not, then, please let two mules’ load of earth be given to your servant; for your servant will from now on offer neither burnt offering nor sacrifice to other gods, but to the LORD. ¹⁸In this thing may the LORD pardon your servant: when my master goes into the house of Rimmon to worship there, and he leans on my hand, and I bow myself in the house of Rimmon. When I bow myself in the house of Rimmon, may the LORD pardon your servant in this thing.”

¹⁹He said to him, “Go in peace.” So he departed from him a little way. ²⁰But Gehazi the servant of Elisha the man of God, said, “Behold, my master has spared this Naaman the Syrian, in not receiving at his hands that which he brought. As the LORD lives, I will run after him, and take something from him.”

²¹So Gehazi followed after Naaman. When Naaman saw one running after him, he came down from the chariot to meet him, and said, “Is all well?”

²²He said, “All is well. My master has sent me, saying, ‘Behold, even now two young men of the sons of the prophets have come to me from the hill country of Ephraim. Please give them a talent of silver and two changes of clothing.’”

²³Naaman said, “Be pleased to take two talents.” He urged him, and bound two talents of silver in two bags, with two changes of clothing, and laid them on two of his servants; and they carried them before him. ²⁴When he came to the hill, he took them from their hand, and stored them in the house. Then he let the men go, and they departed. ²⁵But he went in, and stood before his master. Elisha said to him, “Where did you come from, Gehazi?” He said, “Your servant went nowhere.”

²⁶He said to him, “Didn’t my heart go with you when the man turned from his chariot to meet you? Is it a time to receive money, and to receive garments, and olive groves and vineyards, and sheep and cattle, and male servants and female servants? ²⁷Therefore the leprosy of Naaman will cling to you and to your offspring forever.” He went out from his presence a leper, as white as snow.

2 Kings 6

¹The sons of the prophets said to Elisha, “See now, the place where we live and meet with you is too small for us. ²Please let us go to the Jordan, and each man take a beam from there, and let’s make us a place there, where we may live.” He answered, “Go!”

³One said, “Please be pleased to go with your servants.” He answered, “I will go.” ⁴So he went with them. When they came to the Jordan, they cut down wood. ⁵But as one was cutting down a tree, the ax head fell into the water. Then he cried out and said, “Alas, my master! For it was borrowed.”

⁶The man of God asked, “Where did it fall?” He showed him the place. He cut down a stick, threw it in there, and made the iron float. ⁷He said, “Take it.” So he put out his hand and took it.

⁸Now the king of Syria was at war against Israel; and he took counsel with his servants, saying, “My camp will be in such and such a place.”

⁹The man of God sent to the king of Israel, saying, “Beware that you not pass this place, for the Syrians are coming down there.” ¹⁰The king of Israel sent to the place which the man of God told him and warned him of; and he saved himself there, not once or twice. ¹¹The king of Syria’s heart was very troubled about this. He called his servants, and said to them, “Won’t you show me which of us is for the king of Israel?”

¹²One of his servants said, “No, my lord, O king; but Elisha, the prophet who is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the words that you speak in your bedroom.”

¹³He said, “Go and see where he is, that I may send and get him.” He was told, “Behold, he is in Dothan.”

¹⁴Therefore he sent horses, chariots, and a great army there. They came by night and surrounded the city. ¹⁵When the servant of the man of God had risen early and gone out, behold, an army with horses and chariots was around the city. His servant said to him, “Alas, my master! What shall we do?”

¹⁶He answered, “Don’t be afraid, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” ¹⁷Elisha prayed, and said, “LORD, please open his eyes, that he may see.” the LORD opened the young man’s eyes, and he saw; and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire around Elisha. ¹⁸When they came down to him, Elisha prayed to the LORD, and said, “Please strike this people with blindness.” He struck them with blindness according to Elisha’s word.

¹⁹Elisha said to them, “This is not the way, neither is this the city. Follow me, and I will bring you to the man whom you seek.” He led them to Samaria. ²⁰When they had come into Samaria, Elisha said, “LORD, open these men’s eyes, that they may see.” The LORD opened their eyes, and they saw; and behold, they were in the middle of Samaria.

²¹The king of Israel said to Elisha, when he saw them, “My father, shall I strike them? Shall I strike them?”

²²He answered, “You shall not strike them. Would you strike those whom you have taken captive with your sword and with your bow? Set bread and water before them, that they may eat and drink, then go to their master.”

²³He prepared a great feast for them. After they ate and drank, he sent them away and they went to their master. So the bands of Syria stopped raiding the land of Israel.

²⁴After this, Benhadad king of Syria gathered all his army, and went up and besieged Samaria. ²⁵There was a great famine in Samaria. Behold, they besieged it until a donkey’s head was sold for eighty pieces of silver, and the fourth part of a kab of dove’s dung for five pieces of silver. ²⁶As the king of Israel was passing by on the wall, a woman cried to him, saying, “Help, my lord, O king!”

²⁷He said, “If the LORD doesn’t help you, where could I get help for you? From the threshing floor, or from the wine press?” ²⁸Then the king asked her, “What is your problem?” She answered, “This woman said to me, ‘Give your son, that we may eat him today, and we will eat my son tomorrow.’ ²⁹So we boiled my son and ate him; and I said to her on the next day, ‘Give up your son, that we may eat him;’ and she has hidden her son.”

³⁰When the king heard the words of the woman, he tore his clothes. Now he was passing by on the wall, and the people looked, and behold, he had sackcloth underneath on his body. ³¹Then he said, “God do so to me, and more also, if the head of Elisha the son of Shaphat stays on him today.”

³²But Elisha was sitting in his house, and the elders were sitting with him. Then the king sent a man from before him; but before the messenger came to him, he said to the elders, “Do you see how this son of a murderer has sent to take away my head? Behold, when the messenger comes, shut the door, and hold the door shut against him. Isn’t the sound of his master’s feet behind him?”

³³While he was still talking with them, behold, the messenger came down to him. Then he said, “Behold, this evil is from the LORD. Why should I wait for the LORD any longer?”

2 Kings 7

¹Elisha said, “Hear the LORD’s word. The LORD says, ‘Tomorrow about this time a seah of fine flour will be sold for a shekel, and two seahs of barley for a shekel, in the gate of Samaria.’”

²Then the captain on whose hand the king leaned answered the man of God, and said, “Behold, if the LORD made windows in heaven, could this thing be?” He said, “Behold, you will see it with your eyes, but will not eat of it.”

³Now there were four leprous men at the entrance of the gate. They said to one another, “Why do we sit here until we die? ⁴If we say, ‘We will enter into the city,’ then the famine is in the city, and we will die there. If we sit still here, we also die. Now therefore come, and let’s surrender to the army of the Syrians. If they save us alive, we will live; and if they kill us, we will only die.”

⁵They rose up in the twilight to go to the camp of the Syrians. When they had come to the outermost part of the camp of the Syrians, behold, no man was there. ⁶For the Lord had made the army of the Syrians to hear the sound of chariots and the sound of horses, even the noise of a great army; and they said to one another, “Behold, the king of Israel has hired against us the kings of the Hittites and the kings of the Egyptians to attack us.” ⁷Therefore they arose and fled in the twilight, and left their tents, their horses, and their donkeys, even the camp as it was, and fled for their life. ⁸When these lepers came to the outermost part of the camp, they went into one tent, and ate and drank, then carried away silver, gold, and clothing and went and hid it. Then they came back, and entered into another tent and carried things from there also, and went and hid them. ⁹Then they said to one another, “We aren’t doing right. Today is a day of good news, and we keep silent. If we wait until the morning light, punishment will overtake us. Now therefore come, let’s go and tell the king’s household.”

¹⁰So they came and called to the city gatekeepers; and they told them, “We came to the camp of the Syrians, and, behold, there was no man there, not even a man’s voice, but the horses tied, and the donkeys tied, and the tents as they were.”

¹¹Then the gatekeepers called out and told it to the king’s household within.

¹²The king arose in the night, and said to his servants, “I will now show you what the Syrians have done to us. They know that we are hungry. Therefore they have gone out of the camp to hide themselves in the field, saying, ‘When they come out of the city, we shall take them alive, and get into the city.’”

¹³One of his servants answered, “Please let some people take five of the horses that remain, which are left in the city. Behold, they are like all the multitude of Israel who are left in it. Behold, they are like all the multitude of Israel who are consumed. Let’s send and see.”

¹⁴Therefore they took two chariots with horses; and the king sent them out to the Syrian army, saying, “Go and see.”

¹⁵They went after them to the Jordan; and behold, all the path was full of garments and equipment which the Syrians had cast away in their haste. The messengers returned and told the king. ¹⁶The people went out and plundered the camp of the Syrians. So a seah of fine flour was sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, according to the LORD’s word. ¹⁷The king had appointed the captain on whose hand he leaned to be in charge of the gate; and the people trampled over him in the gate, and he died as the man of God had said, who spoke when the king came down to him. ¹⁸It happened as the man of God had spoken to the king, saying, “Two seahs of barley for a shekel, and a seah of fine flour for a shekel, shall be tomorrow about this time in the gate of Samaria;” ¹⁹and that captain answered the man of God, and said, “Now, behold, if the LORD made windows in heaven, might such a thing be?” and he said, “Behold, you will see it with your eyes, but will not eat of it.” ²⁰It happened like that to him, for the people trampled over him in the gate, and he died.

2 Kings 8

¹Now Elisha had spoken to the woman whose son he had restored to life, saying, “Arise, and go, you and your household, and stay for a while wherever you can; for the LORD has called for a famine. It will also come on the land for seven years.”

²The woman arose, and did according to the man of God’s word. She went with her household, and lived in the land of the Philistines for seven years. ³At the end of seven years, the woman returned from the land of the Philistines. Then she went out to beg the king for her house and for her land. ⁴Now the king was talking with Gehazi the servant of the man of God, saying, “Please tell me all the great things that Elisha has done.” ⁵As he was telling the king how he had restored to life him who was dead, behold, the woman whose son he had restored to life begged the king for her house and for her land. Gehazi said, “My lord, O king, this is the woman, and this is her son, whom Elisha restored to life.”

⁶When the king asked the woman, she told him. So the king appointed to her a certain officer, saying, “Restore all that was hers, and all the fruits of the field since the day that she left the land, even until now.”

⁷Elisha came to Damascus; and Benhadad the king of Syria was sick. He was told, “The man of God has come here.”

⁸The king said to Hazael, “Take a present in your hand, and go meet the man of God, and inquire of the LORD by him, saying, ‘Will I recover from this sickness?’”

⁹So Hazael went to meet him and took a present with him, even of every good thing of Damascus, forty camels’ burden, and came and stood before him and said, “Your son Benhadad king of Syria has sent me to you, saying, ‘Will I recover from this sickness?’”

¹⁰Elisha said to him, “Go, tell him, ‘You will surely recover;’ however the LORD has shown me that he will surely die.” ¹¹He settled his gaze steadfastly on him, until he was ashamed. Then the man of God wept.

¹²Hazael said, “Why do you weep, my lord?” He answered, “Because I know the evil that you will do to the children of Israel. You will set their strongholds on fire, and you will kill their young men with the sword, and will dash their little ones in pieces, and rip up their pregnant women.”

¹³Hazael said, “But what is your servant, who is but a dog, that he could do this great thing?” Elisha answered, “The LORD has shown me that you will be king over Syria.”

¹⁴Then he departed from Elisha, and came to his master, who said to him, “What did Elisha say to you?” He answered, “He told me that you would surely recover.”

¹⁵On the next day, he took a thick cloth, dipped it in water, and spread it on the king’s face, so that he died. Then Hazael reigned in his place.

¹⁶In the fifth year of Joram the son of Ahab king of Israel, Jehoshaphat being king of Judah then, Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat king of Judah began to reign. ¹⁷He was thirty-two years old when he began to reign. He reigned eight years in Jerusalem. ¹⁸He walked in the way of the kings of Israel, as did Ahab’s house, for he married Ahab’s daughter. He did that which was evil in the LORD’s sight. ¹⁹However, the LORD would not destroy Judah, for David his servant’s sake, as he promised him to give to him a lamp for his children always.

²⁰In his days Edom revolted from under the hand of Judah, and made a king over themselves. ²¹Then Joram crossed over to Zair, and all his chariots with him; and he rose up by night and struck the Edomites who surrounded him with the captains of the chariots; and the people fled to their tents. ²²So Edom revolted from under the hand of Judah to this day. Then Libnah revolted at the same time. ²³The rest of the acts of Joram, and all that he did, aren’t they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? ²⁴Joram slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in David’s city; and Ahaziah his son reigned in his place.

²⁵In the twelfth year of Joram the son of Ahab king of Israel, Ahaziah the son of Jehoram king of Judah began to reign. ²⁶Ahaziah was twenty-two years old when he began to reign; and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Athaliah the daughter of Omri king of Israel. ²⁷He walked in the way of Ahab’s house and did that which was evil in the LORD’s sight, as did Ahab’s house, for he was the son-in-law of Ahab’s house.

²⁸He went with Joram the son of Ahab to war against Hazael king of Syria at Ramoth Gilead, and the Syrians wounded Joram. ²⁹King Joram returned to be healed in Jezreel from the wounds which the Syrians had given him at Ramah, when he fought against Hazael king of Syria. Ahaziah the son of Jehoram, king of Judah, went down to see Joram the son of Ahab in Jezreel, because he was sick.