April 26

2 Kings 1:1 — 3:27

The Second of Kings

1 And Moab began to revolt against Israel after the death of Ahab.

2 Then Ahaziah fell down through the grating in his roof chamber that was in Samaria and got sick. So he sent messengers and said to them: “Go, inquire of Baal-zebub the god of Ekron whether I shall revive from this sickness.” 3 As for the angel of Jehovah, he spoke to Elijah the Tishbite: “Rise up, go up to meet the messengers of the king of Samaria and say to them, ‘Is it because there is no God at all in Israel that YOU are going to inquire of Baal-zebub the god of Ekron? 4 So therefore this is what Jehovah has said: “As regards the couch upon which you have gone up, you will not come down off it, because you will positively die.”’” With that Elijah went off.

5 When the messengers came back to him, he immediately said to them: “Why is it that YOU have come back?” 6 So they said to him: “There was a man that came up to meet us, and he proceeded to say to us, ‘Go, return to the king who sent YOU, and YOU must speak to him: “This is what Jehovah has said, ‘Is it because there is no God at all in Israel that you are sending to inquire of Baal-zebub the god of Ekron? Therefore, as regards the couch upon which you have gone up, you will not come down off it, because you will positively die.’”’” 7 At this he spoke to them: “What was the appearance of the man that came up to meet YOU and then spoke these words to YOU?” 8 So they said to him: “A man possessing a hair garment, with a leather belt girded about his loins.” Immediately he said: “It was Elijah the Tishbite.”

9 And he proceeded to send to him a chief of fifty with his fifty. When he went up to him, there he was sitting upon the top of the mountain. He now spoke to him: “Man of the [true] God, the king himself has spoken, ‘Do come down.’” 10 But Elijah answered and spoke to the chief of the fifty: “Well, if I am a man of God, let fire come down from the heavens and eat up you and your fifty.” And fire came descending from the heavens and went eating up him and his fifty.

11 So he sent again to him another chief of fifty with his fifty. In turn he answered and spoke to him: “Man of the [true] God, this is what the king has said, ‘Do come down quickly.’” 12 But Elijah answered and spoke to them: “If I am a man of the [true] God, let fire come down from the heavens and eat up you and your fifty.” And fire of God came descending from the heavens and went eating up him and his fifty.

13 And he went sending again a third chief of fifty and his fifty. But the third chief of fifty went up and came and bent down upon his knees in front of Elijah and began to implore favor of him and speak to him: “Man of the [true] God, please let my soul and the soul of these fifty servants of yours be precious in your eyes. 14 Here fire came down from the heavens and went eating up the two former chiefs of fifty and their fifties, but now let my soul be precious in your eyes.”

15 At that the angel of Jehovah spoke to Elijah: “Go down with him. Do not be afraid because of him.” So he rose and went down with him to the king. 16 Then he spoke to him: “This is what Jehovah has said, ‘For the reason that you have sent messengers to inquire of Baal-zebub the god of Ekron, is it because there is no God at all in Israel of whose word to inquire? Therefore as regards the couch upon which you have gone up, you will not come down off it, because you will positively die.’” 17 And he gradually died, according to the word of Jehovah that Elijah had spoken; and Jehoram began to reign in place of him, in the second year of Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, because he had not come to have a son.

18 As for the rest of Ahaziah’s things that he did, are they not written in the book of the affairs of the days of the kings of Israel?

2 And it came about that when Jehovah was to take Elijah in a windstorm up to the heavens, Elijah and Elisha proceeded to go from Gilgal. 2 And Elijah began to say to Elisha: “Sit here, please, because Jehovah himself has sent me clear to Bethel.” But Elisha said: “As Jehovah is living and as your soul is living, I will not leave you.” So they went down to Bethel. 3 Then the sons of the prophets that were at Bethel came out to Elisha and said to him: “Do you really know that today Jehovah is taking your master from headship over you?” At this he said: “I, too, well know it. BE silent.”

4 Elijah now said to him: “Elisha, sit here, please, because Jehovah himself has sent me to Jericho.” But he said: “As Jehovah is living and as your soul is living, I will not leave you.” So they came on to Jericho. 5 Then the sons of the prophets that were at Jericho approached Elisha and said to him: “Do you really know that today Jehovah is taking your master from headship over you?” At this he said: “I, too, well know it. BE silent.”

6 Elijah now said to him: “Sit here, please, because Jehovah himself has sent me to the Jordan.” But he said: “As Jehovah is living and as your soul is living, I will not leave you.” So both of them went on. 7 And there were fifty men of the sons of the prophets that went and kept standing in view at a distance; but, as for both of them, they stood by the Jordan. 8 Then Elijah took his official garment and wrapped it up and struck the waters, and gradually they were divided this way and that way, so that both of them went across on the dry ground.

9 And it came about that as soon as they had gone across Elijah himself said to Elisha: “Ask what I should do for you before I am taken from you.” To this Elisha said: “Please, that two parts in your spirit may come to me.” 10 At that he said: “You have asked a difficult thing. If you see me when taken from you, it will happen to you that way; but if [you do] not, it will not happen.”

11 And it came about that as they were walking along, speaking as they walked, why, look! a fiery war chariot and fiery horses, and they proceeded to make a separation between them both; and Elijah went ascending in the windstorm to the heavens. 12 All the while Elisha was seeing it, and he was crying out: “My father, my father, the war chariot of Israel and his horsemen!” And he did not see him anymore. Consequently he took hold of his own garments and ripped them into two pieces. 13 After that he picked up the official garment of Elijah that had fallen off him, and went back and stood by the shore of the Jordan. 14 Then he took the official garment of Elijah that had fallen off him and struck the waters and said: “Where is Jehovah the God of Elijah, even He?” When he struck the waters, then they were gradually divided this way and that way, so that Elisha went across.

15 When the sons of the prophets that were at Jericho saw him some way off, they began to say: “The spirit of Elijah has settled down upon Elisha.” Accordingly they came to meet him and bowed down to him to the earth. 16 And they went on to say to him: “Here, now, there are with your servants fifty men, valiant persons. Let them go, please, and look for your master. It may be that the spirit of Jehovah has lifted him up and then thrown him upon one of the mountains or in one of the valleys.” But he said: “YOU must not send them.” 17 And they kept urging him until he was embarrassed, so that he said: “Send.” They now sent fifty men; and they kept looking for three days, but they did not find him. 18 When they returned to him, he was dwelling in Jericho. Then he said to them: “Did I not say to YOU, ‘Do not go’?”

19 In time the men of the city said to Elisha: “Here, now, the situation of the city is good, just as my master is seeing; but the water is bad, and the land is causing miscarriages.” 20 At that he said: “Fetch me a small new bowl and put salt in it.” So they fetched it for him. 21 Then he went on out to the source of the water and threw salt in it and said: “This is what Jehovah has said, ‘I do make this water healthful. No more will death or any causing of miscarriages result from it.’” 22 And the water continues healed down to this day, according to Elisha’s word that he spoke.

23 And he proceeded to go up from there to Bethel. As he was going up on the way, there were small boys that came out from the city and began to jeer him and that kept saying to him: “Go up, you baldhead! Go up, you baldhead!” 24 Finally he turned behind him and saw them and called down evil upon them in the name of Jehovah. Then two she-bears came out from the woods and went tearing to pieces forty-two children of their number. 25 And he kept going from there to Mount Carmel, and from there he returned to Samaria.

3 As for Jehoram the son of Ahab, he became king over Israel in Samaria in the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, and he continued to reign for twelve years. 2 And he kept on doing what was bad in Jehovah’s eyes, only not like his father or like his mother, but he removed the sacred pillar of Baal that his father had made. 3 Only he stuck to the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, with which he caused Israel to sin. He did not depart from them.

4 As regards Mesha the king of Moab, he became a sheep raiser, and he paid to the king of Israel a hundred thousand lambs and a hundred thousand unshorn male sheep. 5 And it came about that as soon as Ahab died, the king of Moab began to revolt against the king of Israel. 6 Consequently King Jehoram went out on that day from Samaria and mustered all Israel. 7 He went farther and now sent to Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, saying: “The king of Moab himself has revolted against me. Will you go with me to Moab in war?” To this he said: “I shall go. I am the same as you are; my people are the same as your people; my horses are the same as your horses.” 8 And he went on to say: “By which particular way shall we go up?” So he said: “By the way of the wilderness of Edom.”

9 And the king of Israel and the king of Judah and the king of Edom proceeded to go, and they kept going their way around for seven days, and there proved to be no water for the camp and for the domestic animals that were following their steps. 10 At length the king of Israel said: “How unfortunate that Jehovah has called these three kings to give them into the hand of Moab!” 11 At that Jehoshaphat said: “Is there not here a prophet of Jehovah? Then let us inquire of Jehovah through him.” So one of the servants of the king of Israel answered and said: “There is here Elisha the son of Shaphat, who poured out water upon the hands of Elijah.” 12 Then Jehoshaphat said: “The word of Jehovah exists with him.” Accordingly the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat and the king of Edom went down to him.

13 And Elisha proceeded to say to the king of Israel: “What do I have to do with you? Go to the prophets of your father and to the prophets of your mother.” But the king of Israel said to him: “No, for Jehovah has called these three kings to give them into the hand of Moab.” 14 To this Elisha said: “As Jehovah of armies before whom I do stand is living, if it were not that it is the face of Jehoshaphat the king of Judah for which I am having consideration, I would not look at you or see you. 15 And now YOU men fetch me a string-instrument player.” And it occurred that, as soon as the string-instrument player played, the hand of Jehovah came to be upon him. 16 And he went on to say: “This is what Jehovah has said, ‘Let there be a making of this torrent valley full of ditches; 17 for this is what Jehovah has said: “YOU men will not see a wind, and YOU will not see a downpour; yet that torrent valley will be filled with water, and YOU men will certainly drink [from it], YOU and YOUR livestock and YOUR domestic animals.”’ 18 And this will indeed be a trivial thing in the eyes of Jehovah, and he will certainly give Moab into YOUR hand. 19 And YOU must strike down every fortified city and every choice city, and every good tree YOU should fell, and all the springs of water YOU should stop up, and every good tract of land YOU should mar with stones.”

20 And it came about in the morning, at the time of the going up of the grain offering, that, look! water was coming from the direction of Edom, and the land came to be filled with the water.

21 As regards all the Moabites, they heard that the kings had come up to fight against them. Consequently they called together [men] from as many as were girding on a belt and upward, and they began standing at the boundary. 22 When they got up early in the morning, the sun itself flashed upon the water, so that the Moabites from the opposite side saw the water red like blood. 23 And they began to say: “This is blood! The kings have unquestionably been put to the sword, and they went striking one another down. So now, to the spoil, O Moab!” 24 When they came into the camp of Israel, the Israelites immediately rose up and began striking the Moabites down so that they took to flight from before them. Hence they came into Moab, striking the Moabites down as they came. 25 And the cities they went throwing down, and, as for every good tract of land, they would pitch each one his stone and actually fill it; and every spring of water they would stop up, and every good tree they would fell, until they left only the stones of Kir-hareseth remaining in it; and the slingers began going around it and striking it down.

26 When the king of Moab saw that the battle had proved too strong for him, he at once took with him seven hundred men drawing sword to break through to the king of Edom; but they were not able to. 27 Finally he took his firstborn son who was going to reign in place of him and offered him up as a burnt sacrifice upon the wall. And there came to be great indignation against Israel, so that they pulled away from against him and returned to their land.