2 Kings 1-3

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2 Kings 1

And Moab rebelled against Israel after the death of Ahab. 2 And Ahaziah fell down through the lattice in his upper chamber that was in Samaria, and was sick: and he sent messengers, and said to them, Go, inquire of Baal-zebub, the mighty one of Ekron, whether I shall recover of this sickness. 3 But the angel of Yahweh said to EliYah the Tishbite, Arise, go up to meet the messengers of the king of Samaria, and say to them, Is it because there is no Elohim in Israel, that you go to inquire of Baal-zebub, the mighty one of Ekron? 4 Now therefore thus says Yahweh, You shall not come down from the bed where you have gone up, but shall surely die. And EliYah departed.

5 And the messengers returned to him, and he said to them, Why is it that you have returned? 6 And they said to him, There came up a man to meet us, and said to us, Go, turn again to the king that sent you, and say to him, In this manner says Yahweh, Is it because there is no Elohim in Israel, that you send to inquire of Baal-zebub, the mighty one of Ekron? Therefore you shall not come down from the bed where you have gone up, but shall surely die. 7 And he said to them, What manner of man was he that came up to meet you, and told you these words? 8 And they answered him, He was a hairy man, and girt with a girdle of leather about his loins. And he said, It is EliYah the Tishbite.

9 Then the king sent to him a captain of fifty with his fifty. And he went up to him: and, behold, he was sitting on the top of the hill. and he spoke to him, O man of Elohim, the king has said, Come down. 10 And EliYah answered and said to the captain of fifty, If I am a man of Elohim, let fire come down from heaven, and consume you and your fifty. And there came down fire from heaven, and consumed him and his fifty. 11 And again he sent to him another captain of fifty and his fifty. And he answered and said to him, O man of Elohim, thus has the king said, Come down quickly. 12 And EliYah answered and said to them, If I am a man of Elohim, let fire come down from heaven, and consume you and your fifty. And the fire of Elohim came down from heaven, and consumed him and his fifty. 13 And again he sent the captain of a third fifty with his fifty. And the third captain of fifty went up, and came and fell on his knees before EliYah, and supplicated him, and said to him, O man of Elohim, I pray you, let my life, and the life of these fifty your servants, be precious in your sight. 14 Behold, there came down fire from heaven, and consumed the two former captains of fifty with their fifties; but now let my life be precious in your sight. 15 And the angel of Yahweh said to EliYah, Go down with him: be not afraid of him. and he arose, and went down with him to the king. 16 And he said to him, In this manner says Yahweh, Since you have sent messengers to inquire of Baal-zebub, the elohim of Ekron, is it because there is no Elohim in Israel to inquire of his word? Therefore you shall not come down from the bed where you have gone up, but shall surely die.

17 So he died according to the word of Yahweh which EliYah had spoken. And 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. 18 Now 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?

 

2 Kings 2

And it came to pass, when Yahweh would take up EliYah by a whirlwind into heaven, that EliYah went with Elisha from Gilgal. 2 And EliYah said to Elisha, Stay here, I pray you; for Yahweh has sent me as far as Beth-el. And Elisha said, As Yahweh lives, and as your soul lives, I will not leave you. So they went down to Beth-el. 3 And the sons of the prophets that were at Beth-el came forth to Elisha, and said to him, Do you know that Yahweh will take away your master from your head today? And he said, Yes, I know it; hold your peace. 4 And EliYah said to him, Elisha, stay here, I pray you; for Yahweh has sent me to Jericho. And he said, As Yahweh lives, and as your soul lives, I will not leave you. So they came to Jericho. 5 And the sons of the prophets that were at Jericho came near to Elisha, and said to him, Do you know that Yahweh will take away your master from your head today? And he answered, Yes, I know it; hold your peace. 6 And EliYah said to him, Stay here, I pray you; for Yahweh has sent me to the Jordan. And he said, As Yahweh lives, and as your soul lives, I will not leave you. And they both went on. 7 And fifty men of the sons of the prophets went, and stood over against them far off: and they both stood by the Jordan. 8 And EliYah took his mantle, and wrapped it together, and struck the waters, and they were divided here and there, so that they both went over on dry ground. 9 And it came to pass, when they had gone over, that EliYah said to Elisha, Ask what I shall do for you, before I am taken from you. And Elisha said, I pray you, let a double portion of your spirit be upon me, 10 And he said, You have asked a hard thing: nevertheless, if you see me when I am taken from you, it shall be so to you; but if not, it shall not be so. 11 And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, which separated both of them; and EliYah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. 12 And Elisha saw it, and he cried, My father, my father, the chariots of Israel and the horsemen of it!

And he saw him no more: and he took hold of his own clothes, and rent them in two pieces. 13 He took up also the mantle of EliYah that fell from him, and went back, and stood by the bank of the Jordan. 14 And he took the mantle of EliYah that fell from him, and struck the waters, and said, Where is Yahweh, the Elohim of EliYah? And when he also had struck the waters, they were divided here and there; and Elisha went over,

15 And when the sons of the prophets that were at Jericho opposite him saw him, they said, The spirit of EliYah rests on Elisha. And they came to meet him, and bowed themselves to the ground before him. 16 And they said to him, Behold now, there are with your servants fifty strong men; let them go, we pray you, and seek your master, lest the Spirit of Yahweh has taken him up, and cast him upon some mountain, or into some valley. And he said, You shall not send. 17 And when they urged till he was ashamed, he said, Send. They sent therefore fifty men; and they sought three days, but found him not. 18 And they came back to him, while he stayed at Jericho; and he said to them, Did I not say to you, Do not go?

19 And the men of the city said to Elisha, Behold, we pray you, the situation of this city is pleasant, as my superior sees: but the water is bad, and the land is unproductive. 20 And he said, Bring me a new cruse, and put salt in it. And they brought it to him. 21 And he went forth to the spring of the waters, and cast salt in it, and said, In this manner says Yahweh, I have healed these waters; there shall not be from there any more death or barrenness. 22 So the waters were healed to this day, according to the word of Elisha which he spoke.

23 And he went up from there to Beth-el; and as he was going up by the way, there came forth young men out of the city, and mocked him, and said to him, Go up, you baldhead; go up, you baldhead. 24 And he looked behind him and saw them, and cursed them in the name of Yahweh. And there came forth two she-bears out of the wood, and tore forty-two boys of them. 25 And he went from there to mount Carmel, and from there he returned to Samaria.

 

2 Kings 3

Now 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. 2 And he did that which was evil in the sight of Yahweh, but not like his father, and like his mother; for he put away the pillar of Baal that his father had made. 3 Nevertheless he clung to the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, with which he made Israel to sin; he departed not from them.

4 Now Mesha king of Moab was a sheep-master; and he rendered to the king of Israel the wool of a hundred thousand lambs and of a hundred thousand rams. 5 But it came to pass when Ahab was dead, that the king of Moab rebelled against the king of Israel. 6 And king Jehoram went out of Samaria at that time, and mustered all Israel. 7 And he 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? And he said, I will go up: I am as you are, my people as your people, my horses as your horses. 8 And he said, Which way shall we go up? And he answered, The way of the wilderness of Edom. 9 So the king Of Israel went, and the king of Judah, and the king of Edom; and they made a circuit of seven days journey: and there was no water for the army, or for the beasts that followed them. 10 And the king of Israel said, Alas! Yahweh has called these three kings together to deliver them into the hand of Moab. 11 But Jehoshaphat said Is there not here a prophet of Yahweh, that we may inquire of Yahweh by him? And one of the king of Israel’s servants answered and said, Elisha the son of Shaphat is here, who poured water on the hands of EliYah. 12 And Jehoshaphat said, The word of Yahweh is with him. So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat and the king of Edom went down to him.

13 And Elisha 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. And the king of Israel said to him, No; for Yahweh has called these three kings together to deliver them into the hand of Moab. 14 And Elisha said, As Yahweh of hosts lives, before whom I stand, surely, were it not that I regard the presence of Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, I would not look toward you, or see you. 15 But now bring me a harpist. And it came to pass, when the harpist played, that the hand of Yahweh came upon him. 16 And he said, In this manner says Yahweh, Make this valley full of trenches. 17 For thus says Yahweh, you shall not see wind, neither shall you see rain; yet that valley shall be filled with water, and you shall drink, both you and your cattle and your beasts. 18 And this is but a light thing in the sight of Yahweh: he will also deliver the Moabites into your hand. 19 And you shall overthrow every fortified city, and every choice city, and shall fell every good tree, and stop all fountains of water, and mar every good piece of land with stones. 20 And it came to pass in the morning, about the time of offering the oblation, that, behold, there came water by the way of Edom, and the country was filled with water.

21 Now when all the Moabites heard that the kings had come up to fight against them, they gathered themselves together, all that were able to put on armor, and upward, and stood on the border. 22 And they rose up early in the morning, and the sun shone upon the water, and the Moabites saw the water over against them as red as blood: 23 and they said, This is blood; the kings are surely destroyed, and they have struck each man his fellow: now Moab, to the plunder. 24 And when 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 striking the Moabites. 25 And they beat down the cities; and on every good piece of land they cast every man his stone,. and filled it; and they stopped all the fountains of water, and felled all the good trees, until in Kir-hareseth only they left the stones of it; however the stingers surrounded it, and attacked it. 26 And when the king of Moab saw that the battle was too severe for him, he took with him seven hundred men that drew sword, to break through to the king of Edom; but they could not. 27 Then he took his oldest son that should have reigned in his place, and offered him for a burnt-offering upon the wall. And there was great wrath against Israel: and they departed from him, and returned to their own land.

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