Elijah taken up; Elisha

2 Kings 2–3 WEB

^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.

^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.