A Message for Ahaziah

1 After Ahab died, Moab broke away from Israel’s rule. ²One day, Ahaziah was on the roof* of his house in Samaria. Ahaziah fell down through the wooden bars on top of his house. He was hurt very badly. Ahaziah called messengers and told them, “Go to {the priests of} Baal Zebub, the god of Ekron. Ask them if I will get well from my injuries.” ³But the Lord’s angel said to Elijah the Tishbite, “King Ahaziah has sent some messengers from Samaria. Go meet those men. Say to them, ‘There is a God in Israel! So why are you men going to ask questions from Baal Zebub, the god of Ekron? ⁴{Tell King Ahaziah these things: You sent messengers to ask questions from Baal Zebub.} Since you did this thing, the Lord says: You will not get up from your bed. You will die!’” Then Elijah left {and told these words to Ahaziah’s servants}. ⁵The messengers came back to Ahaziah. Ahaziah said to the messengers, “Why did you come back {so soon}?” ⁶The messengers said to Ahaziah, “A man came up to meet us. He told us to go back to the king who sent us, and tell him what the Lord says. The Lord says, ‘There is a God in Israel! So why did you send messengers to ask questions from Baal Zebub, the god of Ekron? Since you did this thing, you will not get up from your bed. You will die!’” ⁷Ahaziah said to the messengers, “What did the man look like who met you and told you these things?” ⁸The messengers answered Ahaziah, “This man was wearing a hairy coat* with a leather belt around his waist.” Then Ahaziah said, “That was Elijah the Tishbite!”

Fire Destroys the Men Sent From Ahaziah

⁹{Ahaziah} sent a captain and 50 men to Elijah. The captain went to Elijah. At that time, Elijah was sitting on top of a hill. The captain said to Elijah, “Man of God,* the king says, ‘Come down.’” ¹⁰Elijah answered the captain of 50, “If I am a man of God,* let fire come down from heaven and destroy you and your 50 men!” So fire came down from heaven and destroyed the captain and his 50 men. ¹¹Ahaziah sent another captain with 50 men to Elijah. The captain said to Elijah, “Man of God,* the king says, ‘Come down quickly!’” ¹²Elijah told the captain and his 50 men, “If I am a man of God,* let fire come down from heaven and destroy you and your 50 men!” Then God’s fire came down from heaven and destroyed the captain and his 50 men. ¹³Ahaziah sent a third captain with 50 men. The third captain came to Elijah. The captain fell down on his knees. The captain begged Elijah, saying to him, “Man of God,* I ask you, please let my life and the lives of your 50 servants be valuable to you! ¹⁴Fire came down from heaven and destroyed the first two captains and their 50 men. But now, have mercy and let us live!” ¹⁵The Lord’s angel said to Elijah, “Go with the captain. Don’t be afraid of him.” So Elijah went with the captain to see King Ahaziah. ¹⁶Elijah told Ahaziah, “There is a God in Israel. So why did you send messengers to ask questions from Baal Zebub, the god of Ekron. Since you did this thing, you will not get up from your bed. You will die!”

Joram Takes Ahaziah’s Place

¹⁷Ahaziah died, just like the Lord said through Elijah. Ahaziah did not have a son. So Joram became the new king after Ahaziah. Joram began to rule during the second year that Jehoram son of Jehoshaphat was the king of Judah. ¹⁸The other things that Ahaziah did are written in the book The History of the Kings of Israel.

roof In ancient Israel, houses had flat roofs that were used like an extra room. This man ... hairy coat Or, “This man was a hairy man.” man of God Another name for a prophet.

The Lord Makes Plans to Take Elijah

2 It was near the time for the Lord to take Elijah by a whirlwind up into heaven. Elijah went with Elisha to Gilgal. ²Elijah said to Elisha, “Please stay here, because the Lord told me to go to Bethel.” But Elisha said, “I promise, as the Lord lives and as you live, I won’t leave you.” So the two men went down to Bethel. ³The group of prophets* at Bethel came to Elisha and said to him, “Do you know that the Lord will take your master away from you today?” Elisha said, “Yes, I know it. Don’t talk about it.” ⁴Elijah said to Elisha, “Please stay here, because the Lord told me to go to Jericho.” But Elisha said, “I promise, as the Lord lives and as you live, I won’t leave you!” So the two men went to Jericho. ⁵The group of prophets* at Jericho came to Elisha and said to him, “Do you know that the Lord will take your master away from you today?” Elisha answered, “Yes, I know it. Don’t talk about it.” ⁶Elijah said to Elisha, “Please stay here, because the Lord told me to go to the Jordan River.” Elisha answered, “I promise, as the Lord lives and as you live, I won’t leave you!” So the two men went on. ⁷There were 50 men from the group of prophets* that followed them. Elijah and Elisha stopped at the Jordan River. The 50 men stood far away from Elijah and Elisha. ⁸Elijah took off his coat, folded it, and hit the water with it. The water separated to the right and to the left. Then Elijah and Elisha crossed the river on dry ground. ⁹After they crossed the river, Elijah said to Elisha, “What do you want me to do for you before God takes me away from you?” Elisha said, “I ask you for a double share of your spirit on me.” ¹⁰Elijah said, “You have asked a hard thing. If you see me when I am taken from you, then that will happen. But if {you don’t see me when I am taken from you}, then it won’t happen.”

God Takes Elijah into Heaven

¹¹Elijah and Elisha were walking and talking together. Suddenly, some horses and a chariot* came and separated Elijah from Elisha. The horses and the chariot were like fire! Then Elijah was carried up into heaven in a whirlwind. ¹²Elisha saw it, and shouted, “My father! My father! The Chariot of Israel and his horse soldiers!*” Elisha never saw Elijah again. Elisha grabbed his own clothes and tore them {to show his sadness}. ¹³Elijah’s coat had fallen to the ground, so Elisha picked it up. Elisha hit the water and said, “Where is the Lord, the God of Elijah?” ¹⁴Just as Elisha hit the water, the water separated to the right and to the left! And Elisha crossed the river.

The Prophets Ask for Elijah

¹⁵When the group of prophets* at Jericho saw Elisha, they said, “Elijah’s spirit is now on Elisha!” They came to meet Elisha. They bowed very low to the ground before Elisha. ¹⁶They said to him, “Look, we have 50 good men. Please let them go and look for your master. Maybe the Lord’s Spirit has taken Elijah up and dropped him on some mountain or in some valley.” But Elisha answered, “No, don’t send men {to look for Elijah}!” ¹⁷The group of prophets* begged Elisha until he was embarrassed. Then Elisha said, “Fine, send the men {to look for Elijah}.” The group of prophets* sent the 50 men to look for Elijah. They looked three days, but they could not find Elijah. ¹⁸So the men went to Jericho where Elisha was staying. {They told him that they could not find Elijah.} Elisha said to them, “I told you not to go.”

Elisha Makes the Water Good

¹⁹The men of the city said to Elisha, “Sir, you can see this city is in a nice place. But the water is bad. That is why the land cannot grow crops.” ²⁰Elisha said, “Bring me a new bowl and put salt in it.” The people brought the bowl to Elisha. ²¹Then Elisha went out to the place where the water began flowing {from the ground}. Elisha threw the salt into the water. He said, “The Lord said, ‘I am making this water pure! From now on this water will not cause any more death or keep the land from growing crops.’” ²²The water became pure. And the water is still good today. It happened just like Elisha said.

Some Boys Make Fun of Elisha

²³Elisha went from that city to Bethel. Elisha was walking up the hill to the city, and some boys were coming down out of the city. They began making fun of Elisha. They said to him, “Go up, you bald headed man! Go up, you bald headed man!” ²⁴Elisha looked back and saw them. He asked the Lord to cause bad things to happen to them. Then two bears came out of the forest and attacked the boys. There were 42 boys ripped apart by the bears. ²⁵Elisha left Bethel and went to Mount Carmel. And from there, Elisha went back to Samaria.

group of prophets Literally, “sons of the prophets.” These people were prophets and people studying to become prophets. chariot(s) A small wagon used in war. Chariot of Israel and his horse soldiers This probably means, “God and his heavenly army (angels).”

Jehoram Becomes King of Israel

3 Jehoram son of Ahab became king over Israel at Samaria. He began to rule during Jehoshaphat’s 18th year as king of Judah. Jehoram ruled 12 years. ²Jehoram did the things that the Lord said were wrong. But Jehoram was not like his father and mother, because he removed the pillar that his father had made for worshiping Baal.* ³But he continued to do the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat. Jeroboam caused the Israelites to sin. Jehoram did not stop the sins of Jeroboam.

Moab Breaks Away from Israel

⁴Mesha was the king of Moab. Mesha owned many sheep. Mesha gave the wool of 100,000 lambs and 100,000 rams* to the king of Israel. ⁵But when Ahab died, the king of Moab broke away from the rule of the king of Israel. ⁶Then King Jehoram went out of Samaria and gathered together all the men of Israel. ⁷Jehoram sent {messengers} to Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah. Jehoram said, “The king of Moab has broken away from my rule. Will you go with me to fight against Moab?” Jehoshaphat said, “Yes, I will go with you. We will join together as one army. My people will be like your people. And my horses will be like your horses.”

The Three Kings Ask Elisha for Advice

⁸Jehoshaphat asked Jehoram, “Which way should we go?” Jehoram answered, “We should go through the Desert of Edom.” ⁹So the king of Israel went with the king of Judah and the king of Edom. They traveled around for seven days. There was not enough water for the army or for their animals. ¹⁰Finally, the king of Israel (Jehoram) said, “Oh, I think the Lord really brought us three kings together only to let the Moabites defeat us!” ¹¹But Jehoshaphat said, “Surely one of the Lord’s prophets is here. Let’s ask the prophet what the Lord says we should do.” One of the servants of the king of Israel said, “Elisha son of Shaphat is here. Elisha was Elijah’s servant.”* ¹²Jehoshaphat said, “The Lord’s word is with Elisha!” So the king of Israel (Jehoram), Jehoshaphat, and the king of Edom went down to see Elisha. ¹³Elisha said to the king of Israel (Jehoram), “What do you want from me? Go to the prophets of your father and mother!” The king of Israel said to Elisha, “No, {we have come to see you} because the Lord called us three kings together to let the Moabites defeat us. {We need your help}.” ¹⁴Elisha said, “I respect Jehoshaphat the king of Judah and I serve the Lord All- Powerful. And as sure as he lives, I came here only because of Jehoshaphat. I tell you the truth, if Jehoshaphat was not here, I would not pay any attention to you. I would ignore you completely! ¹⁵But now bring me a person who plays the harp.” When the person played the harp, the Lord’s power* came on Elisha. ¹⁶Then Elisha said, “This is what the Lord says: Dig holes in the valley. ¹⁷This is what the Lord says: You won’t see wind, you won’t see rain. But that valley will be filled with water. Then you and your cows and other animals will have water to drink. ¹⁸It is easy for the Lord to do. He will also let you defeat the Moabites. ¹⁹You will attack every strong city and every good city. You will cut down every good tree. You will stop up all the springs of water. You will ruin every good field with the stones {that you throw at it}.” ²⁰In the morning, at the time for the morning sacrifice, water began flowing from the direction of Edom and filled the valley. ²¹The people in Moab heard that the kings had come up to fight against them. So the people in Moab gathered together all the men old enough to wear armor.* They waited at the border, {ready for the battle}. ²²The people of Moab got up early that morning. The rising sun was shining on the water in the valley, and it looked like blood to the people of Moab. ²³The people of Moab said, “Look at the blood! The kings must have fought against each other. They must have destroyed each other. Let’s go take the valuable things from the dead bodies!” ²⁴The Moabite people came to the Israelite camp. But the Israelites came out and attacked the Moabite army. The Moabite people ran away from the Israelites. The Israelites followed them into Moab to fight the Moabites. ²⁵The Israelites destroyed the cities. They threw their stones* at every good field in Moab. They stopped up all the springs of water. And they cut down all the good trees. The Israelites fought all the way to Kir Hareseth. The soldiers surrounded Kir Hareseth and attacked it, too! ²⁶The king of Moab saw that the battle was too strong for him. So he took 700 men with swords to break through {the army and kill} the king of Edom. But they could not break through to the king of Edom. ²⁷Then the king of Moab took his oldest son. This was the son who would become the next king after him. On the wall around the city, the king of Moab offered his son as a burnt offering. This upset the people of Israel very much. So the people of Israel left the king of Moab and went back to their own land.

Baal The Canaanite people believed that this false god brought the rain and storms. They also thought that he made the land produce good crops. rams Male sheep. Elisha was Elijah’s servant Literally, “Elisha poured water over Elijah’s hands.” power Literally, “hand.” armor The special clothes soldiers wore to protect themselves in war. threw their stones These were probably the stones soldiers threw with slings in war.