But the Lord's angelic messenger told Elijah the Tishbite, "Get up, go to meet the messengers from the king of Samaria. Say this to them: 'You must think there is no God in Israel! That explains why you are on your way to seek an oracle from Baal Zebub the god of Ekron.

Therefore this is what the Lord says, "You will not leave the bed you lie on, for you will certainly die!"'" So Elijah went on his way.

When the messengers returned to the king, he asked them, "Why have you returned?"

They replied, "A man came up to meet us. He told us, "Go back to the king who sent you and tell him, 'This is what the Lord says: "You must think there is no God in Israel! That explains why you are sending for an oracle from Baal Zebub, the god of Ekron. Therefore you will not leave the bed you lie on, for you will certainly die."'"

The king asked them, "Describe the appearance of this man who came up to meet you and told you these things."

The king sent a captain and his fifty soldiers to retrieve Elijah. The captain went up to him, while he was sitting on the top of a hill. He told him, "Prophet, the king says, 'Come down!'"

Elijah replied to the captain, "If I am indeed a prophet, may fire come down from the sky and consume you and your fifty soldiers!" Fire then came down from the sky and consumed him and his fifty soldiers.

The king sent another captain and his fifty soldiers to retrieve Elijah. He went up and told him, "Prophet, this is what the king says, 'Come down at once!'"

Elijah replied to them, "If I am indeed a prophet, may fire come down from the sky and consume you and your fifty soldiers!" Fire from God came down from the sky and consumed him and his fifty soldiers.

Indeed, fire came down from the sky and consumed the two captains who came before me, along with their men. So now, please have respect for my life."

The Lord's angelic messenger said to Elijah, "Go down with him. Don't be afraid of him." So he got up and went down with him to the king.

Elijah said to the king, "This is what the Lord says, 'You sent messengers to seek an oracle from Baal Zebub, the god of Ekron. You must think there is no God in Israel from whom you can seek an oracle! Therefore you will not leave the bed you lie on, for you will certainly die.'"

Just before the Lord took Elijah up to heaven in a windstorm, Elijah and Elisha were traveling from Gilgal.

Elijah told Elisha, "Stay here, for the Lord has sent me to Bethel." But Elisha said, "As certainly as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you." So they went down to Bethel.

Some members of the prophetic guild in Bethel came out to Elisha and said, "Do you know that today the Lord is going to take your master from you?" He answered, "Yes, I know. Be quiet."

Elijah said to him, "Elisha, stay here, for the Lord has sent me to Jericho." But he replied, "As certainly as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you." So they went to Jericho.

Some members of the prophetic guild in Jericho approached Elisha and said, "Do you know that today the Lord is going to take your master from you?" He answered, "Yes, I know. Be quiet."

Elijah said to him, "Stay here, for the Lord has sent me to the Jordan." But he replied, "As certainly as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you." So they traveled on together.

Elijah took his cloak, folded it up, and hit the water with it. The water divided, and the two of them crossed over on dry ground.

When they had crossed over, Elijah said to Elisha, "What can I do for you, before I am taken away from you?" Elisha answered, "May I receive a double portion of the prophetic spirit that energizes you."

Elijah replied, "That's a difficult request! If you see me taken from you, may it be so, but if you don't, it will not happen."

As they were walking along and talking, suddenly a fiery chariot pulled by fiery horses appeared. They went between Elijah and Elisha, and Elijah went up to heaven in a windstorm.

While Elisha was watching, he was crying out, "My father, my father! The chariot and horsemen of Israel!" Then he could no longer see him. He grabbed his clothes and tore them in two.

When the members of the prophetic guild in Jericho, who were standing at a distance, saw him do this, they said, "The spirit that energized Elijah rests upon Elisha." They went to meet him and bowed down to the ground before him.

They said to him, "Look, there are fifty capable men with your servants. Let them go and look for your master, for the wind sent from the Lord may have carried him away and dropped him on one of the hills or in one of the valleys." But Elisha replied, "Don't send them out."

When they came back, Elisha was staying in Jericho. He said to them, "Didn't I tell you, 'Don't go'?"

The men of the city said to Elisha, "Look, the city has a good location, as our master can see. But the water is bad and the land doesn't produce crops."

He went out to the spring and threw the salt in. Then he said, "This is what the Lord says, 'I have purified this water. It will no longer cause death or fail to produce crops."

The water has been pure to this very day, just as Elisha prophesied.

He went up from there to Bethel. As he was traveling up the road, some young boys came out of the city and made fun of him, saying, "Go on up, baldy! Go on up, baldy!"

When he turned around and saw them, he called God's judgment down on them. Two female bears came out of the woods and ripped forty-two of the boys to pieces.

From there he traveled to Mount Carmel and then back to Samaria.

He did evil in the sight of the Lord, but not to the same degree as his father and mother. He did remove the sacred pillar of Baal that his father had made.

Yet he persisted in the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, who encouraged Israel to sin; he did not turn from them.

Now King Mesha of Moab was a sheep breeder. He would send as tribute to the king of Israel 100,000 male lambs and the wool of 100,000 rams.

He sent this message to King Jehoshaphat of Judah: "The king of Moab has rebelled against me. Will you fight with me against Moab?" Jehoshaphat replied, "I will join you in the campaign; my army and horses are at your disposal."

He then asked, "Which invasion route are we going to take?" Jehoram answered, "By the road through the Desert of Edom."

The king of Israel said, "Oh no! Certainly the Lord has summoned these three kings so that he can hand them over to the king of Moab!"

Jehoshaphat asked, "Is there no prophet of the Lord here that we might seek the Lord's direction?" One of the servants of the king of Israel answered, "Elisha son of Shapat is here; he used to be Elijah's servant."

Jehoshaphat said, "The Lord speaks through him." So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat and the king of Edom went down to visit him.

Elisha said to the king of Israel, "Why are you here? Go to your father's prophets or your mother's prophets!" The king of Israel replied to him, "No, for the Lord is the one who summoned these three kings so that he can hand them over to Moab."

Elisha said, "As certainly as the Lord who rules over all lives (whom I serve), if I did not respect King Jehoshaphat of Judah, I would not pay attention to you or acknowledge you.

This is an easy task for the Lord; he will also hand Moab over to you.

Now all Moab had heard that the kings were attacking, so everyone old enough to fight was mustered and placed at the border.

When they got up early the next morning, the sun was shining on the water. To the Moabites, who were some distance away, the water looked red like blood.

When the king of Moab realized he was losing the battle, he and 700 swordsmen tried to break through and attack the king of Edom, but they failed.

So he took his firstborn son, who was to succeed him as king, and offered him up as a burnt sacrifice on the wall. There was an outburst of divine anger against Israel, so they broke off the attack and returned to their homeland.

Now a wife of one of the prophets appealed to Elisha for help, saying, "Your servant, my husband is dead. You know that your servant was a loyal follower of the Lord. Now the creditor is coming to take away my two boys to be his servants."

Elisha said to her, "What can I do for you? Tell me, what do you have in the house?" She answered, "Your servant has nothing in the house except a small jar of olive oil."

So she left him and closed the door behind her and her sons. As they were bringing the containers to her, she was pouring the olive oil.

When the containers were full, she said to one of her sons, "Bring me another container." But he answered her, "There are no more." Then the olive oil stopped flowing.

One day Elisha traveled to Shunem, where a prominent woman lived. She insisted that he stop for a meal. So whenever he was passing through, he would stop in there for a meal.

She said to her husband, "Look, I'm sure that the man who regularly passes through here is a very special prophet.

One day Elisha came for a visit; he went into the upper room and rested.

He told his servant Gehazi, "Ask the Shunammite woman to come here." So he did so and she came to him.

Elisha said to Gehazi, "Tell her, 'Look, you have treated us with such great respect. What can I do for you? Can I put in a good word for you with the king or the commander of the army?'" She replied, "I'm quite secure."

So he asked Gehazi, "What can I do for her?" Gehazi replied, "She has no son, and her husband is old."

Elisha told him, "Ask her to come here." So he did so and she came and stood in the doorway.

He said, "About this time next year you will be holding a son." She said, "No, my master! O prophet, do not lie to your servant!"

The woman did conceive, and at the specified time the next year she gave birth to a son, just as Elisha had told her.

The boy grew and one day he went out to see his father who was with the harvest workers.

He said to his father, "My head! My head!" His father told a servant, "Carry him to his mother."

So he picked him up and took him to his mother. He sat on her lap until noon and then died.

She called to her husband, "Send me one of the servants and one of the donkeys, so I can go see the prophet quickly and then return."

He said, "Why do you want to go see him today? It is not the new moon or the Sabbath." She said, "Everything's fine."

She saddled the donkey and told her servant, "Lead on. Do not stop unless I say so."

So she went to visit the prophet at Mount Carmel. When he saw her at a distance, he said to his servant Gehazi, "Look, it's the Shunammite woman.

Now, run to meet her and ask her, 'Are you well? Are your husband and the boy well?'" She told Gehazi, "Everything's fine."

But when she reached the prophet on the mountain, she grabbed hold of his feet. Gehazi came near to push her away, but the prophet said, "Leave her alone, for she is very upset. The Lord has kept the matter hidden from me; he didn't tell me about it."

She said, "Did I ask my master for a son? Didn't I say, 'Don't mislead me?'"

Elisha told Gehazi, "Tuck your robes into your belt, take my staff, and go! Don't stop to exchange greetings with anyone! Place my staff on the child's face."

Now Gehazi went on ahead of them. He placed the staff on the child's face, but there was no sound or response. When he came back to Elisha he told him, "The child did not wake up."

He went in by himself and closed the door. Then he prayed to the Lord.

Elisha called to Gehazi and said, "Get the Shunammite woman." So he did so and she came to him. He said to her, "Take your son."

Now Elisha went back to Gilgal, while there was famine in the land. Some of the prophets were visiting him and he told his servant, "Put the big pot on the fire and boil some stew for the prophets."

Someone went out to the field to gather some herbs and found a wild vine. He picked some of its fruit, enough to fill up the fold of his robe. He came back, cut it up, and threw the slices into the stew pot, not knowing they were harmful.

The stew was poured out for the men to eat. When they ate some of the stew, they cried out, "Death is in the pot, O prophet!" They could not eat it.

Raiding parties went out from Syria and took captive from the land of Israel a young girl, who became a servant to Naaman's wife.

The king of Syria said, "Go! I will send a letter to the king of Israel." So Naaman went, taking with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold, and ten suits of clothes.

He brought the letter to king of Israel. It read: "This is a letter of introduction for my servant Naaman, whom I have sent to be cured of his skin disease."

When the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes and said, "Am I God? Can I kill or restore life? Why does he ask me to cure a man of his skin disease? Certainly you must see that he is looking for an excuse to fight me!"

When Elisha the prophet heard that the king had torn his clothes, he sent this message to the king, "Why did you tear your clothes? Send him to me so he may know there is a prophet in Israel."

His servants approached and said to him, "O master, if the prophet had told you to do some difficult task, you would have been willing to do it. It seems you should be happy that he simply said, "Wash and you will be healed."

He and his entire entourage returned to the prophet. Naaman came and stood before him. He said, "For sure I know that there is no God in all the earth except in Israel! Now, please accept a gift from your servant."

Naaman said, "If not, then please give your servant a load of dirt, enough for a pair of mules to carry, for your servant will never again offer a burnt offering or sacrifice to a god other than the Lord.

May the Lord forgive your servant for this one thing: When my master enters the temple of Rimmon to worship, and he leans on my arm and I bow down in the temple of Rimmon, may the Lord forgive your servant for this."

Elisha said to him, "Go in peace." When he had gone a short distance,

So Gehazi ran after Naaman. When Naaman saw someone running after him, he got down from his chariot to meet him and asked, "Is everything all right?"

He answered, "Everything is fine. My master sent me with this message, 'Look, two servants of the prophets just arrived from the Ephraimite hill country. Please give them a talent of silver and two suits of clothes.'"

Naaman said, "Please accept two talents of silver. He insisted, and tied up two talents of silver in two bags, along with two suits of clothes. He gave them to two of his servants and they carried them for Gehazi.

When he came and stood before his master, Elisha asked him, "Where have you been, Gehazi?" He answered, "Your servant hasn't been anywhere."

Elisha replied, "I was there in spirit when a man turned and got down from his chariot to meet you. This is not the proper time to accept silver or to accept clothes, olive groves, vineyards, sheep, cattle, and male and female servants.

Some of the prophets said to Elisha, "Look, the place where we meet with you is too cramped for us.

Let's go to the Jordan. Each of us will get a log from there and we will build a meeting place for ourselves there." He said, "Go."

But the prophet sent this message to the king of Israel, "Make sure you don't pass through this place because Syria is invading there."

So the king of Israel sent a message to the place the prophet had pointed out, warning it to be on its guard. This happened on several occasions.

This made the king of Syria upset. So he summoned his advisers and said to them, "One of us must be helping the king of Israel."

The king ordered, "Go, find out where he is, so I can send some men to capture him." The king was told, "He is in Dothan."

The prophet's attendant got up early in the morning. When he went outside there was an army surrounding the city, along with horses and chariots. He said to Elisha, "Oh no, my master! What will we do?"

He replied, "Don't be afraid, for our side outnumbers them."