and therefore, thus said Jehovah, The bed whither thou hast gone up, thou dost not come down from it, for thou dost certainly die;' and Elijah goeth on.

And they say unto him, 'A man hath come up to meet us, and saith unto us, Go, turn back unto the king who sent you, and ye have said unto him, Thus said Jehovah, Is it because there is not a God in Israel -- thou art sending to inquire of Baal-Zebub god of Ekron? therefore, the bed whither thou hast gone up, thou dost not come down from it, for thou dost certainly die.'

Then [the king] sent a captain of fifty with his fifty to him. He went up to him; and behold, he was sitting on the top of the hill. He said to him, "Man of God, the king has said, 'Come down!'"

Again he sent to him another captain of fifty and his fifty. He answered him, "Man of God, the king has said, 'Come down quickly!'"

Behold, fire has come down from the heavens and burned up the two commanders of the former fifties with their fifties. And now let my life be precious in your sight.

And he said to him, Thus saith the LORD, Forasmuch as thou hast sent messengers to inquire of Baal-zebub the god of Ekron, is it not because there is no God in Israel to inquire of his word? therefore thou shalt not come down off that bed on which thou art gone up, but shalt surely die.

Elijah said to Elisha, "Please wait here, for Yahweh has sent me as far as Bethel." Elisha said, "As Yahweh lives, and as your soul lives, I will not leave you." So they went down to Bethel.

And sons of the prophets who are in Beth-El come out unto Elisha, and say unto him, 'Hast thou known that to-day Jehovah is taking thy lord from thy head?' and he saith, 'I also have known -- keep silent.'

Elijah said to him, "Elisha, please wait here, for Yahweh has sent me to Jericho." He said, "As Yahweh lives, and as your soul lives, I will not leave you." So they came to Jericho.

And sons of the prophets who are in Jericho come nigh unto Elisha, and say unto him, 'Hast thou known that to-day Jehovah is taking thy lord from thy head?' and he saith, 'I also have known -- keep silent.'

Elijah said to him, "Please wait here, for Yahweh has sent me to the Jordan." He said, "As Yahweh lives, and as your soul lives, I will not leave you." They both went on.

And he said, Thou hast asked a hard thing: nevertheless, if thou shalt see me when I am taken from thee, it shall be so to thee; but if not, it shall not be so.

They said to him, "See now, there are with your servants fifty strong men. Please let them go and seek your master. Perhaps the Spirit of Yahweh has taken him up, and put him on some mountain, or into some valley. He said, "You shall not send them."

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."

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

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?" He said, "I will go up. I am as you are, my people as your people, my horses as your horses."

The king of Israel said, "Alas! For Yahweh has called these three kings together to deliver them into the hand of Moab."

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." The king of Israel said to him, "No; for Yahweh has called these three kings together to deliver them into the hand of Moab."

Then they said, "This [is] blood! Certainly the kings have fought one another, and each has killed his neighbor. Now, to the war booty, O Moab!"

And the king of Moab seeth that the battle has been too strong for him, and he taketh with him seven hundred men, drawing sword, to cleave through unto the king of Edom, and they have not been able,

Now there cried a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets to Elisha, saying, "Your servant my husband is dead. You know that your servant feared Yahweh. Now the creditor has come to take for himself my two children to be slaves."

Elisha said to her, "What shall I do for you? Tell me: what do you have in the house?" She said, "Your handmaid has nothing in the house, except a pot of oil."

And when thou hast come in, thou shalt shut the door upon thee and upon thy sons, and shalt pour out into all those vessels, and thou shalt set aside that which is full.

And he said to him, Say now to her, Behold, thou hast been careful for us with all this care; what is to be done for thee? wouldst thou be spoken for to the king, or to the captain of the host? And she answered, I dwell among my own people.

He said, "What then is to be done for her?" Gehazi answered, "Most certainly she has no son, and her husband is old."

When she came to the man of God to the hill, she caught hold of his feet. Gehazi came near to thrust her away; but the man of God said, "Leave her alone; for her soul is troubled within her; and Yahweh has hidden it from me, and has not told me."

And he saith to Gehazi, 'Gird up thy loins, and take my staff in thy hand, and go; when thou dost meet a man, thou dost not salute him; and when a man doth salute thee, thou dost not answer him; and thou hast laid my staff on the face of the youth.'

Gehazi passed on before them, and laid the staff on the face of the child; but there was neither voice, nor hearing. Therefore he returned to meet him, and told him, saying, "The child has not awakened."

He brought the letter to the king of Israel, saying, "Now when this letter has come to you, behold, I have sent Naaman my servant to you, that you may heal him of his leprosy."

And it was so, when Elisha the man of God had heard that the king of Israel had rent his clothes, that he sent to the king, saying, Why hast thou rent thy clothes? let him come now to me, and he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel.

and Elisha sendeth unto him a messenger, saying, 'Go, and thou hast washed seven times in Jordan, and thy flesh doth turn back to thee -- and be thou clean.

But Gehazi the servant of Elisha the man of God, said, "Behold, my master has spared this Naaman the Syrian, in not receiving at his hands that which he brought. As Yahweh lives, I will run after him, and take something from him."

He said, "All is well. My master has sent me, saying, 'Behold, even now two young men of the sons of the prophets have come to me from the hill country of Ephraim. Please give them a talent of silver and two changes of clothing.'"

When he went and stood by his master, Elisha asked him, "From where have you come, Gehazi?" And he said, "Your servant has not gone {anywhere}."

The king of Aram flew into a rage over this, so he called in his advisors and asked them, "Will you please tell me which of us has joined the king of Israel?"

And he answered, Thou shalt not smite them: wouldst thou smite those whom thou hast taken captive with thy sword and with thy bow? set bread and water before them, that they may eat and drink, and go to their master.

So we boiled my son, and ate him: and I said to her on the next day, 'Give your son, that we may eat him;' and she has hidden her son."

Then he said, "May God judge me severely if Elisha son of Shaphat still has his head by the end of the day!"

Now Elisha [was] sitting in his house and the elders [were] sitting with him, and [the king] dispatched a man from before him, but before the messenger came to him, he said to the elders, "Did you see that this son of a murderer has sent to remove my head? Look, when the messenger comes, close the door; and you must {hold the door closed against him}. [Is] not the sound of the feet of his master behind him?"

While he was still talking with them, the messenger arrived to see him and delivered the king's message to Elisha, "Look! This evil has come from the LORD! Why should I wait for the LORD anymore?"

Now the Lord had caused the camp of [the] Arameans to hear the sound of chariots, the sound of horses, and the sound of a great army. So they said {to one another}, "Look, the king of Israel has hired the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Egypt to come against us!"

One of his attendants suggested, "Please, let's take five of the remaining horses, since those who remain here will end up like the rest of Israel, which has already died, and we'll send them out to look."

Elisha spoke to the woman whose son he had restored to life, saying, "Get up and go, you and your household, and dwell as an alien wherever you can, for Yahweh has called for a famine, and it will come to the land [for] seven years."

Now the king [was] speaking to Gehazi the servant of the man of God, saying, "Please tell me all of the great things which Elisha has done."

Elisha came [to] Damascus. Now Ben-Hadad king of Aram [was] ill, and he was told, "The man of God has come up here."

And the king saith unto Hazael, 'Take in thy hand a present, and go to meet the man of God, and thou hast sought Jehovah by him, saying, Do I revive from this sickness?'

So Hazael went to meet him and took a gift in his hand of all of the good things of Damascus, a load [on each] of forty camels, and he came and stood before him. Then he said, "Your son Ben-Hadad king of Aram has sent me to you, saying, 'Shall I recover from this illness?'"

Elisha said to him, "Go; say to him, 'You shall certainly recover,' but Yahweh has shown me that he certainly will die."

Then Hazael said, "But how could your servant, who [is] like a dog, do this great thing?" Elisha said, "Yahweh has shown me [that] you [are to be] king over Aram."

So Edom has rebelled {against the rule} of Judah until this day; then Libnah [also] rebelled at that time.

and thou hast gone in there, and see thou there Jehu son of Jehoshaphat, son of Nimshi, and thou hast gone in, and caused him to rise out of the midst of his brethren, and brought him in to the inner part of an inner-chamber,

and taken the vial of oil, and poured on his head, and said, Thus said Jehovah, I have anointed thee for king unto Israel; and thou hast opened the door, and fled, and dost not wait.'

You are to attack the household of your master Ahab, so I may avenge the blood of my servants the prophets, as well as the blood of all of the servants of the LORD that has been spilled at Jezebel's orders.

So there went one on horseback to meet him, and said, Thus saith the king, Is it peace? And Jehu said, What hast thou to do with peace? turn thee behind me. And the watchman told, saying, The messenger came to them, but he doth not return.

Then he sent out a second on horseback, who came to them, and said, Thus saith the king, Is it peace? And Jehu answered, What hast thou to do with peace? turn thee behind me.

The watchman reported, "He reached them, but hasn't started back. The one who drives the lead chariot drives like Jehu son of Nimshi; he drives recklessly."

When they went back and told him, he said, "The Lord's word through his servant, Elijah the Tishbite, has come to pass. He warned, 'In the plot of land at Jezreel, dogs will devour Jezebel's flesh.

Know then that {the word of Yahweh will not fail} which Yahweh spoke concerning the house of Ahab; Yahweh has done what he spoke by the hand of his servant Elijah.

And Jehovah said to Jehu, Because thou hast executed well that which is right in my sight, and hast done unto the house of Ahab according to all that was in my heart, thy children of the fourth generation shall sit on the throne of Israel.

Jehoash said to the priests, "I place at your disposal all the consecrated silver that has been brought to the Lord's temple, including the silver collected from the census tax, the silver received from those who have made vows, and all the silver that people have voluntarily contributed to the Lord's temple.

and said, Open the window eastward. And he opened it. And Elisha said, Shoot. And he shot. And he said, An arrow of Jehovah's deliverance, even an arrow of deliverance from the Syrians; and thou shalt smite the Syrians in Aphek, till thou hast consumed them.

But the Lord had mercy on them and felt pity for them. He extended his favor to them because of the promise he had made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He has been unwilling to destroy them or remove them from his presence to this very day.

But he did not put their children to death; for the orders of the Lord recorded in the book of the law of Moses say, The fathers are not to be put to death for the children, or the children for their fathers; but a man is to be put to death for the sin which he himself has done.

He defeated 10,000 Edomites in the Salt Valley; he captured Sela in battle and renamed it Joktheel, a name it has retained to this very day.

Thou hast indeed smitten Edom, and thy heart has lifted thee up: boast thyself, and abide at home; for why shouldest thou contend with misfortune, that thou shouldest fall, thou, and Judah with thee?

Finally, the Lord removed Israel from His presence just as He had declared through all His servants the prophets. So Israel has been exiled to Assyria from their homeland until today.

And they spoke to the king of Assyria saying, The nations that thou hast removed and made to dwell in the cities of Samaria know not the manner of the god of the land; therefore he has sent lions among them, and behold, they slay them, because they know not the manner of the god of the land.

And the chief of the butlers saith unto them, 'Say, I pray you, unto Hezekiah, Thus said the great king, the king of Asshur, What is this confidence in which thou hast confided?

Thou sayest but it is a word of the lips There is counsel and strength for war. Now on whom dost thou rely, that thou hast revolted against me?

Now, lo, thou hast trusted for thee on the staff of this broken reed, on Egypt; which a man leaneth on, and it hath gone into his hand, and pierced it! -- so is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all those trusting on him.

And if ye say to me, We rely upon Jehovah our God: is it not he whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah has removed, saying to Judah and Jerusalem, Ye shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem?

How then wilt thou turn back the face of one pasha of the least of my lord's servants? Or hast thou, on thy part, trusted to Egypt for chariots and for horsemen?

Have I now come up against this place without Yahweh to destroy it? Yahweh has said to me, 'Go up against this land and destroy it!'" '"

The chief commander said to them, "Is it [solely] to your master and to you my master has sent me to speak these words? [Is] it not for the men who sit on the wall to eat their feces and to drink their urine with you?"

Then Rab-shakeh stood up and cried out loud, "Listen to what the great king, the king of Assyria has to say.

Until I come and take you to a land like your land, a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive trees, olive oil, and honey, that [you may] live and not die! You must not listen to Hezekiah, for he has misled you [by] saying, "Yahweh will deliver us!"

Has any of the gods of the nations ever delivered his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria?

Who among all the gods of the lands has rescued their lands from my power? So how can the Lord rescue Jerusalem from my power?'"

Perhaps Yahweh your God will hear all of the words of [the] chief commander whom his master the king of Assyria has sent to insult [the] living God, and he will rebuke the words which Yahweh your God has heard. Therefore lift up a prayer for the remainder who are left.'"

And Isaiah said to them, Thus shall ye say to your master: Thus saith Jehovah: Be not afraid of the words that thou hast heard, wherewith the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me.

He heard about Tirhakah, the king of Cush, saying, "Look, he has set out to fight with you," so he again sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying,

Behold, thou hast heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all countries, destroying them utterly; and shalt thou be delivered?

And Hezekiah prayed before Jehovah and said, Jehovah, God of Israel, who sittest between the cherubim, thou, the Same, thou alone art the God of all the kingdoms of the earth: thou hast made the heavens and the earth.

Incline your ears and hear; open, O Yahweh, your eyes and see and hear the words of Sennacherib which he has sent to insult the living God.

He has hurled their gods in the fire because they [are] not gods, but the work of the hands of a human [made of] wood and stone, so they destroyed them.

And Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, Thus saith Jehovah the God of Israel: That which thou hast prayed to me concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria I have heard.

This is the word that Yahweh has spoken concerning him: She despises you, she scorns you, the virgin daughter of Zion. Behind you the daughter of Jerusalem shakes [her] head.

Whom hast thou reproached and blasphemed? and against whom hast thou exalted the voice? Against the Holy one of Israel hast thou lifted up thine eyes on high.

By thy messengers thou hast reproached the Lord, and hast said, With the multitude of my chariots have I come up To the height of the mountain, to the recesses of Lebanon, And I will cut down its tall cedars, the choice of its cypresses; And I will enter into its furthest lodging-place, into the forest of its fruitful field.

Hast thou not heard long ago that I have done it? And that from ancient days I formed it? Now have I brought it to pass, that thou shouldest lay waste fortified cities into ruinous heaps.

Therefore their inhabitants were of small power. They were dismayed and confounded. They were like the grass of the field, and like the green herb, like the grass on the housetops, and like grain blasted before it has grown up.

Because you are raging against me, and your arrogance has come up in my ears, I will put my nose ring in your nose and my bridle in your mouth. And I will turn you back on the way that you have come.

The remnant that has escaped of the house of Judah shall again take root downward, and bear fruit upward.

'Turn back, and thou hast said unto Hezekiah, leader of My people: Thus said Jehovah, God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tear, lo, I give healing to thee, on the third day thou dost go up to the house of Jehovah;

Isaiah said, "This [is] the sign for you from Yahweh that Yahweh will do the thing that he has promised: Shall the shadow advance ten steps or shall it return ten steps?"

And Hezekiah said to Isaiah, Good is the word of Jehovah which thou hast spoken. And he said, Is it not so? if only there shall be peace and truth in my days!

"Because Manasseh king of Judah has done these abominations, and has done wickedly above all that the Amorites did, who were before him, and has made Judah also to sin with his idols;

"Go up to Hilkiah the high priest and have him melt down the silver that has been brought by the people to the Lord's temple and has been collected by the guards at the door.

Then Shaphan the secretary informed the king saying, "Hilkiah the priest has given me a scroll." Then Shaphan read before the king.

"Go, seek an oracle from the Lord for me and the people -- for all Judah. Find out about the words of this scroll that has been discovered. For the Lord's fury has been ignited against us, because our ancestors have not obeyed the words of this scroll by doing all that it instructs us to do."