Then they said to him, "A man came up to meet us, and he said to us, 'Go, return to the king who sent you and speak to him, "Thus says Yahweh, 'Is it because there is no God in Israel that you [are] sending to inquire of Baal-Zebub the god of Ekron? Therefore the bed upon which you have gone, you will not come down from it, for you will surely die.'" '"

Then he spoke to them, "What [was] the manner of the man who came up to meet you and spoke to you all these things?"

and he said to him, "Thus says Yahweh, 'Because you have sent messengers to inquire of Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron--is it because there is no God in Israel [from whom] to inquire his word?--therefore the bed upon which you went, you shall not come down from it, for you shall surely die.'"

Then the sons of the prophets who [were in] Bethel came out to Elisha, and they said to him, "Do you know that Yahweh [is] going to take your master {from you} today?" He said, "I also know; be quiet!"

Then the sons of the prophets who [were] in Jericho came near to Elisha, and they said to him, "Do you know that Yahweh [is] going to take your master {from you} today?" He said, "I also know; be quiet!"

When the sons of the prophets who [were] at Jericho saw him from [the] other side, they declared, "The spirit of Elijah rests upon Elisha," and they came to meet him and bowed down to him to the ground.

But he did cling to the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat who caused Israel to sin, and he did not depart from it.

Then Jehoshaphat asked, "Is there no prophet of Yahweh here that we might inquire [guidance] from Yahweh?" One of the servants of the king of Israel answered and said, "Elisha the son of Shaphat is here, who poured water on the hands of Elijah."

Then Elisha said, "{As Yahweh of hosts lives}, before whom I stand, surely if I was not {regarding the face} of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, I would have not looked at you nor even glanced at you.

Now all of Moab had heard that the kings had come up to fight against them, and all {who were fighting age and up} were called up, and they stood at the border.

When the king of Moab saw that the battle was too heavy for him, he took with him seven hundred men who drew the sword to break through to the king of Edom, but they were not able.

He took his firstborn son who was to become king in his place and offered him [as] a burnt offering on the wall. Great wrath came upon Israel, and they withdrew from him and returned to the land.

She said to her husband, "Please now, I know that he [is] a holy man of God who is passing {our way} regularly;

She said to her mistress, "If only my lord would [come] before the prophet who [is] in Samaria; then {he would cure his skin disease}."

He came and told his master, saying, "Thus and so the girl who [is] from the land of Israel said."

And he said, "{As Yahweh lives}, before whom I stand, I surely will not take [it]." [Still] he urged him to take [it], but he refused.

Then the heart of the king of Aram was stormy because of this matter, so he called his servants and said to them, "Can you not tell me {who among us sides with the king of Israel}?"

Then one of his servants said, "No, my lord the king, but Elisha the prophet who is [in] Israel tells the king of Israel things which you speak {in your own bedchamber}."

Then Elisha said to them, "This [is] not the way and this [is] not the city. Come after me, and I will bring you to the man whom you seek." Then he brought them to Samaria.

And he said, "You shall not kill. Would you kill [those] whom you took captive with the sword or with the bow? Put food and water before them that they may eat and drink and then go to their master."

Then the officer {on whom the king relied} answered the man of God and said, "Look, [even if] Yahweh [is] making windows in heaven, could this thing happen?" And he said, "Look, you [will be] seeing [it] with your eyes, but you shall not eat from it there."

Now four men who had a skin disease were [at] the entrance of the gate, and they said {to each other}, "Why [are] we sitting here until we die?

When these who had the skin disease came to the edge of the camp, they went into a certain tent and they ate, drank, and took from there silver and gold and clothes. Then they went and hid [them], then returned and came to another tent, and they took from there and went and hid [them].

Then one of his servants replied and said, "Please let them take five of the remaining horses which remain in [the city]; behold, they [are] like all of the multitude of Israel that remain in it; they are like all the multitude of Israel who have perished. Let us send and see."

It happened that as he [was] telling the king how he had restored the dead to life, suddenly the woman whose son he had restored to life [was] crying out to the king about her household and about her field. Then Gehazi said, "My lord the king, this [is] the woman and this is her son whom Elisha restored to life!"

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 Joram crossed over to Zair and all the chariots with him. It happened that he arose [by] night and attacked Edom who had surrounded him and the commanders of the chariots; but the army fled to their tents.

He came, and look, the commanders of the army [were] sitting [there]. He said, "I have a word for you, O commander!" Jehu said, "For whom? For all of us?" And he said, "For you, O commander!"

When he lifted up his face to the window, he asked, "Who [is] with me?" Two or three eunuchs looked down to him.

Then he wrote to them a second letter, saying, "If you [are] for me, and you [are] listening to my voice, take the heads of the men of the sons of your master and come to me at [this] time tomorrow at Jezreel." Now the sons of the king, seventy men, [were] with the leaders of the city who were raising them.

It happened in the morning that he went out, stood, and said to all of the people, "You [are] righteous. Look, I conspired against my master and killed him. But who killed all of these?

and Jehu met the brothers of Ahaziah king of Judah. He asked, "Who [are] you?" They said, "We [are] the brothers of Ahaziah; we came down for the peace of the king's children and the children of the queen."

Then he came to Samaria and killed all who remained to Ahab in Samaria until he wiped them out according to the word of Yahweh which he had spoken to Elijah.

So then, summon to me all of the prophets of Baal and all of his servants and his priests; no man should fail to come, for I have a great sacrifice for Baal. Anyone who fails to come shall not live!" Now Jehu was acting with cunning in order to destroy the servants of Baal.

Jehu sent [word] through all of Israel, and all of the servants of Baal came; there did not remain a man who did not come. They came to the house of Baal so that the house of Baal was filled from {wall to wall}.

He said to the one who [was] over the wardrobe, "Bring out clothing for all of the servants of Baal." So he brought the clothing out for them.

Then Jehu and Jehonadab the son of Recab came [to] the temple of Baal, and he said to the servants of Baal, "Search and see that there is none of the servants of Yahweh here with you; only those who serve Baal."

They came to offer sacrifices and burnt offerings. Now Jehu had stationed for himself eighty men outside, and he said, "The man who lets [anyone] escape from the men who I am {entrusting to you}, {he will pay with his life}!"

But Jehosheba the daughter of King Joram and sister of Ahaziah took Jehoash the son of Ahaziah, and she stole him from among the sons of the king who were being put to death, [putting] him and his nurse in the inner bedroom. So they hid him from the presence of Athaliah, and he was not killed.

He commanded them, saying, "This [is] the thing which you must do: one third of you {who go off duty on the Sabbath}, the keepers of the guard in the house of the king,

Two of the units among you, all {who go on duty on the Sabbath}, guard the post of the temple of Yahweh for the king.

So the commanders of hundreds did according to all that Jehoiada the priest commanded, and each took his men {who went off duty on the Sabbath} and those {who came on duty on the Sabbath}, and they came to Jehoiada the priest.

Then Jehoiada the priest took a certain chest and bored a hole in its lid, and he put it beside the altar to the right as a man enters into the temple of Yahweh; then the priests who were keepers of the threshold would put there all of the money brought into the temple.

They placed the money, [which was] weighed out, into the hands of the workers who were appointed over the temple of Yahweh, and they paid [it to] the skilled craftsmen of wood and [to] the builders working on the temple of Yahweh

and to the masons and the stonecutters, to buy timber and stones for hewing, in order to repair the damage of the temple of Yahweh, and for all who went to the temple to repair it.

It happened that when the kingdom was firmly in his hand, he killed his servants who had killed his father the king.

He restored the boundary of Israel from Lebo-Hamath up to the sea of the Arabah, according to the word of Yahweh which he spoke by the hand of his servant Jonah the son of Amittai the prophet, who was from Gath-Hepher.

At that time Menahem destroyed Tiphsah, all who [were] in it, and all its territory from Tirzah, because [it] had not opened [to him], so he destroyed it and ripped open all of its pregnant women.

Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria, saying, "I [am] your servant and your son. Come up and rescue me from the hand of the king of Aram and from the hand of the king of Israel who are rising up against me."

He did evil in the eyes of Yahweh, only not as the kings of Israel who were before him.

They walked in the statutes of the nations whom Yahweh had driven out from before the {Israelites}, which the kings of Israel had introduced.

But they did not listen and they stiffened their necks, like the necks of their ancestors who did not believe in Yahweh their God.

So they said to the king of Assyria, "The nations whom you deported and settled in the cities of Samaria do not know the customs of the God of the land, so he sent lions among them, and now they are killing them because they do not know the customs of the God of the land."

Then the king of Assyria commanded, saying, "Release one of the priests whom you deported from there, and let him go and settle there. Let him teach them the customs of the God of the land."

So one of the priests went, whom they had deported from Samaria, and he settled in Bethel and was teaching them how they should fear Yahweh.

Those who were fearing Yahweh made priests of the high places {from among themselves}, and they were sacrificing for them in the shrines of the high places.

Rather, Yahweh, who brought you out from the land of Egypt with great strength and with an outstretched arm--him you shall fear, and to him you shall bow down, and to him you shall sacrifice.

Then they called to the king, so Eliakim the son of Hilkiah who [was] over the palace, Shebna the secretary, and Joah the son of Asaph the recorder, came out to them.

You think only a word of lips, '[I have] advice and power for the war.' Now, on whom do you trust that you have rebelled against me?

Now, look! You {rely} on the staff of this broken reed, on Egypt, which [when] a man leans on it, it goes into his hand and pierces it! So [is] Pharaoh the king of Egypt for all who are trusting on him!

Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah and Shebna and Joah said to the chief commander, "Please speak to your servants in Aramaic, for we [are] understanding, but you must not speak Judean with us in the ears of the people who [are] on the wall."

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?"

Who among all of the gods of the countries have rescued their countries from my hand that Yahweh should rescue Jerusalem from my hand?'"

Eliakim the son of Hilkiah who was over the palace, and Shebna the secretary, and Joah the son of Asaph the recorder came to Hezekiah [with] torn clothes, and they told him the words of the chief commander.

He sent Eliakim who [was] over the palace, Shebna the secretary, the elders, and the priests, [all] clothed in sackcloth, to Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz.

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.'"

"Thus you shall say to Hezekiah the king of Judah, 'Let not your God whom you [are] trusting deceive you, by his saying, "Jerusalem shall not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria!"

Did the gods of the nations that my {predecessors} destroyed deliver them? [Not] Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, [nor] the children of Eden who [were] in Tel Assar.

Then Hezekiah prayed before the face of Yahweh and said, "O Yahweh, God of Israel who lives [above] the cherubim. You [are] God, you alone, of all the kingdoms of the world; you have made the heavens and the earth.

Whom have you mocked and reviled? And against whom have you have raised [your] voice and have haughtily lifted your eyes? Against the Holy One of Israel!

'Your sons who went out from you, whom you brought forth, will be taken, and they shall be eunuchs in the temple of the king of Babylon.'"

"Because Manasseh the king of Judah committed these detestable things [and] did evil more than the Amorites did who were before him and caused even Judah to sin with his idols,

therefore, thus says Yahweh the God of Israel, 'Look, I am bringing disaster upon Jerusalem and Judah about which the two ears of all who hear it will tingle.

But the people of the land killed all who conspired against the king and made Josiah his son king in his place.

and let them give it into the hand of those appointed doers of the work at the temple of Yahweh. Let them give it to the doers of the work who [are] at the temple of Yahweh to repair the breach of the temple:

and she said to them, "Thus says Yahweh the God of Israel, 'Say to the man who sent you to me,

And to the king of Judah who sent all of you to inquire of Yahweh, thus you shall say to him, "Thus says Yahweh the God of Israel, '[Concerning] the words that you have heard,

He removed the priests whom the kings of Judah had ordained [to] burn incense on the high places at the cities of Judah and around Jerusalem and who offered incense to, to the sun, to the moon, to the constellations, and to all the host of heaven.

Moreover, the altar which [was] in Bethel, the high place which Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who had caused Israel to sin, had built, even that altar and the high place, [Josiah] tore down. Then he burned down the high place and crushed [the] pole of Asherah worship to dust and burned it with fire.

When Josiah turned and saw the tombs which [were] there on the hill, he sent and took the bones from the tombs and burned [them] on the altar. [Thus] he defiled them according to the word of Yahweh that the man of God had proclaimed who had proclaimed these things.

Then he said, "What [is] this gravestone that I [am] seeing?" The men of the city said to him, "[This is the] tomb of the man of God who came from Judah and proclaimed these things which you have done against the altar of Bethel."

So Josiah said, "Let him rest and let no man move his bones." So they left his bones undisturbed with the bones of the prophet who had come from Samaria.

Then he slaughtered all of the priests of the high places who [were] there, on the altars, and he burned the bones of the humans on them. Then he returned [to] Jerusalem.

For they had not kept this Passover from the days of the judges who had judged over Israel {or} [during] the days of the kings of Israel and the kings of Judah.

There was not a king like him before him, who turned to Yahweh with all of his heart and with all of his soul and with all of his might according to the law of Moses, nor did one arise like him afterwards.

He and all the army of [the] Chaldeans who [were with] the imperial guard tore down the wall of Jerusalem all around.

The remainder of the people left in the city, the deserters who had deserted to the king of Babylon, and the remainder of the multitude, Nebuzaradan the commander of the imperial guard deported.

From the city he took one court official who [was] chief officer over the men of war, five men {from the king's council} who were found in the city, the secretary of the commander of the army who mustered the people of the land, and sixty men from the people of the land being found in the city.

Now [as far as] the people left in Judah whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon left behind, he appointed Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan over them.

But it happened in the seventh month that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah the son of Elishama from the offspring of the kingship came, and ten men with him, and they struck down Gedaliah so that he died with the Judeans and with the Chaldeans who were with him at Mizpah.

He spoke {kindly} to him, and he gave him a better seat than the seat of the kings who [were] with him in Babylon.