So Ahab went into his palace, bitter and angry that Naboth the Jezreelite had said, "I will not sell to you my ancestral inheritance." He lay down on his bed, pouted, and would not eat.

Then his wife Jezebel came in and said to him, "Why do you have a bitter attitude and refuse to eat?"

His wife Jezebel said to him, "You are the king of Israel! Get up, eat some food, and have a good time. I will get the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite for you."

She wrote out orders, signed Ahab's name to them, and sealed them with his seal. She then sent the orders to the leaders and to the nobles who lived in Naboth's city.

This is what she wrote: "Observe a time of fasting and seat Naboth in front of the people.

Also seat two villains opposite him and have them testify, 'You cursed God and the king.' Then take him out and stone him to death."

"Get up, go down and meet King Ahab of Israel who lives in Samaria. He is at the vineyard of Naboth; he has gone down there to take possession of it.

Say to him, 'This is what the Lord says: "Haven't you committed murder and taken possession of the property of the deceased?"' Then say to him, 'This is what the Lord says: "In the spot where dogs licked up Naboth's blood they will also lick up your blood -- yes, yours!"'"

As for Ahab's family, dogs will eat the ones who die in the city, and the birds of the sky will eat the ones who die in the country."

He was so wicked he worshiped the disgusting idols, just like the Amorites whom the Lord had driven out from before the Israelites.)

The king of Israel said to his servants, "Surely you recognize that Ramoth Gilead belongs to us, though we are hesitant to reclaim it from the king of Syria."

Then he said to Jehoshaphat, "Will you go with me to attack Ramoth Gilead?" Jehoshaphat replied to the king of Israel, "I will support you; my army and horses are at your disposal."

So the king of Israel assembled about four hundred prophets and asked them, "Should I attack Ramoth Gilead or not?" They said, "Attack! The sovereign one will hand it over to the king."

Now the king of Israel and King Jehoshaphat of Judah were sitting on their respective thrones, dressed in their robes, at the threshing floor at the entrance of the gate of Samaria. All the prophets were prophesying before them.

Zedekiah son of Kenaanah made iron horns and said, "This is what the Lord says, 'With these you will gore Syria until they are destroyed.'"

All the prophets were prophesying the same, saying, "Attack Ramoth Gilead! You will succeed; the Lord will hand it over to the king."

But Micaiah said, "As certainly as the Lord lives, I will say what the Lord tells me to say."

When he came before the king, the king asked him, "Micaiah, should we attack Ramoth Gilead or not?" He answered him, "Attack! You will succeed; the Lord will hand it over to the king."

He replied, 'I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouths of all his prophets.' The Lord said, 'Deceive and overpower him. Go out and do as you have proposed.'

Say, 'This is what the king says, "Put this man in prison. Give him only a little bread and water until I safely return."'"

When the chariot commanders saw Jehoshaphat, they said, "He must be the king of Israel." So they turned and attacked him, but Jehoshaphat cried out.

Now an archer shot an arrow at random, and it struck the king of Israel between the plates of his armor. The king ordered his charioteer, "Turn around and take me from the battle line, because I'm wounded."

They washed off the chariot at the pool of Samaria (this was where the prostitutes bathed); dogs licked his blood, just as the Lord had said would happen.

He followed in his father Asa's footsteps and was careful to do what the Lord approved. However, the high places were not eliminated; the people continued to offer sacrifices and burn incense on the high places.

Jehoshaphat was also at peace with the king of Israel.

There was no king in Edom at this time; a governor ruled.

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.

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 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 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.'"

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."

The fifty members of the prophetic guild went and stood opposite them at a distance, while Elijah and Elisha stood by the Jordan.

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."

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.

He took the cloak that had fallen off Elijah, hit the water with it, and said, "Where is the Lord, the God of Elijah?" When he hit the water, it divided and Elisha crossed over.

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."

But they were so insistent, he became embarrassed. So he said, "Send them out." They sent the fifty men out and they looked for three days, but could not find Elijah.

Elisha said, "Get me a new jar and put some salt in it." So they got it.

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."

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.

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

At that time King Jehoram left Samaria and assembled all Israel for war.

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."

So the kings of Israel, Judah, and Edom set out together. They wandered around on the road for seven days and finally ran out of water for the men and animals they had with them.

and he said, "This is what the Lord says, 'Make many cisterns in this valley,'

for this is what the Lord says, 'You will not feel any wind or see any rain, but this valley will be full of water and you and your cattle and animals will drink.'

Sure enough, the next morning, at the time of the morning sacrifice, water came flowing down from Edom and filled the land.

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

The Moabites said, "It's blood! The kings are totally destroyed! They have struck one another down! Now, Moab, seize the plunder!"

They tore down the cities and each man threw a stone into every cultivated field until they were covered. They stopped up every spring and chopped down every productive tree. Only Kir Hareseth was left intact, but the slingers surrounded it and attacked it.

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."

Go and close the door behind you and your sons. Pour the olive oil into all the containers; set aside each one when you have filled it."

Let's make a small private upper room and furnish it with a bed, table, chair, and lamp. When he visits us, he can stay there."

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."

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

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.

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."

When Elisha arrived at the house, there was the child lying dead on his bed.

He got up on the bed and spread his body out over the boy; he put his mouth on the boy's mouth, his eyes over the boy's eyes, and the palms of his hands against the boy's palms. He bent down over him, and the boy's skin grew warm.

She came in, fell at his feet, and bowed down. Then she picked up her son and left.

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.

He said, "Get some flour." Then he threw it into the pot and said, "Now pour some out for the men so they may eat." There was no longer anything harmful in the pot.

Now a man from Baal Shalisha brought some food for the prophet -- twenty loaves of bread made from the firstfruits of the barley harvest, as well as fresh ears of grain. Elisha said, "Set it before the people so they may eat."

But his attendant said, "How can I feed a hundred men with this?" He replied, "Set it before the people so they may eat, for this is what the Lord says, 'They will eat and have some left over.'"

So he set it before them; they ate and had some left over, just as the Lord predicted.

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.

Naaman went and told his master what the girl from the land of Israel had said.

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."

Elisha sent out a messenger who told him, "Go and wash seven times in the Jordan; your skin will be restored and you will be healed."

Naaman went away angry. He said, "Look, I thought for sure he would come out, stand there, invoke the name of the Lord his God, wave his hand over the area, and cure the skin disease.

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."

But Elisha replied, "As certainly as the Lord lives (whom I serve), I will take nothing from you." Naaman insisted that he take it, but he refused.

Gehazi, the prophet Elisha's servant, thought, "Look, my master did not accept what this Syrian Naaman offered him. As certainly as the Lord lives, I will run after him and accept something from him."

When he arrived at the hill, he took them from the servants and put them in the house. Then he sent the men on their way.

Therefore Naaman's skin disease will afflict you and your descendants forever!" When Gehazi went out from his presence, his skin was as white as snow.

So he went with them. When they arrived at the Jordan, they started cutting down trees.

As one of them was felling a log, the ax head dropped into the water. He shouted, "Oh no, my master! It was borrowed!"

The prophet asked, "Where did it drop in?" When he showed him the spot, Elisha cut off a branch, threw it in at that spot, and made the ax head float.

He said, "Lift it out." So he reached out his hand and grabbed it.

Now the king of Syria was at war with Israel. He consulted his advisers, who said, "Invade at such and such a place."

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.

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, "Do not strike them down! You did not capture them with your sword or bow, so what gives you the right to strike them down? Give them some food and water, so they can eat and drink and then go back to their master."

So he threw a big banquet for them and they ate and drank. Then he sent them back to their master. After that no Syrian raiding parties again invaded the land of Israel.

Samaria's food supply ran out. They laid siege to it so long that a donkey's head was selling for eighty shekels of silver and a quarter of a kab of dove's droppings for five shekels of silver.

Then the king asked her, "What's your problem?" She answered, "This woman said to me, 'Hand over your son; we'll eat him today and then eat my son tomorrow.'

So we boiled my son and ate him. Then I said to her the next day, 'Hand over your son and we'll eat him.' But she hid her son!"

When the king heard what the woman said, he tore his clothes. As he was passing by on the wall, the people could see he was wearing sackcloth under his clothes.

Now Elisha was sitting in his house with the community leaders. The king sent a messenger on ahead, but before he arrived, Elisha said to the leaders, "Do you realize this assassin intends to cut off my head?" Look, when the messenger arrives, shut the door and lean against it. His master will certainly be right behind him."

He was still talking to them when the messenger approached and said, "Look, the Lord is responsible for this disaster! Why should I continue to wait for the Lord to help?"

Elisha replied, "Hear the word of the Lord! This is what the Lord says, 'About this time tomorrow a seah of finely milled flour will sell for a shekel and two seahs of barley for a shekel at the gate of Samaria.'"