The angel of the LORD told Elijah, "Go down the hill with that man. Don't be afraid of him!" So Elijah got up and went down with him to meet the king.

And die he did, just as the LORD had said and just as Elijah had spoken!

As the time drew near when the LORD was about to take Elijah to heaven in a wind storm, Elijah and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal.

Elijah instructed Elisha, "Remain here on this side, please, because the LORD is sending me as far as Bethel." But Elisha replied, "As the LORD lives, I'm not going to leave you while you're still alive!" So they both went on to Bethel.

Elijah also spoke to him, "Elisha, remain here on this side, please, because the LORD is sending me to Jericho." But Elisha responded, "As the LORD lives, and while you're still alive, I'm not going to leave you!" So they went to Jericho.

The Guild of Prophets who lived in Jericho approached Elisha and asked him, "You are aware, aren't you, that later today the LORD is going to remove your master from being your mentor?" "Of course I'm aware of it," he said. "Calm down."

But Elisha responded, "As the LORD lives, and while you're still alive, I'm not going to leave you!" So they went on their way, accompanied by 50 men from the Guild of Prophets, who stood at a short distance from them while they were both standing by the Jordan.

Elijah took off his ornamented cloak, wrapped it up in a roll, struck the water, and all of a sudden the water divided into two parts! One side of the river stood still opposite the other until the two of them crossed over on dry ground.

When they had crossed the Jordan River, Elijah invited Elisha, "Ask me what you want me to do for you before I'm taken away from you." So Elisha asked, "Please, may there be a double portion of your spirit upon me!"

As they continued on, talking as they went, suddenly chariots blazing with fire and pulled by fiery horses appeared, separated the two of them, and Elijah ascended in a wind storm to heaven!

As Elisha continued to watch, he cried out, "My father! My father! The chariots of Israel and its cavalry!" Then he did not see Elijah anymore.

After this, Elisha gripped his clothes that he was wearing, tore them apart into two pieces, picked up Elijah's ornamented cloak that had fallen from him, and went back to stand on the bank of the Jordan River.

Elisha took hold of Elijah's ornamental cloak that had been left behind, struck the water, and cried out: "Where is the LORD God of Elijah?" All of a sudden, after he had struck the water, the water divided into two parts! One side of the river stood opposite the other, and Elisha crossed over.

As soon as the Guild of Prophets who lived adjacent to Jericho saw Elisha, they began to announce, "The spirit of Elijah is at rest on Elisha!" So they came out to meet him and they greeted him by bowing low to the ground in front of him.

Then they asked Elisha, "Look! We have 50 valiant men here with your servant! Please let them go out and search for your master Elijah. Perhaps the Spirit of the LORD has taken him up on a mountain or into a valley." Elisha responded, "Don't bother searching."

But they persisted until he was frustrated, so he said, "Send them out!" So they sent out the 50 men, and they looked around for three days but did not find Elijah.

The men who lived in the city addressed Elisha. "Look now," they said, "our city's location is good, as you have been observing, but the water springs here are bad and the land isn't sustaining crops."

Elisha ordered them, "Bring me a new bowl and put some salt in it." So they brought him what he had requested.

Elisha went out to the springs, threw the salt into them, and declared, "This is what the LORD says: "I have purified these waters. Neither death nor barrenness is to flow from them anymore.'"

Later, Elisha left there to go up to Bethel, and as he was traveling along the road, some insignificant young men came from the city and started mocking him. They told him, "Get on up, baldy! Get on up, baldy!"

He looked behind him, took note of the young men, and cursed them in the name of the LORD. Suddenly two female bears emerged from the woods and mauled 42 of the young men.

After this, he left from there to go to Mt. Carmel, and from there he went back to Samaria.

practicing evil in the LORD's presence, only not to the extent that his mother and father had done he forced abolition of the sacred pillar to Baal that his father had crafted.

Meanwhile, Moab's King Mesha was a sheep breeder. He used to pay 100,000 lambs and the wool from 100,000 rams to the king of Israel as tribute.

So King Jehoram left Samaria at that time and mustered the entire army of Israel.

"I'm coming," Jehoshaphat replied. "I'm like you! My army will act like your army and my cavalry like your cavalry," Then Jehoshaphat added: "What road do we take?" Jehoram answered, "We'll go along the Edom desert road."

So the king of Israel, the king of Judah, and the king of Edom made a complete circuit on the road for seven days, but there was no water for the army or for the livestock that accompanied them.

Jehoshaphat asked, "Isn't there a prophet who belongs to the LORD and through whom we can ask the LORD a question?" One of the king of Israel's attendants replied, "Shaphat's son Elisha lives here. He used to be Elijah's personal attendant."

Jehoshaphat answered, "He receives messages from the LORD." So the king of Israel, Jehoshaphat, and the king of Edom went to visit Elisha.

This is what the LORD says: "Though you won't see wind or storm, nevertheless that river will overflow with water so that you, your cattle, and your livestock may drink.'

And this is the easy part for the LORD he's also going to hand the Moabites over to you!

Then you are to attack every fortified city and every significant city. Cut down every significant tree, fill in all of the water springs, and ruin every prime piece of land with stones."

The very next day, about the time of the morning offering, water suddenly appeared, coming from the direction of Edom, and the land overflowed with water!

As the Moabites arose early that morning, the sun cast its rays on the water, and to the Moabites, the water across from them appeared to be red like blood.

So they concluded, "This must be blood! The kings must have had one mighty big fight and each man killed the other! So let's go get the battle spoil, Moab!"

But when the Moabites arrived at the Israeli encampment, the Israelis got up and attacked them. The Moabites ran away from the Israelis, who followed them into the land as they continued their pursuit against Moab.

They destroyed their cities, and all of them threw stones onto every piece of farm land, ruining the fields. Then they filled in all the water wells and chopped down all of the useful trees. Stone walls remained surrounding Kir-hareseth only, until the archers surrounded and attacked that city.

So he took his firstborn son, whom he intended to reign after him, and offered him up as a burnt offering on the wall. There subsequently came great anger against Israel, so they abandoned the attack and returned to their homeland.

Now there happened to be a certain woman who had been the wife of a member of the Guild of Prophets. She cried out to Elisha, "My husband who served you has died, and you know that your servant feared the LORD. But a creditor has come to take away my children into indentured servitude!"

He told her, "Go out to all of your neighbors in the surrounding streets and borrow lots of pots from them. Don't get just a few empty vessels, either.

Then go in and shut the door behind you, taking only your children, and pour oil into all of the pots. As each one is filled, set it aside."

So she left Elisha, shut the door behind her and her children, and while they kept on bringing vessels to her, she kept on pouring oil.

But he replied, "There isn't even one pot left." Then the oil stopped flowing. After this, she went and told the man of God what had happened. So he said, "Go sell the oil, pay your debt, and you and your children will be able to live on the proceeds."

Some time later, Elisha went to Shunem, where he met a prominent and wealthy woman who persuaded him to have a meal with her. As a result, whenever he was in the area, he stopped by to eat with her.

So she had a talk with her husband. "Look here! I've learned that this is a holy and godly man who comes by here on a regular basis.

Now then, let's build a small upper room and put a bed in it for him there, along with a table, a chair, and a lamp stand. That way, when he comes to visit, he can rest there."

One day, Elisha came by to visit and stopped in to rest in the upper chamber.

He responded, "What, then, is to be done on her behalf?" Gehazi answered, "Well, she has no son and her husband is growing old."

"Call her," Elisha ordered. After he called her, she came and stood in the doorway,

and he told her, "About this time next year you will be embracing a son."

"No, sir! Please, as a godly man, don't mislead your servant!" But the woman did conceive and did bear a son at that very same time the next year, just as Elisha had told her.

After the child had grown up a bit, one day he went out to visit his father, who was with the harvesters.

So his father ordered his servant, "Carry him over to his mother!" So the servant carried him over to his mother, where he rested on her lap until mid-day, and then he died.

The woman went upstairs, laid him on the bed belonging to the man of God, and shut the door, leaving him behind as she left.

Then she called to her husband and asked him, "Please send me one of the servants, along with one of the donkeys, so I can ride quickly to see that godly man. I'll be right back."

He asked her, "What's the point of visiting him today? It's not a New Moon, and it isn't the Sabbath!" But she kept saying, "Things will go well."

So she saddled a donkey and told her servant, "Forward, driver! Don't slow down on my account, unless I tell you!"

So out she went and eventually she arrived at Mount Carmel to visit the man of God.

When the man of God noticed her from a distance, he told his attendant Gehazi, "Look! There's the woman from Shunem! Please run out quickly and greet her. Ask her, "Are things going well with you? Are things going well with your husband? Are things going well with your child?'" She answered Gehazi, "Things are going well."

As she came near the man of God on the mountain, she grabbed his feet. When Gehazi intervened to push her away, the man of God said, "Leave her alone! She is deeply troubled! The LORD has concealed the thing from me, and hasn't informed me."

At this he told Gehazi, "Get ready to run! Take my staff in your hand, and get on the road. Don't greet anyone you meet. If anyone greets you, don't respond. Just go lay my staff on the youngster's face."

At this, the youngster's mother replied, "As long as you and the LORD live, I'm not leaving you!" So he got up and followed her.

Meanwhile, Gehazi went on ahead of them and placed the staff on the youngster's face, but when there was no sound or reaction, he returned, met Elisha, and told him, "The youngster has shown no sign of awakening."

When Elisha entered the house, there was the youngster, dead and laid out on Elisha's bed!

So he entered, shut the door behind them both, and prayed to the LORD.

Then he approached the child and lay down with his mouth near the child's, with his eyes near those of the child, and taking the child's hands in his. As Elisha stretched himself on the child, the child's flesh began to grow warm.

Then he went downstairs, walked around back and forth inside the house once, went back up to his upper chamber, and stretched himself over the child again. The young man sneezed seven times and then opened his eyes.

Then she approached him, fell at his feet, bowing low to the ground, took back her son, and went out.

Elisha returned to Gilgal during a time of famine in the land. While the Guild of Prophets were having a meal with him, he instructed his attendant, "Put a large pot on the fire and boil some stew for the Guild of Prophets."

Somebody went out into the fields to grab some herbs, found a wild vine, and gathered a lap full of wild gourds, which he came and sliced up into the stew pot, but nobody else knew.

But he replied, "Bring me some flour." He tossed it into the pot and said, "Serve the people so they can eat." Then there was nothing harmful in the pot.

Later on, a man arrived from Baal-shalishah, bringing the man of God some bread as a first fruit offering. He had 20 loaves of barley and ripe ears of corn in his sack. So Elisha said, "Give them to the people so they can eat."

But he replied, "Distribute it to the people so they can eat, because this is what the LORD says: "They will eat and have a surplus!'" So he served them, and they ate and had some left over, just as the LORD had indicated.

Naaman, the commander of the army of the king of Aram, was a great man in the opinion of his master. He was highly favored, because by him the LORD had given victory to Aram. Though he was a mighty and valiant man, he was suffering from leprosy.

Later, Naaman went to inform his master and told him something like this: "Thus and so spoke the young woman from the territory of Israel."

The king of Aram replied, "Go now, and I'll send a letter to the king of Israel." So he left and took with him ten talents of silver and 6,000 units of gold, along with ten sets of clothing.

He also brought the letter to the king of Israel, which read as follows: ""and now as this letter finds its way to you, look! I've sent my servant Naaman to you so you may heal him of his leprosy."

When the king of Israel read the letter, he ripped his clothes and cried out, "Am I God? Can I kill and give life? Is this man sending me a request to heal a man's leprosy? Let's think about this he's looking for a reason to start a fight with me!"

When Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, he sent a message to the king and asked, "Why did you tear your clothes? Please, let the man come visit me and he will learn that there is a prophet in Israel!"

So Naaman arrived with his horses and chariots and stood in front of the door to Elisha's house.

But Naaman flew into a rage and left, telling himself, "Look! I thought "He's surely going to come out to me, stand still, call out in the name of the LORD his God, wave his hand over the infection, and cure the leprosy!'

Aren't the Abana and Pharpar rivers in Damascus better than all of the water in Israel? Couldn't I just bathe in them and become clean?" So he turned away and left, filled with anger.

But then his servants approached him and spoke with him. They said, "My father, had the prophet only asked of you something great, you would have done it, wouldn't you? Yet he told you, "Bathe, and be clean"!'"

So he went down and plunged himself into the Jordan River seven times, just as the man of God had said, and his flesh rejuvenated like the flesh of a newborn child. And he was clean.

Naaman went back to the man of God, along with his entire entourage, and stood before him. "Please look!" he said. "I know that there is no God in all the earth, except in Israel! So please, take a present from your servant."

After Naaman had gone only a short distance, Gehazi, the attendant to Elisha, the man of God, told himself, "Look how my master has spared this Aramean, Naaman! He declined to take from him what he brought. As the LORD lives, I'm going to run after him and get something from him."

So Gehazi ran after Naaman. When Naaman noticed someone running after him, he came down from his chariot, greeted him and asked, "Is everything all right?"

Gehazi said, "Everything's all right. My master sent me to tell you, "Just now two men from the Guild of Prophets have arrived from the hill country of Ephraim. Please give them each a talent of silver bullion and two sets of clothes.'"

But Naaman said, "Please accept my invitation to take two talents of silver." He urged him, binding two talents of silver in two bags, along with two sets of clothes. He placed them in the care of two of his young men, and they went on ahead of Gehazi.

When he arrived at the stronghold, Gehazi took the bags from their custody and hid them away in the house. Then he sent the men away and they left.

Later he went to address his master. Elisha asked him, "Where did you go, Gehazi?" "Your servant went nowhere in particular," he said.

But Elisha responded, "Didn't my heart break as the man was turning from his chariot to greet you? Is now the time to receive money? To receive clothes? And olive groves, vineyards, sheep, oxen, servants, or female attendants?

Naaman's leprosy will plague you and your descendants forever!" As he left Elisha's presence, he was infected with leprosy that looked like white snow.

Let's go to the Jordan River, fashion some rafters, and build a place for us so we can live there." So he said, "Go!"

"I'm willing," he replied. So he accompanied them, and when they came to the Jordan River, they cut down some trees.

It happened that as one of them was felling a beam, his axe head fell into the water. He cried out, "Oh no! Master! The axe was on loan to me!"

The man of God asked, "Where did it fall?" When he was shown the place, he cut off a branch, tossed it there, and made the iron axe head float.

Then Elisha said, "Pick it up!" So the young man reached out and picked it up.

Eventually the king of Aram went to war against Israel, taking counsel with his advisors and concluding, "In such and such a place I'll build my encampment."

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?"