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.

He told his attendant Gehazi, "Call this Shunammite." So when he had summoned her, she stood in front of him.

Elisha told him, "Ask her, "Look how you've gone to all this trouble to care for us! What can I do for you? Do you wish to be mentioned to the king or to the head of the army?'" She replied, "I'm at home living among my own people."

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.

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.

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!"

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, 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.

He called out to Gehazi, "Go get the Shunammite woman!" So he called her. When she came in to see Elisha, he told her, "Take back your son!"

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

She mentioned to her mistress, "If only my master were to visit the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy."

Then the king asked her, "What's bothering you?"

She said, "This woman told me, "Give up your son, and we'll eat him today, and we'll eat your son tomorrow.'" So we boiled my son and ate him. The next day, I told her, "Give me your son so we can eat him!' But she has hidden her son!"

But the royal attendant on whom the king depended responded to the man of God: "Look here! Even if the LORD were to open a window in the sky, how could this happen?" He replied, "No, you look! You'll see it with your eyes, but you won't eat any of it!"

Now there happened to be four lepers who were at that very moment at the entrance to the city gate. As they were talking with one another, they said, "Why are we sitting here waiting to die?

If we tell ourselves, "Let's remain in the city,' we'll die there since there's famine in the city. But if we sit here, we'll die, too. So let's go over to the Arameans! If they spare our lives, we'll live, and if they kill us"we're dying anyway!"

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."

But the royal attendant on whom the king depended responded to the man of God: "Look here! Even if the LORD were to make a window in the sky, how could this happen?" He replied, "No, you look! You'll see it with your eyes, but you won't eat any of it!"

So the woman followed the instructions given to her by the man of God, and she went to the territory of the Philistines to live for seven years with her household.

At the end of the seven years, the woman returned from the territory of the Philistines and went to the king in order to file an appeal regarding her house and her grain field.

Just as he was telling the king about Elisha's having restored the dead to life, the woman whose son had been restored arrived and appealed to the king for her house and her land! Gehazi told the king, "Your majesty, this is the woman! And here's her son, whom Elisha restored to life!"

The king consulted with the woman, who related the story. So the king appointed a court official to represent her and ordered him: "Restore to her everything that belonged to her, including all of the produce that her fields yielded from the day she left the land until now."

Later on, Elisha traveled to Damascus. King Ben-hadad of Aram was ill, but someone informed him, "The man of God has come here!"

Furthermore, the dogs will eat Jezebel in the territory of Jezreel. There will be no burial for her.'" Then he opened the door and left.

As soon as Joram noticed Jehu, he cried out, "Peace, Jehu?" Jehu replied, "What peace, given your mother Jezebel's prostitution and all of her witchcraft?"

As soon as Jehu arrived at Jezreel, Jezebel adorned her eyes, arranged her hair, and peered out a window.

he ordered, "Throw her down!"

So they did, and her blood splashed against the wall and on the horses, while Jehu trampled her underfoot. Later on, after he had come in to eat and drink, he ordered, "Go and see to this cursed woman, and bury her, because she was a king's daughter."

But when they went out to bury her, they found nothing left of her except her skull, her feet, and the palms of her hands.

"Dogs will eat Jezebel's flesh on the property of Jezreel, and her corpse will lie like dung on the surface of the field on the property in Jezreel, but no one will say, "This is Jezebel."'"

Jehu and Rechab's son Jehonadab entered Baal's temple, and Jehu told the Baal worshipers, "Look around and be sure that no servant of the LORD is here among you, but only worshipers of Baal."

As soon as Ahaziah's mother Athaliah learned that her son had died, she seized the throne and executed the entire royal bloodline.

But King Joram's daughter Jehosheba, who was Ahaziah's sister, rescued Ahaziah's son Joash from the group of the king's sons who were being executed and hid him and his nurse in her bedroom, concealing him from Athaliah so he was not put to death.

So Joash remained hidden with her in the LORD's Temple for six years while Athaliah reigned over the land.

But during the seventh year of her reign, Jehoiada went out and called together the rulers of hundreds, the captains, and the guards, and assembled them together inside the LORD's Temple. He made a covenant with them, making them take an oath in the LORD's Temple, and then he revealed the king's son to them.

"Here's what we'll do: A third of you will enter here on this coming Sabbath dressed as guardians of the watch for the king's palace, with a third of you at the Sur gate, and a third at the gate behind the guards. Keep watch over the palace and defend it.

Two of you who enter here on this coming Sabbath are to stand watch at the LORD's Temple,

She looked around and there was the king, standing near a column, as was the royal custom! He was accompanied by the commanding officers, along with trumpeters who stood beside the king. All the people of the land sounded trumpets in their excitement. But Athaliah tore her clothes and bellowed, "It's a plot! A conspiracy!"

Jehoiada the priest commanded the captains in charge of the army, "Take her out the back way and execute anybody who follows her," since the priest had also issued this order: "Let's not put her to death in the LORD's Temple."

So they arrested Athaliah, took her out through the same entrance used by the horses for entering the king's palace, and executed her.

In reply, Isaiah responded to them, "Here's how you're to report to your master:

"This is what the LORD has spoken against him: "She despises and mocks you, this virgin daughter of Zion! Behind your back she shakes her head, this daughter of Jerusalem!

So Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam, Achbor, Shaphan, and Asaiah went to the prophet Huldah, the wife of Tikvah's son Shallum, the grandson of Harhas and supervisor of the royal wardrobe, who lived in the Second Quarter in Jerusalem. They spoke with her,

Here's a list of kings who reigned in the land of Edom before any king reigned over the Israelis, beginning with Beor's son Bela (his city was named Dinhabah).

Here's a list of Israel's sons: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun,

Hezron's son Caleb had children by his wife Azubah and by Jerioth. These were her sons: Jesher, Shobab, and Ardon.

Later, Hezron married the daughter of Machir, who had fathered Gilead. He married her when he was 60 years old, and she bore him Segub.

Here is a record of the descendants of Reuben, Israel's firstborn. (He was the firstborn, but because he defiled his father's marriage bed, his birthright was transferred to the descendants of Israel's son Joseph. As a result, Reuben is not enrolled in the genealogy according to the birthright.

The inhabitants of Jebus told David, "You're not coming in here!" Nevertheless, David captured the fortress of Zion, now known as the City of David.

Here's a list of those who came to David at Ziklag when he was unable to travel freely due to Saul son of Kish. They were among the elite soldiers who assisted him in battle.

Here's a list of the children whom he fathered while in Jerusalem: Shammua, Shobab, Nathan, Solomon,

But as the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD approached the City of David, Saul's daughter Michal was peering out a window, watching King David dancing and cavorting around, and she despised him in her heart.

After David had settled down to live in his palace, he spoke with the prophet Nathan. "Look, here I am living in this cedar palace, but the ark of the LORD's covenant remains surrounded by curtains!"

But Ornan replied to David, "Take it! Let your majesty the king do whatever seems like a good idea to him. Look here! I'm giving the oxen for burnt offerings, the threshing machinery for the wood, and the wheat for a grain offering. I'm giving all of it."

Now look! Here are the ranks of the priests and the descendants of Levi for the entire service of the Temple of God, and in all of the work there will be all types of volunteers who have skills for anything needed for the services. Furthermore, the officers and all of the people will be at your complete command."

"The LORD has brought to fulfillment what he promised, and now here I stand, having succeeded my father David to sit on the throne of Israel, as the LORD promised. I have built the Temple for the name of the Lord GOD of Israel.

Later, Solomon moved Pharaoh's daughter from the City of David to the palace that he had constructed to house her, because he reasoned, "My wife isn't going to live in the palace where King David of Israel lived, because wherever the ark of the LORD entered is holy."

When the queen of Sheba heard about Solomon's reputation, she traveled to Jerusalem and tested him with difficult questions. She brought along a large retinue, camels laden with spices, and lots of gold and precious stones. Upon her arrival, she spoke with Solomon about everything that was on her mind.

Solomon answered all of her questions. Because nothing was hidden from Solomon, he hid nothing from her.

"but I didn't believe it at first! But then I came here and I've seen it for myself! It's amazing! I wasn't told half of what's really great about your wisdom. You're far better in person than what the reports have said about you!

In return, King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba everything she wanted and requested in addition to what she had brought for the king. Afterward, she returned to her own land, accompanied by her servants.

King Asa removed his mother Maacah from her position as Queen Mother because she had made a detestable image dedicated to Asherah. He cut down his mother's idol, crushed it, and burned it at the Kidron Brook.

Here's how they were mustered, listed according to their ancestral houses and listed by commanders of thousands: Adnah commanded 300,000 elite forces.

But Jehoshaphat asked, "Isn't there a prophet of the LORD left here that we could talk to?"

As soon as Ahaziah's mother Athaliah learned that her son had died, she set out to destroy the entire royal family of Judah.

"Look! The king's son is going to rule, just as the LORD promised David's descendants. So here's what you'll need to do: One third of you priests and descendants of Levi who are on duty during the Sabbath will serve as guards at the temple gates.

She looked around, and there was the king, standing by his pillar at the gate, accompanied by officers and trumpeters who stood beside the king, along with all the people of the land rejoicing and sounding trumpets while singers lead the celebration with their musical instruments. Athaliah tore her robes and yelled "Treason! Treason!"

But Jehoiada the priest summoned the captains of hundreds who had been appointed in charge over the army and ordered them, "Bring her out between the ranks, and execute anyone who follows her." The priest also told them, "Don't execute her in the LORD's Temple."

So they arrested her when she arrived at the entrance to the Horse Gate near the royal palace, and then they executed her there.

and told them, "Don't bring those captives here! You'll bring even more guilt on us from the LORD, in addition to our own existing sin and guilt! He's already mad enough against Israel because of our guilt!"

Here are the names of the descendants of Levi who made themselves available to God: Amasai's son Mahath and Azariah's son Joel from the descendants of Kohath; Abdi's son Kish and Jehallelel's son Azariah from the descendants of Merari; Zimmah's son Joah and Joah's son Eden from the descendants of Gershon;

So Hilkiah and the others who had received orders from the king went to visit Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Tokhath's son Shallum, grandson of Hasrah. She was the king's wardrobe supervisor, and she lived in Jerusalem's Second Quarter. They asked her about what had happened.

But he sent messengers to him, who asked him, "What do we have in common, King of Judah? I am not here today opposing you. I am fighting the dynasty that is fighting me, and God has ordered me to hurry. For your own good, stop interfering with God, who is with me, and he won't destroy you!"

Here is a partial inventory: Gold dishes: 30 Silver dishes: 1,000 Sacrificial knives: 29

Here is a list of descendants of the province of Judah who returned from the captivity, from those who had been exiled. Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, had taken them to Babylon. They came back to Jerusalem and Judah, each one to his town,

along with Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Seraiah, Reelaiah, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispar, Bigvai, Rehum, and Baanah. Here is the enumeration of: The Men of Israel:

Here is a list of returnees from Tel-melah, Tel-harsha, Cherub, Addan, and Immer who could not prove their ancestry and lineage from Israel:

they approached Zerubbabel and the heads of the families with this message: "Let's build along with you, because, like you, we seek your God, as do you, and we've been making sacrifices to him since the reign of Esarhaddon, king of Assyria, who brought us here."

Here is a copy of the letter that Trans-Euphrates Governor Tattenai, Shethar-bozenai, and his colleagues the Trans-Euphrates Persians sent to King Darius.

Here is a copy of the letter that King Artaxerxes gave to Ezra, the priest-scribe, a scholar in matters concerning the commandments of the LORD and concerning his statutes pertaining to Israel:

LORD God of Israel, you are just: As a result, we remain here today delivered. Look at us! Because of our sin, we cannot stand in your presence as a result of everything that has happened."

Here is a list of priestly descendants who were found to have married foreign women. From Jeshua's descendants: Jozadak's son and his brothers Maaseiah, Eliezer, Jarib, and Gedaliah.

They were coming with Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Azariah, Raamiah, Nahamani, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispereth, Bigvai, Nehum, and Baanah. Here is the enumeration of: The Men of Israel:

Here is a list of returnees from Tel-melah, Tel-harsha, Cherub, Addan, and Immer, who could not prove their ancestry and lineage from Israel:

Here is a list of those who signed: Hacaliah's son Nehemiah the governor, Zedekiah,

to bring Queen Vashti to the king, wearing the royal crown to display her beauty to the people and the officials, since she was lovely to look at.

If it seems good to the king, let a royal decree go out from him and let it be written in the laws of Persia and Media, which cannot be repealed, that Vashti is never again to enter the presence of King Ahasuerus. Let the king give her royal position to another woman who is better than she.

After this, when the anger of King Ahasuerus had subsided, he remembered Vashti, what she had done, and what had been decreed about her.

Mordecai had raised his cousin Hadassah, or Esther, because she had no father or mother. The young woman had a beautiful figure and was very attractive. After her mother and father died, Mordecai had taken her as his daughter.

The young woman pleased him and gained his favor. He quickly provided her beauty treatments and gave her portions of food to her. He also assigned her seven suitable young women from the palace and transferred her and her young women to the best place in the harem.

Esther did not make known her people or heritage because Mordecai had instructed her not to make it known.

Every day Mordecai would walk back and forth in front of the court of the harem to find out about Esther's well-being and what was happening to her.

Each young woman's turn came to go in to King Ahasuerus at the end of the twelve month period, at which time she was treated according to the regulations for women. This process completed the period of her beauty treatments six months with oil of myrrh and six months with spices and cosmetics for women.

After that the young woman would go in to the king, and whatever she asked for would be given to her to take with her from the harem to the palace.