The Assumption of Elijah.

And

2 And it came to pass, when the LORD would take up Elijah by a 2 whirlwind into heaven, that Elijah went with Elisha from Gilgal. And Elijah said unto Elisha, Tarry here, I pray thee; for the LORD hath sent me as far as Beth-el. And Elisha said, As the LORD liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. So they went down to Beth-el. 3 And the sons of the prophets that were at Beth-el came forth to Elisha, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the LORD will take away thy master from thy head to-day? And he said, Yea, I know it; hold ye 4 your peace. And Elijah said unto him, Elisha, tarry here, I pray thee; for the LORD hath sent me to Jericho. And he said, As the LORD liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. So they came to 5 Jericho. And the sons of the prophets that were at Jericho came near to Elisha, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the LORD will take away thy master from thy head to-day? And he answered, Yea, I 6 know it; hold ye your peace. And Elijah said unto him, Tarry here, I pray thee; for the LORD hath sent me to Jordan. And he said, As✅ the LORD liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. 7 they two went on. And fifty men of the sons of the prophets went, and stood over against them afar off: and they two stood by Jordan. 8 And Elijah took his mantle, and wrapped it together, and smote the waters, and they were divided hither and thither, so that they two went 9 over on dry ground. And it came to pass, 'when they were gone over, that Elijah said unto Elisha, Ask what I shall do for thee, before I be taken from thee. And Elisha said, I pray thee, let 2a double 10 portion of thy spirit be upon me. And he said, Thou hast asked a hard thing nevertheless, if thou see me when I am taken from thee, it shall II be so unto thee; but if not, it shall not be so. And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that, behold, there appeared 3a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, which parted them both asunder; and Elijah 12 went up by a whirlwind into heaven. And Elisha saw it, and he cried, My father, my father, the chariots of Israel and the horsemen thereof! And he saw him no more: and he took hold of his own clothes, and 13 rent them in two pieces. He took up also the mantle of Elijah that 14 fell from him, and went back, and stood by the bank of Jordan. And he took the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and smote the waters, and said, Where is the LORD, the God of Elijah? and when he also had smitten the waters, they were divided hither and thither: and 15 Elisha went over. And when the sons of the prophets which were at Jericho over against him saw him, they said, The spirit of Elijah doth rest on Elisha. And they came to meet him, and bowed themselves to 16 the ground before him. And they said unto him, Behold now, there be with thy servants fifty strong men; let them go, we pray thee, and seek thy master: lest peradventure the spirit of the LORD hath taken

him up, and cast him upon some mountain, or into some valley. And 17 he said, Ye shall not send. And when they urged him till he was ashamed, he said, Send. They sent therefore fifty men; and they 18 sought three days, but found him not. And they came back to him, while he tarried at Jericho; and he said unto them, Did I not say unto you, Go not?

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First Acts of Elisha.

And the men of the city said unto Elisha, Behold, we pray thee, the situation of this city is pleasant, as my lord seeth: but the water is 20 naught, and the land 'miscarrieth. And he said, Bring me a new cruse, 21 and put salt therein. And they brought it to him. And he went forth

unto the spring of the waters, and cast salt therein, and said, Thus saith the LORD, I have healed these waters; there shall not be from thence 22 any more death or 'miscarrying. So the waters were healed unto this day, according to the word of Elisha which he spake.

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23 And he went up from thence unto Beth-el: and as he was going up by the way, there came forth little children out of the city, and mocked him, and said unto him, Go up, thou bald head; go up, thou bald head. And he looked behind him and saw them, and cursed them in the name of the LORD. And there came forth two she-bears 25 out of the wood, and tare forty and two children of them. And he went from thence to mount Carmel, and from thence he returned to Samaria.

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War of Judah, Israel, and Edom with Mesha, king of Moab. Now Jehoram the son of Ahab began to reign over Israel in Samaria in the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and reigned 2 twelve years. And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD; but not like his father, and like his mother: for he put away the 3 *pillar of Baal that his father had made. Nevertheless he cleaved unto the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, wherewith he made Israel to sin; he departed not therefrom.

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Now Mesha king of Moab was a sheepmaster; and he rendered unto the king of Israel 'the wool of an hundred thousand lambs and of an 5 hundred thousand rams. But it came to pass, when Ahab was dead, 6 that the king of Moab rebelled against the king of Israel. And king Jehoram went out of Samaria at that time, and mustered all Israel. 7 And he went and sent to Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, saying, The king of Moab hath rebelled against me: wilt thou go with me against Moab to battle? And he said, I will go up: I am as thou art, my 8 people as thy people, my horses as thy horses. And he said, Which way shall we go up? And he answered, The way of the wilderness of 9 Edom. So the king of Israel went, and the king of Judah, and the

1 Or, casteth her fruit
2 Or, casting of fruit
3 Or, young lads

4 Or, obelisk

5 Or, an hundred thousand lambs, and an hundred thousand rams, with the wool

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king of Edom and they made a circuit of seven days' journey: and there was no water for the host, nor for the beasts that followed them. 10 And the king of Israel said, Alas! for the LORD hath called these three II kings together to deliver them into the hand of Moab. But Jehoshaphat said, Is there not here a prophet of the LORD, that we may inquire of the LORD by him? And one of the king of Israel's servants answered and said, Elisha the son of Shaphat is here, which poured water on the 12 hands of Elijah. And Jehoshaphat said, The word of the LORD is with him. So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat and the king of 13 Edom went down to him. And Elisha said unto the king of Israel, What have I to do with thee? get thee to the prophets of thy father, and to the prophets of thy mother. And the king of Israel said unto him, Nay: for the LORD hath called these three kings together to ✓ 14 deliver them into the hand of Moab. And Elisha said, As the LORD of hosts liveth, before whom I stand, surely, were it not that I regard the presence of Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, I would not look toward 15 thee, nor see thee. But now bring me a minstrel. And it came to pass, when the minstrel played, that the hand of the LORD came upon 16 him. And he said, Thus saith the LORD, Make this valley full of 17 trenches. For thus saith the LORD, Ye shall not see wind, neither shall ye see rain, yet that valley shall be filled with water: and ye shall 18 drink, both ye and your cattle and your beasts. And this is but a light thing in the sight of the LORD: he will also deliver the Moabites into 19 your hand. And ye shall smite every fenced city, and every choice city, and shall fell every good tree, and stop all fountains of water, and 20 mar every good piece of land with stones. And it came to pass in the

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morning, about the time of offering the oblation, that, behold, there came water by the way of Edom, and the country was filled with water. 21 Now when all the Moabites heard that the kings were come up to fight against them, they 'gathered themselves together, all that were able to 22 2put on armour, and upward, and stood on the border. And they rose up early in the morning, and the sun shone upon the water, and the 23 Moabites saw the water over against them as red as blood: and they said, This is blood; the kings are surely destroyed, and they have 24 smitten each man his fellow : now therefore, Moab, to the spoil. And when they came to the camp of Israel, the Israelites rose up and smote the Moabites, so that they fled before them and they went forward 25 *into the land smiting the Moabites. And they beat down the cities; and on every good piece of land they cast every man his stone, and filled it; and they stopped all the fountains of water, and felled all the good trees until in Kir-hareseth only they left the stones thereof; 26 howbeit the slingers went about it, and smote it. And when the king of Moab saw that the battle was too sore for him, he took with him seven hundred men that drew sword, to break through unto the king of 27 Edom: but they could not. Then he took his eldest son that should have reigned in his stead, and offered him for a burnt offering upon the

1 Or, were called together

2 Heb. gird themselves with a girdle.

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3 Or, have surely fought together
4 Heb. into it.

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wall. And 'there was great wrath against Israel: and they departed from him, and returned to their own land.

Elisha and the poor Widow.

Now there cried a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets unto Elisha, saying, Thy servant my husband is dead and thou knowest that thy servant did fear the LORD: and the creditor is 2 come to take unto him my two children to be bondmen. And Elisha said unto her, What shall I do for thee? tell me; what hast thou in the house? And she said, Thine handmaid hath not any thing in the 3 house, save a pot of oil. Then he said, Go, borrow thee vessels abroad 4 of all thy neighbours, even empty vessels; borrow not a few. And thou shalt go in, and shut the door upon thee and upon thy sons, and pour out into all those vessels; and thou shalt set aside that which is 5 full. So she went from him, and shut the door upon her and upon her 6 sons; they brought the vessels to her, and she poured out. And it came to pass, when the vessels were full, that she said unto her son, Bring me yet a vessel. And he said unto her, There is not a vessel more. And 7 the oil stayed. Then she came and told the man of God. And he said, Go, sell the oil, and pay thy debt, and live thou and thy sons of the rest.

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Elisha and the Shunemite Woman.

And it fell on a day, that Elisha passed to Shunem, where was a great woman; and she constrained him to eat bread. And so it was, that as oft as he passed by, he turned in thither to eat bread.

And she said unto her husband, Behold now, I perceive that this is Io an holy man of God, which passeth by us continually. Let us make, I pray thee, a little chamber on the wall; and let us set for him there a bed, and a table, and a stool, and a candlestick: and it shall be, when II he cometh to us, that he shall turn in thither. And it fell on a day, that he came thither, and he turned into the chamber and lay there. 12 And he said to Gehazi his servant, Call this Shunammite. And when 13 he had called her, she stood before him. And he said unto him, Say now unto her, Behold, thou hast 3been careful for us with all this care; what is to be done for thee? wouldest thou be spoken for to the king, or to the captain of the host? And she answered, I dwell among mine 14 own people. And he said, What then is to be done for her? And 15 Gehazi answered, Verily she hath no son, and her husband is old. And he said, Call her. And when he had called her, she stood in the door. 16 And he said, At this season, when the time cometh round, thou shalt embrace a son. And she said, Nay, my lord, thou man of God, do not 17 lie unto thine handmaid. And the woman conceived, and bare a son at that season, when the time came round, as Elisha had said unto her.

rael

1 Or, there came great wrath upon Is

2 Or, with walls

3 Or, shewed us all this reverence
Heb. liveth, or, reviveth.

18 And when the child was grown, it fell on a day, that he went out to his 19 father to the reapers. And he said unto his father, My head, my head. 20 And he said to his servant, Carry him to his mother. And when he had

taken him, and brought him to his mother, he sat on her knees till 21 noon, and then died. And she went up, and laid him on the bed of 22 the man of God, and shut the door upon him, and went out. And she called unto her husband, and said, Send me, I pray thee, one of the servants, and one of the asses, that I may run to the man of God, and 23 come again. And he said, Wherefore wilt thou go to him to-day? it is 24 neither new moon nor sabbath. And she said, 1It shall be well. Then she saddled an ass, and said to her servant, Drive, and go forward; 25 slacken me not the riding, except I bid thee. So she went, and came unto the man of God to mount Carmel. And it came to pass, when the man of God saw her afar off, that he said to Gehazi his servant, 26 Behold, yonder is the Shunammite: run, I pray thee, now to meet her, and say unto her, Is it well with thee? is it well with thy husband? is 27 it well with the child? And she answered, It is well. And when she came to the man of God to the hill, she caught hold of his feet. And Gehazi came near to thrust her away; but the man of God said, Let her alone for her soul is 2vexed within her; and the LORD hath hid it 28 from me, and hath not told me. Then she said, Did I desire a son of 29 my lord? did I not say, Do not deceive me? Then he said to Gehazi,

Gird up thy loins, and take my staff in thine hand, and go thy way: if thou meet any man, salute him not; and if any salute thee, answer him 30 not again and lay my staff upon the face of the child. And the mother of the child said, As the LORD liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not 31 leave thee. And he arose, and followed her. And Gehazi passed on before them, and laid the staff upon the face of the child; but there was neither voice, nor hearing. Wherefore he returned to meet him, and 32 told him, saying, The child is not awaked. And when Elisha was come 33 into the house, behold, the child was dead, and laid upon his bed. He went in therefore, and shut the door upon them twain, and prayed unto 34 the LORD. And he went up, and lay upon the child, and put his mouth upon his mouth, and his eyes upon his eyes, and his hands upon his hands and he *stretched himself upon him; and the flesh of the child 35 waxed warm. Then he returned, and walked in the house once to and fro; and went up, and stretched himself upon him: and the child 36 sneezed seven times, and the child opened his eyes. And he called

Gehazi, and said, Call this Shunammite. So he called her. And when 37 she was come in unto him, he said, Take up thy son. Then she went in, and fell at his feet, and bowed herself to the ground; and she took up her son, and went out.

1 Heb. Peace.

2 Heb. bitter.

3 Heb. attention.

4 Or, bowed himself

5 Or, and embraced the child