But the angel of Yahweh said to Elijah the Tishbite, “Arise, go up to meet the messengers of the king of Samaria, and tell them, ‘Is it because there is no God in Israel, that you go to inquire of Baal Zebub, the god of Ekron? Now therefore thus says Yahweh, “You shall not come down from the bed where you have gone up, but shall surely die.”’” Elijah departed.

The messengers returned to him, and he said to them, “Why is it that you have returned?”

They said to him, “A man came up to meet us, and said to us, ‘Go, return to the king who sent you, and tell him, “Thus says Yahweh, ‘Is it because there is no God in Israel, that you send to inquire of Baal Zebub, the god of Ekron? Therefore you shall not come down from the bed where you have gone up, but shall surely die.’”’”

He said to them, “What kind of man was he who came up to meet you, and told you these words?”

They answered him, “He was a hairy man, and wearing a leather belt around his waist.”

He said, “It is Elijah the Tishbite.”

Then the king sent a captain of fifty with his fifty to him. He went up to him; and behold, he was sitting on the top of the hill. He said to him, “Man of God, the king has said, ‘Come down!’”

Elijah answered to the captain of fifty, “If I am a man of God, let fire come down from the sky, and consume you and your fifty!” Fire came down from the sky, and consumed him and his fifty.

Again he sent to him another captain of fifty and his fifty. He answered him, “Man of God, the king has said, ‘Come down quickly!’”

Elijah answered them, “If I am a man of God, let fire come down from the sky, and consume you and your fifty!” The fire of God came down from the sky, and consumed him and his fifty.

Again he sent the captain of a third fifty with his fifty. The third captain of fifty went up, and came and fell on his knees before Elijah, and begged him, and said to him, “Man of God, please let my life, and the life of these fifty your servants, be precious in your sight. Behold, fire came down from the sky, and consumed the two former captains of fifty with their fifties. But now let my life be precious in your sight.”

The angel of Yahweh said to Elijah, “Go down with him. Don’t be afraid of him.”

He arose, and went down with him to the king. 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 to inquire of his word? Therefore you shall not come down from the bed where you have gone up, but shall surely die.’”

So he died according to the word of Yahweh which Elijah had spoken. Jehoram began to reign in his place in the second year of Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat king of Judah; because he had no son. Now the rest of the acts of Ahaziah which he did, aren’t they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?

1:3 The Hebrew word rendered “God” is “Elohim.”

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Elisha said, “As Yahweh lives, and as your soul lives, I will not leave you.” So they went down to Bethel.

The sons of the prophets who were at Bethel came out to Elisha, and said to him, “Do you know that Yahweh will take away your master from your head today?”

He said, “Yes, I know it; hold your peace.”

Elijah said to him, “Elisha, please wait here, for Yahweh has sent me to Jericho.”

He said, “As Yahweh lives, and as your soul lives, I will not leave you.” So they came to Jericho.

The sons of the prophets who were at Jericho came near to Elisha, and said to him, “Do you know that Yahweh will take away your master from your head today?”

He answered, “Yes, I know it. Hold your peace.”

Elijah said to him, “Please wait here, for Yahweh has sent me to the Jordan.”

He said, “As Yahweh lives, and as your soul lives, I will not leave you.” They both went on. Fifty men of the sons of the prophets went, and stood opposite them at a distance; and they both stood by the Jordan. Elijah took his mantle, and wrapped it together, and struck the waters, and they were divided here and there, so that they two went over on dry ground. It happened, when they had gone over, that Elijah said to Elisha, “Ask what I shall do for you, before I am taken from you.”

Elisha said, “Please let a double portion of your spirit be on me.”

He said, “You have asked a hard thing. If you see me when I am taken from you, it shall be so for you; but if not, it shall not be so.”

It happened, as they still went on, and talked, that behold, a chariot of fire and horses of fire separated them; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. Elisha saw it, and he cried, “My father, my father, the chariots of Israel and its horsemen!”

He saw him no more: and he took hold of his own clothes, and tore them in two pieces. He took up also the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and went back, and stood by the bank of the Jordan. He took the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and struck the waters, and said, “Where is Yahweh, the God of Elijah?” When he also had struck the waters, they were divided here and there; and Elisha went over. When the sons of the prophets who were at Jericho over against him saw him, they said, “The spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha.” They came to meet him, and bowed themselves to the ground before him. They said to him, “See now, there are with your servants fifty strong men. Please let them go and seek your master. Perhaps the Spirit of Yahweh has taken him up, and put him on some mountain, or into some valley.

He said, “You shall not send them.”

When they urged him until he was ashamed, he said, “Send them.”

They sent therefore fifty men; and they searched for three days, but didn’t find him. They came back to him, while he stayed at Jericho; and he said to them, “Didn’t I tell you, ‘Don’t go?’”

The men of the city said to Elisha, “Behold, please, the situation of this city is pleasant, as my lord sees; but the water is bad, and the land miscarries.”

He said, “Bring me a new jar, and put salt in it.” They brought it to him. He went out to the spring of the waters, and threw salt into it, and said, “Thus says Yahweh, ‘I have healed these waters. There shall not be from there any more death or miscarrying.’” So the waters were healed to this day, according to the word of Elisha which he spoke.

He went up from there to Bethel. As he was going up by the way, some youths came out of the city and mocked him, and said to him, “Go up, you baldy! Go up, you baldhead!” He looked behind him and saw them, and cursed them in the name of Yahweh. Two female bears came out of the woods, and mauled forty-two of those youths. He went from there to Mount Carmel, and from there he returned to Samaria.

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He said, “I will go up. I am as you are, my people as your people, my horses as your horses.” He said, “Which way shall we go up?”

He answered, “The way of the wilderness of Edom.” So the king of Israel went, and the king of Judah, and the king of Edom; and they made a circuit of seven days’ journey. There was no water for the army, nor for the animals that followed them. The king of Israel said, “Alas! For Yahweh has called these three kings together to deliver them into the hand of Moab.”

But Jehoshaphat said, “Isn’t there here a prophet of Yahweh, that we may inquire of Yahweh by him?”

One of the king of Israel’s servants answered, “Elisha the son of Shaphat is here, who poured water on the hands of Elijah.”

Jehoshaphat said, “The word of Yahweh is with him.” So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat and the king of Edom went down to him.

Elisha said to the king of Israel, “What have I to do with you? Go to the prophets of your father, and to the prophets of your mother.”

The king of Israel said to him, “No; for Yahweh has called these three kings together to deliver them into the hand of Moab.” Elisha said, “As Yahweh of Armies lives, before whom I stand, surely, were it not that I respect the presence of Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, I would not look toward you, nor see you. But now bring me a minstrel.” It happened, when the minstrel played, that the hand of Yahweh came on him. He said, “Thus says Yahweh, ‘Make this valley full of trenches.’ For thus says Yahweh, ‘You will not see wind, neither will you see rain; yet that valley shall be filled with water, and you will drink, both you and your livestock and your animals. This is but a light thing in the sight of Yahweh. He will also deliver the Moabites into your hand. You shall strike every fortified city, and every choice city, and shall fell every good tree, and stop all springs of water, and mar every good piece of land with stones.’”

It happened in the morning, about the time of offering the offering, that behold, water came by the way of Edom, and the country was filled with water.

Now when all the Moabites heard that the kings had come up to fight against them, they gathered themselves together, all who were able to put on armor, and upward, and stood on the border. They rose up early in the morning, and the sun shone on the water, and the Moabites saw the water over against them as red as blood. They said, “This is blood. The kings are surely destroyed, and they have struck each other. Now therefore, Moab, to the spoil!”

When they came to the camp of Israel, the Israelites rose up and struck the Moabites, so that they fled before them; and they went forward into the land smiting the Moabites. 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 springs of water, and felled all the good trees, until in Kir Hareseth only they left its stones; however the men armed with slings went about it, and struck it. When the king of Moab saw that the battle was too severe for him, he took with him seven hundred men who drew sword, to break through to the king of Edom; but they could not. Then he took his eldest son who would have reigned in his place, and offered him for a burnt offering on the wall. There was great wrath against Israel: and they departed from him, and returned to their own land.

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Elisha said to her, “What shall I do for you? Tell me: what do you have in the house?”

She said, “Your handmaid has nothing in the house, except a pot of oil.”

Then he said, “Go, borrow containers from of all your neighbors, even empty containers. Don’t borrow just a few. You shall go in, and shut the door on you and on your sons, and pour out into all those containers; and you shall set aside that which is full.”

So she went from him, and shut the door on her and on her sons; they brought the containers to her, and she poured out. It happened, when the containers were full, that she said to her son, “Bring me another container.”

He said to her, “There isn’t another container.” The oil stopped flowing.

Then she came and told the man of God. He said, “Go, sell the oil, and pay your debt; and you and your sons live on the rest.”

It fell on a day, that Elisha passed to Shunem, where there was a prominent woman; and she persuaded him to eat bread. So it was, that as often as he passed by, he turned in there to eat bread. She said to her husband, “See now, I perceive that this is a holy man of God, that passes by us continually. Please let us make a little room on the wall. Let us set for him there a bed, a table, a chair, and a lamp stand. It shall be, when he comes to us, that he shall turn in there.”

One day he came there, and he turned into the room and lay there. He said to Gehazi his servant, “Call this Shunammite.” When he had called her, she stood before him. He said to him, “Say now to her, ‘Behold, you have cared for us with all this care. What is to be done for you? Would you like to be spoken for to the king, or to the captain of the army?’”

She answered, “I dwell among my own people.”

He said, “What then is to be done for her?”

Gehazi answered, “Most certainly she has no son, and her husband is old.”

He said, “Call her.” When he had called her, she stood in the door. He said, “At this season, when the time comes around, you will embrace a son.”

She said, “No, my lord, you man of God, do not lie to your handmaid.”

The woman conceived, and bore a son at that season, when the time came around, as Elisha had said to her. When the child was grown, it happened one day that he went out to his father to the reapers. He said to his father, “My head! My head!”

He said to his servant, “Carry him to his mother.”

When he had taken him, and brought him to his mother, he sat on her knees until noon, and then died. She went up and laid him on the bed of the man of God, and shut the door on him, and went out. She called to her husband, and said, “Please send me one of the servants, and one of the donkeys, that I may run to the man of God, and come again.”

He said, “Why would you want go to him today? It is neither new moon nor Sabbath.”

She said, “It’s alright.”

Then she saddled a donkey, and said to her servant, “Drive, and go forward! Don’t slow down for me, unless I ask you to.”

So she went, and came to the man of God to Mount Carmel. It happened, when the man of God saw her afar off, that he said to Gehazi his servant, “Behold, there is the Shunammite. Please run now to meet her, and ask her, ‘Is it well with you? Is it well with your husband? Is it well with the child?’”

She answered, “It is well.”

When she came to the man of God to the hill, she caught hold of his feet. Gehazi came near to thrust her away; but the man of God said, “Leave her alone; for her soul is troubled within her; and Yahweh has hidden it from me, and has not told me.”

Then she said, “Did I desire a son of my lord? Didn’t I say, Do not deceive me?”

Then he said to Gehazi, “Tuck your cloak into your belt, take my staff in your hand, and go your way. If you meet any man, don’t greet him; and if anyone greets you, don’t answer him again. Then lay my staff on the face of the child.”

The mother of the child said, “As Yahweh lives, and as your soul lives, I will not leave you.”

He arose, and followed her.

Gehazi passed on before them, and laid the staff on the face of the child; but there was neither voice, nor hearing. Therefore he returned to meet him, and told him, saying, “The child has not awakened.”

When Elisha had come into the house, behold, the child was dead, and laid on his bed. He went in therefore, and shut the door on them both, and prayed to Yahweh. He went up, and lay on the child, and put his mouth on his mouth, and his eyes on his eyes, and his hands on his hands. He stretched himself on him; and the flesh of the child grew warm. Then he returned, and walked in the house once back and forth; and went up, and stretched himself on him. Then the child sneezed seven times, and the child opened his eyes. He called Gehazi, and said, “Call this Shunammite!” So he called her.

When she had come in to him, he said, “Take up your 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.

Elisha came again to Gilgal. There was a famine in the land; and the sons of the prophets were sitting before him; and he said to his servant, “Set on the great pot, and boil stew for the sons of the prophets.”

One went out into the field to gather herbs, and found a wild vine, and gathered of it wild gourds his lap full, and came and shred them into the pot of stew; for they didn’t recognize them. So they poured out for the men to eat. It happened, as they were eating of the stew, that they cried out, and said, “Man of God, there is death in the pot!” They could not eat of it.

But he said, “Then bring meal.” He cast it into the pot; and he said, “Pour out for the people, that they may eat.” There was no harm in the pot.

A man from Baal Shalishah came, and brought the man of God bread of the first fruits, twenty loaves of barley, and fresh ears of grain in his sack. He said, “Give to the people, that they may eat.”

His servant said, “What, should I set this before a hundred men?”

But he said, “Give the people, that they may eat; for thus says Yahweh, ‘They will eat, and will have some left over.’”

So he set it before them, and they ate, and left some of it, according to the word of Yahweh

Someone went in, and told his lord, saying, “The maiden who is from the land of Israel said this.”

The king of Syria said, “Go now, and I will send a letter to the king of Israel.”

He departed, and took with him ten talents of silver, and six thousand pieces of gold, and ten changes of clothing. He brought the letter to the king of Israel, saying, “Now when this letter has come to you, behold, I have sent Naaman my servant to you, that you may heal him of his leprosy.”

It happened, when the king of Israel had read the letter, that he tore his clothes, and said, “Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man sends to me to heal a man of his leprosy? But please consider and see how he seeks a quarrel against me.”

It was so, when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, that he sent to the king, saying, “Why have you torn your clothes? Let him come now to me, and he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel.”

So Naaman came with his horses and with his chariots, and stood at the door of the house of Elisha. Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, “Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall come again to you, and you shall be clean.”

But Naaman was angry, and went away, and said, “Behold, I thought, ‘He will surely come out to me, and stand, and call on the name of Yahweh his God, and wave his hand over the place, and heal the leper.’ Aren’t Abanah and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Couldn’t I wash in them, and be clean?” So he turned and went away in a rage.

His servants came near, and spoke to him, and said, “My father, if the prophet had asked you do some great thing, wouldn’t you have done it? How much rather then, when he says to you, ‘Wash, and be clean?’”

Then went he down, and dipped himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God; and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean. He returned to the man of God, he and all his company, and came, and stood before him; and he said, “See now, I know that there is no God in all the earth, but in Israel. Now therefore, please take a gift from your servant.”

But he said, “As Yahweh lives, before whom I stand, I will receive none.”

He urged him to take it; but he refused. Naaman said, “If not, then, please let there be given to your servant two mules’ burden of earth; for your servant will from now on offer neither burnt offering nor sacrifice to other gods, but to Yahweh. In this thing may Yahweh pardon your servan: when my master goes into the house of Rimmon to worship there, and he leans on my hand, and I bow myself in the house of Rimmon. When I bow myself in the house of Rimmon, may Yahweh pardon your servant in this thing.”

He said to him, “Go in peace.”

So he departed from him a little way. But Gehazi the servant of Elisha the man of God, said, “Behold, my master has spared this Naaman the Syrian, in not receiving at his hands that which he brought. As Yahweh lives, I will run after him, and take something from him.”

So Gehazi followed after Naaman. When Naaman saw one running after him, he came down from the chariot to meet him, and said, “Is all well?”

He said, “All is well. My master has sent me, saying, ‘Behold, even now two young men of the sons of the prophets have come to me from the hill country of Ephraim. Please give them a talent of silver and two changes of clothing.’”

Naaman said, “Be pleased to take two talents.” He urged him, and bound two talents of silver in two bags, with two changes of clothing, and laid them on two of his servants; and they carried them before him. When he came to the hill, he took them from their hand, and stored them in the house. Then he let the men go, and they departed. But he went in, and stood before his master. Elisha said to him, “Where did you come from, Gehazi?”

He said, “Your servant went nowhere.”

He said to him, “Didn’t my heart go with you, when the man turned from his chariot to meet you? Is it a time to receive money, and to receive garments, and olive groves and vineyards, and sheep and cattle, and male servants and female servants? Therefore the leprosy of Naaman will cling to you and to your seed forever.”

He went out from his presence a leper, as white as snow.

He answered, “Go!”

One said, “Please be pleased to go with your servants.”

He answered, “I will go.” So he went with them. When they came to the Jordan, they cut down wood. But as one was felling a beam, the axe head fell into the water. Then he cried, and said, “Alas, my master! For it was borrowed.”

The man of God asked, “Where did it fall?” He showed him the place. He cut down a stick, threw it in there, and made the iron float. He said, “Take it.” So he put out his hand and took it.

Now the king of Syria was warring against Israel; and he took counsel with his servants, saying, “My camp will be in such and such a place.”

The man of God sent to the king of Israel, saying, “Beware that you not pass such a place; for the Syrians are coming down there.” The king of Israel sent to the place which the man of God told him and warned him of; and he saved himself there, not once nor twice. The heart of the king of Syria was very troubled about this. He called his servants, and said to them, “Won’t you show me which of us is for the king of Israel?”

One of his servants said, “No, my lord, O king; but Elisha, the prophet who is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the words that you speak in your bedroom.”

He said, “Go and see where he is, that I may send and get him.”

It was told him, saying, “Behold, he is in Dothan.”

Therefore he sent horses, chariots, and a great army there. They came by night, and surrounded the city. When the servant of the man of God had risen early, and gone out, behold, an army with horses and chariots was around the city. His servant said to him, “Alas, my master! What shall we do?”

He answered, “Don’t be afraid; for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” Elisha prayed, and said, “Yahweh, please open his eyes, that he may see.” Yahweh opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire around Elisha. When they came down to him, Elisha prayed to Yahweh, and said, “Please strike this people with blindness.”

He struck them with blindness according to the word of Elisha. Elisha said to them, “This is not the way, neither is this the city. Follow me, and I will bring you to the man whom you seek.” He led them to Samaria. It happened, when they were come into Samaria, that Elisha said, “Yahweh, open the eyes of these men, that they may see.”

Yahweh opened their eyes, and they saw; and behold, they were in the midst of Samaria. The king of Israel said to Elisha, when he saw them, “My father, shall I strike them? Shall I strike them?”

He answered, “You shall not strike them. Would you strike those whom you have taken captive with your sword and with your bow? Set bread and water before them, that they may eat and drink, and go to their master.”

He prepared great feast for them. When they had eaten and drunk, he sent them away, and they went to their master. The bands of Syria stopped raiding the land of Israel.

It happened after this, that Benhadad king of Syria gathered all his army, and went up and besieged Samaria. There was a great famine in Samaria. Behold, they besieged it, until a donkey’s head was sold for eighty pieces of silver, and the fourth part of a kab of dove’s dung for five pieces of silver. As the king of Israel was passing by on the wall, a woman cried to him, saying, “Help, my lord, O king!”

He said, “If Yahweh doesn’t help you, from where could I help you? From of the threshing floor, or from the winepress?” The king said to her, “What ails you?”

She answered, “This woman said to me, ‘Give your son, that we may eat him today, and we will eat my son tomorrow.’ So we boiled my son, and ate him: and I said to her on the next day, ‘Give your son, that we may eat him;’ and she has hidden her son.”

It happened, when the king heard the words of the woman, that he tore his clothes (now he was passing by on the wall); and the people looked, and behold, he had sackcloth underneath on his flesh. Then he said, “God do so to me, and more also, if the head of Elisha the son of Shaphat shall stay on him this day.”

But Elisha was sitting in his house, and the elders were sitting with him. Then the king sent a man from before him; but before the messenger came to him, he said to the elders, “Do you see how this son of a murderer has sent to take away my head? Behold, when the messenger comes, shut the door, and hold the door shut against him. Isn’t the sound of his master’s feet behind him?”

While he was still talking with them, behold, the messenger came down to him. Then he said, “Behold, this evil is from Yahweh. Why should I wait for Yahweh any longer?”

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Then the captain on whose hand the king leaned answered the man of God, and said, “Behold, if Yahweh made windows in heaven, could this thing be?”

He said, “Behold, you shall see it with your eyes, but shall not eat of it.”

Now there were four leprous men at the entrance of the gate. They said one to another, “Why do we sit here until we die? If we say, ‘We will enter into the city,’ then the famine is in the city, and we shall die there. If we sit still here, we also die. Now therefore come, and let us surrender to the army of the Syrians. If they save us alive, we will live; and if they kill us, we will only die.”

They rose up in the twilight, to go to the camp of the Syrians. When they had come to the outermost part of the camp of the Syrians, behold, there was no man there. For the Lord had made the army of the Syrians to hear a noise of chariots, and a noise of horses, even the noise of a great army: and they said one to another, Behold, the king of Israel has hired against us the kings of the Hittites, and the kings of the Egyptians, to come on us. Therefore they arose and fled in the twilight, and left their tents, and their horses, and their donkeys, even the camp as it was, and fled for their life. When these lepers came to the outermost part of the camp, they went into one tent, and ate and drink, and carried there silver, and gold, and clothing, and went and hid it. Then they came back, and entered into another tent, and carried there also, and went and hid it. Then they said one to another, “We aren’t doing right. This day is a day of good news, and we keep silent. If we wait until the morning light, punishment will overtake us. Now therefore come, let us go and tell the king’s household.”

So they came and called to the porter of the city; and they told them, saying, “We came to the camp of the Syrians, and, behold, there was no man there, neither voice of man, but the horses tied, and the donkeys tied, and the tents as they were.”

He called the porters; and they told it to the king’s household within. The king arose in the night, and said to his servants, “I will now show you what the Syrians have done to us. They know that we are hungry. Therefore are they gone out of the camp to hide themselves in the field, saying, ‘When they come out of the city, we shall take them alive, and get into the city.’”

One of his servants answered, “Please let some take five of the horses that remain, which are left in the city. Behold, they are like all the multitude of Israel who are left in it. Behold, they are like all the multitude of Israel who are consumed. Let us send and see.”

They took therefore two chariots with horses; and the king sent after the army of the Syrians, saying, “Go and see.”

They went after them to the Jordan; and behold, all the way was full of garments and vessels, which the Syrians had cast away in their haste. The messengers returned, and told the king. The people went out, and plundered the camp of the Syrians. So a measure of fine flour was sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, according to the word of Yahweh. The king appointed the captain on whose hand he leaned to be in charge of the gate: and the people trod on him in the gate, and he died as the man of God had said, who spoke when the king came down to him. It happened, as the man of God had spoken to the king, saying, “Two measures of barley for a shekel, and a measure of fine flour for a shekel, shall be tomorrow about this time in the gate of Samaria;” and that captain answered the man of God, and said, “Now, behold, if Yahweh should make windows in heaven, might such a thing be?” and he said, “Behold, you shall see it with your eyes, but shall not eat of it.” It happened like that to him; for the people trod on him in the gate, and he died.

The woman arose, and did according to the word of the man of God. She went with her household, and lived in the land of the Philistines seven years. It happened at the seven years’ end, that the woman returned out of the land of the Philistines. Then she went forth to cry to the king for her house and for her land. Now the king was talking with Gehazi the servant of the man of God, saying, “Please tell me all the great things that Elisha has done.” It happened, as he was telling the king how he had restored to life him who was dead, that behold, the woman, whose son he had restored to life, cried to the king for her house and for her land. Gehazi said, “My lord, O king, this is the woman, and this is her son, whom Elisha restored to life.”

When the king asked the woman, she told him. So the king appointed to her a certain officer, saying, “Restore all that was hers, and all the fruits of the field since the day that she left the land, even until now.”

Elisha came to Damascus; and Benhadad the king of Syria was sick. It was told him, saying, “The man of God has come here.”

The king said to Hazael, “Take a present in your hand, and go, meet the man of God, and inquire of Yahweh by him, saying, ‘Will I recover from this sickness?’”

So Hazael went to meet him, and took a present with him, even of every good thing of Damascus, forty camels’ burden, and came and stood before him, and said, “Your son Benhadad king of Syria has sent me to you, saying, ‘Will I recover from this sickness?’”

Elisha said to him, “Go, tell him, ‘You shall surely recover;’ however Yahweh has shown me that he shall surely die.” He settled his gaze steadfastly on him, until he was ashamed. Then the man of God wept.

Hazael said, “Why do you weep, my lord?”

He answered, “Because I know the evil that you will do to the children of Israel. You will set their strongholds on fire, and you will kill their young men with the sword, and will dash in pieces their little ones, and rip up their women with child.”

Hazael said, “But what is your servant, who is but a dog, that he should do this great thing?”

Elisha answered, “Yahweh has shown me that you will be king over Syria.”

Then he departed from Elisha, and came to his master, who said to him, “What did Elisha say to you?”

He answered, “He told me that you would surely recover.”

It happened on the next day, that he took a thick cloth, dipped it in water, and spread it on his face, so that he died. Then Hazael reigned in his place.

In the fifth year of Joram the son of Ahab king of Israel, Jehoshaphat being king of Judah then, Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat king of Judah began to reign. He was thirty-two years old when he began to reign. He reigned eight years in Jerusalem. He walked in the way of the kings of Israel, as did the house of Ahab; for he had the daughter of Ahab as wife. He did that which was evil in the sight of Yahweh. However Yahweh would not destroy Judah, for David his servant’s sake, as he promised him to give to him a lamp for his children always.

In his days Edom revolted from under the hand of Judah, and made a king over themselves. Then Joram passed over to Zair, and all his chariots with him: and he rose up by night, and struck the Edomites who surrounded him, and the captains of the chariots; and the people fled to their tents. So Edom revolted from under the hand of Judah to this day. Then did Libnah revolt at the same time. The rest of the acts of Joram, and all that he did, aren’t they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? Joram slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David; and Ahaziah his son reigned in his place. In the twelfth year of Joram the son of Ahab king of Israel did Ahaziah the son of Jehoram king of Judah begin to reign. Twenty-two years old was Ahaziah when he began to reign; and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Athaliah the daughter of Omri king of Israel. He walked in the way of the house of Ahab, and did that which was evil in the sight of Yahweh, as did the house of Ahab; for he was the son-in-law of the house of Ahab. He went with Joram the son of Ahab to war against Hazael king of Syria at Ramoth Gilead: and the Syrians wounded Joram. King Joram returned to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds which the Syrians had given him at Ramah, when he fought against Hazael king of Syria. Ahaziah the son of Jehoram king of Judah went down to see Joram the son of Ahab in Jezreel, because he was sick.

So the young man, even the young man the prophet, went to Ramoth Gilead. When he came, behold, the captains of the army were sitting. Then he said, “I have a message for you, captain.”

Jehu said, “To which of us all?”

He said, “To you, O captain.” He arose, and went into the house. Then he poured the oil on his head, and said to him, “Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, ‘I have anointed you king over the people of Yahweh, even over Israel. You shall strike the house of Ahab your master, that I may avenge the blood of my servants the prophets, and the blood of all the servants of Yahweh, at the hand of Jezebel. For the whole house of Ahab shall perish. I will cut off from Ahab every last male, both him who is shut up and him who is left at large in Israel. I will make the house of Ahab like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah. The dogs will eat Jezebel on the plot of ground of Jezreel, and there shall be none to bury her.’” He opened the door, and fled.

Then Jehu came forth to the servants of his lord: and one said to him, “Is all well? Why did this mad fellow come to you?”

He said to them, “You know the man and what his talk was.” They said, “That is a lie. Tell us now.”

He said, “He said to me, ‘Thus says Yahweh, I have anointed you king over Israel.’”

Then they hurried, and took every man his garment, and put it under him on the top of the stairs, and blew the trumpet, saying, “Jehu is king.”

So Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat the son of Nimshi conspired against Joram. (Now Joram was keeping Ramoth Gilead, he and all Israel, because of Hazael king of Syria; but king Joram was returned to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds which the Syrians had given him, when he fought with Hazael king of Syria.) Jehu said, “If this is your thinking, then let no one escape and go out of the city, to go to tell it in Jezreel.” So Jehu rode in a chariot, and went to Jezreel; for Joram lay there. Ahaziah king of Judah had come down to see Joram. Now the watchman was standing on the tower in Jezreel, and he spied the company of Jehu as he came, and said, “I see a company.”

Joram said, “Take a horseman, and send to meet them, and let him say, ‘Is it peace?’”

So there went one on horseback to meet him, and said, “Thus says the king, ‘Is it peace?’”

Jehu said, “What do you have to do with peace? Fall in behind me!”

The watchman said, “The messenger came to them, but he isn’t coming back.”

Then he sent out a second on horseback, who came to them, and said, “Thus says the king, ‘Is it peace?’”

Jehu answered, “What do you have to do with peace? Fall in behind me!”

The watchman said, “He came to them, and isn’t coming back. The driving is like the driving of Jehu the son of Nimshi; for he drives furiously.”

Joram said, “Get ready!”

They got his chariot ready. Joram king of Israel and Ahaziah king of Judah went out, each in his chariot, and they went out to meet Jehu, and found him in the portion of Naboth the Jezreelite. It happened, when Joram saw Jehu, that he said, “Is it peace, Jehu?”

He answered, “What peace, so long as the prostitution of your mother Jezebel and her witchcraft abound?”

Joram turned his hands, and fled, and said to Ahaziah, “There is treason, Ahaziah!”

Jehu drew his bow with his full strength, and struck Joram between his arms; and the arrow went out at his heart, and he sunk down in his chariot. Then Jehu said to Bidkar his captain, “Pick him up, and throw him in the plot of the field of Naboth the Jezreelite; for remember how, when you and I rode together after Ahab his father, Yahweh laid this burden on him: ‘Surely I have seen yesterday the blood of Naboth, and the blood of his sons,’ says Yahweh; ‘and I will repay you in this plot of ground,’ says Yahweh. Now therefore take and cast him onto the plot of ground, according to the word of Yahweh.”

But when Ahaziah the king of Judah saw this, he fled by the way of the garden house. Jehu followed after him, and said, “Strike him also in the chariot!” They struck him at the ascent of Gur, which is by Ibleam. He fled to Megiddo, and died there. His servants carried him in a chariot to Jerusalem, and buried him in his tomb with his fathers in the city of David. In the eleventh year of Joram the son of Ahab began Ahaziah to reign over Judah. When Jehu was come to Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it; and she painted her eyes, and attired her head, and looked out at the window. As Jehu entered in at the gate, she said, “Do you come in peace, Zimri, you murderer of your master?”

He lifted up his face to the window, and said, “Who is on my side? Who?”

Two or three eunuchs looked out at him.

He said, “Throw her down!”

So they threw her down; and some of her blood was sprinkled on the wall, and on the horses. Then he trampled her under foot. When he was come in, he ate and drink; and he said, “See now to this cursed woman, and bury her; for she is a king’s daughter.”

They went to bury her; but they found no more of her than the skull, and the feet, and the palms of her hands. Therefore they came back, and told him.

He said, “This is the word of Yahweh, which he spoke by his servant Elijah the Tishbite, saying, ‘The dogs will eat the flesh of Jezebel on the plot of Jezreel, and the body of Jezebel shall be as dung on the face of the field in the portion of Jezreel, so that they shall not say, “This is Jezebel.”’”

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But they were exceedingly afraid, and said, “Behold, the two kings didn’t stand before him! How then shall we stand?” He who was over the household, and he who was over the city, the elders also, and those who raised the children, sent to Jehu, saying, “We are your servants, and will do all that you ask us. We will not make any man king. You do that which is good in your eyes.”

Then he wrote a letter the second time to them, saying, “If you are on my side, and if you will listen to my voice, take the heads of the men your master’s sons, and come to me to Jezreel by tomorrow this time.”

Now the king’s sons, being seventy persons, were with the great men of the city, who brought them up. It happened, when the letter came to them, that they took the king’s sons, and killed them, even seventy persons, and put their heads in baskets, and sent them to him to Jezreel. A messenger came, and told him, “They have brought the heads of the king’s sons.”

He said, “Lay them in two heaps at the entrance of the gate until the morning.” It happened in the morning, that he went out, and stood, and said to all the people, “You are righteous. Behold, I conspired against my master, and killed him; but who struck all these? Know now that nothing shall fall to the earth of the word of Yahweh, which Yahweh spoke concerning the house of Ahab. For Yahweh has done that which he spoke by his servant Elijah.”

So Jehu struck all that remained of the house of Ahab in Jezreel, with all his great men, his familiar friends, and his priests, until he left him none remaining.

He arose and departed, and went to Samaria. As he was at the shearing house of the shepherds on the way, Jehu met with the brothers of Ahaziah king of Judah, and said, “Who are you?”

They answered, “We are the brothers of Ahaziah. We are going down to greet the children of the king and the children of the queen.”

He said, “Take them alive!”

They took them alive, and killed them at the pit of the shearing house, even forty-two men. He didn’t leave any of them. When he had departed from there, he met Jehonadab the son of Rechab coming to meet him. He greeted him, and said to him, “Is your heart right, as my heart is with your heart?”

Jehonadab answered, “It is.”

“If it is, give me your hand.” He gave him his hand; and he took him up to him into the chariot. He said, “Come with me, and see my zeal for Yahweh.” So they made him ride in his chariot. When he came to Samaria, he struck all who remained to Ahab in Samaria, until he had destroyed him, according to the word of Yahweh, which he spoke to Elijah. Jehu gathered all the people together, and said to them, “Ahab served Baal a little; but Jehu will serve him much. Now therefore call to me all the prophets of Baal, all of his worshippers, and all of his priests. Let none be absent; for I have a great sacrifice to Baal. Whoever is absent, he shall not live.” But Jehu did it in subtlety, intending that he might destroy the worshippers of Baal.

Jehu said, “Sanctify a solemn assembly for Baal!”

They proclaimed it. Jehu sent through all Israel; and all the worshippers of Baal came, so that there was not a man left that didn’t come. They came into the house of Baal; and the house of Baal was filled from one end to another. He said to him who was over the vestry, “Bring out robes for all the worshippers of Baal!”

He brought robes out to them. Jehu went with Jehonadab the son of Rechab into the house of Baal. Then he said to the worshippers of Baal, “Search, and look that there are here with you none of the servants of Yahweh, but the worshippers of Baal only.”

They went in to offer sacrifices and burnt offerings. Now Jehu had appointed him eighty men outside, and said, “If any of the men whom I bring into your hands escape, he who lets him go, his life shall be for the life of him.”

It happened, as soon as he had made an end of offering the burnt offering, that Jehu said to the guard and to the captains, “Go in, and kill them! Let none escape.” They struck them with the edge of the sword; and the guard and the captains cast them out, and went to the city of the house of Baal. They brought out the pillars that were in the house of Baal, and burned them. They broke down the pillar of Baal, and broke down the house of Baal, and made it a latrine, to this day. Thus Jehu destroyed Baal out of Israel.

However from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, with which he made Israel to sin, Jehu didn’t depart from after them, to wit, the golden calves that were in Bethel, and that were in Dan. Yahweh said to Jehu, “Because you have done well in executing that which is right in my eyes, and have done to the house of Ahab according to all that was in my heart, your sons of the fourth generation shall sit on the throne of Israel.”

But Jehu took no heed to walk in the law of Yahweh, the God of Israel, with all his heart. He didn’t depart from the sins of Jeroboam, with which he made Israel to sin. In those days Yahweh began to cut off from Israel; and Hazael struck them in all the borders of Israel; from the Jordan eastward, all the land of Gilead, the Gadites, and the Reubenites, and the Manassites, from Aroer, which is by the valley of the Arnon, even Gilead and Bashan. Now the rest of the acts of Jehu, and all that he did, and all his might, aren’t they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? Jehu slept with his fathers; and they buried him in Samaria. Jehoahaz his son reigned in his place. The time that Jehu reigned over Israel in Samaria was twenty-eight years.

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The captains over hundreds did according to all that Jehoiada the priest commanded; and they took every man his men, those who were to come in on the Sabbath, with those who were to go out on the Sabbath, and came to Jehoiada the priest. The priest delivered to the captains over hundreds the spears and shields that had been king David’s, which were in the house of Yahweh. The guard stood, every man with his weapons in his hand, from the right side of the house to the left side of the house, along by the altar and the house, around the king. Then he brought out the king’s son, and put the crown on him, and gave him the testimony; and they made him king, and anointed him; and they clapped their hands, and said, “Long live the king!”

When Athaliah heard the noise of the guard and of the people, she came to the people into the house of Yahweh: and she looked, and behold, the king stood by the pillar, as the tradition was, and the captains and the trumpets by the king; and all the people of the land rejoiced, and blew trumpets. Then Athaliah tore her clothes, and cried, “Treason! Treason!”

Jehoiada the priest commanded the captains of hundreds who were set over the army, and said to them, “Bring her out between the ranks. Kill him who follows her with the sword.” For the priest said, “Don’t let her be slain in the house of Yahweh.” So they made way for her; and she went by the way of the horses’ entry to the king’s house. She was slain there. Jehoiada made a covenant between Yahweh and the king and the people, that they should be Yahweh’s people; between the king also and the people. All the people of the land went to the house of Baal, and broke it down; his altars and his images broke they in pieces thoroughly, and killed Mattan the priest of Baal before the altars. The priest appointed officers over the house of Yahweh. He took the captains over hundreds, and the Carites, and the guard, and all the people of the land; and they brought down the king from the house of Yahweh, and came by the way of the gate of the guard to the king’s house. He sat on the throne of the kings. So all the people of the land rejoiced, and the city was quiet. Athaliah they had slain with the sword at the king’s house. Jehoash was seven years old when he began to reign.

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But it was so, that in the three and twentieth year of king Jehoash the priests had not repaired the breaches of the house. Then king Jehoash called for Jehoiada the priest, and for the other priests, and said to them, “Why don’t you repair the breaches of the house? Now therefore take no more money from your treasurers, but deliver it for the breaches of the house.”

The priests consented that they should take no more money from the people, neither repair the breaches of the house. But Jehoiada the priest took a chest, and bored a hole in its lid, and set it beside the altar, on the right side as one comes into the house of Yahweh: and the priests who kept the threshold put therein all the money that was brought into the house of Yahweh. It was so, when they saw that there was much money in the chest, that the king’s scribe and the high priest came up, and they put up in bags and counted the money that was found in the house of Yahweh. They gave the money that was weighed out into the hands of those who did the work, who had the oversight of the house of Yahweh: and they paid it out to the carpenters and the builders, who worked on the house of Yahweh, and to the masons and the stone cutters, and for buying timber and cut stone to repair the breaches of the house of Yahweh, and for all that was laid out for the house to repair it. But there were not made for the house of Yahweh cups of silver, snuffers, basins, trumpets, any vessels of gold, or vessels of silver, of the money that was brought into the house of Yahweh; for they gave that to those who did the work, and repaired therewith the house of Yahweh. Moreover they didn’t demand an accounting from the men into whose hand they delivered the money to give to those who did the work; for they dealt faithfully. The money for the trespass offerings, and the money for the sin offerings, was not brought into the house of Yahweh: it was the priests’. Then Hazael king of Syria went up, and fought against Gath, and took it; and Hazael set his face to go up to Jerusalem. Jehoash king of Judah took all the holy things that Jehoshaphat and Jehoram and Ahaziah, his fathers, kings of Judah, had dedicated, and his own holy things, and all the gold that was found in the treasures of the house of Yahweh, and of the king’s house, and sent it to Hazael king of Syria: and he went away from Jerusalem. Now the rest of the acts of Joash, and all that he did, aren’t they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? His servants arose, and made a conspiracy, and struck Joash at the house of Millo, on the way that goes down to Silla. For Jozacar the son of Shimeath, and Jehozabad the son of Shomer, his servants, struck him, and he died; and they buried him with his fathers in the city of David: and Amaziah his son reigned in his place.

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Elisha said to him, “Take bow and arrows;” and he took to him bow and arrows. He said to the king of Israel, “Put your hand on the bow;” and he put his hand on it. Elisha laid his hands on the king’s hands. He said, “Open the window eastward;” and he opened it. Then Elisha said, “Shoot!” and he shot. He said, “Yahweh’s arrow of victory, even the arrow of victory over Syria; for you shall strike the Syrians in Aphek, until you have consumed them.”

He said, “Take the arrows;” and he took them. He said to the king of Israel, “Strike the ground;” and he struck three times, and stopped. The man of God was angry with him, and said, “You should have struck five or six times. Then you would have struck Syria until you had consumed it, whereas now you shall strike Syria just three times.”

Elisha died, and they buried him. Now the bands of the Moabites invaded the land at the coming in of the year. It happened, as they were burying a man, that behold, they spied a band; and they cast the man into the tomb of Elisha: and as soon as the man touched the bones of Elisha, he revived, and stood up on his feet. Hazael king of Syria oppressed Israel all the days of Jehoahaz. But Yahweh was gracious to them, and had compassion on them, and had respect to them, because of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and would not destroy them, neither cast he them from his presence as yet. Hazael king of Syria died; and Benhadad his son reigned in his place. Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz took again out of the hand of Benhadad the son of Hazael the cities which he had taken out of the hand of Jehoahaz his father by war. Three times did Joash strike him, and recovered the cities of Israel.

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Jehoash the king of Israel sent to Amaziah king of Judah, saying, “The thistle that was in Lebanon sent to the cedar that was in Lebanon, saying, ‘Give your daughter to my son as wife. Then a wild animal that was in Lebanon passed by, and trampled down the thistle. You have indeed struck Edom, and your heart has lifted you up. Enjoy the glory of it, and stay at home; for why should you meddle to your harm, that you should fall, even you, and Judah with you?’” But Amaziah would not listen. So Jehoash king of Israel went up; and he and Amaziah king of Judah looked one another in the face at Beth Shemesh, which belongs to Judah. Judah was defeated by Israel; and they fled every man to his tent. Jehoash king of Israel took Amaziah king of Judah, the son of Jehoash the son of Ahaziah, at Beth Shemesh, and came to Jerusalem, and broke down the wall of Jerusalem from the gate of Ephraim to the corner gate, four hundred cubits. He took all the gold and silver, and all the vessels that were found in the house of Yahweh, and in the treasures of the king’s house, the hostages also, and returned to Samaria. Now the rest of the acts of Jehoash which he did, and his might, and how he fought with Amaziah king of Judah, aren’t they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? Jehoash slept with his fathers, and was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel; and Jeroboam his son reigned in his place. Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah lived after the death of Jehoash son of Jehoahaz king of Israel fifteen years. Now the rest of the acts of Amaziah, aren’t they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? They made a conspiracy against him in Jerusalem; and he fled to Lachish: but they sent after him to Lachish, and killed him there. They brought him on horses; and he was buried at Jerusalem with his fathers in the city of David. All the people of Judah took Azariah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king in the place of his father Amaziah. He built Elath, and restored it to Judah, after that the king slept with his fathers. In the fifteenth year of Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah Jeroboam the son of Joash king of Israel began to reign in Samaria, and reigned forty-one years. He did that which was evil in the sight of Yahweh: he didn’t depart from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, with which he made Israel to sin. He restored the border of Israel from the entrance of Hamath to the sea of the Arabah, according to the word of Yahweh, the God of Israel, which he spoke by his servant Jonah the son of Amittai, the prophet, who was of Gath Hepher. For Yahweh saw the affliction of Israel, that it was very bitter; for there was none shut up nor left at large, neither was there any helper for Israel. Yahweh didn’t say that he would blot out the name of Israel from under the sky; but he saved them by the hand of Jeroboam the son of Joash. Now the rest of the acts of Jeroboam, and all that he did, and his might, how he warred, and how he recovered Damascus, and Hamath, which had belonged to Judah, for Israel, aren’t they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? Jeroboam slept with his fathers, even with the kings of Israel; and Zechariah his son reigned in his place.

Shallum the son of Jabesh began to reign in the thirty-ninth year of Uzziah king of Judah; and he reigned for a month in Samaria. Menahem the son of Gadi went up from Tirzah, and came to Samaria, and struck Shallum the son of Jabesh in Samaria, and killed him, and reigned in his place. Now the rest of the acts of Shallum, and his conspiracy which he made, behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel. Then Menahem struck Tiphsah, and all who were therein, and its borders, from Tirzah: because they didn’t open to him, therefore he struck it; and all the women therein who were with child he ripped up. In the nine and thirtieth year of Azariah king of Judah began Menahem the son of Gadi to reign over Israel, and reigned ten years in Samaria. He did that which was evil in the sight of Yahweh: he didn’t depart all his days from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, with which he made Israel to sin. There came against the land Pul the king of Assyria; and Menahem gave Pul one thousand talents of silver, that his hand might be with him to confirm the kingdom in his hand. Menahem exacted the money of Israel, even of all the mighty men of wealth, of each man fifty shekels of silver, to give to the king of Assyria. So the king of Assyria turned back, and didn’t stay there in the land. Now the rest of the acts of Menahem, and all that he did, aren’t they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? Menahem slept with his fathers; and Pekahiah his son reigned in his place. In the fiftieth year of Azariah king of Judah Pekahiah the son of Menahem began to reign over Israel in Samaria, and reigned two years. He did that which was evil in the sight of Yahweh: he didn’t depart from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, with which he made Israel to sin. Pekah the son of Remaliah, his captain, conspired against him, and struck him in Samaria, in the castle of the king’s house, with Argob and Arieh; and with him were fifty men of the Gileadites: and he killed him, and reigned in his place. Now the rest of the acts of Pekahiah, and all that he did, behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel. In the two and fiftieth year of Azariah king of Judah Pekah the son of Remaliah began to reign over Israel in Samaria, and reigned twenty years. He did that which was evil in the sight of Yahweh: he didn’t depart from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, with which he made Israel to sin. In the days of Pekah king of Israel came Tiglath Pileser king of Assyria, and took Ijon, and Abel Beth Maacah, and Janoah, and Kedesh, and Hazor, and Gilead, and Galilee, all the land of Naphtali; and he carried them captive to Assyria. Hoshea the son of Elah made a conspiracy against Pekah the son of Remaliah, and struck him, and killed him, and reigned in his place, in the twentieth year of Jotham the son of Uzziah. Now the rest of the acts of Pekah, and all that he did, behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel. In the second year of Pekah the son of Remaliah king of Israel began Jotham the son of Uzziah king of Judah to reign. He was twenty-five years old when he began to reign; and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem: and his mother’s name was Jerusha the daughter of Zadok. He did that which was right in the eyes of Yahweh; he did according to all that his father Uzziah had done. However the high places were not taken away: the people still sacrificed and burned incense in the high places. He built the upper gate of the house of Yahweh. Now the rest of the acts of Jotham, and all that he did, aren’t they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? In those days Yahweh began to send against Judah Rezin the king of Syria, and Pekah the son of Remaliah. Jotham slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David his father: and Ahaz his son reigned in his place.

Then the king of Assyria commanded, saying, “Carry there one of the priests whom you brought from there; and let them go and dwell there, and let him teach them the law of the god of the land.”

So one of the priests whom they had carried away from Samaria came and lived in Bethel, and taught them how they should fear Yahweh. However every nation made gods of their own, and put them in the houses of the high places which the Samaritans had made, every nation in their cities in which they lived. The men of Babylon made Succoth Benoth, and the men of Cuth made Nergal, and the men of Hamath made Ashima, and the Avvites made Nibhaz and Tartak; and the Sepharvites burnt their children in the fire to Adrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of Sepharvaim. So they feared Yahweh, and made to them from among themselves priests of the high places, who sacrificed for them in the houses of the high places. They feared Yahweh, and served their own gods, after the ways of the nations from among whom they had been carried away. To this day they do what they did before: they don’t fear Yahweh, neither do they follow their statutes, or their ordinances, or the law or the commandment which Yahweh commanded the children of Jacob, whom he named Israel; with whom Yahweh had made a covenant, and commanded them, saying, “You shall not fear other gods, nor bow yourselves to them, nor serve them, nor sacrifice to them; but you shall fear Yahweh, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt with great power and with an outstretched arm, and you shall bow yourselves to him, and you shall sacrifice to him. The statutes and the ordinances, and the law and the commandment, which he wrote for you, you shall observe to do forevermore. You shall not fear other gods. You shall not forget the covenant that I have made with you; neither shall you fear other gods. But you shall fear Yahweh your God; and he will deliver you out of the hand of all your enemies.” However they did not listen, but they did what they did before. So these nations feared Yahweh, and served their engraved images. Their children likewise, and their children’s children, as their fathers did, so they do to this day.

Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, and Shebnah, and Joah, said to Rabshakeh, “Please speak to your servants in the Syrian language; for we understand it. Don’t speak with us in the Jews’ language, in the hearing of the people who are on the wall.”

But Rabshakeh said to them, “Has my master sent me to your master, and to you, to speak these words? Hasn’t he sent me to the men who sit on the wall, to eat their own dung, and to drink their own water with you?” Then Rabshakeh stood, and cried with a loud voice in the Jews’ language, and spoke, saying, “Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria. Thus says the king, ‘Don’t let Hezekiah deceive you; for he will not be able to deliver you out of his hand. Neither let Hezekiah make you trust in Yahweh, saying, “Yahweh will surely deliver us, and this city shall not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.” Don’t listen to Hezekiah.’ For thus says the king of Assyria, ‘Make your peace with me, and come out to me; and everyone of you eat of his vine, and everyone of his fig tree, and everyone drink the waters of his own cistern; until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive trees and of honey, that you may live, and not die. Don’t listen to Hezekiah, when he persuades you, saying, “Yahweh will deliver us.” Has any of the gods of the nations ever delivered his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria? Where are the gods of Hamath, and of Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, of Hena, and Ivvah? Have they delivered Samaria out of my hand? Who are they among all the gods of the countries, that have delivered their country out of my hand, that Yahweh should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand?’”

But the people held their peace, and answered him not a word; for the king’s commandment was, “Don’t answer him.” Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, came with Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph the recorder, to Hezekiah with their clothes torn, and told him the words of Rabshakeh.

So the servants of king Hezekiah came to Isaiah. Isaiah said to them, “Thus you shall tell your master, ‘Thus says Yahweh, “Don’t be afraid of the words that you have heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me. Behold, I will put a spirit in him, and he will hear news, and will return to his own land. I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land.”’”

So Rabshakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria warring against Libnah; for he had heard that he had departed from Lachish. When he heard it said of Tirhakah king of Ethiopia, “Behold, he has come out to fight against you, he sent messengers again to Hezekiah, saying, ‘Thus you shall speak to Hezekiah king of Judah, saying, “Don’t let your God in whom you trust deceive you, saying, Jerusalem will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria. Behold, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands, by destroying them utterly. Will you be delivered? Have the gods of the nations delivered them, which my fathers have destroyed, Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph, and the children of Eden that were in Telassar? Where is the king of Hamath, and the king of Arpad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, of Hena, and Ivvah?”’”

Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers, and read it. Then Hezekiah went up to the house of Yahweh, and spread it before Yahweh. Hezekiah prayed before Yahweh, and said, “Yahweh, the God of Israel, who sit above the cherubim, you are the God, even you alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. Incline your ear, Yahweh, and hear. Open your eyes, Yahweh, and see. Hear the words of Sennacherib, with which he has sent to defy the living God. Truly, Yahweh, the kings of Assyria have laid waste the nations and their lands, and have cast their gods into the fire; for they were no gods, but the work of men’s hands, wood and stone. Therefore they have destroyed them. Now therefore, Yahweh our God, save us, I beg you, out of his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you, Yahweh, are God alone.”

Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, “Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, ‘Whereas you have prayed to me against Sennacherib king of Assyria, I have heard you. This is the word that Yahweh has spoken concerning him: “The virgin daughter of Zion has despised you and ridiculed you. The daughter of Jerusalem has shaken her head at you. Whom have you defied and blasphemed? Against whom have you exalted your voice and lifted up your eyes on high? Against the Holy One of Israel. By your messengers you have defied the Lord, and have said, ‘With the multitude of my chariots, I have come up to the height of the mountains, to the innermost parts of Lebanon; and I will cut down its tall cedars, and its choice fir trees; and I will enter into his farthest lodging place, the forest of his fruitful field. I have dug and drunk strange waters, and with the sole of my feet will I dry up all the rivers of Egypt.’ Haven’t you heard how I have done it long ago, and formed it of ancient times? Now have I brought it to pass, that it should be yours to lay waste fortified cities into ruinous heaps. Therefore their inhabitants were of small power. They were dismayed and confounded. They were like the grass of the field, and like the green herb, like the grass on the housetops, and like grain blasted before it has grown up. But I know your sitting down, and your going out, and your coming in, and your raging against me. Because of your raging against me, and because your arrogance has come up into my ears, therefore will I put my hook in your nose, and my bridle in your lips, and I will turn you back by the way by which you came.”

“‘This shall be the sign to you: You shall eat this year that which grows of itself, and in the second year that which springs of the same; and in the third year sow, and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat its fruit. The remnant that has escaped of the house of Judah shall again take root downward, and bear fruit upward. For out of Jerusalem a remnant will go out, and out of Mount Zion those who shall escape. The zeal of Yahweh will perform this.’

“Therefore thus says Yahweh concerning the king of Assyria, ‘He shall not come to this city, nor shoot an arrow there, neither shall he come before it with shield, nor cast up a mound against it. By the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and he shall not come to this city,’ says Yahweh. ‘For I will defend this city to save it, for my own sake, and for my servant David’s sake.’”

It happened that night, that the angel of Yahweh went out, and struck one hundred eighty-five thousand in the camp of the Assyrians. When men arose early in the morning, behold, these were all dead bodies. So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went and returned, and lived at Nineveh. It happened, as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer struck him with the sword; and they escaped into the land of Ararat. Esar Haddon his son reigned in his place.

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Then he turned his face to the wall, and prayed to Yahweh, saying, “Remember now, Yahweh, I beg you, how I have walked before you in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in your sight.” Hezekiah wept bitterly.

It happened, before Isaiah had gone out into the middle part of the city, that the word of Yahweh came to him, saying, “Turn back, and tell Hezekiah the prince of my people, ‘Thus says Yahweh, the God of David your father, “I have heard your prayer. I have seen your tears. Behold, I will heal you. On the third day, you shall go up to the house of Yahweh. I will add to your days fifteen years. I will deliver you and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria. I will defend this city for my own sake, and for my servant David’s sake.”’”

Isaiah said, “Take a cake of figs.”

They took and laid it on the boil, and he recovered. Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “What shall be the sign that Yahweh will heal me, and that I shall go up to the house of Yahweh the third day?”

Isaiah said, “This shall be the sign to you from Yahweh, that Yahweh will do the thing that he has spoken: shall the shadow go forward ten steps, or go back ten steps?”

Hezekiah answered, “It is a light thing for the shadow to go forward ten steps. Nay, but let the shadow return backward ten steps.”

Isaiah the prophet cried to Yahweh; and he brought the shadow ten steps backward, by which it had gone down on the dial of Ahaz.

At that time Berodach Baladan the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present to Hezekiah; for he had heard that Hezekiah had been sick. Hezekiah listened to them, and showed them all the house of his precious things, the silver, and the gold, and the spices, and the precious oil, and the house of his armor, and all that was found in his treasures: there was nothing in his house, nor in all his dominion, that Hezekiah didn’t show them. Then Isaiah the prophet came to king Hezekiah, and said to him, “What did these men say? From where did they come to you?”

Hezekiah said, “They are come from a far country, even from Babylon.”

He said, “What have they seen in your house?”

Hezekiah answered, “They have seen all that is in my house. There is nothing among my treasures that I have not shown them.”

Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of Yahweh. ‘Behold, the days come, that all that is in your house, and that which your fathers have laid up in store to this day, shall be carried to Babylon. Nothing shall be left,’ says Yahweh. ‘Of your sons who shall issue from you, whom you shall father, shall they take away; and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.’”

Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The word of Yahweh which you have spoken is good.” He said moreover, “Isn’t it so, if peace and truth shall be in my days?”

Now the rest of the acts of Hezekiah, and all his might, and how he made the pool, and the conduit, and brought water into the city, aren’t they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? Hezekiah slept with his fathers; and Manasseh his son reigned in his place.

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Moreover Manasseh shed innocent blood very much, until he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another; besides his sin with which he made Judah to sin, in doing that which was evil in the sight of Yahweh. Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh, and all that he did, and his sin that he sinned, aren’t they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? Manasseh slept with his fathers, and was buried in the garden of his own house, in the garden of Uzza: and Amon his son reigned in his place. Amon was twenty-two years old when he began to reign; and he reigned two years in Jerusalem: and his mother’s name was Meshullemeth the daughter of Haruz of Jotbah. He did that which was evil in the sight of Yahweh, as did Manasseh his father. He walked in all the way that his father walked in, and served the idols that his father served, and worshiped them: and he forsook Yahweh, the God of his fathers, and didn’t walk in the way of Yahweh. The servants of Amon conspired against him, and put the king to death in his own house. But the people of the land killed all those who had conspired against king Amon; and the people of the land made Josiah his son king in his place. Now the rest of the acts of Amon which he did, aren’t they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? He was buried in his tomb in the garden of Uzza: and Josiah his son reigned in his place.

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Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the scribe, “I have found the book of the law in the house of Yahweh.” Hilkiah delivered the book to Shaphan, and he read it. Shaphan the scribe came to the king, and brought the king word again, and said, “Your servants have emptied out the money that was found in the house, and have delivered it into the hand of the workmen who have the oversight of the house of Yahweh.” Shaphan the scribe told the king, saying, “Hilkiah the priest has delivered a book to me.” Shaphan read it before the king. It happened, when the king had heard the words of the book of the law, that he tore his clothes. The king commanded Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Achbor the son of Micaiah, and Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah the king’s servant, saying, “Go inquire of Yahweh for me, and for the people, and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that is found; for great is the wrath of Yahweh that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not listened to the words of this book, to do according to all that which is written concerning us.”

So Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam, and Achbor, and Shaphan, and Asaiah, went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tikvah, the son of Harhas, keeper of the wardrobe (now she lived in Jerusalem in the second quarter); and they talked with her. She said to them, “Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel: ‘Tell the man who sent you to me, “Thus says Yahweh, ‘Behold, I will bring evil on this place, and on its inhabitants, even all the words of the book which the king of Judah has read. Because they have forsaken me, and have burned incense to other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the work of their hands, therefore my wrath shall be kindled against this place, and it shall not be quenched.’” But to the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of Yahweh, thus you shall tell him, “Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel: ‘Concerning the words which you have heard, because your heart was tender, and you humbled yourself before Yahweh, when you heard what I spoke against this place, and against its inhabitants, that they should become a desolation and a curse, and have torn your clothes, and wept before me; I also have heard you,’ says Yahweh. ‘Therefore, behold, I will gather you to your fathers, and you shall be gathered to your grave in peace, neither shall your eyes see all the evil which I will bring on this place.’”’” They brought back this message to the king.

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The men of the city told him, “It is the tomb of the man of God, who came from Judah, and proclaimed these things that you have done against the altar of Bethel.”

He said, “Let him be! Let no man move his bones.” So they let his bones alone, with the bones of the prophet who came out of Samaria. All the houses also of the high places that were in the cities of Samaria, which the kings of Israel had made to provoke Yahweh to anger, Josiah took away, and did to them according to all the acts that he had done in Bethel. He killed all the priests of the high places that were there, on the altars, and burned men’s bones on them; and he returned to Jerusalem. The king commanded all the people, saying, “Keep the Passover to Yahweh your God, as it is written in this book of the covenant.” Surely there was not kept such a Passover from the days of the judges who judged Israel, nor in all the days of the kings of Israel, nor of the kings of Judah; but in the eighteenth year of king Josiah was this Passover kept to Yahweh in Jerusalem. Moreover those who had familiar spirits, and the wizards, and the teraphim, and the idols, and all the abominations that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, did Josiah put away, that he might confirm the words of the law which were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of Yahweh. Like him was there no king before him, who turned to Yahweh with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his might, according to all the law of Moses; neither after him arose there any like him. Notwithstanding, Yahweh didn’t turn from the fierceness of his great wrath, with which his anger was kindled against Judah, because of all the provocation with which Manasseh had provoked him. Yahweh said, “I will remove Judah also out of my sight, as I have removed Israel, and I will cast off this city which I have chosen, even Jerusalem, and the house of which I said, ‘My name shall be there.’”

Now the rest of the acts of Josiah, and all that he did, aren’t they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? In his days Pharaoh Necoh king of Egypt went up against the king of Assyria to the river Euphrates: and king Josiah went against him; and Pharaoh Necoh killed him at Megiddo, when he had seen him. His servants carried him in a chariot dead from Megiddo, and brought him to Jerusalem, and buried him in his own tomb. The people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah, and anointed him, and made him king in his father’s place. Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he began to reign; and he reigned three months in Jerusalem: and his mother’s name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. He did that which was evil in the sight of Yahweh, according to all that his fathers had done. Pharaoh Necoh put him in bonds at Riblah in the land of Hamath, that he might not reign in Jerusalem; and put the land to a tribute of one hundred talents of silver, and a talent of gold. Pharaoh Necoh made Eliakim the son of Josiah king in the place of Josiah his father, and changed his name to Jehoiakim: but he took Jehoahaz away; and he came to Egypt, and died there. Jehoiakim gave the silver and the gold to Pharaoh; but he taxed the land to give the money according to the commandment of Pharaoh: he exacted the silver and the gold of the people of the land, of everyone according to his taxation, to give it to Pharaoh Necoh. Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he began to reign; and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem: and his mother’s name was Zebidah the daughter of Pedaiah of Rumah. He did that which was evil in the sight of Yahweh, according to all that his fathers had done.

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But it happened in the seventh month, that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, of the royal seed came, and ten men with him, and struck Gedaliah, so that he died, and the Jews and the Chaldeans that were with him at Mizpah. All the people, both small and great, and the captains of the forces, arose, and came to Egypt; for they were afraid of the Chaldeans. It happened in the seven and thirtieth year of the captivity of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the seven and twentieth day of the month, that Evilmerodach king of Babylon, in the year that he began to reign, did lift up the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah out of prison; and he spoke kindly to him, and set his throne above the throne of the kings who were with him in Babylon, and changed his prison garments. Jehoiachin ate bread before him continually all the days of his life: and for his allowance, there was a continual allowance given him of the king, every day a portion, all the days of his life.

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