ELIJAH IS TAKEN UP TO HEAVEN. ELISHA MAKES THE WATERS AT JERICHO PURE. LITTLE CHILDREN MOCK HIM, AND ARE SLAIN BY BEARS. HE COMMANDS THE KING OF ISRAEL TO DIG DITCHES IN THE VALLEY, AND THEY ARE FILLED WITH WATER FOR HIS ARMY. THE WIDOW OF ONE OF THE SONS OF THE PROPHETS POURS OIL INTO EMPTY VESSELS. ELISHA RAISES THE SHUNAMITE'S SON TO LIFE.
AND it was so, when the Lord was going to take up Elijah to heaven, that Elijah went with his servant Elisha to a place called Gilgal. Now Elijah wanted to be alone when the Lord should take him up, so he said to Elisha, Stay here, I pray thee at Gilgal, for the Lord has sent me to Bethel. But Elisha said, As surely as the Lord liveth, and as thou art living, I will not leave thee. So they went down to Bethel. And the young men who went to the schools that were taught by the prophets at Bethel, came to Elisha, and said to him, Knowest thou that the Lord will take away thy master from thee to-day? He answered, Yes, I know it, hold ye your peace.
And Elijah said to Elisha, Stay here at Bethel, I pray thee, for the Lord has sent me to Jericho. But Elisha said, As surely as the Lord liveth, and as thou art living, I will not leave thee. So they came to Jericho. And the young men who were in the schools of the prophets at Jericho, came to Elisha, and said to him, Knowest thou that the Lord will take away thy master from thee to-day? He answered, Yes, I know it, hold ye your peace.
And Elijah said to Elisha, Stay here, I pray thee, at Jericho, for the Lord has sent me to the river Jordan. But Elisha answered, As surely as the Lord liveth, and as thou art living, I will not leave thee. And they two went on. And fifty young men from the schools of the prophets followed them, to look, a good way off. And Elijah and Elisha stood by the side of the river. Then Elijah took his mantle and wrapt it together, and struck the waters with it, and the waters were parted before them, so that they two went over on dry ground. When they had gone over, Elijah said to Elisha, Ask what I shall do for thee, before I be taken away from thee. And Elisha asked that he might have more of God's Spirit in his heart, as Elijah had. Elijah answered, thou hast asked a hard thing; yet if thou see me when I am taken from thee, thou shalt have what thou askest for; but if not, thou shalt not have it.
And as they walked on and talked together, behold, there came a chariot of fire, with horses of fire, that took Elijah away from Elisha, and he went up in the chariot to heaven. Elisha saw it, and cried out, My father, my father, the chariot of Israel and the horsemen thereof. He called Elijah, father; for so they called the prophets in those days. And he called him the chariot of Israel and the horsemen thereof, because Elijah would have been better than chariots and horses to help the people, and gain the victory for them over their enemies, if they had only been willing to obey him. And after that, Elisha saw Elijah no more; and he took hold of his own clothes and rent them in two pieces. And Elisha took up the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and with it he struck the waters of the river, and they parted for him as they had done for Elijah, and Elisha went over alone, on dry ground.
And the fifty young men from the schools of the prophets, who had followed afar off, came to meet him, and bowed themselves down to the ground before him. And they said to Elisha, Let us go, we pray thee, and look for thy master; perhaps the Lord has taken him away and left him on some mountain, or in some valley. But Elisha answered, Ye shall not go. Then they begged him till Elisha was ashamed to refuse any longer, and he said to them, Go. They went, therefore, and searched three days for Elijah, but could not find him. Then they came to Jericho and told Elisha, and he said to them, Did I not say to you, Do not go?
And the men of Jericho said to Elisha, Our city is pleasant to live in, as thou seest, except that the water is not good to drink, and it makes the ground barren, so that nothing will grow here. Elisha said to them, Bring me a new cruse, and put some salt in it; and they brought it to him. And he went to the spring from which the waters flowed, and threw the salt in there, and said, Thus saith the Lord, I have made these waters pure; they shall not any more cause the people to be sick, or the ground to be barren. So the waters were made pure from that day.
And Elisha went from Jericho to. Bethel; as he was going, there came forth little children out of the city, and mocked him and cried after him, saying, Go up, thou bald head; go up, thou bald head. So they made sport of him because he was bald, and told him to go up, as Elijah had gone up, when God took him to heaven. And Elisha turned back, and as he looked on them, asked the Lord to punish them for their sin. And there came forth two bears out of the wood, and tore forty-two children of them.
After this Jehoram, King of Israel, gathered his army together to fight against the Moabites. And he sent word to Jehoshaphat, the King of Judah, saying, The king of Moab has rebelled against me; wilt thou go with me against him to battle? Jehoshaphat answered, I will go: and the king of Edom also went with them. So these three kings set out with their armies, and they marched seven days, and found no water for the host, or for the cattle that they had brought with them to eat by the way. Then the king of Israel was afraid, because his soldiers had no water to drink, and he said, Alas, the Moabites will gain the victory over us.
Now Jehoram the king of Israel served idols, that could not help him; but Jehoshaphat served the Lord, and he asked, saying, Is there no prophet here, who can inquire of the Lord for us what we shall do? One of the king of Israel's servants answered, Elisha is here, who was the servant of Elijah. Jehoshaphat said, He is a prophet of the Lord; let us go to him. So Jehoram, king of Israel, and Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and the king of Edom, went to Elisha. And when Elisha saw the king of Israel, he said, Why dost thou come to me? Go to the false prophets of thy father Ahab, and thy mother Jezebel; let them help thee. The king of Israel answered, that he had come because he was afraid of the Moabites, lest they should gain the victory over them. Elisha said to him, As surely as the Lord of hosts liveth, if it were not for Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, who is with thee, I would not look toward thee nor see thee.
Then the Lord commanded Elisha to tell the men of Israel to dig the valley, in which their camp was, full of ditches; for the Lord said, that although there should be no wind or rain, yet the ditches should be filled with water, that they and their cattle might drink. And the Lord will not only do this for you, Elisha said, but he will give you the victory over the Moabites, and you shall destroy their cities, and cut down their trees, and fill up their wells, and spoil the best of their land. And the words of Elisha came true, for the next morning the Lord caused water to flow into the valley, so that the ditches were filled with it.
When the Moabites heard that the kings of Israel, of Judah, and of Edom, had come up against them, they gathered all their army together and came near the camp of Israel. And the sun shone on the water in the ditches, and made it look red. Then the Moabites thought that their enemies had been fighting with one another, and that this was their blood. And they said, Let us go and take the spoil they have left. So they came near the camp; but when they saw the armies that were there, they were afraid and fled. And the men of Israel rose up and followed them, even into their own country. There they cut down the trees and destroyed the cities; they filled up the wells, and on every good piece of ground threw great quantities of stones and spoiled it, as Elisha had said they should. Afterward the men of Israel came back to their own land.
And a woman who was the wife of one of the scholars (or, as they were called at that time, the sons) of the prophets, cried to Elisha, saying, My husband is dead, and thou knowest that he served the Lord. But he owed money that he was not able to pay; and now the man to whom he owed it, has come to take my two sons and make them his bondmen. Elisha said to her, What shall I do for thee? tell me, what hast thou in thy house? She answered, I have not anything except a pot of oil. Then he said to her, Go, borrow empty vessels of all thy neighbors, and bring them into thy house and shut the door, and pour out of the pot of oil that thou hast, into the vessels thou hast borrowed, and set to one side those that are full.
So she went and borrowed empty vessels, and carried them into her house and shut the door. Then her sons brought the empty vessels to her, while she poured out of the pot of oil into them, and the oil kept on coming until they were all full. But she did not know they were all full, and she said to her son, Bring me another vessel. He answered, There is not one more. Then she came and told Elisha, and he said, Go, sell the oil, and pay the man what thy husband owed him, and take the money that is left to buy food for thee and thy children.
After these things, as Elisha journeyed through the land, he came to a city called Shunem, where lived a rich and great woman, and she begged him to stop at her house and eat food. She was so kind to him, that whenever he passed by that way, he stopped there and did eat. Then she said to her husband, I see that this is a prophet of the Lord who passes by us so often. Let us make a little chamber for him in our house, and put in it a bed, a table, a stool, and a candlestick; and whenever he comes to us he shall stay there. So they made it as she said.
And it happened one day that Elisha came with his servant, whose name was Gehazi, and went into the chamber, and lay down there to rest. And he said to Gehazi, Call this woman. When Gehazi had called her, she came and stood before him. And Elisha told him to say to her, Thou hast been very kind to us, what shall be done for thee? Is there anything thou wouldst have me ask for thee, from the king, or from the captain of the army? But she answered that she was satisfied with the things that she had; and she went away again. Then Elisha said to Gehazi, What is to be done for her? Gehazi answered, She has no child. And Elisha said, Call her. When Gehazi called her she came again and stood in the door. Then Elisha told her that the Lord would give her a son. And the words that Elisha spoke, came true, for after these things, the Lord gave her a son.
When the child was grown, he went one day out in the field to his father, among the reapers. And while he was there he grew sick, and cried to his father, My head, my head. His father said to one of the young men, Carry him to his mother. When the young man had carried him to her, the boy sat in her lap till noon, and then died. And she took him up to the chamber which had been made for Elisha, and laid him on the bed, and shut the door and went out.
And she called to her husband, saying, Send me, I pray thee, one of the young men, with one of the asses, that I may make haste to the prophet and come back again. Now her husband did not know that the boy was dead, and he said to her, Why wilt thou go to the prophet to-day? This is not a feast day nor the sabbath. She answered, It is well for me to go. Then she rode on the ass, and said to the servant who went with her, Drive on, and make haste, and do not stop till I bid thee. So she came to Elisha at mount Carmel.
When Elisha saw her a good way off, he said to Gehazi his servant, Look, yonder comes that Shunamite. Run to meet her, and say, Is it well with thee? Is it well with thy husband? Is it well with the child? And Gehazi ran and asked her. She answered, It is well. When she came to Elisha, she kneeled down, and caught him by the feet, and Gehazi came near to thrust her away. But Elisha said, Let her alone, for her soul is troubled within her, and the Lord hath not told me what her trouble is. And the woman said to Elisha, Did I ask that I might have a son? Then he knew that the boy was dead.
And he said to Gehazi, Make ready, take my staff in thy hand and go to the child. Go in haste; if thou meet any man by the way, do not stop to speak with him, and if any man speak to thee, do not stop to answer him; and lay my staff upon the face of the child. But the woman said to Elisha, As surely as the Lord liveth, and as thou art living, I will not go without thee. Then he rose up and went after her. Now Gehazi had gone on before them, and he came to the woman's house and went up into the prophet's chamber and laid the staff on the face of the child. But the child did not speak, nor hear; therefore Gehazi turned back to meet Elisha, and he came to him and said, The child has not awaked.
When Elisha came into the house the child was dead, and lying upon the bed. He went into the chamber therefore, and shut the door and prayed to the Lord. And he got up on the bed, and lay upon the child, and put his mouth upon the child's mouth, and his eyes upon the child's eyes, and his hands upon his hands; and he stretched himself upon the child, and the child's flesh grew warm. Then Elisha came out of the chamber, and walked for a while up and down in the house. And he went up and stretched himself again upon the child; and the child sneezed seven times, and opened his eyes and came to life again. And Elisha spoke to Gehazi, saying, Call this Shunamite. So Gehazi called her; and when she had come into the chamber, Elisha said to her, Take thy son. Then she bowed down to the ground in thankfulness, and took her son and went out.
And Elisha came to Gilgal. While the sons of the prophets who lived there, were sitting before him, he said to his servant, Set the great pot on the fire and boil pottage for the sons of the prophets to eat. And one of them went out into the field to gather herbs for the pottage, and found a wild vine which was poisonous; but he did not know that it was poisonous, and he gathered his lap full of it, and when he came into the house, sprinkled it into the pot. After the pottage was cooked, they poured it out for the men to eat. But as they were eating, they tasted the vine and cried, O thou prophet, there is poison in the pot! And they could not eat of it. Elisha said to them, Bring here some meal. And they brought it, and he cast it into the pot; then he said, Pour out now, that you may eat. And they ate of it, and it did them no harm.
And there came a man with a present for Elisha of twenty loaves of bread, and some ears of corn. And Elisha told his servant to give them to the sons of the prophets, for they wanted food, because there was a scarceness of bread in the land. But the servant said, What, shall I set so small a quantity before a hundred men, that they may eat? Elisha answered, Set it before them, for thus saith the Lord, They shall all have enough, and some shall be left. Then the servant obeyed, and as the food was divided among the people, the Lord caused the twenty loaves of bread and the ears of corn, to increase so that there was enough for them all. And after they had eaten, some was still left.