2 Kings 2

²⁴Enoch walked with God, and then he was no more, because God had taken him away.

⁵By faith Enoch was taken up so that he did not see death: “He could not be found, because God had taken him away.” For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God.

¹⁶You are also to anoint Jehu son of Nimshi as king over Israel and Elisha son of Shaphat from Abel-meholah to succeed you as prophet.

¹⁷Then Jehu will put to death whoever escapes the sword of Hazael, and Elisha will put to death whoever escapes the sword of Jehu.

¹¹Then the Lord said, “Go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord. Behold, the Lord is about to pass by.” And a great and mighty wind tore into the mountains and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake.

¹⁹On the tenth day of the first month the people went up from the Jordan and camped at Gilgal on the eastern border of Jericho.

⁹Then the Lord said to Joshua, “Today I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you.” So that place has been called Gilgal to this day.

⁶And Elijah said to Elisha, “Please stay here, for the Lord has sent me on to the Jordan.” But Elisha replied, “As surely as the Lord lives and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So the two of them went on.

³⁰And the mother of the boy said, “As surely as the Lord lives and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So he got up and followed her.

¹⁵“Look,” said Naomi, “your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and her gods; follow her back home.”

¹⁶But Ruth replied: “Do not urge me to leave you or to turn from following you. For wherever you go, I will go, and wherever you live, I will live; your people will be my people, and your God will be my God.

⁴And Elijah said to Elisha, “Please stay here, for the Lord has sent me on to Jericho.” But Elisha replied, “As surely as the Lord lives and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So they went to Jericho.

²⁶“Please, my lord,” said Hannah, “as surely as you live, my lord, I am the woman who stood here beside you praying to the Lord.

⁶⁷So Jesus asked the Twelve, “Do you want to leave too?”

⁶⁸Simon Peter replied, “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words of eternal life.

³⁸When Elisha returned to Gilgal, there was a famine in the land. As the sons of the prophets were sitting at his feet, he said to his attendant, “Put on the large pot and boil some stew for the sons of the prophets.”

¹Now the wife of one of the sons of the prophets cried out to Elisha, “Your servant, my husband, is dead, and you know that your servant feared the Lord. And now his creditor is coming to take my two children as his slaves!”

¹Now Elisha the prophet summoned one of the sons of the prophets and said to him, “Tuck your cloak under your belt, take this flask of oil, and go to Ramoth-gilead.

³⁵Meanwhile, by the word of the Lord, one of the sons of the prophets said to his companion, “Strike me, please!” But the man refused to strike him.

¹⁵When the sons of the prophets who were watching him from Jericho saw what had happened, they said, “The spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha.” And they went to meet him and bowed down to the ground before him.

³“I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but raised in this city. I was educated at the feet of Gamaliel in strict conformity to the law of our fathers. I was just as zealous for God as any of you are today.

²and Elijah said to Elisha, “Please stay here, for the Lord has sent me on to Bethel.” But Elisha replied, “As surely as the Lord lives and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So they went down to Bethel.

²⁶At that time Joshua invoked this solemn oath: “Cursed before the Lord is the man who rises up and rebuilds this city, Jericho; at the cost of his firstborn he will lay its foundations; at the cost of his youngest he will set up its gates.”

¹Then Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through.

³⁴In Ahab’s days, Hiel the Bethelite rebuilt Jericho. At the cost of Abiram his firstborn he laid its foundation, and at the cost of Segub his youngest he set up its gates, according to the word that the Lord had spoken through Joshua son of Nun.

³⁰And the mother of the boy said, “As surely as the Lord lives and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So he got up and followed her.

⁴²They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.

³Then the sons of the prophets at Bethel came out to Elisha and said, “Do you know that the Lord will take your master away from you today?” “Yes, I know,” he replied. “Do not speak of it.”

¹Now after the death of His servant Moses, the Lord spoke to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ assistant, saying,

²“Moses My servant is dead. Now therefore arise, you and all these people, and cross over the Jordan into the land that I am giving to the children of Israel.

²until the day He was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles He had chosen.

¹“Be silent before Me, O islands, and let the peoples renew their strength. Let them come forward and testify; let us together draw near for judgment.

⁷a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak,

²⁰But the Lord is in His holy temple; let all the earth be silent before Him.

²and Elijah said to Elisha, “Please stay here, for the Lord has sent me on to Bethel.” But Elisha replied, “As surely as the Lord lives and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So they went down to Bethel.

¹⁵Now the Jordan overflows its banks throughout the harvest season. But as soon as the priests carrying the ark reached the Jordan and their feet touched the water’s edge,

⁴for when Jezebel had slaughtered the prophets of the Lord, Obadiah had taken a hundred prophets and hidden them, fifty men per cave, providing them with food and water.)

¹⁷But when they pressed him to the point of embarrassment, he said, “Send them.” And they sent fifty men, who searched for three days but did not find Elijah.

¹³Was it not reported to my lord what I did when Jezebel slaughtered the prophets of the Lord? I hid a hundred prophets of the Lord, fifty men per cave, and I provided them with food and water.

¹⁹So Elijah departed and found Elisha son of Shaphat. He was plowing with twelve teams of oxen, and he was with the twelfth team. Elijah passed by him and threw his cloak around him.

²¹Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and all that night the Lord drove back the sea with a strong east wind that turned it into dry land. So the waters were divided,

²²and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with walls of water on their right and on their left.

¹⁴So when the people broke camp to cross the Jordan, the priests carried the ark of the covenant ahead of them.

¹⁵Now the Jordan overflows its banks throughout the harvest season. But as soon as the priests carrying the ark reached the Jordan and their feet touched the water’s edge,

¹⁴Then he took the cloak of Elijah that had fallen from him and struck the waters. “Where now is the Lord, the God of Elijah?” he asked. And when he had struck the waters, they parted to the right and to the left, and Elisha crossed over.

¹⁵The Lord will devote to destruction the gulf of the Sea of Egypt; with a scorching wind He will sweep His hand over the Euphrates. He will split it into seven streams for men to cross with dry sandals.

¹³When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave. Suddenly a voice came to him and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

¹⁷And I will come down and speak with you there, and I will take some of the Spirit that is on you and put that Spirit on them. They will help you bear the burden of the people, so that you do not have to bear it by yourself.

¹⁷Instead, he must acknowledge the firstborn, the son of his unloved wife, by giving him a double portion of all that he has. For that son is the firstfruits of his father’s strength; the right of the firstborn belongs to him.

⁷But I tell you the truth, it is for your benefit that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you.

²⁵Now I know that none of you among whom I have preached the kingdom will see my face again.

²⁶Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all men.

⁸On that day the Lord will defend the people of Jerusalem, so that the weakest among them will be like David, and the house of David will be like God, like the angel of the Lord going before them.

¹⁷Then Peter and John laid their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.

²⁴Until now you have not asked for anything in My name. Ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete.

²²“Have faith in God,” Jesus said to them.

²³“Truly I tell you that if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and has no doubt in his heart but believes that it will happen, it will be done for him.

¹²As Elisha watched, he cried out, “My father, my father, the chariots and horsemen of Israel!” And he saw Elijah no more. So taking hold of his own clothes, he tore them in two.

⁹After He had said this, they watched as He was taken up, and a cloud hid Him from their sight.

¹⁰They were looking intently into the sky as He was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them.

¹⁷Then Elisha prayed, “O Lord, please open his eyes that he may see.” And the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw that the hills were full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.

³laying the beams of His chambers in the waters above, making the clouds His chariot, walking on the wings of the wind.

⁴He makes the winds His messengers, flames of fire His servants.

¹⁴Are not the angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?

¹⁷The chariots of God are tens of thousands—thousands of thousands are they; the Lord is in His sanctuary as He was at Sinai.

⁹Then I looked and saw four wheels beside the cherubim, one wheel beside each cherub. And the wheels gleamed like a beryl stone.

¹⁰As for their appearance, all four had the same form, like a wheel within a wheel.

⁴I looked and saw a whirlwind coming from the north, a great cloud with fire flashing back and forth and brilliant light all around it. In the center of the fire was a gleam like amber,

⁵and within it was the form of four living creatures. And this was their appearance: They had a human form,

¹⁴When Elisha had fallen sick with the illness from which he would die, Jehoash king of Israel came down to him and wept over him, saying, “My father, my father, the chariots and horsemen of Israel!”

¹The righteous perish, and no one takes it to heart; devout men are taken away, while no one considers that the righteous are taken away from the presence of evil.

²Those who walk uprightly enter into peace; they find rest, lying down in death.

⁴Who has ascended to heaven and come down? Who has gathered the wind in His hands? Who has bound up the waters in His cloak? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is His name, and what is the name of His Son—surely you know!

²God-fearing men buried Stephen and mourned deeply over him.

²¹Then Isaiah son of Amoz sent a message to Hezekiah: “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Because you have prayed to Me concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria,

¹³No one has ascended into heaven except the One who descended from heaven—the Son of Man.

¹⁹So Elijah departed and found Elisha son of Shaphat. He was plowing with twelve teams of oxen, and he was with the twelfth team. Elijah passed by him and threw his cloak around him.

⁸And Elijah took his cloak, rolled it up, and struck the waters, which parted to the right and to the left, so that the two of them crossed over on dry ground.

¹²Truly, truly, I tell you, whoever believes in Me will also do the works that I am doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.

¹⁰Like the crushing of my bones, my enemies taunt me, while they say to me all day long, “Where is your God?”

²Why should the nations say, “Where is their God?”

¹²And when Peter saw this, he addressed the people: “Men of Israel, why are you surprised by this? Why do you stare at us as if by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk?

¹³The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified His servant Jesus. You handed Him over and rejected Him before Pilate, even though he had decided to release Him.

¹Now after the death of His servant Moses, the Lord spoke to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ assistant, saying,

²“Moses My servant is dead. Now therefore arise, you and all these people, and cross over the Jordan into the land that I am giving to the children of Israel.

¹³“Please, my Lord,” Gideon replied, “if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? And where are all His wonders of which our fathers told us, saying, ‘Has not the Lord brought us up out of Egypt?’ But now the Lord has forsaken us and delivered us into the hand of Midian.”

¹⁴If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you.

⁸But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

²¹“As for Me, this is My covenant with them,” says the Lord. “My Spirit will not depart from you, and My words that I have put in your mouth will not depart from your mouth or from the mouths of your children and grandchildren, from now on and forevermore,” says the Lord.

¹Now the sons of the prophets said to Elisha, “Please take note that the place where we meet with you is too small for us.

²Please let us go to the Jordan, where each of us can get a log so we can build ourselves a place to live there.” “Go,” said Elisha.

²The Spirit of the Lord will rest on Him—the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and strength, the Spirit of knowledge and fear of the Lord.

³⁷She came in, fell at his feet, and bowed to the ground. Then she picked up her son and went out.

¹²I do not know where the Spirit of the Lord may carry you off when I leave you. Then when I go and tell Ahab and he does not find you, he will kill me. But I, your servant, have feared the Lord from my youth.

³⁹When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away, and the eunuch saw him no more, but went on his way rejoicing.

²⁴And the Spirit lifted me up and carried me back to Chaldea, to the exiles in the vision given by the Spirit of God. After the vision had gone up from me,

¹⁴So the Spirit lifted me up and took me away, and I went in bitterness and in the anger of my spirit, with the strong hand of the Lord upon me.

²I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of it I do not know, but God knows.

³And I know that this man—whether in the body or out of it I do not know, but God knows—

²In visions of God He took me to the land of Israel and set me on a very high mountain, on whose southern slope was a structure that resembled a city.

¹¹Elisha fixed his gaze steadily on him until Hazael became uncomfortable. Then the man of God began to weep.

⁵By faith Enoch was taken up so that he did not see death: “He could not be found, because God had taken him away.” For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God.

²For I testify about them that they are zealous for God, but not on the basis of knowledge.

⁸I tell you, even though he will not get up to provide for him because of his friendship, yet because of the man’s persistence, he will get up and give him as much as he needs.

²²Ahimaaz son of Zadok, however, persisted and said to Joab, “No matter what, please let me also run behind the Cushite!” “My son,” Joab replied, “why do you want to run, since you will not receive a reward?”

²³“No matter what, I want to run!” he replied. “Then run!” Joab told him. So Ahimaaz ran by way of the plain and outran the Cushite.

²⁶No woman in your land will miscarry or be barren; I will fulfill the number of your days.

²And all these blessings will come upon you and overtake you, if you will obey the voice of the Lord your God:

³You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the country.

¹¹The Lord will make you prosper abundantly—in the fruit of your womb, the offspring of your livestock, and the produce of your land—in the land that the Lord swore to your fathers to give you.

¹⁵If, however, you do not obey the Lord your God by carefully following all His commandments and statutes I am giving you today, all these curses will come upon you and overtake you:

¹⁶You will be cursed in the city and cursed in the country.

³⁴In Ahab’s days, Hiel the Bethelite rebuilt Jericho. At the cost of Abiram his firstborn he laid its foundation, and at the cost of Segub his youngest he set up its gates, according to the word that the Lord had spoken through Joshua son of Nun.

²³And when they came to Marah, they could not drink the water there because it was bitter. (That is why it was named Marah.)

⁹Therefore, as surely as I live,” declares the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, “surely Moab will be like Sodom and the Ammonites like Gomorrah—a place of weeds and salt pits, a perpetual wasteland. The remnant of My people will plunder them; the remainder of My nation will dispossess them.”

⁴⁵And all that day Abimelech fought against the city until he had captured it and killed its people. Then he demolished the city and sowed it with salt.

¹¹But the swamps and marshes will not become fresh; they will be left for salt.

²⁵And Moses cried out to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a log. And when he cast it into the waters, they were sweetened. There the Lord made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there He tested them,

²⁶saying, “If you will listen carefully to the voice of the Lord your God, and do what is right in His eyes, and pay attention to His commands, and keep all His statutes, then I will not bring on you any of the diseases I inflicted on the Egyptians. For I am the Lord who heals you.”

⁴¹Then Elisha said, “Get some flour.” He threw it into the pot and said, “Pour it out for the people to eat.” And there was nothing harmful in the pot.

¹³And you shall season each of your grain offerings with salt. You must not leave the salt of the covenant of your God out of your grain offering; you are to add salt to each of your offerings.

⁴‘He will wipe away every tear from their eyes,’ and there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the former things have passed away.”

²down the middle of the main street of the city. On either side of the river stood a tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit and yielding a fresh crop for each month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.

³No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be within the city, and His servants will worship Him.

⁶“Where did it fall?” asked the man of God. And when he showed him the place, the man of God cut a stick, threw it there, and made the iron float.

¹⁶But they mocked the messengers of God, despising His words and scoffing at His prophets, until the wrath of the Lord against His people was stirred up beyond remedy.

¹⁸Even little boys scorn me; when I appear, they deride me.

¹“But now they mock me, men younger than I am, whose fathers I would have refused to put with my sheep dogs.

⁵Do not seek Bethel or go to Gilgal; do not journey to Beersheba, for Gilgal will surely go into exile, and Bethel will come to nothing.

⁶Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.

⁹But Sarah saw that the son whom Hagar the Egyptian had borne to Abraham was mocking her son,

⁹Then Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked directly at Elymas

¹⁰and said, “O child of the devil and enemy of all righteousness, you are full of all kinds of deceit and trickery! Will you never stop perverting the straight ways of the Lord?

⁵On hearing these words, Ananias fell down and died. And great fear came over all who heard what had happened.

⁸Like a bear robbed of her cubs I will attack them, and I will tear open their chests. There I will devour them like a lion, like a wild beast tearing them apart.

⁹“How could you agree to test the Spirit of the Lord?” Peter replied. “Look, the feet of the men who buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out also.”

¹⁷Therefore this is what the Lord says: ‘Your wife will become a prostitute in the city, and your sons and daughters will fall by the sword. Your land will be divided by a measuring line, and you yourself will die on pagan soil. And Israel will surely go into exile, away from their homeland.’”

²⁵I rebuked them and called down curses on them. I beat some of these men and pulled out their hair. Then I made them take an oath before God and said, “You must not give your daughters in marriage to their sons or take their daughters as wives for your sons or for yourselves!

²⁶Did not King Solomon of Israel sin in matters like this? There was not a king like him among many nations, and he was loved by his God, who made him king over all Israel—yet foreign women drew him into sin.

²⁵So she set out and went to the man of God at Mount Carmel. When the man of God saw her at a distance, he said to his servant Gehazi, “Look, there is the Shunammite woman.

¹⁹Now summon all Israel to meet me on Mount Carmel, along with the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal and the four hundred prophets of Asherah who eat at Jezebel’s table.”

²⁰So Ahab summoned all the Israelites and assembled the prophets on Mount Carmel.

⁴²So Ahab went up to eat and drink. But Elijah climbed to the summit of Carmel, bent down on the ground, and put his face between his knees.