King Ahaziah was in his house in Samaria. He fell through a lattice (wood lines in a window) from his upstairs room. He was sick and told his helper to go to a false god. He wanted his helper to ask Baal-zebub (the false god of the people who lived in Ekron) if he will get better.
[2] And Ahaziah fell down through a lattice in his upper chamber that was in Samaria, and was sick: and he sent messengers, and said unto them, Go, inquire of Baal-zebub the god of Ekron whether I shall recover of this disease.
 

God's angel talked to Elijah the prophet (he was from the area of Tishbe). The angel told Elijah to go meet the king's helpers.  God wanted him to ask the helpers why they were going to talk to a false god. They were traveling far away to talk to a false god, but they should have stayed in Israel and talked to the true God.
[3] But the angel of the LORD said to Elijah the Tishbite, Arise, go up to meet the messengers of the king of Samaria, and say unto them, Is it not because there is not a God in Israel, that ye go to inquire of Baal-zebub the god of Ekron?


Elijah should tell them to tell Ahaziah that he will not get out of his bed. He will die.  Then Elijah obeyed God's angel and left.
[4] Now therefore thus saith the LORD, Thou shalt not come down from that bed on which thou art gone up, but shalt surely die. And Elijah departed.


The helpers arrived back at Ahaziah's home. He asked them why they came back.  They told him they met a man. The man told them to go back. The man told them to tell Ahaziah what God said.  God wanted to know why Ahaziah wanted them to talk to a false god.  They have the true God in Israel.  Because Ahaziah did that, God said he will die. He will never get out of his bed.
[5] And when the messengers turned back unto him, he said unto them, Why are ye now turned back?
[6] And they said unto him, There came a man up to meet us, and said unto us, Go, turn again unto the king that sent you, and say unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Is it not because there is not a God in Israel, that thou sendest to inquire of Baal-zebub the god of Ekron? therefore thou shalt not come down from that bed on which thou art gone up, but shalt surely die.


Ahaziah asked what the man looked like.  They said the man had a lot of hair. He wore a leather belt.  Ahaziah said the man was Elijah (from the area of Tishbe).
[7] And he said unto them, What manner of man was he which came up to meet you, and told you these words?
[8] And they answered him, He was an hairy man, and girt with a girdle of leather about his loins. And he said, It is Elijah the Tishbite.


Ahaziah sent an army leader and his 50 soldiers to meet Elijah. When they got there, Elijah was sitting on top of a hill. The army leader said that Elijah was a man of God and that Ahaziah said he should come down.
[9] Then the king sent unto him a captain of fifty with his fifty. And he went up to him: and, behold, he sat on the top of an hill. And he spake unto him, Thou man of God, the king hath said, Come down.


Elijah said if he is a man of God,  then fire will come down from Heaven and burn the army leader and his soldiers. Then fire came down and burned them up.
[10] And Elijah answered and said to the captain of fifty, If I be a man of God, then let fire come down from heaven, and consume thee and thy fifty. And there came down fire from heaven, and consumed him and his fifty.


Then Ahaziah sent another army leader and his 50 soldiers.  The army leader said that Elijah was a man of God and that Ahaziah wanted him to come down quickly.
[11] Again also he sent unto him another captain of fifty with his fifty. And he answered and said unto him, O man of God, thus hath the king said, Come down quickly.


Elijah answered. He said if he is a man of God, fire will come down from Heaven and burn the army leader and his soldiers. Then fire came down from Heaven and burned up the army leader and his 50 soldiers.
[12] And Elijah answered and said unto them, If I be a man of God, let fire come down from heaven, and consume thee and thy fifty. And the fire of God came down from heaven, and consumed him and his fifty.


Ahaziah sent another army leader and his 50 soldiers. The 3rd army leader went to Elijah. He got down on his knees and begged Elijah not to burn  him and his soldiers like the first two groups.

[13] And he sent again a captain of the third fifty with his fifty. And the third captain of fifty went up, and came and fell on his knees before Elijah, and besought him, and said unto him, O man of God, I pray thee, let my life, and the life of these fifty thy servants, be precious in thy sight.
[14] Behold, there came fire down from heaven, and burnt up the two captains of the former fifties with their fifties: therefore let my life now be precious in thy sight.


One of God's angels talked to Elijah. He told him not to be afraid. He should go with the army leader.  So Elijah went with the army leader to see Ahaziah.
[15] And the angel of the LORD said unto Elijah, Go down with him: be not afraid of him. And he arose, and went down with him unto the king.


Elijah talked to Ahaziah about his sending his helpers to talk to Baal-zebub in the area of Ekron. He asked why he did that.  He asked him if there wasn't a God in Israel to ask. God says that Ahaziah will not get out of bed. He will die.
[16] And he said unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Forasmuch as thou hast sent messengers to inquire of Baal-zebub the god of Ekron, is it not because there is no God in Israel to inquire of his word? therefore thou shalt not come down off that bed on which thou art gone up, but shalt surely die.


Then Ahaziah died. It happened the way Elijah said it would happen.  Then Jehoram became the king in Israel.  He became king in the 2nd year that another man with the same name, Jehoram, was king of Judah.   Judah's Jehoram was King Jehoshaphat's son. But Israel's Jehoram was not Ahaziah's son. Ahaziah did not have any sons. Jehoram was his brother.
[17] So he died according to the word of the LORD which Elijah had spoken. And Jehoram reigned in his stead in the second year of Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat king of Judah; because he had no son.


Ahaziah did other things while he was king. The book about the kings of Israel tells about the things he did.
[18] Now the rest of the acts of Ahaziah which he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?
 

2 Kings 2

After they went over the river,  Elijah talked to Elisha. He asked him what he could do for him before God takes him to Heaven.  Elisha said he wanted a double amount of Elijah's spirit on him.
[9] And it came to pass, when they were gone over, that Elijah said unto Elisha, Ask what I shall do for thee, before I be taken away from thee. And Elisha said, I pray thee, let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me.

 

Elisha watches Elijah go up into Heaven in a chariot and horses made of fire. Picture from Standard Bible Story Readers, Book Four, La Vista Church of Christ web site.

Elijah said that would be hard to do. But if Elisha sees him when he goes up into Heaven, then he will have a double amount. If he doesn't see him go up, then he won't have a double amount.
[10] And he said, Thou hast asked a hard thing: nevertheless, if thou see me when I am taken from thee, it shall be so unto thee; but if not, it shall not be so.


As they walked and talked, a chariot and horses made of fire appeared. The fire made Elisha and Elijah  move apart. Then Elijah was in the chariot of fire and went up into Heaven.
[11] And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.


Elisha said loudly that he saw Elijah,  Israel's chariot, horses, and horse soldiers going up into Heaven.  Then they were gone. He was very sad and tore his clothes to show his sadness.
[12] And Elisha saw it, and he cried, My father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof. And he saw him no more: and he took hold of his own clothes, and rent them in two pieces.
 

Then he picked up Elijah's coat that had fallen off of him.  Elisha went back and stood next to the Jordan River.
[13] He took up also the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and went back, and stood by the bank of Jordan;


He used Elijah's coat and hit the river water.  He asked where Elijah's God was and then the water divided. He walked across the river on the dry ground.
[14] And he took the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and smote the waters, and said, Where is the LORD God of Elijah? and when he also had smitten the waters, they parted hither and thither: and Elisha went over.


The prophets who were watching said that Elijah's spirit is now on Elisha. They went to meet him and bowed down on the ground in front of him.
[15] And when the sons of the prophets which were to view at Jericho saw him, they said, The spirit of Elijah doth rest on Elisha. And they came to meet him, and bowed themselves to the ground before him.


They said there were 50 strong men with them. They wanted the men to go and look for Elijah. They thought maybe God's spirit had taken him up and set him on a mountain. Elisha told them no.
[16] And they said unto him, Behold now, there be with thy servants fifty strong men; let them go, we pray thee, and seek thy master: lest peradventure the Spirit of the LORD hath taken him up, and cast him upon some mountain, or into some valley. And he said, Ye shall not send.


The prophets continued to ask. Finally, Elisha said yes. So they sent 50 men to look for Elijah. They looked for 3 days, but they did not find him. When they came back to Jericho and talked to Elijah, he reminded them that he first said not to go.
[17] And when they urged him till he was ashamed, he said, Send. They sent therefore fifty men; and they sought three days, but found him not.
[18] And when they came again to him, (for he tarried at Jericho,) he said unto them, Did I not say unto you, Go not?

 

Elisha heals the water in Jericho.


Some of the men in Jericho talked to Elisha.  They were having trouble with the water in the city. They said that the city is good, but the water is not good. Plants won't grow in the dirt.
[19] And the men of the city said unto Elisha, Behold, I pray thee, the situation of this city is pleasant, as my lord seeth: but the water is naught, and the ground barren.


He told them to bring him a new bottle and put salt in it. They brought it to him.
[20] And he said, Bring me a new cruse, and put salt therein. And they brought it to him.


Elisha went to the spring (water in the ground) and threw the salt in it. He said that God said He healed the water. From now on, there won't be any more dry land where food won't grow. No one will die because there is no water.
[21] And he went forth unto the spring of the waters, and cast the salt in there, and said, Thus saith the LORD, I have healed these waters; there shall not be from thence any more death or barren land.

From that day on until the time when this book of the Bible was written, the water was good.  That was because of what Elisha said.
[22] So the waters were healed unto this day, according to the saying of Elisha which he spake.

 

Some children make fun of Elisha.


Elisha left Jericho and went to Bethel.  While he was traveling, some children came to see him. They made fun of him because he was bald and had no hair on his head.
[23] And he went up from thence unto Bethel: and as he was going up by the way, there came forth little children out of the city, and mocked him, and said unto him, Go up, thou bald head; go up, thou bald head.


Elisha turned around and looked at them. He cursed them in God's name. Then 2 female bears came out of the woods and killed 42 of the children.
[24] And he turned back, and looked on them, and cursed them in the name of the LORD. And there came forth two she bears out of the wood, and tare forty and two children of them.


Then Elisha went to Mt. Carmel and from there, he went back to Samaria.
[25] And he went from thence to mount Carmel, and from thence he returned to Samaria.
 

2 Kings 3
 

Jehoram becomes the new king of Israel.
 

God could see that Jehoram did bad things.  He wasn't as bad as his parents, Ahab and Jezebel, were. He destroyed the statue of the false god, Baal, that Ahab made. But he still did the bad things like Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, did when he was king. He caused Israel to sin, too.
[2] And he wrought evil in the sight of the LORD; but not like his father, and like his mother: for he put away the image of Baal that his father had made.
[3] Nevertheless he cleaved unto the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which made Israel to sin; he departed not therefrom.
 

The kings of Israel, Judah, and Edom fight a war with Moab.


Moab was the country next to Israel. Mesha was the king of Moab. Mesha paid taxes to the king of Israel.  He paid 100,000 lambs, 100,000 male sheep, and the wool of the sheep.    
[4] And Mesha king of Moab was a sheepmaster, and rendered unto the king of Israel an hundred thousand lambs, and an hundred thousand rams, with the wool.


After King Ahab died, the king of Moab wanted to fight a war with Israel.
[5] But it came to pass, when Ahab was dead, that the king of Moab rebelled against the king of Israel.


King Jehoram of Israel left Samaria and counted his soldiers.
[6] And king Jehoram went out of Samaria the same time, and numbered all Israel.


Jehoram sent a message to King Jehoshaphat of Judah. He told him that the king of Moab was ready to fight a war with Israel. He asked Jehoshaphat if he and his army would go with him and fight the king of Moab.  Jehoshaphat said he would go. He said that he, his army, and his horses would follow Jehoram.
[7] And he went and sent to Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, saying, The king of Moab hath rebelled against me: wilt thou go with me against Moab to battle? And he said, I will go up: I am as thou art, my people as thy people, and my horses as thy horses.

 

Jehoshaphat asked Jehoram which way they should travel. Jehoram said they would travel through the desert area of Edom.
[8] And he said, Which way shall we go up? And he answered, The way through the wilderness of Edom.


Jehoram, Jehoshaphat, and the king of Edom traveled for 7 days.  They had no water for their soldiers or their cattle.
[9] So the king of Israel went, and the king of Judah, and the king of Edom: and they fetched a compass of seven days' journey: and there was no water for the host, and for the cattle that followed them.


Jehoram said that God was planning to give them to the king of Moab. He felt that the king of Moab would defeat them.
[10] And the king of Israel said, Alas! that the LORD hath called these three kings together, to deliver them into the hand of Moab!


Jehoshaphat asked if there was one of God's prophets with them. They could ask God's prophet what they should do. One of Jehoram's workers told him about Elisha. Elisha's father's name was Shaphat. Elisha had helped Elijah.
[11] But Jehoshaphat said, Is there not here a prophet of the LORD, that we may inquire of the LORD by him? And one of the king of Israel's servants answered and said, Here is Elisha the son of Shaphat, which poured water on the hands of Elijah.


Jehoshaphat said that God's word was with Elisha. So the 3 kings went to meet him.
[12] And Jehoshaphat said, The word of the LORD is with him. So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat and the king of Edom went down to him.


Elisha didn't want to help Jehoram. He told him to go ask his father and mother's false prophets. Jehoram said no. He said that God brought these 3 kings together to give them to the king of Moab.
[13] And Elisha said unto the king of Israel, What have I to do with thee? get thee to the prophets of thy father, and to the prophets of thy mother. And the king of Israel said unto him, Nay: for the LORD hath called these three kings together, to deliver them into the hand of Moab.


Elisha said that he respects King Jehoshaphat so he will help them. If Jehoshaphat wasn't there, he would not help them.
[14] And Elisha said, As the LORD of hosts liveth, before whom I stand, surely, were it not that I regard the presence of Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, I would not look toward thee, nor see thee.


Elisha told them to bring a person to play music. While the music played, God's hand was on Elisha.
[15] But now bring me a minstrel. And it came to pass, when the minstrel played, that the hand of the LORD came upon him.


Elisha told them what God said.  They should make many ditches (lines of holes) there in the valley. They won't see any rain or wind, but the valley will fill up with water.  Then there will be water to drink for them, their soldiers, their cattle, and their animals.
[16] And he said, Thus saith the LORD, Make this valley full of ditches.
[17] For thus saith the LORD, Ye shall not see wind, neither shall ye see rain; yet that valley shall be filled with water, that ye may drink, both ye, and your cattle, and your beasts.


God will also do something bigger than that. He will help them defeat the Moab people.  Then they will destroy every city that has a fence around it, all of the best cities, and all of the trees.  They should stop all of the wells that have water.  They should put big rocks in all of the good pieces of land.
[18] And this is but a light thing in the sight of the LORD: he will deliver the Moabites also into your hand.
[19] And ye shall smite every fenced city, and every choice city, and shall fell every good tree, and stop all wells of water, and mar every good piece of land with stones.

The next morning, while they were making their meat offering, water flowed from the land of Edom. The area was filled with water.
[20] And it came to pass in the morning, when the meat offering was offered, that, behold, there came water by the way of Edom, and the country was filled with water.


The leaders in Moab heard that the 3 kings were coming to fight a war. They got together all of their men who could fight and waited by the border.
[21] And when all the Moabites heard that the kings were come up to fight against them, they gathered all that were able to put on armour, and upward, and stood in the border.


They got up early in the morning. The sun was shining on the water.  The sun made the water look red.  The Moabite leaders thought it was blood.  They thought that the 3 kings had killed each other. So, they went forward to take the things in the kings' camps.
[22] And they rose up early in the morning, and the sun shone upon the water, and the Moabites saw the water on the other side as red as blood:
[23] And they said, This is blood: the kings are surely slain, and they have smitten one another: now therefore, Moab, to the spoil.


The Moabites arrived at the Israelite camp. Then the Israelites got up and killed them. Some of the Moabites ran away, and the Israelites followed them into Moab and continued to kill them.
[24] And when they came to the camp of Israel, the Israelites rose up and smote the Moabites, so that they fled before them: but they went forward smiting the Moabites, even in their country.


The Israelites destroyed the Moabite cities. On the farmland, each Israelite put large stones to cover it. They stopped all of the water wells. They chopped down the good tress.  They did not destroy the city named Kir-haraseth. But soldiers used slingshots and hit it with rocks.
[25] And they beat down the cities, and on every good piece of land cast every man his stone, and filled it; and they stopped all the wells of water, and felled all the good trees: only in Kir-haraseth left they the stones thereof; howbeit the slingers went about it, and smote it.


The king of Moab saw that he was going to lose the war. He took 700 soldiers and tried to go through the line of soldiers to the king of Edom. But he failed.
[26] And when the king of Moab saw that the battle was too sore for him, he took with him seven hundred men that drew swords, to break through even unto the king of Edom: but they could not.


Then he took his oldest son (the son that would be king after him).  He burned his son on the wall as an offering.  The Israelites were disgusted when they saw this.  They left and went back to their homes.
[27] Then he took his eldest son that should have reigned in his stead, and offered him for a burnt offering upon the wall. And there was great indignation against Israel: and they departed from him, and returned to their own land.