Ahab is slain at Ramoth-gilead.

CHRIST

897.

Before he said, I will go forth, and I will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And he said, Thou shalt persuade him, and prevail also: go forth, and do so. 23 Now therefore, behold, the LORD hath put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these thy prophets, and the LORD hath spoken evil concerning thee. 24 But Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah went € 2 Chr. near, and smote Micaiah on the cheek, and said, © Which way went the Spirit of the LORD from me to speak unto thee?

18. 23.

26 And the king of Israel said, Take Micaiah, and + Heb. carry him back unto Amon the governor of the city, a cham- and to Joash the king's son;

ber in a

chamber.

27 And say, Thus saith the king, Put this fellow in the prison, and feed him with bread of affliction, and with water of affliction, until I come in peace.

28 And Micaiah said, If thou return at all in peace, the LORD hath not spoken by me. And he said, Hearken, O people, every one of you.

29 So the king of Israel, and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, went up to Ramoth-gilead.

30 And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, I will disguise myself, and enter into the battle; but put thou on thy robes. And the king of Israel disdisguise guised himself, and went into the battle.

Or, when he was to

himself,

andenter

31 But the king of Syria commanded his thirty into the and two captains that had rule over his chariots, saying, Fight neither with small nor great, save only with the king of Israel.

battle.

+ Heb. in his simpli

city.

+Heb. joints and the

breastplate.

made
sick.
+ Heb.
ascended
+ Heb.
bosom.

Before CHRIST cir. 896

a Chay.

9, 5.

32 And it came to pass, when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, that they said, Surely it is the king of Israel. And they turned aside to fight against him; and Jehoshaphat cried out.

33 And it came to pass, when the captains of the chariots perceived that it was not the king of Israel, that they turned back from pursuing him.

34 And a certain man drew a bow † at a venture, and smote the king of Israel between the joints of the harness: wherefore he said unto the driver of his chariot, Turn thine hand, and carry me out of the host; for I am † wounded.

35 And the battle + increased that day: and the king was stayed up in his chariot against the Syrians, and died at even: and the blood ran out of the wound into the midst of the chariot.

36 And there went a proclamation throughout the host about the going down of the sun, saying, Every man to his city, and every man to his own country.

37 So the king died, and maria; and they buried the king in Samaria. 38 And one washed the chariot in the pool of Samaria; and the dogs licked up his blood; and they † Heb. washed his armour; according unto the word of the LORD which he spake.

39 Now the rest of the acts of Ahab, and all that he did, and the ivory house which he made, and all the cities that he built, are they not written in the book of the Chronicles of the kings of Israel?

40 So Ahab slept with his fathers; and Ahaziah his son reigned in his stead.

с

came.

d Chap.

21. 19.

reign

41 ¶ And Jehoshaphat the son of Asa began to reign 914. over Judah in the fourth year of Ahab king of Israel. Began to 42 Jehoshaphat was thirty and five years old when alone, he began to reign; and he reigned twenty and five verse 51 years in Jerusalem: and his mother's name was Azubah, the daughter of Shilhi.

43 And he walked in all the ways of Asa his father; he turned not aside from it, doing that which was right in the eyes of the LORD: nevertheless the high places were not taken away; for the people offered and burnt incense yet in the high places.

44 And Jehoshaphat made peace with the king of Israel.

45 Now the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, and his might that he shewed, and how he warred, are they not written in the book of the Chronicles of the kings of Judah?

+

e 2 Chr. 20.31..

46 And the remnant of the sodomites, which remained in the days of his father Asa, he took out of the land. 47 There was then no king in Edom: a deputy was king. 48 Jehoshaphat || made ships of Tharshish to go to Or. Ophir for gold: but they went not; for the ships ships were broken at Ezion-geber.

49 Then said Ahaziah the son of Ahab unto Jehoshaphat, Let my servants go with thy servants in the ships: but Jehoshaphat would not.

50 And Jehoshaphat slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David his father: and Jehoram his son reigned in his stead. 51 ¶ Ahaziah the son of Ahab began to reign over Now he begins to Israel in Samaria the seventeenth year of Jehoshaphat reign king of Judah, and reigned two years over Israel.

52 And he did evil in the sight of the LORD, and walked in the way of his father, and in the way of his mother, and in the way of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin:

53 For he served Baal, and worshipped him, and provoked to anger the LORD God of Israel, according to all that his father had done.

alone.

898

Before

Elisha by salt healeth the waters.

Before CHRIST 896.

C

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 cVerse7. him, and bowed themselves to the ground before him. 16 And they said unto him, Behold now, there + Heb. be with thy servants fifty † strong men; let them go, sans of we thee, and seek thy master: lest peradventure strength. pray the Spirit of the LORD hath taken him up, and cast + Heb. him upon † some mountain, or into some valley. And one of the he said, Ye shall not send.

moun

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.

22 So the waters were healed unto this day, according to the saying of Elisha which he spake.

23 ¶ And he went up from thence unto Beth-el: and as he was going up by the way, there came forth little children out of the city, and mocked him, and said unto him, Go up, thou bald-head; go up, thou bald-head.

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.

25 And he went from thence to mount Carmel; and from thence he returned to Samaria.

CHAP. III.

1 Jehoram's evil reign. 4 Mesha king of Moab rebelleth. 6 Jehoram with Jehoshaphat, and the king of Edom, going against him, are in want of water; Elisha promiseth water, and an assurance of victory. 20 The Moabites taking the water for blood, are overcome. 26 The king of Moab sacrificeth his eldest son, and raiseth the siege. 896. NOW Jehoram the son of Ahab began to reign over Israel in Samaria the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and reigned twelve years.

2 And he wrought evil in the sight of the LORD, but not like his father, and like his mother; for he put Heb. away the image of Baal that his father had made.

statue.

a Chap.

1.1.

895.

3 Nevertheless he cleaved unto the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which made Israel to sin; he departed not therefrom.

а

4¶And Mesha king of Moab was a sheep-master, and rendered unto the king of Israel an hundred thousand lambs, and an hundred thousand rams, with the wool. 5 But it came to pass, when a Ahab was dead, that the king of Moab rebelled against the king of Israel. 16 And king Jehoram went out of Samaria the same time, and numbered all Israel.

7 And he went and sent to Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, saying, The king of Moab hath rebelled against

A miraculous supply of water!

b

CHRIST

22. 4.

me: wilt thou go with me against Moab to battle? Before And he said, I will go up: I am as thou art, my 895. people as thy people, and my horses as thy horses. 8 And he said, Which way shall we go up? And he b1 Kings answered, The way through the wilderness of Edom. 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. 10 And the king of Israel said, Alas! that the LORD feet. hath called these three kings together, to deliver them into the hand of Moab !

11 But Jehoshaphat said, Is there not here a prophet of the LORD, that we may enquire 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

18 And this is but a light thing in the sight of the LORD: he will deliver the Moabites also into your hand.

at their

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 + Heb with stones.

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.

grieve.

Elisha multiplieth the widow's oil.

Before

25 And they beat down the cities, and on every HRIST good piece of land cast every man his stone, and filled it; and they stopped all the wells of water, and felled Heb. all the good trees: † only in Kir-haraseth left they left the the stones thereof; howbeit the slingers went about stones it, and smote it.. thereof in Kir

until he

26 And when the king of Moab saw that the haraseth. 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.

scant not

27 Then he took his eldest son, that should have reigned in his stead, and offered him for a burntoffering upon the wall. And there was great indignation against Israel: and they departed from him, and returned to their own land.

CHAP. IV.

1 Elisha multiplieth the widow's oil: 8 he is hospitably entertained by a great woman at Shunem, who is requited by the promise of a son: 18 he by prayer raiseth her dead son to life: 38 at Gilgal he healeth the deadly pottage: 42 he satisfieth an hundred men with twenty loaves. Now there cried a certain woman of the wives of OW

the sons of the prophets unto Elisha, saying, Thy servant my husband is dead; and thou knowest that thy servant did fear the LORD: and the creditor is come to take unto him my two sons to be bond-men.

2 And Elisha said unto her, What shall I do for thee? tell me, what hast thou in the house? And she said, Thine handmaid hath not any thing in the house, save a pot of oil.

3 Then he said, Go, borrow thee vessels abroad of all Or, thy neighbours, even empty vessels; || borrow not a few. 4 And when thou art come in, thou shalt shut the door upon thee and upon thy sons, and shalt pour out into all those vessels, and thou shalt set aside that which is full.

Or,

ereditor.

therewas

5 So she went from him, and shut the door upon her and upon her sons, who brought the vessels to her; and she poured out.

6 And it came to pass, when the vessels were full, that she said unto her son, Bring me yet a vessel. And he said unto her, There is not a vessel more. And the oil stayed.

7 Then she came and told the man of God: and he said, Go, sell the oil, and pay thy || debt, and live thou and thy children of the rest.

Heb. 8 And it fell on a day, that Elisha passed to a day. Shunem, where was a great woman; and she † con+Heb. strained him to eat bread. And so it was, that as oft as he passed by, he turned in thither to eat bread.

laid hold on him.

9 And she said unto her husband, Behold now, I perceive that this is an holy man of God which passeth by us continually.

10 Let us make a little chamber, I pray thee, on the wall; and let us set for him there a bed, and a table, and a stool, and a candlestick: and it shall be, when he cometh to us, that he shall turn in thither.

11 And it fell on a day, that he came thither, and he turned into the chamber, and lay there.

12 And he said to Gehazi his servant, Call this Shunammite. And when he had called her, she stood before him..

13.And he said unto him, Say now unto her, Be

CHRIST

The Shunammite's dead son raised to life. hold, thou hast been careful for us with all this care; Before what is to be done for thee? wouldest thou be spoken 895. for to the king, or to the captain of the host And she answered, I dwell among mine own people.

14 And he said, What then is to be done for her? And Gehazi answered, Verily she hath no child, and her husband is old.

15 And he said, Call her. And when he had called her, she stood in the door.

a Genes,.

16 And he said, About this season, according 18. 10. to the time of life, thou shalt embrace a son. And + Heb. she said, Nay, my lord, thou man of God, do not lie set time. unto thine handmaid.

17 And the woman conceived, and bare a son at* that season that Elisha had said unto her, according to the time of life.

18 And when the child was grown, it fell on a day, that he went out to his father to the reapers. 19 And he said unto his father, My head, my head! And he said to a lad, Carry him to his mother. 20 And when he had taken him, and brought him to his mother, he sat on her knees till noon, and then died. 21 And she went up, and laid him on the bed of the man of God, and shut the door upon him, and went out. 22 And she called unto her husband, and said, Send me, I pray thee, one of the young men, and one of the asses, that I may run to the man of God, and come again.

23 And he said, Wherefore wilt thou go to him to-day? it is neither new-moon, nor sabbath. And she said, It shall be † well.

+Heb,

peace.

24 Then she saddled an ass, and said to her servant, Drive, and go forward; slack not thy riding for me, + Heb. except I bid thee.

restrain not for rides

25 So she went, and came unto the man of God to me to. mount Carmel. And it came to pass, when the man of God saw her afar off, that he said to Gehazi his servant, Rehold, yonder is that Shunammite:

26 Run now, I pray thee, to meet her, and say unto her, Is it well with thee? is it well with thy husband? is it well with the child? And she answered, It is well. 27 And when she came to the man of God to the hill, she caught him by the feet: but Gehazi came + Heb. by his near to thrust her away And the man of God said, feet. Let her alone; for her soul is + vexed within her: and + Heb.. the LORD hath hid it from me, and hath not told me. 28 Then she said, Did I desire a son of my lord? did I not say, Do not deceive me?

The deadly pottage healed.

CHRIST

$95.

Before 34 And he went up, and lay upon the child, and put HS his mouth upon his mouth, and his eyes upon his eyes, and his hands upon his hands; and he stretched himself upon the child, and the flesh of the child waxed warm. 35 Then he returned, and walked in the house to and fro; and went up, and stretched himself upon him: and the child sneesed seven times, and the and once child opened his eyes.

+ Heb.

once

hither

thither.

i. 891.

Heb.

36 And he called Gehazi, and said, Call this Shunammite. So he called her: and when she was come in unto him, he said, Take up thy son.

37 Then she went in, and fell at his feet, and bowed herself to the ground, and took up her son, and went

out.

38 And Elisha came again to Gilgal: and there was a dearth in the land; and the sons of the prophets were sitting before him: and he said unto his servant, Set on the great pot, and seethe pottage for the sons of the prophets.

39 And one went out into the field to gather herbs, and found a wild vine, and gathered thereof wild gourds his lap-full, and came and shred them into the pot of pottage: for they knew them not.

40 So they poured out for the men to eat: and it came to pass, as they were eating of the pottage, that they cried out, and said, O thou man of God, there is death in the pot and they could not eat thereof.

41 But he said, Then bring meal: and he cast it into the pot; and he said, Pour out for the people, that they may eat and there was no + liarm in the pot. 42 And there came a man from Baal-shalisha, and brought the man of God bread of the first fruits, twenty loaves of barley, and full ears of corn || in the scrip, or, husk thereof and he said, Give unto the people, that garment. they may eat.

evil thing. || Or, in his

43 And his servitor said, What! should I set this before an hundred men? He said again, Give the people, that they may eat for thus saith the LORD, John They shall eat, and shall leave thereof.

6. 11.

+ Heb. before. || Or,

44 So he set it before them, and they did eat, and left thereof, according to the word of the LORD.

CHAP. V.

1 Naaman is sent to Samaria to be cured of his leprosy. 8 Elisha sendeth him to wash in Jordan, whereby he is healed. 15 Nauman acknowledgeth the true God; Eli-sha will not accept of his present, but sendeth him away in peace. 20 Gehazi by a lie obtaineth a present from Naaman, and is smitten with leprosy. cir. 894. TOW Naaman, captain of the host of the king of NOW Syria, was a great man + with his master, and +honourable, because by him the LORD had given gracious. deliverance unto Syria: he was also a mighty man +Heb. in valour; but he was a leper. lifted up 2 And the Syrians had gone out by companies, and cepted in had brought away captive out of the land of Israel a counte little maid; and she waited on Naaman's wife. 3 And she said unto her mistress, Would God my | Or, victory. lord were with the prophet that is in Samaria! for + Heb. he would recover him of his leprosy.

or, ac

Naaman's leprosy cured..

CHRIST cir. 894.

and took with him 'ten talents of silver, and six thou- Before sand pieces of gold, and ten changes of raiment. 6 And he brought the letter to the king of Israel, saying, Now when this letter is come unto thee, be- + Heb. hold, I have therewith sent Naaman my servant to thee, hand that thou mayest recover him of his leprosy.

7 And it came to pass, when the king of Israel had read the letter, that he rent his clothes, and said, Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man doth send unto me to recover a man of his leprosy? wherefore consider, I pray you, and see how he seeketh a quarrel against me.

8 And it was so, when Elisha the man of God had heard that the king of Israel had rent his clothes, that he sent to the king, saying, Wherefore hast thou rent thy clothes? let him come now to me, and he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel.

9 So Naaman came with his horses and with his chariot, and stood at the door of the house of Elisha. 10 And Elisha sent a messenger unto him, saying, Go and wash in Jordan seven times, and thy flesh shall come again to thee, and thou shalt be clean.

with my→ self, He 12 Are not Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Da- willsure ly come mascus, better than all the waters of Israel? I not may out, &c. wash in them, and be clean? So he turned, and went + Heb. away in a rage.

move up anddown 13 And his servants came near, and spake unto || Or, him, and said, My father, if the prophet had bid thee Amana. do some great thing, wouldest thou not have done it? how much rather then, when he saith to thee, Wash, and be clean?

14 Then went he down, and dipped himself seven times in Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God and his flesh came again like unto the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.

15 And he returned to the man of God, he and all his company, and came and stood before him and he said, Behold, now I know that there is no. God in all the earth, but in Israel: now therefore, I pray thee, take a blessing of thy servant.

16 But he said, As the LORD liveth, before whom I stand, I will receive none. And he urged him to take it; but he refused.

17 And Naaman said, Shall there not then, I pray thee, be given to thy servant two mules' burden of earth? for thy servant will henceforth offer neither burnt-offering nor sacrifice unto other gods, but unto the LORD.'

18 In this thing the LORD pardon thy servant, that when my master goeth into the house of Rimmon to worship there, and he leaneth on my hand, and I bow myself in the house of Rimmon: when I bow down myself in the house of Rimmon, the LORD pardon thy servant in this thing.

19 And he said unto him, Go in peace. So he departed from him a little way.

a Luke 4. 27.

+ Heb. 20 But Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of a little God, said, Behold, my master hath spared Naaman ground. piece of

t