1 After the death of Ahab, Moab rebelled against Israel.

2 Now Ahaziah had fallen through the lattice of his upper room in Samaria and injured himself. So he sent messengers and instructed them: “Go inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, whether I will recover from this injury.”

3 But the angel of the Lord said to Elijah the Tishbite, “Go up to meet the messengers of the king of Samaria and ask them, ‘Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are on your way to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron?’ 4Therefore this is what the Lord says: ‘You will not get up from the bed on which you are lying. You will surely die.’”

So Elijah departed.

5 When the messengers returned to the king, he asked them, “Why have you returned?”

6 They replied, “A man came up to meet us and said, ‘Go back to the king who sent you and tell him that this is what the Lord says: Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are sending these men to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron? Therefore you will not get up from the bed on which you are lying. You will surely die.’”

7 The king asked them, “What sort of man came up to meet you and spoke these words to you?”

8“He was a hairy man,” they answered, “with a leather belt around his waist.”

“It was Elijah the Tishbite,” said the king.

9 Then King Ahaziah sent to Elijah a captain with his company of fifty men. So the captain went up to Elijah, who was sitting on top of a hill, and said to him, “Man of God, the king declares, ‘Come down!’”

10 Elijah answered the captain, “If I am a man of God, may fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty men.”

And fire came down from heaven and consumed the captain and his fifty men.

11 So the king sent to Elijah another captain with his fifty men. And the captain said to Elijah, “Man of God, the king declares, ‘Come down at once!’”

12 Again Elijah replied, “If I am a man of God, may fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty men.”

And the fire of God came down from heaven and consumed the captain and his fifty men.

13 So the king sent a third captain with his fifty men. And the third captain went up, fell on his knees before Elijah, and begged him, “Man of God, may my life and the lives of these fifty servants of yours please be precious in your sight. 14Behold, fire has come down from heaven and consumed the first two captains of fifty, with all their men. But now may my life be precious in your sight.”

15 Then the angel of the Lord said to Elijah, “Go down with him. Do not be afraid of him.”

So Elijah got up and went down with him to the king.

16 And Elijah said to King Ahaziah, “This is what the Lord says: Is there really no God in Israel for you to inquire of His word? Is that why you have sent messengers to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron? Therefore you will not get up from the bed on which you are lying. You will surely die.”

17 So Ahaziah died according to the word of the Lord that Elijah had spoken. And since he had no son, Jehoram succeeded him in the second year of the reign of Jehoram son of Jehoshaphat over Judah.

18 As for the rest of the acts of Ahaziah, along with his accomplishments, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?

1 Shortly before the Lord took Elijah up to heaven in a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal, 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.

3 Then 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.”

4 And 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.

5 Then the sons of the prophets at Jericho came up 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.”

6 And 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.

7 Then a company of fifty of the sons of the prophets went and stood at a distance, facing Elijah and Elisha as the two of them stood by the Jordan. 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.

9 After they had crossed over, Elijah said to Elisha, “Tell me, what can I do for you before I am taken away from you?”

“Please, let me inherit a double portion of your spirit,” Elisha replied.

10“You have requested a difficult thing,” said Elijah. “Nevertheless, if you see me as I am taken from you, it will be yours. But if not, then it will not be so.”

11 As they were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire with horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up into heaven in a whirlwind.

12 As 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.

13 Elisha also picked up the cloak that had fallen from Elijah, and he went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan. 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.

15 When 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.

16“Look now,” they said to Elisha, “we your servants have fifty valiant men. Please let them go and search for your master. Perhaps the Spirit of the Lord has taken him up and put him on one of the mountains or in one of the valleys.”

“Do not send them,” Elisha replied.

17 But 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.

18 When they returned to Elisha, who was staying in Jericho, he said to them, “Didn’t I tell you not to go?”

19 Then the men of the city said to Elisha, “Please note, our lord, that the city’s location is good, as you can see. But the water is bad and the land is unfruitful.”

20“Bring me a new bowl,” he replied, “and put some salt in it.”

So they brought it to him, 21and Elisha went out to the spring, cast the salt into it, and said, “This is what the Lord says: ‘I have healed this water. No longer will it cause death or unfruitfulness.’”

22 And the waters there have been healthy to this day, according to the word spoken by Elisha.

23 From there, Elisha went up to Bethel, and as he was walking up the road, a group of boys came out of the city and jeered at him, chanting, “Go up, you baldhead! Go up, you baldhead!”

24 Then he turned around, looked at them, and called down a curse on them in the name of the Lord.

Suddenly two female bears came out of the woods and mauled forty-two of the boys.

25 And Elisha went on to Mount Carmel, and from there he returned to Samaria.

42 As Paul and Barnabas were leaving the synagogue, the people urged them to continue this message on the next Sabbath. 43After the synagogue was dismissed, many of the Jews and devout converts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas, who spoke to them and urged them to continue in the grace of God.

44 On the following Sabbath, nearly the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord. 45But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy, and they blasphemously contradicted what Paul was saying.

46 Then Paul and Barnabas answered them boldly: “It was necessary to speak the word of God to you first. But since you reject it and do not consider yourselves worthy of eternal life, we now turn to the Gentiles. 47For this is what the Lord has commanded us:

48 When the Gentiles heard this, they rejoiced and glorified the word of the Lord, and all who were appointed for eternal life believed. 49And the word of the Lord spread throughout that region.

50 The Jews, however, incited the religious women of prominence and the leading men of the city. They stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas and drove them out of their district. 51So they shook the dust off their feet in protest against them and went to Iconium. 52And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.

1 At Iconium, Paul and Barnabas went as usual into the Jewish synagogue, where they spoke so well that a great number of Jews and Greeks believed. 2But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brothers. 3So Paul and Barnabas spent considerable time there, speaking boldly for the Lord, who affirmed the message of His grace by enabling them to perform signs and wonders.

4 The people of the city were divided. Some sided with the Jews, and others with the apostles. 5But when the Gentiles and Jews, together with their rulers, set out to mistreat and stone them, 6they found out about it and fled to the Lycaonian cities of Lystra and Derbe and to the surrounding region, 7where they continued to preach the gospel.