Study Desk

Then the group of prophets from Jericho came to Elisha and asked him, "Did you know that the Lord is going to take your master away from you today?" "Of course I know," Elisha answered. "But be quiet about it."

Then Elijah said to Elisha, "Stay here, for the Lord has told me to go to the Jordan River." But again Elisha replied, "As surely as the Lord lives and you yourself live, I will never leave you." So they went on together.

"You have asked a difficult thing," Elijah replied. "If you see me when I am taken from you, then you will get your request. But if not, then you won't."

But they kept urging him until they shamed him into agreeing, and he finally said, "All right, send them." So fifty men searched for three days but did not find Elijah.

One day the leaders of the town of Jericho visited Elisha. "We have a problem, my lord," they told him. "This town is located in pleasant surroundings, as you can see. But the water is bad, and the land is unproductive."

He did what was evil in the Lord 's sight, but not to the same extent as his father and mother. He at least tore down the sacred pillar of Baal that his father had set up.

But after Ahab's death, the king of Moab rebelled against the king of Israel.

The king of Edom and his troops joined them, and all three armies traveled along a roundabout route through the wilderness for seven days. But there was no water for the men or their animals.

But King Jehoshaphat of Judah asked, "Is there no prophet of the Lord with us? If there is, we can ask the Lord what to do through him." One of King Joram's officers replied, "Elisha son of Shaphat is here. He used to be Elijah's personal assistant."

"Why are you coming to me?" Elisha asked the king of Israel. "Go to the pagan prophets of your father and mother!" But King Joram of Israel said, "No! For it was the Lord who called us three kings here—only to be defeated by the king of Moab!"

You will see neither wind nor rain, says the Lord , but this valley will be filled with water. You will have plenty for yourselves and your cattle and other animals.

But this is only a simple thing for the Lord , for he will make you victorious over the army of Moab!

But when they got up the next morning, the sun was shining across the water, making it appear red to the Moabites—like blood.

But when the Moabites arrived at the Israelite camp, the army of Israel rushed out and attacked them until they turned and ran. The army of Israel chased them into the land of Moab, destroying everything as they went.

They destroyed the towns, covered their good land with stones, stopped up all the springs, and cut down all the good trees. Finally, only Kir-hareseth and its stone walls were left, but men with slings surrounded and attacked it.

When the king of Moab saw that he was losing the battle, he led 700 of his swordsmen in a desperate attempt to break through the enemy lines near the king of Edom, but they failed.

One day the widow of a member of the group of prophets came to Elisha and cried out, "My husband who served you is dead, and you know how he feared the Lord . But now a creditor has come, threatening to take my two sons as slaves."

But sure enough, the woman soon became pregnant. And at that time the following year she had a son, just as Elisha had said.

So the servant took him home, and his mother held him on her lap. But around noontime he died.

"Why go today?" he asked. "It is neither a new moon festival nor a Sabbath." But she said, "It will be all right."