2 Chronicles 21:4; 2 Kings 8:18–22; 2 Chronicles 21:6–17; Obadiah; 2 Kings 4:18–37; 2 Kings 8:1–2; 2 Kings 4:38–44; 2 Kings 5

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2 Chronicles 21:4

When Jehoram had ascended the throne of his father and was established, he killed all his brothers with the sword, and also some of the princes of eIsrael.


2 Kings 8:18–22

18 And he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, as the house of Ahab had done, for kthe daughter of Ahab was his wife. And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. 19 Yet the Lord was not willing to destroy Judah, for the sake of David his servant, lsince he promised to give ma lamp to him and to his sons forever.

20 In his days Edom revolted from the rule of Judah and set up na king of their own. 21 Then Joram1 passed over to Zair with all his chariots and rose by night, and he and his chariot commanders struck the Edomites who had surrounded him, but his army ofled home. 22 pSo Edom revolted from the rule of Judah to this day. Then qLibnah revolted at the same time.


2 Chronicles 21:6–17

iAnd he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, as the house of Ahab had done, for jthe daughter of Ahab was his wife. And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. Yet the Lord was not willing to destroy the house of David, because of the covenant that he had made with David, and since he had promised to give ka lamp to him and to his sons forever.

In his days Edom revolted from the lrule of Judah and set up a king of their own. Then Jehoram passed over with his commanders and all his chariots, and he rose by night and struck the Edomites who had surrounded him and his chariot commanders. 10 So Edom revolted from mthe rule of Judah to this day. At that time Libnah also revolted from his rule, because he had forsaken the Lord, the God of his fathers.

11 Moreover, he made high places in the hill country of Judah and led the inhabitants of Jerusalem ninto whoredom and made Judah go astray. 12 And a letter came to him from Elijah the prophet, saying, Thus says the Lord, the God of David your father, oBecause you have not walked in the ways of Jehoshaphat your father, or pin the ways of Asa king of Judah, 13 ibut have walked in the way of the kings of Israel and have enticed Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem ninto whoredom, qas the house of Ahab led Israel into whoredom, and also you rhave killed your brothers, of your father’s house, who were better than you, 14 behold, the Lord will bring a great plague on your people, your children, your wives, and all your possessions, 15 and you yourself will have a severe sickness swith a disease of your bowels, until your bowels come out because of the disease, day by day.

16 tAnd the Lord stirred up against Jehoram the anger1 of the Philistines and of uthe Arabians who are near the Ethiopians. 17 And they came up against Judah and invaded it and carried away all the possessions they found that belonged to the king’s house, and also his sons and his wives, so that no son was left to him except vJehoahaz, his youngest son.


Obadiah

The vision of Obadiah.

Edom Will Be Humbled

Thus says the Lord God aconcerning Edom:

bWe have heard a report from the Lord,

and a messenger has been sent among the nations:

Rise up! Let us rise against her for battle!

Behold, I will make you small among the nations;

you shall be utterly despised.1

cThe pride of your heart has deceived you,

you who live in the clefts of the rock,2

in your lofty dwelling,

dwho say in your heart,

Who will bring me down to the ground?

Though you soar aloft like the eagle,

though your nest is set among the stars,

from there I will bring you down,

declares the Lord.

If ethieves came to you,

if plunderers came by night

how you have been destroyed!

would they not steal only enough for themselves?

If egrape gatherers came to you,

would they not leave gleanings?

fHow Esau has been pillaged,

his treasures sought out!

All your allies have driven you to your border;

those at peace with you have deceived you;

they have prevailed against you;

gthose who eat your bread3 have set a trap beneath you

hyou have4 no understanding.

iWill I not on that day, declares the Lord,

destroy the wise men out of Edom,

and understanding out of jMount Esau?

And your mighty men shall be dismayed, kO Teman,

so that every man from jMount Esau will be cut off by slaughter.

Edom’s Violence Against Jacob

10  lBecause of the violence done to your brother Jacob,

shame shall cover you,

mand you shall be cut off forever.

11  nOn the day that you stood aloof,

oon the day that strangers carried off his wealth

and foreigners entered his gates

pand cast lots for Jerusalem,

you were like one of them.

12  qBut do not gloat over the day of your brother

in the day of his misfortune;

rdo not rejoice over the people of Judah

in the day of their ruin;

sdo not boast5

in the day of distress.

13  tDo not enter the gate of my people

in the day of their calamity;

tdo not gloat over his disaster

in the day of his calamity;

udo not loot his wealth

in the day of his calamity.

14  vDo not stand at the crossroads

to cut off his fugitives;

do not hand over his survivors

in the day of distress.

The Day of the Lord Is Near

15  For wthe day of the Lord is near upon all the nations.

xAs you have done, it shall be done to you;

your deeds shall return on your own head.

16  yFor as you have drunk on zmy holy mountain,

so all the nations shall drink continually;

they shall drink and swallow,

and shall be as though they had never been.

17  aBut in Mount Zion there shall be those who escape,

and it shall be holy,

band the house of Jacob shall possess their own possessions.

18  cThe house of Jacob shall be a fire,

and the house of Joseph a flame,

and the house of Esau dstubble;

they shall burn them and consume them,

eand there shall be no survivor for the house of Esau,

for the Lord has spoken.

The Kingdom of the Lord

19  Those of fthe Negeb bshall possess gMount Esau,

and those of the Shephelah shall possess hthe land of the Philistines;

they shall possess the land of Ephraim and the land of iSamaria,

and Benjamin shall possess Gilead.

20  The exiles of this host of the people of Israel

shall possess the land of the Canaanites as far as jZarephath,

and the exiles of Jerusalem who are in Sepharad

shall possess the cities of the Negeb.

21  kSaviors shall go up to Mount Zion

to rule gMount Esau,

and lthe kingdom shall be the Lord’s.


2 Kings 4:18–37

Elisha Raises the Shunammite’s Son

18 When the child had grown, he went out one day to his father among the reapers. 19 And he said to his father, Oh, nmy head, my head! The father said to his servant, Carry him to his mother. 20 And when he had lifted him and brought him to his mother, the child sat on her lap till noon, and then he died. 21 And she went up oand laid him on the bed of the gman of God and shut the door behind him and went out. 22 Then she called to her husband and said, Send me one of the servants and one of the donkeys, that I may quickly go to gthe man of God and come back again. 23 And he said, Why will you go to him today? It is neither pnew moon nor Sabbath. She said, All is well. 24 Then she saddled the donkey, and she said to her servant, Urge the animal on; do not slacken the pace for me unless I tell you. 25 So she set out and came to the man of God qat Mount Carmel.

When the man of God saw her coming, he said to Gehazi his servant, Look, there is the Shunammite. 26 Run at once to meet her and say to her, Is all well with you? Is all well with your husband? Is all well with the child? And she answered, All is well. 27 And when she came rto the mountain to the man of God, she caught hold of his feet. And Gehazi came to push her away. But the man of God said, Leave her alone, for she is in bitter distress, and the Lord has hidden it from me and has not told me. 28 Then she said, Did I ask my lord for a son? sDid I not say, Do not deceive me? 29 He said to Gehazi, tTie up your garment and utake my staff in your hand and go. If you meet anyone, vdo not greet him, and if anyone greets you, do not reply. And ulay my staff on the face of the child. 30 Then the mother of the child said, wAs the Lord lives and as you yourself live, I will not leave you. So he arose and followed her. 31 Gehazi went on ahead and laid the staff on the face of the child, but there was no sound or sign of life. Therefore he returned to meet him and told him, The child xhas not awakened.

32 When Elisha came into the house, he saw the child lying dead on his bed. 33 So he went in and yshut the door behind the two of them zand prayed to the Lord. 34 Then he went up and lay on the child, putting his mouth on his mouth, his eyes on his eyes, and his hands on his hands. And as ahe stretched himself upon him, the flesh of the child became warm. 35 Then he got up again and walked once back and forth in the house, and went up aand stretched himself upon him. The child sneezed seven times, and the child opened his eyes. 36 Then he summoned Gehazi and said, Call this Shunammite. So he called her. And when she came to him, he said, Pick up your son. 37 She came and fell at his feet, bowing to the ground. bThen she picked up her son and went out.


2 Kings 8:1–2

The Shunammite’s Land Restored

Now Elisha had said to the woman qwhose son he had restored to life, Arise, and depart with your household, and sojourn wherever you can, for the Lord rhas called for a famine, and it will come upon the land for sseven years. So the woman arose and did according to the word of the man of God. She went with her household and sojourned in the land of the Philistines seven years.


2 Kings 4:38–44

Elisha Purifies the Deadly Stew

38 And Elisha came again to cGilgal when dthere was a famine in the land. And as ethe sons of the prophets fwere sitting before him, he said to his servant, gSet on the large pot, and boil stew for the sons of the prophets. 39 One of them went out into the field to gather herbs, and found a wild vine and gathered from it his lap full of wild gourds, and came and cut them up into the pot of stew, not knowing what they were. 40 And they poured out some for the men to eat. But while they were eating of the stew, they cried out, O man of God, there is death in the pot! And they could not eat it. 41 He said, Then bring flour. hAnd he threw it into the pot and said, Pour some out for the men, that they may eat. And there was no harm in the pot.

42 A man came from iBaal-shalishah, jbringing the man of God bread of the firstfruits, twenty loaves of barley and fresh ears of grain in his sack. And Elisha said, kGive to the men, that they may eat. 43 But his servant said, How can I set this before a hundred men? So he repeated, Give them to the men, that they may eat, for thus says the Lord, They shall eat and have some left. 44 So he set it before them. And they ate and had some left, according to the word of the Lord.


2 Kings 5

Naaman Healed of Leprosy

lNaaman, mcommander of the army of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master and in high favor, because by him the Lord had given victory to Syria. He was a mighty man of valor, but he was a leper.1 Now the Syrians on none of their raids had carried off a little girl from the land of Israel, and she worked in the service of Naaman’s wife. She said to her mistress, Would that my lord were with the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy. So Naaman went in and told his lord, Thus and so spoke the girl from the land of Israel. And the king of Syria said, Go now, and I will send a letter to the king of Israel.

So he went, otaking with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels2 of gold, and ten pchanges of clothing. And he brought the letter to the king of Israel, which read, When this letter reaches you, know that I have sent to you Naaman my servant, that you may cure him of his leprosy. And when the king of Israel read the letter, qhe tore his clothes and said, rAm I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man sends word to me to cure a man of his leprosy? Only sconsider, and see how he is seeking a quarrel with me.

But when Elisha the tman of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, he sent to the king, saying, Why have you torn your clothes? Let him come now to me, that he may know that there is a prophet in Israel. So Naaman came with his horses and chariots and stood at the door of Elisha’s house. 10 And Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, uGo and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored, and you shall be clean. 11 But Naaman was angry and went away, saying, Behold, I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call upon the name of the Lord his God, and wave his hand over the place and cure the leper. 12 Are not Abana3 and Pharpar, the rivers of vDamascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them and be clean? So he turned and went away in a rage. 13 But his servants came near and said to him, wMy father, it is a great word the prophet has spoken to you; will you not do it? Has he actually said to you, Wash, and be clean? 14 So he went down and dipped himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God, xand his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child, yand he was clean.

Gehazi’s Greed and Punishment

15 Then he returned to the man of God, he and all his company, and he came and stood before him. And he said, Behold, I know that zthere is no God in all the earth but in Israel; so aaccept now a present from your servant. 16 But he said, bAs the Lord lives, before whom I stand, cI will receive none. And he urged him to take it, but he refused. 17 Then Naaman said, If not, please let there be given to your servant two mule loads of earth, for from now on your servant will not offer burnt offering or sacrifice to any god but the Lord. 18 In this matter may the Lord pardon your servant: when my master goes into the house of dRimmon to worship there, eleaning on my arm, and I bow myself in the house of Rimmon, when I bow myself in the house of Rimmon, the Lord pardon your servant in this matter. 19 He said to him, fGo in peace.

But when Naaman had gone from him a short distance, 20 gGehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, said, See, my master has spared this Naaman the Syrian, in not accepting from his hand what he brought. hAs the Lord lives, I will run after him and get something from him. 21 So Gehazi followed Naaman. And when Naaman saw someone running after him, he got down from the chariot to meet him and said, iIs all well? 22 And he said, All is well. My master has sent me to say, There have just now come to me from jthe hill country of Ephraim two young men of the sons of the prophets. Please give them a talent of silver and ktwo changes of clothing. 23 And Naaman said, lBe pleased to accept two talents. And he urged him and tied up two talents of silver in two bags, with two changes of clothing, and laid them on two of his servants. And they carried them before Gehazi. 24 And when he came to the hill, he took them from their hand and put them in the house, and he sent the men away, and they departed. 25 He went in and stood before his master, and Elisha said to him, Where have you been, Gehazi? And he said, Your servant went nowhere. 26 But he said to him, Did not my heart go when the man turned from his chariot to meet you? Was it a time to accept money and garments, olive orchards and vineyards, sheep and oxen, male servants and female servants? 27 Therefore the leprosy of Naaman shall cling to you and to your descendants forever. So he went out from his presence ma leper, like snow.