Hello, this is Father Paul, and I'm glad we're
taking this journey together to read the Bible
in a year. Today we begin the book of 2 Kings,
and today's readings are from 2 Kings chapters
1 through 3. Chapter 1 Moab rebelled against
Israel after the death of Ahab. Now Ahaziah fell
through the lattice of his upper room in Samaria
and was injured. So he sent messengers and said
to them, Go inquire of Baal Zebub. the god of
Ekron, whether I shall recover from this injury.
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 to them, Is it
because there is no god in Israel that you are
going to inquire of Baal Zibob, the god of Ekron?
Now therefore, thus says the Lord, You shall
not come down from the bed to which you have
gone up, but you shall surely die. So Elijah
departed. But when the messengers returned to
him, he said to them, Why have you come back?
So they said to him, A man came up to meet us
and said to us, Go return to the king who sent
you and say to him, Thus says the Lord, Is it
because there is no God in Israel that you are
sending to inquire of Baal -zebub, the god of
Ekron? Therefore you shall not come down from
the bed to which you have gone up, but you shall
surely die. Then he said to them, What kind of
man was it who came up to meet you and told you
these words? So they answered him, A hairy man
wearing a leather belt around his waist. And
he said, It is Elijah the Tishbite. Then the
king sent to him a captain of fifty with his
fifty men. So he went up to him, and there he
was, sitting on the top of a hill. And he spoke
to him, Man of God, the king has said, Come down.
So Elijah answered and said to the captain of
fifty, If I am a man of God, then let fire come
down from heaven and consume you and your fifty
men. And fire came down from heaven and consumed
him and his fifty. Then he sent to him another
captain of fifty with his fifty men. And he answered
and said to him, Man of God, thus has the king
said, Come down quickly. So Elijah answered and
said to them, If I am a man of God, let fire
come down from heaven and consume you and your
fifty men. And the fire of God came down from
heaven and consumed him and his fifty. Again
he sent a third captain of fifty with his fifty
men. And the third captain of fifty went up and
came and fell on his knees before Elijah and
pleaded with him and said to him, Man of God,
please let my life and the life of these fifty
servants of yours be precious in your sight.
Look, fire has come down from heaven and burned
up the first two captains of fifties with their
fifties, but let my life now be precious in your
sight. And the angel of the Lord said to Elijah,
Go down with him, do not be afraid of him. So
he arose and went down with him to the king.
Then he said to him, Thus says the Lord, Because
you have sent messengers to inquire of Beelzebub,
the god of Ekron, is it because there is no god
in Israel to inquire of his word? Therefore you
shall not come down from the bed to which you
have gone up, but you shall surely die. So Ahaziah
died according to the word of the Lord, which
Elijah had spoken. Because he had no son, Jehoram
became king in his place. In the second year
of Jehoram, the son of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah.
Now the rest of the acts of Isaiah which he did,
are they not written in the book of the chronicles
of the kings of Israel? Chapter 2 And it came
to pass, when the Lord was about to take up Elijah
into heaven by a whirlwind, that Elijah went
with Elisha from Gilgal. Then Elijah said to
Elisha, Stay here, please, for the Lord has sent
me on to Bethel. But Elisha said, As the Lord
lives and as your soul lives, I will not leave
you. So they went down to Bethel. Now the sons
of the prophets who were at Bethel came out to
Elisha and said to him, Do you know that the
Lord will take away your master from over you
today? And he said, Yes, I know. Keep silent.
Then Elijah said to him, Elisha, stay here, please,
for the Lord has sent me on to Jericho. But he
said, As the Lord lives and as your soul lives,
I will not leave you. So they came to Jericho.
Now the sons of the prophets who were at Jericho
came to Elisha and said to him, Do you know that
the Lord will take away your master from over
you today? So he answered, Yes, I know. Keep
silent. Then Elijah said to him, Stay here, please,
for the Lord has sent me on to the Jordan. But
he said, As the Lord lives and as your soul lives,
I will not leave you. So the two of them went
on, and fifty men of the sons of the prophets
went and stood facing them at a distance, while
the two of them stood by the Jordan. Now Elijah
took his mantle, rolled it up, and struck the
water. And it was divided this way and that,
so that the two of them crossed over on dry ground.
And so it was, when they had crossed over, that
Elijah said to Elisha, Ask, what may I do for
you before I am taken away from you? Elisha said,
Please let a double portion of your spirit be
upon me. So he said, You have asked a hard thing.
Nevertheless, if you see me when I am taken from
you, it shall be so for you. But if not, it shall
not be so. Then it happened, as they continued
on and talked, that suddenly a chariot of fire
appeared with horses of fire and separated the
two of them, and Elijah went up by a whirlwind
into heaven. And Elisha saw it, and he cried
out, My father, my father, the chariot of Israel
and its horsemen. So he saw him no more, and
he took hold of his own clothes and tore them
into two pieces. He also took up the mantle of
Elijah that had fallen from him and went back
and stood by the bank of the Jordan. Then he
took the mantle of Elijah that had fallen from
him and struck the water and said, Where is the
Lord God of Elijah? And when he also had struck
the water, it was divided this way and that,
and Elisha crossed over. Now when the sons of
the prophets who were from Jericho saw him, they
said, The spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha. And
they came to meet him and bowed to the ground
before him. Then they said to him, Look now,
there are fifty strong men with your servants.
Please let them go and search for your master,
lest perhaps the Spirit of God has taken him
up and cast him upon some mountain or into some
valley. And he said, You shall not send anyone.
But when they urged him till he was ashamed,
he said, Send them. Therefore they sent fifty
men, and they searched for three days, but did
not find them. And when they came back to him,
for he had stayed in Jericho, he said to them,
Did I not say to you, Do not go? Then the men
of the city said to Elisha, Please notice, the
situation of this city is pleasant, as my lord
sees, but the water is bad, and the ground barren.
And he said, Bring me a new bowl and put salt
in it. So they brought it to him. Then he went
out to the source of the water and cast in the
salt there, and said, Thus says the Lord, I have
healed this water. From it there shall be no
more death or barrenness. So the water remains
healed to this day, according to the word of
Elisha, which he spoke. Then he went up from
there to Bethel. And as he was going up the road,
some youth came from the city and mocked him
and said to him, Go up, you bald head, go up,
you bald head. So he turned around and looked
at them and pronounced a curse on them in the
name of the Lord. and two female bears came out
of the woods and mauled forty -two of the youth.
Then he went from there to Mount Carmel, and
from there he returned to Samaria. Chapter 3
Now Jehoram the son of Ahab became king over
Israel at Samaria in the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat
king of Judah, and reigned twelve years. And
he did evil in the sight of the Lord, but not
like his father and mother, for he put away the
sacred pillar of Baal that his father had made.
Nevertheless, he persisted in the sins of Jeroboam,
the son of Nebat, who had made Israel sin. He
did not depart from them. Now Misha, king of
Moab, was a sheep breeder, and he regularly paid
the king of Israel 100 ,000 lambs and the wool
of 100 ,000 rams. But it happened when Ahab died
that the king of Moab rebelled against the king
of Israel. So King Jehoram went out of Samaria
at that time and mustered all Israel. Then he
went and sent to Jehoshaphat, king of Judah,
saying, The king of Moab has rebelled against
me. Will you go with me to fight against Moab?
And he said, I will go up. I am as you are, my
people as your people, my horses as your horses.
Then he said, Which way shall we go up? And he
answered, By way of the wilderness of Edom. So
the king of Israel went with the king of Judah
and the king of Edom, and they marched on that
roundabout route seven days. And there was no
water for the army, nor for the animals that
followed them. And the king of Israel said, Alas,
for the Lord has called these three kings together
to deliver them into the hand of Moab. But Jehoshaphat
said, Is there no prophet of the Lord here that
we may inquire of the Lord by him? So one of
the servants of the king of Israel answered and
said, Elisha the son of Shaphat is here who poured
water on the hands of Elijah. 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. Then Elisha said to the
king of Israel, What have I to do with you? Go
to the prophets of your father and the prophets
of your mother. But the king of Israel said to
him, No. For the Lord has called these three
kings together to deliver them into the hands
of Moab. And Elisha said, As the Lord of hosts
lives, before whom I stand, surely were it not
that I regard the presence of Jehoshaphat, king
of Judah, I would not look at you, nor see you.
But now bring me a musician. Then it happened
when the musician played, that the hand of the
Lord came upon him. And he said, Thus says the
Lord, Make this valley full of ditches. For thus
says the Lord, You shall not see wind, nor shall
you see rain, yet the valley shall be filled
with water, so that you, your cattle, and your
animals may drink. And this is a simple matter
in the sight of the Lord. He will also deliver
the Moabites into your hand. Also you shall attack
every fortified city and every choice city. and
shall cut down every good tree, and stop up every
spring of water, and ruin every good piece of
land with stones. Now it happened in the morning,
when the grain offering was offered, that suddenly
water came by way of Edom, and the land was filled
with water. And when the Moabites heard that
the kings had come up to fight against him, all
who were able to bear arms and older were gathered,
and they stood at the border. Then they rose
up early in the morning, and the sun was shining
on the water. And the Moabites saw the water
on the other side as red as blood. And they said,
This is blood. The kings have surely struck swords
and have killed one another. Now therefore, Moab
to the spoil. So when they came to the camp of
Israel, Israel rose up and attacked the Moabites,
so that they fled before them. And they entered
their land. killing the Moabites. Then they destroyed
the cities, and each man threw a stone on every
good piece of land and filled it. And they stopped
up all the springs of water and cut down all
the good trees. But they left the stones of Kir
Harasit intact. However, the slingers surrounded
and attacked it. And when the king of Moab saw
that the battle was too fierce for him, he took
with him 700 men who drew swords to break through
to the king of Edom, but they could not. Then
he took his eldest son, who would have reigned
in his place, and offered him as a burnt offering
upon the wall. And there was great indignation
against Israel. So they departed from him and
returned to their own land. I hope you enjoyed
today's reading as much as I did, and I look
forward to seeing you again tomorrow to continue
on our journey. God bless you and have a great
day.