He looked up at the window and said, “Who is on my side? Who?” Two or three ¹  eunuchs looked down at him.

When they received the letter, they seized the king’s sons and executed all seventy of them. ¹  They put their heads in baskets and sent them to him in Jezreel.

Jehoahaz asked for the Lord’s mercy ¹  and the Lord responded favorably, ²  for he saw that Israel was oppressed by the king of Syria. ³ 

The king of Assyria responded favorably to his request; ¹  he ²  attacked Damascus and captured it. He deported the people ³  to Kir and executed Rezin.

When he left there, he met ¹  Jehonadab, son of Rekab, who had been looking for him. ²  Jehu greeted him and asked, ³  “Are you as committed to me as I am to you?” ⁴  Jehonadab answered, “I am!” Jehu replied, “If so, give me your hand.” ⁵  So he offered his hand and Jehu ⁶  pulled him up into the chariot.

They replied, ¹  “A man came up to meet us. He told us, “Go back to the king who sent you and tell him, ‘This is what the Lord says: “You must think there is no God in Israel! That explains why you are sending for an oracle from Baal Zebub, the god of Ekron. ²  Therefore you will not leave the bed you lie on, for you will certainly die.”’”

Some members of the prophetic guild ¹  in Bethel came out to Elisha and said, “Do you know that today the Lord is going to take your master from you?” ²  He answered, “Yes, I know. Be quiet.”

Some members of the prophetic guild in Jericho approached Elisha and said, “Do you know that today the Lord is going to take your master from you?” He answered, “Yes, I know. Be quiet.”

They said to him, “Look, there are fifty capable men with your servants. Let them go and look for your master, for the wind sent from the Lord ¹  may have carried him away and dropped him on one of the hills or in one of the valleys.” But Elisha ²  replied, “Don’t send them out.”

His servants approached and said to him, “O master, ¹  if the prophet had told you to do some difficult task, ²  you would have been willing to do it. ³  It seems you should be happy that he simply said, “Wash and you will be healed.” ⁴ 

Elisha ¹  replied, “I was there in spirit when a man turned and got down from his chariot to meet you. ²  This is not the proper time to accept silver or to accept clothes, olive groves, vineyards, sheep, cattle, and male and female servants. ³ 

The prophet’s ¹  attendant got up early in the morning. When he went outside there was an army surrounding the city, along with horses and chariots. He said to Elisha, ²  “Oh no, my master! What will we do?”

Now the king had placed the officer who was his right-hand man ¹  at the city gate. When the people rushed out, they trampled him to death in the gate. ²  This fulfilled the prophet’s word which he had spoken when the king tried to arrest him. ³ 

Joram ¹  crossed over to Zair with all his chariots. The Edomites, who had surrounded him, attacked at night and defeated him and his chariot officers. ²  The Israelite army retreated to their homeland. ³ 

In the seventh year Jehoiada summoned ¹  the officers of the units of hundreds of the Carians ²  and the royal bodyguard. ³  He met with them ⁴  in the Lord’s temple. He made an agreement ⁵  with them and made them swear an oath of allegiance in the Lord’s temple. Then he showed them the king’s son.

Now Elisha had a terminal illness. ¹  King Joash of Israel went down to visit him. ²  He wept before him and said, “My father, my father! The chariot ³  and horsemen of Israel!” ⁴ 

“This is what Hezekiah says: ¹  ‘This is a day of distress, insults, ²  and humiliation, ³  as when a baby is ready to leave the birth canal, but the mother lacks the strength to push it through. ⁴ 

Isaiah the prophet visited King Hezekiah and asked him, “What did these men say? Where do they come from?” Hezekiah replied, “They come from the distant land of Babylon.”

Say this to the king of Judah, who sent you to seek an oracle from the Lord: “This is what the Lord God of Israel says concerning the words you have heard:

He asked, “What is this grave marker I see?” The men from the city replied, “It’s the grave of the prophet ¹  who came from Judah and foretold these very things you have done to the altar of Bethel.”