The Lord made an agreement ¹  with them ²  and instructed them, “You must not worship other gods. Do not bow down to them, serve them, or offer sacrifices to them.

But they ¹  pay no attention; instead they observe their earlier practices.

So this is what the Lord says about the king of Assyria: “He will not enter this city, nor will he shoot an arrow here. ¹  He will not attack it with his shield-carrying warriors, ²  nor will he build siege works against it.

But when they went to bury her, they found nothing left but ¹  the skull, feet, and palms of the hands.

But they did not pay attention and were as stubborn as their ancestors, ¹  who had not trusted the Lord their God.

You must never forget the agreement I made with you, and you must not worship other gods.

The Lord was with him; he succeeded in all his endeavors. ¹  He rebelled against the king of Assyria and refused to submit to him. ² 

He abandoned the Lord God of his ancestors and did not follow the Lord’s instructions. ¹ 

By the ninth day of the fourth month ¹  the famine in the city was so severe the residents ²  had no food.

But the Lord had mercy on them and felt pity for them. ¹  He extended his favor to them ²  because of the promise he had made ³  to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He has been unwilling to destroy them or remove them from his presence to this very day. ⁴ 

This happened because they did not obey ¹  the Lord their God and broke his agreement with them. ²  They did not pay attention to and obey all that Moses, the Lord’s servant, had commanded. ³ 

While Elisha was watching, he was crying out, “My father, my father! The chariot and horsemen of Israel!” ¹  Then he could no longer see him. He grabbed his clothes and tore them in two.

But they were so insistent, he became embarrassed. So he said, “Send them out.” They sent the fifty men out and they looked for three days, but could not find Elijah. ¹ 

So the kings of Israel, Judah, and Edom ¹  set out together. They wandered around on the road for seven days and finally ran out of water for the men and animals they had with them.

for this is what the Lord says, ‘You will not feel ¹  any wind or see any rain, but this valley will be full of water and you and your cattle and animals will drink.’

He said, “Why do you want to go see him today? It is not the new moon ¹  or the Sabbath.” She said, “Everything’s fine.” ² 

The stew was poured out ¹  for the men to eat. When they ate some of the stew, they cried out, “Death is in the pot, O prophet!” They could not eat it.

He said, “Get some flour.” Then he threw it into the pot and said, “Now pour some out for the men so they may eat.” ¹  There was no longer anything harmful in the pot.

So the king of Israel sent a message to the place the prophet had pointed out, warning it ¹  to be on its guard. This happened on several occasions. ² 

So he threw a big banquet ¹  for them and they ate and drank. Then he sent them back ²  to their master. After that no Syrian raiding parties again invaded the land of Israel.