2 Kings 1; 2 Kings 2; 2 Kings 3; Luke 24:1-35

1 After the death of King Ahab of Israel the country of Moab rebelled against Israel.

2 King Ahaziah of Israel fell off the balcony on the roof of his palace in Samaria and was seriously injured. So he sent some messengers to consult Baalzebub, the god of the Philistine city of Ekron, in order to find out whether or not he would recover.

3 But an angel of the Lord commanded Elijah, the prophet from Tishbe, to go and meet the messengers of King Ahaziah and ask them, "Why are you going to consult Baalzebub, the god of Ekron? Is it because you think there is no god in Israel?

4 Tell the king that the Lord says, "You will not recover from your injuries; you will die!' " Elijah did as the Lord commanded,

5 and the messengers returned to the king. "Why have you come back?" he asked.

6 They answered, "We were met by a man who told us to come back and tell you that the Lord says to you, "Why are you sending messengers to consult Baalzebub, the god of Ekron? Is it because you think there is no god in Israel? You will not recover from your injuries; you will die!' "

7 "What did the man look like?" the king asked.

8 "He was wearing a cloak made of animal skins, tied with a leather belt," they answered. "It's Elijah!" the king exclaimed.

9 Then he sent an officer with fifty men to get Elijah. The officer found him sitting on a hill and said to him, "Man of God, the king orders you to come down."

10 "If I am a man of God," Elijah answered, "may fire come down from heaven and kill you and your men!" At once fire came down and killed the officer and his men.

11 The king sent another officer with fifty men, who went up and said to Elijah, "Man of God, the king orders you to come down at once!"

12 "If I am a man of God," Elijah answered, "may fire come down from heaven and kill you and your men!" At once the fire of God came down and killed the officer and his men.

13 Once more the king sent an officer with fifty men. He went up the hill, fell on his knees in front of Elijah, and pleaded, "Man of God, be merciful to me and my men. Spare our lives!

14 The two other officers and their men were killed by fire from heaven; but please be merciful to me!"

15 The angel of the Lord said to Elijah, "Go down with him, and don't be afraid." So Elijah went with the officer to the king

16 and said to him, "This is what the Lord says: "Because you sent messengers to consult Baalzebub, the god of Ekron - as if there were no god in Israel to consult - you will not get well; you will die!' "

17 Ahaziah died, as the Lord had said through Elijah. Ahaziah had no sons, so his brother Joram succeeded him as king in the second year of the reign of Jehoram son of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah.

18 Everything else that King Ahaziah did is recorded in [The History of the Kings of Israel.]

1 The time came for the Lord to take Elijah up to heaven in a whirlwind. Elijah and Elisha set out from Gilgal,

2 and on the way Elijah said to Elisha, "Now stay here; the Lord has ordered me to go to Bethel." But Elisha answered, "I swear by my loyalty to the living Lord and to you that I will not leave you." So they went on to Bethel.

3 A group of prophets who lived there went to Elisha and asked him, "Do you know that the Lord is going to take your master away from you today?" "Yes, I know," Elisha answered. "But let's not talk about it."

4 Then Elijah said to Elisha, "Now stay here; the Lord has ordered me to go to Jericho." But Elisha answered, "I swear by my loyalty to the living Lord and to you that I will not leave you." So they went on to Jericho.

5 A group of prophets who lived there went to Elisha and asked him, "Do you know that the Lord is going to take your master away from you today?" "Yes, I know," Elisha answered. "But let's not talk about it."

6 Then Elijah said to Elisha, "Now stay here; the Lord has ordered me to go to the Jordan River." But Elisha answered, "I swear by my loyalty to the living Lord and to you that I will not leave you." So they went on,

7 and fifty of the prophets followed them to the Jordan. Elijah and Elisha stopped by the river, and the fifty prophets stood a short distance away.

8 Then Elijah took off his cloak, rolled it up, and struck the water with it; the water divided, and he and Elisha crossed to the other side on dry ground.

9 There, Elijah said to Elisha, "Tell me what you want me to do for you before I am taken away." "Let me receive the share of your power that will make me your successor," Elisha answered.

10 "That is a difficult request to grant," Elijah replied. "But you will receive it if you see me as I am being taken away from you; if you don't see me, you won't receive it."

11 They kept talking as they walked on; then suddenly a chariot of fire pulled by horses of fire came between them, and Elijah was taken up to heaven by a whirlwind.

12 Elisha saw it and cried out to Elijah, "My father, my father! Mighty defender of Israel! You are gone!" And he never saw Elijah again. In grief Elisha tore his cloak in two.

13 Then he picked up Elijah's cloak that had fallen from him, and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan.

14 He struck the water with Elijah's cloak and said, "Where is the Lord, the God of Elijah?" Then he struck the water again, and it divided, and he walked over to the other side.

15 The fifty prophets from Jericho saw him and said, "The power of Elijah is on Elisha!" They went to meet him, bowed down before him,

16 and said, "There are fifty of us here, all strong men. Let us go and look for your master. Maybe the spirit of the Lord has carried him away and left him on some mountain or in some valley." "No, you must not go," Elisha answered.

17 But they insisted until he gave in and let them go. The fifty of them went and looked high and low for Elijah for three days, but didn't find him.

18 Then they returned to Elisha, who had waited at Jericho, and he said to them, "Didn't I tell you not to go?"

19 Some men from Jericho went to Elisha and said, "As you know, sir, this is a fine city, but the water is bad and causes miscarriages."

20 "Put some salt in a new bowl and bring it to me," he ordered. They brought it to him,

21 and he went to the spring, threw the salt in the water, and said, "This is what the Lord says: "I make this water pure, and it will not cause any more deaths or miscarriages.' "

22 And that water has been pure ever since, just as Elisha said it would be.

23 Elisha left Jericho to go to Bethel, and on the way some boys came out of a town and made fun of him. "Get out of here, baldy!" they shouted.

24 Elisha turned around, glared at them, and cursed them in the name of the Lord. Then two she-bears came out of the woods and tore forty-two of the boys to pieces.

25 Elisha went on to Mount Carmel and later returned to Samaria.

1 In the eighteenth year of the reign of King Jehoshaphat of Judah, Joram son of Ahab became king of Israel, and he ruled in Samaria for twelve years.

2 He sinned against the Lord, but he was not as bad as his father or his mother Jezebel; he pulled down the image his father had made for the worship of Baal.

3 Yet, like King Jeroboam son of Nebat before him, he led Israel into sin and would not stop.

4 King Mesha of Moab raised sheep, and every year he gave as tribute to the king of Israel 100,000 lambs and the wool from 100,000 sheep.

5 But when King Ahab of Israel died, Mesha rebelled against Israel.

6 At once King Joram left Samaria and gathered all his troops.

7 He sent word to King Jehoshaphat of Judah: "The king of Moab has rebelled against me; will you join me in war against him?" "I will," King Jehoshaphat replied. "I am at your disposal, and so are my men and my horses.

8 What route shall we take for the attack?" "We will go the long way through the wilderness of Edom," Joram answered.

9 So King Joram and the kings of Judah and Edom set out. After marching seven days, they ran out of water, and there was none left for the men or the pack animals.

10 "We're done for!" King Joram exclaimed. "The Lord has put the three of us at the mercy of the king of Moab!"

11 King Jehoshaphat asked, "Is there a prophet here through whom we can consult the Lord?" An officer of King Joram's forces answered, "Elisha son of Shaphat is here. He was Elijah's assistant."

12 "He is a true prophet," King Jehoshaphat said. So the three kings went to Elisha.

13 "Why should I help you?" Elisha said to the king of Israel. "Go and consult those prophets that your father and mother consulted." "No!" Joram replied. "It is the Lord who has put us three kings at the mercy of the king of Moab."

14 Elisha answered, "By the living Lord, whom I serve, I swear that I would have nothing to do with you if I didn't respect your ally, King Jehoshaphat of Judah.

15 Now get me a musician." As the musician played his harp, the power of the Lord came on Elisha,

16 and he said, "This is what the Lord says: "Dig ditches all over this dry stream bed.

17 Even though you will not see any rain or wind, this stream bed will be filled with water, and you, your livestock, and your pack animals will have plenty to drink.' "

18 And Elisha continued, "But this is an easy thing for the Lord to do; he will also give you victory over the Moabites.

19 You will conquer all their beautiful fortified cities; you will cut down all their fruit trees, stop all their springs, and ruin all their fertile fields by covering them with stones."

20 The next morning, at the time of the regular morning sacrifice, water came flowing from the direction of Edom and covered the ground.

21 When the Moabites heard that the three kings had come to attack them, all the men who could bear arms, from the oldest to the youngest, were called out and stationed at the border.

22 When they got up the following morning, the sun was shining on the water, making it look as red as blood.

23 "It's blood!" they exclaimed. "The three enemy armies must have fought and killed each other! Let's go and loot their camp!"

24 But when they reached the camp, the Israelites attacked them and drove them back. The Israelites kept up the pursuit, slaughtering the Moabites

25 and destroying their cities. As they passed by a fertile field, every Israelite would throw a stone on it until finally all the fields were covered; they also stopped up the springs and cut down the fruit trees. At last only the capital city of Kir Heres was left, and the slingers surrounded it and attacked it.

26 When the king of Moab realized that he was losing the battle, he took seven hundred swordsmen with him and tried to force his way through the enemy lines and escape to the king of Syria, but he failed.

27 So he took his oldest son, who was to succeed him as king, and offered him on the city wall as a sacrifice to the god of Moab. The Israelites were terrified and so they drew back from the city and returned to their own country.

1 Very early on Sunday morning the women went to the tomb, carrying the spices they had prepared.

2 They found the stone rolled away from the entrance to the tomb,

3 so they went in; but they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.

4 They stood there puzzled about this, when suddenly two men in bright shining clothes stood by them.

5 Full of fear, the women bowed down to the ground, as the men said to them, "Why are you looking among the dead for one who is alive?

6 He is not here; he has been raised. Remember what he said to you while he was in Galilee:

7 "The Son of Man must be handed over to sinners, be crucified, and three days later rise to life.' "

8 Then the women remembered his words,

9 returned from the tomb, and told all these things to the eleven disciples and all the rest.

10 The women were Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Mary the mother of James; they and the other women with them told these things to the apostles.

11 But the apostles thought that what the women said was nonsense, and they did not believe them.

12 But Peter got up and ran to the tomb; he bent down and saw the grave cloths but nothing else. Then he went back home amazed at what had happened.

13 On that same day two of Jesus' followers were going to a village named Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem,

14 and they were talking to each other about all the things that had happened.

15 As they talked and discussed, Jesus himself drew near and walked along with them;

16 they saw him, but somehow did not recognize him.

17 Jesus said to them, "What are you talking about to each other, as you walk along?" They stood still, with sad faces.

18 One of them, named Cleopas, asked him, "Are you the only visitor in Jerusalem who doesn't know the things that have been happening there these last few days?"

19 "What things?" he asked. "The things that happened to Jesus of Nazareth," they answered. "This man was a prophet and was considered by God and by all the people to be powerful in everything he said and did.

20 Our chief priests and rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and he was crucified.

21 And we had hoped that he would be the one who was going to set Israel free! Besides all that, this is now the third day since it happened.

22 Some of the women of our group surprised us; they went at dawn to the tomb,

23 but could not find his body. They came back saying they had seen a vision of angels who told them that he is alive.

24 Some of our group went to the tomb and found it exactly as the women had said, but they did not see him."

25 Then Jesus said to them, "How foolish you are, how slow you are to believe everything the prophets said!

26 Was it not necessary for the Messiah to suffer these things and then to enter his glory?"

27 And Jesus explained to them what was said about himself in all the Scriptures, beginning with the books of Moses and the writings of all the prophets.

28 As they came near the village to which they were going, Jesus acted as if he were going farther;

29 but they held him back, saying, "Stay with us; the day is almost over and it is getting dark." So he went in to stay with them.

30 He sat down to eat with them, took the bread, and said the blessing; then he broke the bread and gave it to them.

31 Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, but he disappeared from their sight.

32 They said to each other, "Wasn't it like a fire burning in us when he talked to us on the road and explained the Scriptures to us?"

33 They got up at once and went back to Jerusalem, where they found the eleven disciples gathered together with the others

34 and saying, "The Lord is risen indeed! He has appeared to Simon!"

35 The two then explained to them what had happened on the road, and how they had recognized the Lord when he broke the bread.