asked him to be her guest. Afterward, whenever he passed by, he stopped
there to eat. So she said to her husband, "Now I see that this is a holy
man of God who is constantly passing by our door. Let us make a little
chamber on the roof, and put there for him a bed, a table, a seat, and a
candlestick, so that whenever he comes to us, he can stay there."
One day when he came, he went into the upper room and lay down there.
Then he said to Gehazi his servant, "Call this Shunamite." So he called
her, and she stood before him. Elisha said to Gehazi, "Say now to her,
'See, you have been so anxious to care for us; what can be done for you?
May I ask the ruler or the commander of the army to do a favor for
you?'" She answered, "I am living among my own people." Elisha said,
"What then can be done for her?" Gehazi answered, "Verily, she has no
son, and her husband is old." Then Elisha said, "Call her." So he called
her, and she stood at the door. Then Elisha said, "At this time a year
from now you shall hold a son in your arms!" But she said, "No, my lord,
O man of God, do not deceive your servant!" But the next year the woman
had a son at the very time Elisha had promised her.
When the child had grown up he went out one day to his father to the
reapers. And he called to his father, "My head, my head!" So his father
said to his servant, "Carry him to his mother." When he had been taken
to his mother, the boy sat on her lap until noon and then died. His
mother went up and laid him on the bed of the man of God, and shut the
door as she went out.
[Illustration: (C) _Curtis Publishing Company_
_The Parting of Elijah and Elisha_
Painted by W. T. Taylor]
Then she called her husband and said, "Send me one of the servants and
one of the asses, that I may go quickly to the man of God and return."
He said, "Why do you go to him to-day, for it is neither the feast of
the new moon nor the sabbath?" She said, "I have good reason."
Then she saddled an ass and said to her servant, "Drive on fast, do not
stop until I tell you." So she went to the man of God on Mount Carmel.
But when Elisha saw her at a distance, he said to Gehazi, his servant,
"See, there is the Shunamite! Run down to meet her and say to her, 'Is
all well with you? Is your husband well? Is the child well?'" And she
answered, "All is well." But when she came to the man of God on the
mountain, she caught hold of his feet. When Gehazi tried to push her
away, Elisha said, "Let her alone, for she is deeply troubled and
Jehovah has not told me the reason." Then she said, "Did I ask a son of
my lord? Did I not say, 'Do not deceive me?'"
Elisha said to Gehazi, "Tighten your belt, take my staff in your hand
and go! If you meet any one, do not speak to him, and if any one speaks
to you do not answer him, and lay my staff on the face of the child."
But the mother of the child said, "As surely as Jehovah lives and as you
live, I will not leave you." So he rose and went with her. And Gehazi
had gone on before them and had laid the staff upon the face of the
child, but there was neither sound nor sign of life in the boy. So he
went back to meet him and told him, "The child has not awakened."
When Elisha came into the house, there was the child lying dead on his
bed. So he went in and shut the door after them and prayed to Jehovah.
He also went up and lay upon the child and put his mouth upon his mouth,
his eyes upon his eyes, and his hands upon his hands. As he lay upon
him, the flesh of the child became warm. Then he turned and walked
backward and forward in the house, and again went up and lay upon him,
and the child sneezed seven times, and then opened his eyes. Calling
Gehazi, he said, "Call this Shunamite woman." So he called her. And when
she came in to him, he said, "Take up your son." Then she went nearer,
fell at his feet, and bowed to the ground; after that she took up her
son and went out.
A SLAVE GIRL WHO HELPED HER MASTER
Naaman, the commander of the army of the king of Aram, was a man who was
beloved by his master and was held in high honor, for through him
Jehovah had given victory to Aram. He was an able man, but he was a
leper.
Now the Arameans had gone out to rob and had brought away captive from
the land of Israel a little maid who became the servant of Naaman's
wife. She said to her mistress, "O that my master were with the prophet
who is in Samaria! Then he would cure him of his leprosy." So Naaman
went in and told the king what the maid from the land of Israel had
said. The king of Aram said, "Go now, and I will send a letter to the
ruler of Israel."
So Naaman set out and took with him a thousand pounds of silver and six
thousand gold pieces and ten suits of fine clothes. He also brought to
the ruler of Israel the letter, which read: "This letter is to tell you
that I have sent Naaman, my servant, to you, that you may cure him of
his leprosy." When the ruler of Israel read the letter, he tore his
clothes and said, "Am I a god, who can kill and make alive, that this
king sends a man to me to cure him of his leprosy? But you can clearly
see that he is seeking a quarrel with me!"
When Elisha the man of God heard that the ruler of Israel was tearing
his clothes, he sent this message to him: "Why are you tearing your
clothes? Let him come now to me and he shall 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. And Elisha sent a messenger to him
to say, "Go and wash seven times in the Jordan and your flesh will again
be well and clean."
But Naaman went away in a rage, saying, "I expected that he would surely
come out to me and stand and call on the name of Jehovah his God and
wave his hand over the place, and so cure the leper. Are not Amana and
Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, 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. But his servants came near and said to him, "If the prophet had
told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? Why not,
then, when he says to you, 'Wash and be clean!'" So he went down and
dipped himself seven times in the Jordan as the man of God commanded;
and his flesh became again like the flesh of a little child, and he was
cured of his leprosy.
Then Naaman, with all his followers, returned to the man of God. When he
arrived, he stood before him and said, "Now I know that there is no god
in all the earth, but in Israel; therefore accept a present from your
servant." But Elisha said, "As surely as Jehovah lives, before whom I
stand, I will take nothing." And although he urged him to take it, he
would not. Then Naaman said, "If not, at least give your servant a load
of earth, what two mules can draw, for your servant will from this time
on offer burnt-offering and sacrifice to no other god but Jehovah." And
Elisha said to him, "Go, and may good fortune attend you."
But when he had gone from him a short distance, Gehazi, the servant of
Elisha the man of God, thought to himself, "My master has let this
Naaman the Aramean go without accepting what he brought! As surely as
Jehovah lives, I will run after him and take something from him." So
Gehazi ran after Naaman; and when Naaman saw some one running after him,
he stepped down from the chariot to meet him and said, "Is all well?"
Gehazi replied, "All is well. My master has sent me to say, 'Just now
two young men of the followers of the prophets have come to me from the
highland of Ephraim. Give them a hundred pounds of silver and two suits
of fine clothes.'" Naaman said, "Agree to take twice as much silver." So
he urged him and bound up two hundred pounds of silver in two bags, with
two suits of fine clothes, and laid them on two of his servants, and
they carried them before Gehazi. But when he came to the hill, he took
them from their hand and hid them in the house and let the men go.
Then he went in to Elisha; but when he stood before his master, Elisha
said to him, "Where do you come from, Gehazi?" He answered, "Your
servant has not been anywhere." But Elisha said to him, "Was I not in
spirit with you when the man turned from his chariot to meet you? Now
you have received money and you may get clothes, olive yards, vineyards,
sheep, oxen, and slaves; but the leprosy of Naaman shall stick to you
and to your children forever." Then Gehazi went from Elisha's presence a
leper as white as snow.
ELISHA'S WAY OF TREATING ENEMIES
Once while the king of Aram was at war with Israel, he said to his
officers, "In such and such a place we shall hide and surprise them."
But Elisha, the man of God, sent word to the ruler of Israel, "Take care
that you do not pass that place, for the Arameans are hiding there." So
the ruler of Israel sent soldiers to the place of which the man of God
had told him. Thus he warned him many times, so that he could there be
on his guard.
The king of Aram was very much troubled by this, and he called his
officers and said to them, "Can you not tell me who has betrayed us to
the ruler of Israel?" One of his officers replied, "No one, my lord, O
king, for Elisha, the prophet in Israel, tells the ruler of Israel the
words that you speak in your bedchamber." The king said, "Go and see
where he is, that I may send and seize him." And they told the king,
"Elisha is now in Dothan."
So the king sent horses and chariots there and a great army. And they
arrived at night and surrounded the city. When the man of God rose early
the next morning and went out, an army with horses and chariots was
about the city; so that his servant said to him, "Alas, my master! What
shall we do?" He answered, "Fear not, for they who are with us are more
than they who are with them." And Elisha prayed and said, "Jehovah open
his eyes, that he may see." Then Jehovah opened the eyes of the young
man, and he saw that the highlands around about Elisha were full of
horses and chariots of fire.
When the Arameans came toward him, Elisha prayed to Jehovah, and said,
"Make this people blind." So Jehovah made them blind, as Elisha asked.
Then Elisha said to them, "This is not the way nor the city. Follow me,
and I will bring you to the man whom you seek!" So he led them to
Samaria.
But as soon as they came to Samaria, Elisha said, "O Jehovah, open the
eyes of these men, that they may see." And Jehovah opened their eyes, so
that they could see, and there they were in Samaria. When the ruler of
Israel saw them, he said to Elisha, "My father, shall I cut them down?"
Elisha answered, "You shall not cut them down; would you cut down those
whom you have not taken captive with your sword nor with your bow? Set
bread and water before them, that they may eat and drink and go to their
master." So he prepared a great feast for them; and when they had had
food and drink, he sent them back to their master. So the robber bands
of Arameans no longer invaded the land of Israel.
Later, Benhadad, king of Aram, gathered all his army and besieged
Samaria. The famine was so severe in Samaria while they were besieging
it, that an ass's head was sold for eighty pieces of silver.
Once as the ruler of Israel was passing by on the wall, a woman cried
out to him, "Help, my lord." He answered, "If Jehovah does not help you,
from where can I bring help to you? From the threshing-floor or from the
wine-press?" However, the ruler of Israel said to her, "What is the
trouble with you?" She answered, "This woman said to me, 'Give your son,
that we may eat him to-day, and we will eat my son to-morrow!' So we
cooked my son and ate him, and I said to her on the next day, 'Give your
son that we may eat him'; but she has hidden her son."
When the ruler of Israel heard the words of the woman, he tore his
clothes; and as he was passing by on the wall, the people looked and saw
that he wore sackcloth next to his skin.
Now Elisha was sitting in his house with the elders beside him; and
while he was still talking with them, the ruler of Israel came down to
him and said, "See, this is the evil that comes from Jehovah! Why should
I put my hope in Jehovah any longer?" But Elisha said, "Hear the word of
Jehovah, for he says, 'To-morrow about this time a peck of fine meal
shall be sold for a piece of silver and two pecks of barley for a piece
of silver in the gate of Samaria.'" Then the charioteer on whose arm the
ruler of Israel leaned answered the man of God, "If Jehovah himself
should make windows in heaven, could this be possible?" He said, "You
shall see it with your own eyes."
Now there were four lepers just outside the gate; and they said one to
another, "Why do we sit here until we die? If we say, 'We will enter the
city,' then, since there is famine in the city, we shall die there; but
if we sit here, we shall die too. Now, come, let us go over to the army
of the Arameans. If they spare our lives, we shall live; and if they
kill us, we shall but die."
So they set out in the evening to go over to the camp of the Arameans.
But when they came to the edge of the camp of the Arameans, no one was
there, for the Lord had made the army of the Arameans hear a noise of
chariots and of horses and of a great army, and they said to one
another, "Surely the ruler of Israel has hired the kings of the Hittites
and the kings of the Egyptians to attack us." So they rose and fled in
the twilight; and they left their tents, their horses and their asses,
even the camp as it was, and fled for their lives. When these lepers
came to the edge of the camp, they went into one tent and ate and drank
and carried away silver and gold and clothing and hid them. Then they
came back and entered another tent and carried away what was in it and
went and hid that.
Then they said to one another, "We are not doing right; this day is a
day of good news. If we keep still and wait until morning punishment
will overtake us. Now, come, let us go and tell those in the palace." So
they called the watchmen at the city gate and said to them, "We went to
the camp of the Arameans, but there was no one there and no sound of
men's voices. The horses and asses were tied and the tents were just as
they had been."
The watchmen at the city gate shouted this news to those in the palace.
And the ruler of Israel rose in the night and said to his servants, "I
will now tell you what the Arameans have done: they know that we are
hungry; so they have gone out of the camp to hide themselves in the
field, thinking, 'When they come out of the city, we will take them
alive and get into the city.'"
But one of his servants spoke up and said, "Let some men take a pair of
the horses which are left here. If they die, they will be like most of
the Israelites who are dying! Let us send and find out." So they took
two men on horseback, and the ruler of Israel sent them after the army
of the Arameans with the command, "Go and see." They followed them to
the Jordan; and all the way was filled with clothes and weapons which
the Arameans had thrown away in their haste. So the messengers returned
and told the ruler of Israel.
Then the people went and carried things away from the camp of the
Arameans. So a peck of fine meal was sold for a piece of silver, and two
pecks of barley for a piece of silver, just as Jehovah had said.
THE END OF AHAB'S SELFISH FAMILY
Elisha the prophet called one of the followers of the prophets and said
to him, "Tighten your belt, take this flask of oil in your hand and go
to Ramoth in Gilead. When you arrive there, look for Jehu, the son of
Jehoshaphat, and when you go in take him into an inner room, away from
those who are with him. Then from the flask pour oil on his head, and
say, 'Jehovah declares, I have anointed you to rule over Israel.' Then
open the door and flee without delay."
So the young man went to Ramoth in Gilead. When he arrived, the
officers of the army were sitting together. And he said, "Commander, I
have a message for you." Jehu said, "To which of us?" He replied, "To
you, O commander." Then Jehu rose and went into the house; and the young
man poured the oil on his head and said to him, "Jehovah the God of
Israel says, 'I have anointed you to rule over Jehovah's people, over
Israel!'" Then he opened the door and hurried away.
When Jehu came out to the servants of his master, they asked him, "Is
all well? Why did this insane fellow come to you?" He answered, "You
know the man and his message." But they said, "You are deceiving us. You
must tell us." Jehu replied, "He said this to me: 'Jehovah says, I have
anointed you to rule over Israel.'" Then each quickly took his garment,
laid it at his feet on the bare stairs, and blew the horn and cried,
"Jehu is the ruler of Israel." So Jehu plotted against Joram.
Now Joram, with all the Israelites, had been defending Ramoth in Gilead
against Hazael king of Aram, but Joram had gone back to Jezreel to
recover from the wounds which he had received from the Arameans when he
fought with Hazael king of Aram. So Jehu said, "If it is your will, let
no one escape from the city to bring news to Jezreel." Then Jehu mounted
his chariot and went toward Jezreel.
While the watchman was standing on the tower of Jezreel, he saw the
cloud of dust about Jehu, as he came, and said, "I see a cloud of dust."
Joram said, "Send a horseman to meet him and ask whether he comes with
peaceful purpose." So the horseman went out to meet him and said, "The
ruler of Israel asks, 'Do you come with peaceful purpose?'" Jehu
replied, "What have you to do with peace? Turn and follow me." So the
watchman said, "The messenger went to them, but does not return." Then
Joram sent out a second horseman who went to them and said, "The ruler
of Israel asks, 'Do you come with peaceful purpose?'" Jehu answered,
"What have you to do with peace? Turn and follow me." So the watchman
said, "He also went to them but does not return; however, the driving is
like the driving of Jehu, for he drives very fast."
Then Joram said, "Get my chariot ready," and when it was ready he went
to meet Jehu and found him in the field of Naboth the Jezreelite. When
Joram saw Jehu, he said, "Do you come with peaceful purpose, Jehu?" Then
Joram turned to flee, but Jehu drew his bow and struck Joram between
the shoulders, so that the arrow went through his heart, and he fell
down in his chariot.
Then Jehu said to Bidkar, his charioteer, "Take him up and throw him
into the field of Naboth the Jezreelite, for I well remember that, as
you and I rode together after Ahab, his father, Jehovah pronounced this
sentence upon him: 'Surely I saw yesterday the blood of Naboth and his
sons, and I will punish you on this same piece of land.' So throw him
into this piece of land, as Jehovah said."
Then Jehu arrived at Jezreel. As soon as Jezebel heard of it, she
painted her eyes, arranged her hair, and looked out of the window. As
Jehu came in at the gate, she said, "Is all well with you, you traitor,
you murderer of your master?" But he looked up to the window and cried,
"Who is on my side? who?" Two or three slaves looked down at him, and he
said, "Throw her down." And they threw her down and the horses trampled
on her. When Jehu had gone in and had had something to eat and drink, he
gave this command, "Look after this woman and bury her, for she is a
king's daughter." But when they went to bury her, they found no more of
her than the skull, the feet, and the hands. When they went back and
told Jehu, he said, "This is what Jehovah declared by his servant Elijah
when he said, 'On the piece of land at Jezreel the dogs shall eat
Jezebel's flesh, and her body shall be as refuse on the surface of the
field, so that no one can say, This is Jezebel.'"
THE BOY JOASH ON THE THRONE OF JUDAH
When Joram had ruled twelve years over Israel, Ahaziah the son of
Jehoram began to rule over Judah. And he went down to Jezreel to visit
Joram, who was ill. When Jehu struck down Joram, Ahaziah saw it and fled
toward Beth-gannim. But Jehu followed after him with the words, "Shoot
him down, too, in the chariot." So they shot him down on the way up to
Gur, near Ibleam, but he escaped to Megiddo and died there.
When Athaliah, the mother of Ahaziah, learned that her son was dead, she
rose and put to death all of Ahaziah's children except Joash, whom his
aunt, Jehosheba, secretly took and placed with his nurse in the
bedchamber. In this way she hid him from Athaliah, so that he was not
put to death. He was with her, hid in the temple of Jehovah, six years,
while Athaliah ruled over the land.
But in the seventh year Jehoiada the priest called together the officers
of the royal guard and brought them into the temple of Jehovah. After he
had made them make a solemn promise, he showed them Ahaziah's son, and
gave them these orders, "This is what you shall do: a third part of you
who go in on the Sabbath to guard the palace shall keep watch over it.
Two divisions of you, including all who go out on the Sabbath to guard
the temple of Jehovah, shall surround Joash, each with his weapons in
his hand. And let every one who comes within the ranks be put to death.
Thus you shall guard Joash, when he goes out and when he comes in."
The officers did as Jehoiada the priest commanded. And he brought out
Ahaziah's son and put the crown and the royal ornaments upon him; and
they made him ruler over Judah and poured oil upon his head and clapped
their hands, crying, "Long live the ruler!"
But when Athaliah heard the people shouting, she came to them in the
temple of Jehovah. When she saw Joash standing by the pillar, as was the
custom, and the officers and the trumpeters by him, and all the people
of the land rejoicing and blowing trumpets, she tore her clothes and
cried, "Treason! Treason!" But Jehoiada the priest gave this order to
the officers: "Bring her out between the ranks, and kill with the sword
whoever follows her," for the priest said, "Let her not be put to death
in the temple of Jehovah." So they seized her, and she was killed as she
went through the horses' entry to the palace.
Jehoiada made a solemn agreement between Jehovah and the new ruler and
the people, that they should be Jehovah's people; also between the ruler
and the people, and Joash ruled forty years in Jerusalem.
A YOUNG MAN WHO SAID, "SEND ME"
Uzziah, Joash's grandson, was sixteen years old when he began to rule
over Judah and he ruled fifty-two years in Jerusalem.
He fought against the Philistines, and broke down the wall of Gath and
of Jabneh and of Ashdod and built cities near Ashdod and among the
Philistines. And God helped him against the Philistines. The Ammonites
also paid tribute to Uzziah, for he became very strong.
And Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem at the Corner Gate and at the
Valley Gate and at the corner of the wall, and fortified them. He also
built towers in the wilderness and dug many cisterns, for he had many
herds in the lowland and farmers in the plain and vine-dressers in the
mountains and in the fruitful fields, for he loved to cultivate the
ground. But he was a leper to the day of his death. He lived in his own
house, while Jotham, his son, was at the head of the royal household,
ruling the people of the land. And Uzziah died; and they buried him with
his fathers in the city of David, and Jotham, his son, became ruler in
his place.
Isaiah said it was in the year that Uzziah, the ruler of Judah, died
that I saw the Lord sitting on a high and lofty throne; and the train of
his robe filled the temple. Guardian angels stood above him. Each had
six wings, one pair to cover the face, another pair to cover the feet,
and another pair with which to fly. And they cried to one another:
"Holy, holy, holy, is Jehovah of hosts,
The whole earth is full of his glory."
The foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice of those who
called, and the temple was filled with smoke. Then I said: "Woe is me! I
am ruined; for I am a man with unclean lips, and I live among a people
with unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, Jehovah of hosts!"
But one of the guardian angels flew to me with a hot coal in his hand
that he had taken from off the altar, and with it he touched my mouth
and said: "See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and
your sin forgiven."
Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying:
"Whom shall I send,
And who will go for us?"
and I said, "Here am I, send me."
[Illustration: (C) _Curtis Publishing Company_
_The Prophet Isaiah_
Painted by W. L. Taylor]
JEREMIAH'S CALL TO DO A HARD TASK
This was the message which came to me from Jehovah: "Before you were
born I knew you and prepared you for your work. I have appointed you to
be a prophet to the nations." But I (Jeremiah) said: "O Lord Jehovah! I
do not know how to speak in public, for I am only a youth." Then Jehovah
said to me: "Do not say, 'I am only a youth,' for you shall go to all
to whom I send you, and you shall speak whatever I command you. Do not
be afraid of them, for I am with you to protect you."