THE DIVIDED KINGDOM

The Kingdom Is Divided: 1 Kings 12:1-24

1 Kin 12:1 Then Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel had come to Shechem to make him king. 1 Kin 12:2 Now when Jeroboam the son of Nebat heard {of it,} he was living in Egypt (for he was yet in Egypt, where he had fled from the presence of King Solomon). 1 Kin 12:3 Then they sent and called him, and Jeroboam and all the assembly of Israel came and spoke to Rehoboam, saying, 1 Kin 12:4 "Your father made our yoke hard; now therefore lighten the hard service of your father and his heavy yoke which he put on us, and we will serve you." 1 Kin 12:5 Then he said to them, "Depart for three days, then return to me." So the people departed. 1 Kin 12:6 King Rehoboam consulted with the elders who had served his father Solomon while he was still alive, saying, "How do you counsel {me} to answer this people?" 1 Kin 12:7 Then they spoke to him, saying, "If you will be a servant to this people today, and will serve them and grant them their petition, and speak good words to them, then they will be your servants forever." 1 Kin 12:8 But he forsook the counsel of the elders which they had given him, and consulted with the young men who grew up with him and served him. 1 Kin 12:9 So he said to them, "What counsel do you give that we may answer this people who have spoken to me, saying, 'Lighten the yoke which your father put on us'?" 1 Kin 12:10 The young men who grew up with him spoke to him, saying, "Thus you shall say to this people who spoke to you, saying, 'Your father made our yoke heavy, now you make it lighter for us!' But you shall speak to them, 'My little finger is thicker than my father's loins! 1 Kin 12:11 'Whereas my father loaded you with a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke; my father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions.'" 1 Kin 12:12 Then Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam on the third day as the king had directed, saying, "Return to me on the third day." 1 Kin 12:13 The king answered the people harshly, for he forsook the advice of the elders which they had given him, 1 Kin 12:14 and he spoke to them according to the advice of the young men, saying, "My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to your yoke; my father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions." 1 Kin 12:15 So the king did not listen to the people; for it was a turn {of events} from the LORD, that He might establish His word, which the LORD spoke through Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat. 1 Kin 12:16 When all Israel {saw} that the king did not listen to them, the people answered the king, saying, "What portion do we have in David? {We have} no inheritance in the son of Jesse; To your tents, O Israel! Now look after your own house, David!" So Israel departed to their tents. 1 Kin 12:17 But as for the sons of Israel who lived in the cities of Judah, Rehoboam reigned over them. 1 Kin 12:18 Then King Rehoboam sent Adoram, who was over the forced labor, and all Israel stoned him to death. And King Rehoboam made haste to mount his chariot to flee to Jerusalem. 1 Kin 12:19 So Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David to this day. 1 Kin 12:20 It came about when all Israel heard that Jeroboam had returned, that they sent and called him to the assembly and made him king over all Israel. None but the tribe of Judah followed the house of David. 1 Kin 12:21 Now when Rehoboam had come to Jerusalem, he assembled all the house of Judah and the tribe of Benjamin, 180,000 chosen men who were warriors, to fight against the house of Israel to restore the kingdom to Rehoboam the son of Solomon. 1 Kin 12:22 But the word of God came to Shemaiah the man of God, saying, 1 Kin 12:23 "Speak to Rehoboam the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and to all the house of Judah and Benjamin and to the rest of the people, saying, 1 Kin 12:24 'Thus says the LORD, "You must not go up and fight against your relatives the sons of Israel; return every man to his house, for this thing has come from Me."'" So they listened to the word of the LORD, and returned and went {their way} according to the word of the LORD. Elijah and the Widow at Zarephath: 1 Kings 17:1-24

1 Kin 17:1 Now Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the settlers of Gilead, said to Ahab, "As the LORD, the God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, surely there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word." 1 Kin 17:2 The word of the LORD came to him, saying, 1 Kin 17:3 "Go away from here and turn eastward, and hide yourself by the brook Cherith, which is east of the Jordan. 1 Kin 17:4 "It shall be that you will drink of the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to provide for you there." 1 Kin 17:5 So he went and did according to the word of the LORD, for he went and lived by the brook Cherith, which is east of the Jordan. 1 Kin 17:6 The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening, and he would drink from the brook. 1 Kin 17:7 It happened after a while that the brook dried up, because there was no rain in the land. 1 Kin 17:8 Then the word of the LORD came to him, saying, 1 Kin 17:9 "Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and stay there; behold, I have commanded a widow there to provide for you." 1 Kin 17:10 So he arose and went to Zarephath, and when he came to the gate of the city, behold, a widow was there gathering sticks; and he called to her and said, "Please get me a little water in a jar, that I may drink." 1 Kin 17:11 As she was going to get {it,} he called to her and said, "Please bring me a piece of bread in your hand." 1 Kin 17:12 But she said, "As the LORD your God lives, I have no bread, only a handful of flour in the bowl and a little oil in the jar; and behold, I am gathering a few sticks that I may go in and prepare for me and my son, that we may eat it and die." 1 Kin 17:13 Then Elijah said to her, "Do not fear; go, do as you have said, but make me a little bread cake from it first and bring {it} out to me, and afterward you may make {one} for yourself and for your son. 1 Kin 17:14 "For thus says the LORD God of Israel, 'The bowl of flour shall not be exhausted, nor shall the jar of oil be empty, until the day that the LORD sends rain on the face of the earth.'" 1 Kin 17:15 So she went and did according to the word of Elijah, and she and he and her household ate for {many} days. 1 Kin 17:16 The bowl of flour was not exhausted nor did the jar of oil become empty, according to the word of the LORD which He spoke through Elijah. 1 Kin 17:17 Now it came about after these things that the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, became sick; and his sickness was so severe that there was no breath left in him. 1 Kin 17:18 So she said to Elijah, "What do I have to do with you, O man of God? You have come to me to bring my iniquity to remembrance and to put my son to death!" 1 Kin 17:19 He said to her, "Give me your son." Then he took him from her bosom and carried him up to the upper room where he was living, and laid him on his own bed. 1 Kin 17:20 He called to the LORD and said, "O LORD my God, have You also brought calamity to the widow with whom I am staying, by causing her son to die?" 1 Kin 17:21 Then he stretched himself upon the child three times, and called to the LORD and said, "O LORD my God, I pray You, let this child's life return to him." 1 Kin 17:22 The LORD heard the voice of Elijah, and the life of the child returned to him and he revived. 1 Kin 17:23 Elijah took the child and brought him down from the upper room into the house and gave him to his mother; and Elijah said, "See, your son is alive." 1 Kin 17:24 Then the woman said to Elijah, "Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the LORD in your mouth is truth."

Elijah and the Prophets of Baal: 1 Kings 18:16-40

1 Kin 18:16 So Obadiah went to meet Ahab and told him; and Ahab went to meet Elijah. 1 Kin 18:17 When Ahab saw Elijah, Ahab said to him, "Is this you, you troubler of Israel?" 1 Kin 18:18 He said, "I have not troubled Israel, but you and your father's house {have,} because you have forsaken the commandments of the LORD and you have followed the Baals. 1 Kin 18:19 "Now then send {and} gather to me all Israel at Mount Carmel, {together} with 450 prophets of Baal and 400 prophets of the Asherah, who eat at Jezebel's table." 1 Kin 18:20 So Ahab sent {a message} among all the sons of Israel and brought the prophets together at Mount Carmel. 1 Kin 18:21 Elijah came near to all the people and said, "How long {will} you hesitate between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him." But the people did not answer him a word. 1 Kin 18:22 Then Elijah said to the people, "I alone am left a prophet of the LORD, but Baal's prophets are 450 men. 1 Kin 18:23 "Now let them give us two oxen; and let them choose one ox for themselves and cut it up, and place it on the wood, but put no fire {under it;} and I will prepare the other ox and lay it on the wood, and I will not put a fire {under it.} 1 Kin 18:24 "Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the LORD, and the God who answers by fire, He is God." And all the people said, "That is a good idea." 1 Kin 18:25 So Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, "Choose one ox for yourselves and prepare it first for you are many, and call on the name of your god, but put no fire {under it.}" 1 Kin 18:26 Then they took the ox which was given them and they prepared it and called on the name of Baal from morning until noon saying, "O Baal, answer us." But there was no voice and no one answered. And they leaped about the altar which they made. 1 Kin 18:27 It came about at noon, that Elijah mocked them and said, "Call out with a loud voice, for he is a god; either he is occupied or gone aside, or is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and needs to be awakened." 1 Kin 18:28 So they cried with a loud voice and cut themselves according to their custom with swords and lances until the blood gushed out on them. 1 Kin 18:29 When midday was past, they raved until the time of the offering of the {evening} sacrifice; but there was no voice, no one answered, and no one paid attention. 1 Kin 18:30 Then Elijah said to all the people, "Come near to me." So all the people came near to him. And he repaired the altar of the LORD which had been torn down. 1 Kin 18:31 Elijah took twelve stones according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of the LORD had come, saying, "Israel shall be your name." 1 Kin 18:32 So with the stones he built an altar in the name of the LORD, and he made a trench around the altar, large enough to hold two measures of seed. 1 Kin 18:33 Then he arranged the wood and cut the ox in pieces and laid {it} on the wood. 1 Kin 18:34 And he said, "Fill four pitchers with water and pour {it} on the burnt offering and on the wood." And he said, "Do it a second time," and they did it a second time. And he said, "Do it a third time," and they did it a third time. 1 Kin 18:35 The water flowed around the altar and he also filled the trench with water. 1 Kin 18:36 At the time of the offering of the {evening} sacrifice, Elijah the prophet came near and said, "O LORD, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, today let it be known that You are God in Israel and that I am Your servant and I have done all these things at Your word. 1 Kin 18:37 "Answer me, O LORD, answer me, that this people may know that You, O LORD, are God, and {that} You have turned their heart back again." 1 Kin 18:38 Then the fire of the LORD fell and consumed the burnt offering and the wood and the stones and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. 1 Kin 18:39 When all the people saw it, they fell on their faces; and they said, "The LORD, He is God; the LORD, He is God." 1 Kin 18:40 Then Elijah said to them, "Seize the prophets of Baal; do not let one of them escape." So they seized them; and Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon, and slew them there. Elijah and God’s Gentle Whisper: 1 Kings 19:1-18

1 Kin 19:1 Now Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. 1 Kin 19:2 Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, "So may the gods do to me and even more, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time." 1 Kin 19:3 And he was afraid and arose and ran for his life and came to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there. 1 Kin 19:4 But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree; and he requested for himself that he might die, and said, "It is enough; now, O LORD, take my life, for I am not better than my fathers." 1 Kin 19:5 He lay down and slept under a juniper tree; and behold, there was an angel touching him, and he said to him, "Arise, eat." 1 Kin 19:6 Then he looked and behold, there was at his head a bread cake {baked on} hot stones, and a jar of water. So he ate and drank and lay down again. 1 Kin 19:7 The angel of the LORD came again a second time and touched him and said, "Arise, eat, because the journey is too great for you." 1 Kin 19:8 So he arose and ate and drank, and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the mountain of God. 1 Kin 19:9 Then he came there to a cave and lodged there; and behold, the word of the LORD {came} to him, and He said to him, "What are you doing here, Elijah?" 1 Kin 19:10 He said, "I have been very zealous for the LORD, the God of hosts; for the sons of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars and killed Your prophets with the sword. And I alone am left; and they seek my life, to take it away."

1 Kin 19:11 So He said, "Go forth and stand on the mountain before the LORD." And behold, the LORD was passing by! And a great and strong wind was rending the mountains and breaking in pieces the rocks before the LORD; {but} the LORD {was} not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, {but} the LORD {was} not in the earthquake. 1 Kin 19:12 After the earthquake a fire, {but} the LORD {was} not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of a gentle blowing. 1 Kin 19:13 When Elijah heard {it,} he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave. And behold, a voice {came} to him and said, "What are you doing here, Elijah?" 1 Kin 19:14 Then he said, "I have been very zealous for the LORD, the God of hosts; for the sons of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars and killed Your prophets with the sword. And I alone am left; and they seek my life, to take it away." 1 Kin 19:15 The LORD said to him, "Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus, and when you have arrived, you shall anoint Hazael king over Aram; 1 Kin 19:16 and Jehu the son of Nimshi you shall anoint king over Israel; and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah you shall anoint as prophet in your place. 1 Kin 19:17 "It shall come about, the one who escapes from the sword of Hazael, Jehu shall put to death, and the one who escapes from the sword of Jehu, Elisha shall put to death. 1 Kin 19:18 "Yet I will leave 7,000 in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal and every mouth that has not kissed him." Elisha and the Widow’s Oil: 2 Kings 4:1-7

2 Kin 4:1 Now a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets cried out to Elisha, "Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that your servant feared the LORD; and the creditor has come to take my two children to be his slaves." 2 Kin 4:2 Elisha said to her, "What shall I do for you? Tell me, what do you have in the house?" And she said, "Your maidservant has nothing in the house except a jar of oil." 2 Kin 4:3 Then he said, "Go, borrow vessels at large for yourself from all your neighbors, {even} empty vessels; do not get a few. 2 Kin 4:4 "And you shall go in and shut the door behind you and your sons, and pour out into all these vessels, and you shall set aside what is full." 2 Kin 4:5 So she went from him and shut the door behind her and her sons; they were bringing {the vessels} to her and she poured. 2 Kin 4:6 When the vessels were full, she said to her son, "Bring me another vessel." And he said to her, "There is not one vessel more." And the oil stopped. 2 Kin 4:7 Then she came and told the man of God. And he said, "Go, sell the oil and pay your debt, and you {and} your sons can live on the rest." Elisha and a Grieving Woman: 2 Kings 4:8-37

2 Kin 4:8 Now there came a day when Elisha passed over to Shunem, where there was a prominent woman, and she persuaded him to eat food. And so it was, as often as he passed by, he turned in there to eat food. 2 Kin 4:9 She said to her husband, "Behold now, I perceive that this is a holy man of God passing by us continually. 2 Kin 4:10 "Please, let us make a little walled upper chamber and let us set a bed for him there, and a table and a chair and a lampstand; and it shall be, when he comes to us, {that} he can turn in there." 2 Kin 4:11 One day he came there and turned in to the upper chamber and rested. 2 Kin 4:12 Then he said to Gehazi his servant, "Call this Shunammite." And when he had called her, she stood before him. 2 Kin 4:13 He said to him, "Say now to her, 'Behold, you have been careful for us with all this care; what can I do for you? Would you be spoken for to the king or to the captain of the army?'" And she answered, "I live among my own people." 2 Kin 4:14 So he said, "What then is to be done for her?" And Gehazi answered, "Truly she has no son and her husband is old." 2 Kin 4:15 He said, "Call her." When he had called her, she stood in the doorway. 2 Kin 4:16 Then he said, "At this season next year you will embrace a son." And she said, "No, my lord, O man of God, do not lie to your maidservant." 2 Kin 4:17 The woman conceived and bore a son at that season the next year, as Elisha had said to her. 2 Kin 4:18 When the child was grown, the day came that he went out to his father to the reapers. 2 Kin 4:19 He said to his father, "My head, my head." And he said to his servant, "Carry him to his mother." 2 Kin 4:20 When he had taken him and brought him to his mother, he sat on her lap until noon, and {then} died. 2 Kin 4:21 She went up and laid him on the bed of the man of God, and shut {the door} behind him and went out. 2 Kin 4:22 Then she called to her husband and said, "Please send me one of the servants and one of the donkeys, that I may run to the man of God and return." 2 Kin 4:23 He said, "Why will you go to him today? It is neither new moon nor sabbath." And she said, "{It will be} well." 2 Kin 4:24 Then she saddled a donkey and said to her servant, "Drive and go forward; do not slow down the pace for me unless I tell you." 2 Kin 4:25 So she went and came to the man of God to Mount Carmel. ถ When the man of God saw her at a distance, he said to Gehazi his servant, "Behold, there is the Shunammite. 2 Kin 4:26 "Please run now to meet her and say to her, 'Is it well with you? Is it well with your husband? Is it well with the child?'" And she answered, "It is well." 2 Kin 4:27 When she came to the man of God to the hill, she caught hold of his feet. And Gehazi came near to push her away; but the man of God said, "Let her alone, for her soul is troubled within her; and the LORD has hidden it from me and has not told me." 2 Kin 4:28 Then she said, "Did I ask for a son from my lord? Did I not say, 'Do not deceive me'?" 2 Kin 4:29 Then he said to Gehazi, "Gird up your loins and take my staff in your hand, and go your way; if you meet any man, do not salute him, and if anyone salutes you, do not answer him; and lay my staff on the lad's face." 2 Kin 4:30 The mother of the lad said, "As the LORD lives and as you yourself live, I will not leave you." And he arose and followed her. 2 Kin 4:31 Then Gehazi passed on before them and laid the staff on the lad's face, but there was no sound or response. So he returned to meet him and told him, "The lad has not awakened." 2 Kin 4:32 When Elisha came into the house, behold the lad was dead and laid on his bed. 2 Kin 4:33 So he entered and shut the door behind them both and prayed to the LORD. 2 Kin 4:34 And he went up and lay on the child, and put his mouth on his mouth and his eyes on his eyes and his hands on his hands, and he stretched himself on him; and the flesh of the child became warm. 2 Kin 4:35 Then he returned and walked in the house once back and forth, and went up and stretched himself on him; and the lad sneezed seven times and the lad opened his eyes. 2 Kin 4:36 He called Gehazi and said, "Call this Shunammite." So he called her. And when she came in to him, he said, "Take up your son." 2 Kin 4:37 Then she went in and fell at his feet and bowed herself to the ground, and she took up her son and went out. Naaman Healed of Leprosy: 2 Kings 5:1-27

2 Kin 5:1 Now Naaman, captain of the army of the king of Aram, was a great man with his master, and highly respected, because by him the LORD had given victory to Aram. The man was also a valiant warrior, {but he was} a leper. 2 Kin 5:2 Now the Arameans had gone out in bands and had taken captive a little girl from the land of Israel; and she waited on Naaman's wife. 2 Kin 5:3 She said to her mistress, "I wish that my master were with the prophet who is in Samaria! Then he would cure him of his leprosy." 2 Kin 5:4 Naaman went in and told his master, saying, "Thus and thus spoke the girl who is from the land of Israel." 2 Kin 5:5 Then the king of Aram said, "Go now, and I will send a letter to the king of Israel." He departed and took with him ten talents of silver and six thousand {shekels} of gold and ten changes of clothes. 2 Kin 5:6 He brought the letter to the king of Israel, saying, "And now as this letter comes to you, behold, I have sent Naaman my servant to you, that you may cure him of his leprosy." 2 Kin 5:7 When the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes and said, "Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man is sending {word} to me to cure a man of his leprosy? But consider now, and see how he is seeking a quarrel against me." 2 Kin 5:8 It happened when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, that he sent {word} to the king, saying, "Why have you torn your clothes? Now let him come to me, and he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel." 2 Kin 5:9 So Naaman came with his horses and his chariots and stood at the doorway of the house of Elisha. 2 Kin 5:10 Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, "Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh will be restored to you and {you will} be clean." 2 Kin 5:11 But Naaman was furious and went away and said, "Behold, I thought, 'He will surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the LORD his God, and wave his hand over the place and cure the leper.' 2 Kin 5:12 "Are not Abanah 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. 2 Kin 5:13 Then his servants came near and spoke to him and said, "My father, had the prophet told you {to do some} great thing, would you not have done {it?} How much more {then,} when he says to you, 'Wash, and be clean'?" 2 Kin 5:14 So he went down and dipped {himself} seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God; and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child and he was clean. 2 Kin 5:15 When he returned to the man of God with all his company, and came and stood before him, he said, "Behold now, I know that there is no God in all the earth, but in Israel; so please take a present from your servant now." 2 Kin 5:16 But he said, "As the LORD lives, before whom I stand, I will take nothing." And he urged him to take {it,} but he refused. 2 Kin 5:17 Naaman said, "If not, please let your servant at least be given two mules' load of earth; for your servant will no longer offer burnt offering nor will he sacrifice to other gods, but to the LORD. 2 Kin 5:18 "In this matter may the LORD pardon your servant: when my master goes into the house of Rimmon to worship there, and he leans on my hand and I bow myself in the house of Rimmon, when I bow myself in the house of Rimmon, the LORD pardon your servant in this matter." 2 Kin 5:19 He said to him, "Go in peace." So he departed from him some distance. 2 Kin 5:20 ถ But Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, thought, "Behold, my master has spared this Naaman the Aramean, by not receiving from his hands what he brought. As the LORD lives, I will run after him and take something from him." 2 Kin 5:21 So Gehazi pursued Naaman. When Naaman saw one running after him, he came down from the chariot to meet him and said, "Is all well?" 2 Kin 5:22 He said, "All is well. My master has sent me, saying, 'Behold, just now two young men of the sons of the prophets have come to me from the hill country of Ephraim. Please give them a talent of silver and two changes of clothes.'" 2 Kin 5:23 Naaman said, "Be pleased to take two talents." And he urged him, and bound two talents of silver in two bags with two changes of clothes and gave them to two of his servants; and they carried {them} before him. 2 Kin 5:24 When he came to the hill, he took them from their hand and deposited them in the house, and he sent the men away, and they departed. 2 Kin 5:25 But he went in and stood before his master. And Elisha said to him, "Where have you been, Gehazi?" And he said, "Your servant went nowhere." 2 Kin 5:26 Then he said to him, "Did not my heart go {with you,} when the man turned from his chariot to meet you? Is it a time to receive money and to receive clothes and olive groves and vineyards and sheep and oxen and male and female servants? 2 Kin 5:27 "Therefore, the leprosy of Naaman shall cling to you and to your descendants forever." So he went out from his presence a leper {as white} as snow. Elisha and the Chariots of Fire: 2 Kings 6:8-23

2 Kin 6:8 Now the king of Aram was warring against Israel; and he counseled with his servants saying, "In such and such a place shall be my camp." 2 Kin 6:9 The man of God sent {word} to the king of Israel saying, "Beware that you do not pass this place, for the Arameans are coming down there." 2 Kin 6:10 The king of Israel sent to the place about which the man of God had told him; thus he warned him, so that he guarded himself there, more than once or twice. 2 Kin 6:11 Now the heart of the king of Aram was enraged over this thing; and he called his servants and said to them, "Will you tell me which of us is for the king of Israel?" 2 Kin 6:12 One of his servants said, "No, my lord, O king; but Elisha, the prophet who is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the words that you speak in your bedroom." 2 Kin 6:13 So he said, "Go and see where he is, that I may send and take him." And it was told him, saying, "Behold, he is in Dothan." 2 Kin 6:14 He sent horses and chariots and a great army there, and they came by night and surrounded the city. 2 Kin 6:15 Now when the attendant of the man of God had risen early and gone out, behold, an army with horses and chariots was circling the city. And his servant said to him, "Alas, my master! What shall we do?" 2 Kin 6:16 So he answered, "Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them." 2 Kin 6:17 Then Elisha prayed and said, "O LORD, I pray, open his eyes that he may see." And the LORD opened the servant's eyes and he saw; and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. 2 Kin 6:18 When they came down to him, Elisha prayed to the LORD and said, "Strike this people with blindness, I pray." So He struck them with blindness according to the word of Elisha. 2 Kin 6:19 Then Elisha said to them, "This is not the way, nor is this the city; follow me and I will bring you to the man whom you seek." And he brought them to Samaria. 2 Kin 6:20 When they had come into Samaria, Elisha said, "O LORD, open the eyes of these {men,} that they may see." So the LORD opened their eyes and they saw; and behold, they were in the midst of Samaria. 2 Kin 6:21 Then the king of Israel when he saw them, said to Elisha, "My father, shall I kill them? Shall I kill them?" 2 Kin 6:22 He answered, "You shall not kill {them.} Would you kill those you have taken captive with your sword and with your bow? Set bread and water before them, that they may eat and drink and go to their master." 2 Kin 6:23 So he prepared a great feast for them; and when they had eaten and drunk he sent them away, and they went to their master. And the marauding bands of Arameans did not come again into the land of Israel. Josiah Renews the Covenant: 2 Kings 23:1-25

2 Kin 23:1 Then the king sent, and they gathered to him all the elders of Judah and of Jerusalem. 2 Kin 23:2 The king went up to the house of the LORD and all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with him, and the priests and the prophets and all the people, both small and great; and he read in their hearing all the words of the book of the covenant which was found in the house of the LORD. 2 Kin 23:3 The king stood by the pillar and made a covenant before the LORD, to walk after the LORD, and to keep His commandments and His testimonies and His statutes with all {his} heart and all {his} soul, to carry out the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people entered into the covenant. 2 Kin 23:4 Then the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest and the priests of the second order and the doorkeepers, to bring out of the temple of the LORD all the vessels that were made for Baal, for Asherah, and for all the host of heaven; and he burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron, and carried their ashes to Bethel. 2 Kin 23:5 He did away with the idolatrous priests whom the kings of Judah had appointed to burn incense in the high places in the cities of Judah and in the surrounding area of Jerusalem, also those who burned incense to Baal, to the sun and to the moon and to the constellations and to all the host of heaven. 2 Kin 23:6 He brought out the Asherah from the house of the LORD outside Jerusalem to the brook Kidron, and burned it at the brook Kidron, and ground {it} to dust, and threw its dust on the graves of the common people. 2 Kin 23:7 He also broke down the houses of the {male} cult prostitutes which {were} in the house of the LORD, where the women were weaving hangings for the Asherah. 2 Kin 23:8 Then he brought all the priests from the cities of Judah, and defiled the high places where the priests had burned incense, from Geba to Beersheba; and he broke down the high places of the gates which {were} at the entrance of the gate of Joshua the governor of the city, which {were} on one's left at the city gate. 2 Kin 23:9 Nevertheless the priests of the high places did not go up to the altar of the LORD in Jerusalem, but they ate unleavened bread among their brothers. 2 Kin 23:10 He also defiled Topheth, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, that no man might make his son or his daughter pass through the fire for Molech. 2 Kin 23:11 He did away with the horses which the kings of Judah had given to the sun, at the entrance of the house of the LORD, by the chamber of Nathan-melech the official, which {was} in the precincts; and he burned the chariots of the sun with fire. 2 Kin 23:12 The altars which {were} on the roof, the upper chamber of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and the altars which Manasseh had made in the two courts of the house of the LORD, the king broke down; and he smashed them there and threw their dust into the brook Kidron. 2 Kin 23:13 The high places which {were} before Jerusalem, which {were} on the right of the mount of destruction which Solomon the king of Israel had built for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Sidonians, and for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, and for Milcom the abomination of the sons of Ammon, the king defiled. 2 Kin 23:14 He broke in pieces the {sacred} pillars and cut down the Asherim and filled their places with human bones. 2 Kin 23:15 Furthermore, the altar that {was} at Bethel {and} the high place which Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel sin, had made, even that altar and the high place he broke down. Then he demolished its stones, ground them to dust, and burned the Asherah. 2 Kin 23:16 Now when Josiah turned, he saw the graves that {were} there on the mountain, and he sent and took the bones from the graves and burned {them} on the altar and defiled it according to the word of the LORD which the man of God proclaimed, who proclaimed these things. 2 Kin 23:17 Then he said, "What is this monument that I see?" And the men of the city told him, "It is the grave of the man of God who came from Judah and proclaimed these things which you have done against the altar of Bethel." 2 Kin 23:18 He said, "Let him alone; let no one disturb his bones." So they left his bones undisturbed with the bones of the prophet who came from Samaria. 2 Kin 23:19 Josiah also removed all the houses of the high places which {were} in the cities of Samaria, which the kings of Israel had made provoking the LORD; and he did to them just as he had done in Bethel. 2 Kin 23:20 All the priests of the high places who {were} there he slaughtered on the altars and burned human bones on them; then he returned to Jerusalem. 2 Kin 23:21 Then the king commanded all the people saying, "Celebrate the Passover to the LORD your God as it is written in this book of the covenant." 2 Kin 23:22 Surely such a Passover had not been celebrated from the days of the judges who judged Israel, nor in all the days of the kings of Israel and of the kings of Judah. 2 Kin 23:23 But in the eighteenth year of King Josiah, this Passover was observed to the LORD in Jerusalem. 2 Kin 23:24 Moreover, Josiah removed the mediums and the spiritists and the teraphim and the idols and all the abominations that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, that he might confirm the words of the law which were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the LORD. 2 Kin 23:25 Before him there was no king like him who turned to the LORD with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his might, according to all the law of Moses; nor did any like him arise after him. Jonah Flees From the Lord: Jonah 1:1-17 Jon 1:1 The word of the LORD came to Jonah the son of Amittai saying, Jon 1:2 "Arise, go to Nineveh the great city and cry against it, for their wickedness has come up before Me." Jon 1:3 But Jonah rose up to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD. So he went down to Joppa, found a ship which was going to Tarshish, paid the fare and went down into it to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD. Jon 1:4 The LORD hurled a great wind on the sea and there was a great storm on the sea so that the ship was about to break up. Jon 1:5 Then the sailors became afraid and every man cried to his god, and they threw the cargo which was in the ship into the sea to lighten {it} for them. But Jonah had gone below into the hold of the ship, lain down and fallen sound asleep. Jon 1:6 So the captain approached him and said, "How is it that you are sleeping? Get up, call on your god. Perhaps {your} god will be concerned about us so that we will not perish." Jon 1:7 Each man said to his mate, "Come, let us cast lots so we may learn on whose account this calamity {has struck} us." So they cast lots and the lot fell on Jonah. Jon 1:8 Then they said to him, "Tell us, now! On whose account {has} this calamity {struck} us? What is your occupation? And where do you come from? What is your country? From what people are you?" Jon 1:9 He said to them, "I am a Hebrew, and I fear the LORD God of heaven who made the sea and the dry land." Jon 1:10 Then the men became extremely frightened and they said to him, "How could you do this?" For the men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of the LORD, because he had told them. Jon 1:11 So they said to him, "What should we do to you that the sea may become calm for us?"--for the sea was becoming increasingly stormy. Jon 1:12 He said to them, "Pick me up and throw me into the sea. Then the sea will become calm for you, for I know that on account of me this great storm {has come} upon you." Jon 1:13 However, the men rowed {desperately} to return to land but they could not, for the sea was becoming {even} stormier against them. Jon 1:14 Then they called on the LORD and said, "We earnestly pray, O LORD, do not let us perish on account of this man's life and do not put innocent blood on us; for You, O LORD, have done as You have pleased." Jon 1:15 So they picked up Jonah, threw him into the sea, and the sea stopped its raging. Jon 1:16 Then the men feared the LORD greatly, and they offered a sacrifice to the LORD and made vows. Jon 1:17 And the LORD appointed a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the stomach of the fish three days and three nights.

Jonah Goes to Nineveh: Jonah 2:1 - 3:10

Jon 2:1 Then Jonah prayed to the LORD his God from the stomach of the fish, Jon 2:2 and he said, "I called out of my distress to the LORD, And He answered me. I cried for help from the depth of Sheol; You heard my voice. Jon 2:3 "For You had cast me into the deep, Into the heart of the seas, And the current engulfed me. All Your breakers and billows passed over me. Jon 2:4 "So I said, 'I have been expelled from Your sight. Nevertheless I will look again toward Your holy temple.' Jon 2:5 "Water encompassed me to the point of death. The great deep engulfed me, Weeds were wrapped around my head. Jon 2:6 "I descended to the roots of the mountains. The earth with its bars {was} around me forever, But You have brought up my life from the pit, O LORD my God. Jon 2:7 "While I was fainting away, I remembered the LORD, And my prayer came to You, Into Your holy temple. Jon 2:8 "Those who regard vain idols Forsake their faithfulness, Jon 2:9 But I will sacrifice to You With the voice of thanksgiving. That which I have vowed I will pay. Salvation is from the LORD." Jon 2:10 Then the LORD commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah up onto the dry land. Jon 3:1 Now the word of the LORD came to Jonah the second time, saying, Jon 3:2 "Arise, go to Nineveh the great city and proclaim to it the proclamation which I am going to tell you." Jon 3:3 So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh according to the word of the LORD. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, a three days' walk. Jon 3:4 Then Jonah began to go through the city one day's walk; and he cried out and said, "Yet forty days and Nineveh will be overthrown." Jon 3:5 Then the people of Nineveh believed in God; and they called a fast and put on sackcloth from the greatest to the least of them. Jon 3:6 When the word reached the king of Nineveh, he arose from his throne, laid aside his robe from him, covered {himself} with sackcloth and sat on the ashes. Jon 3:7 He issued a proclamation and it said, "In Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles: Do not let man, beast, herd, or flock taste a thing. Do not let them eat or drink water. Jon 3:8 "But both man and beast must be covered with sackcloth; and let men call on God earnestly that each may turn from his wicked way and from the violence which is in his hands. Jon 3:9 "Who knows, God may turn and relent and withdraw His burning anger so that we will not perish." Jon 3:10 When God saw their deeds, that they turned from their wicked way, then God relented concerning the calamity which He had declared He would bring upon them. And He did not do {it.}

Jonah’s Anger at God’s Compassion: Jonah 4:1-11

Jon 4:1 But it greatly displeased Jonah and he became angry. Jon 4:2 He prayed to the LORD and said, "Please LORD, was not this what I said while I was still in my {own} country? Therefore in order to forestall this I fled to Tarshish, for I knew that You are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, and one who relents concerning calamity. Jon 4:3 "Therefore now, O LORD, please take my life from me, for death is better to me than life." Jon 4:4 The LORD said, "Do you have good reason to be angry?" Jon 4:5 Then Jonah went out from the city and sat east of it. There he made a shelter for himself and sat under it in the shade until he could see what would happen in the city. Jon 4:6 So the LORD God appointed a plant and it grew up over Jonah to be a shade over his head to deliver him from his discomfort. And Jonah was extremely happy about the plant. Jon 4:7 But God appointed a worm when dawn came the next day and it attacked the plant and it withered. Jon 4:8 When the sun came up God appointed a scorching east wind, and the sun beat down on Jonah's head so that he became faint and begged with {all} his soul to die, saying, "Death is better to me than life." Jon 4:9 Then God said to Jonah, "Do you have good reason to be angry about the plant?" And he said, "I have good reason to be angry, even to death." Jon 4:10 Then the LORD said, "You had compassion on the plant for which you did not work and {which} you did not cause to grow, which came up overnight and perished overnight. Jon 4:11 "Should I not have compassion on Nineveh, the great city in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know {the difference} between their right and left hand, as well as many animals?"