Yesha ‘yahu (Isa) 62

1 For Tziyon’s sake I will not be silent,

for Yerushalayim’s sake I will not rest,

until her vindication shines out brightly

and her salvation like a blazing torch.

2 The nations will see your vindication

and all kings your glory.

Then you will be called by a new name

whichAdonaihimself will pronounce.

3 You will be a glorious crown in the hand ofAdonai,

a royal diadem held by your God.

4 You will no longer be spoken of as ‘Azuvah [Abandoned]

or your land be spoken of as ‘Sh’mamah [Desolate];

rather, you will be called Heftzi-Vah [My-Delight-Is-In-Her]

and your land Be‘ulah [Married].

ForAdonaidelights in you,

and your land will be married —

5 as a young man marries a young woman,

your sons will marry you;

as a bridegroom rejoices over the bride,

your God will rejoice over you.

6 I have posted watchmen

on your walls, Yerushalayim;

they will never fall silent,

neither by day nor by night.

You who call onAdonai,

give yourselves no rest;

7 and give him no rest till he restores Yerushalayim

and makes it a praise on earth.

8 Adonaihas sworn by his right hand

and by his mighty arm:

“Never again will I give your grain

to your enemies as food;

nor will strangers drink your wine,

for which you worked so hard;

9 but those who harvest the grain will eat it

with praises toAdonai;

those who gathered the wine will drink it

in the courtyards of my sanctuary.”

10 Go on through, go on through the gates,

clear the way for the people!

Build up a highway, build it up!

Clear away the stones!

Raise a banner for the peoples!

11 Adonaihas proclaimed to the end of the earth,

“Say to the daughter of Tziyon,

‘Here, your Salvation is coming!

Here, his reward is with him,

and his recompense is before him.’”

12 They will call them The Holy People,

The Redeemed ofAdonai.

You will be called D’rushah [Sought-After],

‘Ir Lo Ne‘ezvah [City-No-Longer-Abandoned].

Yesha ‘yahu (Isa) 63

1 Who is this, coming from Edom,

from Botzrah with clothing stained crimson,

so magnificently dressed,

so stately in his great strength?

“It is I, who speak victoriously,

I, well able to save.”

2 Why is your apparel red,

your clothes like someone treading a winepress?

3 “I have trodden the winepress alone;

from the peoples, not one was with me.

So I trod them in my anger,

trampled them in my fury;

so their lifeblood spurted out on my clothing,

and I have stained all my garments;

4 for the day of vengeance that was in my heart

and my year of redemption have come.

5 I looked, but there was no one to help,

and I was appalled that no one upheld me.

Therefore my own arm brought me salvation,

and my own fury upheld me.

6 In my anger I trod down the peoples,

made them drunk with my fury,

then poured out their lifeblood on the earth.”

7 I will recall the grace ofAdonai

and the praises ofAdonai,

because of all thatAdonaihas granted us

and his great goodness toward the house of Isra’el,

which he bestowed on them in keeping with his mercy,

in keeping with the greatness of his grace.

8 For he said, “They are indeed my people,

children who are not disloyal.”

So he became their Savior.

9 In all their troubles he was troubled;

then the Angel of His Presence saved them;

in his love and pity he redeemed them.

He had lifted them up and carried them

throughout the days of old.

10 However, they rebelled,

they grieved his Holy Spirit;

so he became their enemy

and himself fought against them.

11 But then his people remembered

the days of old, the days of Moshe:

“Where is he who brought them up from the sea

with the shepherds of his flock?

Where is he who put his Holy Spirit

right there among them,

12 who caused his glorious arm to go

at Moshe’s right hand?

He divided the water ahead of them,

to make himself an eternal name;

13 he led them through the deep

like a sure-footed horse through the desert;

14 like cattle going down into a valley

the Spirit ofAdonaihad them rest.

This is how you led your people,

to make yourself a glorious name.”

15 Look down from heaven; and see

from your holy, glorious dwelling.

Where are your zeal and your mighty deeds,

your inner concern and compassion?

Don’t hold back,

16 for you are our father.

Even if Avraham were not to know us,

and Isra’el were not to acknowledge us,

you,Adonai, are our father,

Our Redeemer of Old is your name.

17 Adonai, why do you let us wander from your ways

and harden our hearts, so that we do not fear you?

Return, for the sake of your servants,

the tribes who are your possession.

18 Your holy people held your sanctuary such a short time,

before our adversaries trampled it down.

19 For so long we have been like those you never ruled,

like those who were not called by your name!

We wish you would tear open heaven and come down,

so the mountains would shake at your presence!

Yesha ‘yahu (Isa) 64

1 It would be like fire kindling the brush,

and the fire then makes the water boil.

Then your enemies would know your name,

the nations would tremble before you!

2 When you did tremendous things

that we were not expecting,

we wished that you would come down,

so that the mountains would shake at your presence!

3 No one has ever heard,

no ear perceived, no eye seen,

any God but you.

You work for him who waits for you.

4 You favored those who were glad to do justice,

those who remembered you in your ways.

When you were angry, we kept sinning;

but if we keep your ancient ways, we will be saved.

5 All of us are like someone unclean,

all our righteous deeds like menstrual rags;

we wither, all of us, like leaves;

and our misdeeds blow us away like the wind.

6 No one calls on your name

or bestirs himself to take hold of you,

for you have hidden your face from us

and caused our misdeeds to destroy us.

7 But now,Adonai, you are our father;

we are the clay, you are our potter;

and we are all the work of your hands.

8 Do not be so very angry,Adonai!

Don’t remember crime forever.

Look, please, we are all your people.

9 Your holy cities have become a desert,

Tziyon a desert, Yerushalayim a ruin.

10 Our holy, beautiful house,

where our ancestors used to praise you,

has been burned to the ground;

all we cherished has been ruined.

11 Adonai, after all this,

will you still hold back?

Will you still stay silent

and punish us past endurance?

Yesha ‘yahu (Isa) 65

1 “I made myself accessible

to those who didn’t ask for me,

I let myself be found

by those who didn’t seek me.

I said, ‘Here I am! Here I am!’

to a nation not called by my name.

2 I spread out my hands all day long

to a rebellious people

who live in a way that is not good,

who follow their own inclinations;

3 a people who provoke me to my face all the time,

sacrificing in gardens and burning incense on bricks.

4 They sit among the graves

and spend the night in caverns;

they eat pig meat

and their pots hold soup made from disgusting things.

5 They say, ‘Keep your distance, don’t come near me,

because I am holier than you.’

These are smoke in my nose,

a fire that burns all day!

6 See, it is written before me;

I will not be silent until I repay them;

I will repay them to the full,

7 your own crimes and those of your ancestors together,”

saysAdonai.

“They offered incense on the mountains

and insulted me on the hills.

First I will measure out their wages

and then repay them in full.”

8 Here is whatAdonaisays:

“As when juice is found in a cluster of grapes,

and people say, ‘Don’t destroy it,

there is still some good in it,’

so I will do likewise for the sake of my servants,

and not destroy them all.

9 I will bring forth descendants from Ya‘akov,

heirs of my mountains from Y’hudah;

my chosen ones will possess them,

and my servants will live there.

10 The Sharon will be a pasture for flocks,

the Akhor Valley a place for cattle to rest,

for my people who have sought me.

11 “But as for you who abandonAdonai,

who forget my holy mountain,

who prepare a table for a Gad, a god of luck,

and fill bowls of mixed wine for Meni, a god of destiny —

12 I will destine you to the sword,

you will all bow down to be slaughtered;

because when I called, you did not answer;

when I spoke, you did not hear,

but did what was evil from my point of view

and chose what did not please me.”

13 Therefore this is whatAdonaiElohimsays:

“My servants will eat, while you go hungry;

my servants will drink, while you go thirsty.

My servants will rejoice,

while you will be ashamed.

14 Yes, my servants will sing for joy from their hearts,

but you will cry out from the pain in your heart

and howl from an anguished spirit.

15 My chosen will use your name as a curse —

‘MayAdonaiElohimstrike you dead!’

But to his servants he will give another name.

16 Thus someone on earth who blesses himself

will bless himself by the God of truth,

and someone on earth who swears an oath

will swear by the God of truth;

for past troubles will be forgotten,

hidden from my eyes.

17 “For, look! I create new heavens

and a new earth;

past things will not be remembered,

they will no more come to mind.

18 So be glad and rejoice forever

in what I am creating;

for look! I am making Yerushalayim a joy,

and her people a delight.

19 I will rejoice in Yerushalayim

and take joy in my people.

The sound of weeping will no longer be heard in it,

no longer the sound of crying.

20 No more will babies die in infancy,

no more will an old man die short of his days —

he who dies at a hundred will be thought young,

and at less than a hundred thought cursed.

21 They will build houses and live in them,

they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.

22 They will not build and others live there,

they will not plant and others eat;

for the days of my people

will be like the days of a tree,

and my chosen will themselves enjoy

the use of what they make.

23 They will not toil in vain

or raise children to be destroyed,

for they are the seed blessed byAdonai;

and their offspring with them.

24 Before they call, I will answer;

while they are still speaking, I will hear.

25 The wolf and the lamb will feed together,

and the lion eat straw like an ox

(but the serpent — its food will be dust).

They will not hurt or destroy

anywhere on my holy mountain,”

saysAdonai.

Yesha ‘yahu (Isa) 66

1 “Heaven is my throne,” saysAdonai,

“and the earth is my footstool.

What kind of house could you build for me?

What sort of place could you devise for my rest?

2 Didn’t I myself make all these things?

This is how they all came to be,”

saysAdonai.

“The kind of person on whom I look with favor

is one with a poor and humble spirit,

who trembles at my word.

3 Those others might as well kill a person as an ox,

as well break a dog’s neck as sacrifice a lamb,

as well offer pig’s blood as offer a grain offering,

as well bless an idol as burn incense.

Just as these have chosen their ways

and enjoy their disgusting practices,

4 so I will enjoy making fools of them,

and bring on them the very things they fear.

For when I called, no one answered;

when I spoke, they did not hear.

Instead they did what was evil in my sight

and chose what did not please me.”

5 Hear the word ofAdonai,

you who tremble at his word:

“Your brothers, who hate you and reject you

because of my name, have said:

‘LetAdonaibe glorified,

so we can see your joy.’

But they will be put to shame.”

6 That uproar in the city,

that sound from the temple,

is the sound ofAdonairepaying

his foes what they deserve.

7 Before going into labor, she gave birth;

before her pains came, she delivered a male child.

8 Who ever heard of such a thing?

Who has ever seen such things?

Is a country born in one day?

Is a nation brought forth all at once?

For as soon as Tziyon went into labor,

she brought forth her children.

9 “Would I let the baby break through

and not be born?” asksAdonai.

“Would I, who cause the birth,

shut the womb?” asks your God.

10 Rejoice with Yerushalayim!

Be glad with her, all you who love her!

Rejoice, rejoice with her,

all of you who mourned for her;

11 so that you nurse and are satisfied

by her comforting breast,

drinking deeply and delighting

in the overflow of her glory.

12 ForAdonaisays, “I will spreadshalom

over her like a river,

and the wealth of nations

like a flooding stream;

you will nurse and be carried in her arm

and cuddled in her lap.

13 Like someone comforted by his mother,

I will comfort you;

in Yerushalayim

you will be comforted.”

14 Your heart will rejoice at the sight,

your bodies will flourish like newly sprouted grass.

It will be known that the hand ofAdonai

is with his servants; but with his enemies, his fury.

15 For — look! —Adonaiwill come in fire,

and his chariots will be like the whirlwind,

to render his anger furiously,

his rebuke with blazing fire.

16 ForAdonaiwill judge all humanity

with fire and with the sword,

and those slain byAdonaiwill be many.

17 “Those who consecrate and purify themselves

in order to enter the gardens,

then follow the one who was already there,

eating pig meat, reptiles and mice,

will all be destroyed together,” saysAdonai.

18 “For I [know] their deeds and their thoughts.

“[The time] is coming when I will gather together all nations and languages. They will come and see my glory,

19 and I will give them a sign. I will send some of their survivors to the nations of Tarshish, Pul, Lud (these are archers), Tuval, Greece and more distant coasts, where they have neither heard of my fame nor seen my glory. They will proclaim my glory in these nations;

20 and they will bring all your kinsmen out of all the nations as an offering toAdonai— on horses, in chariots, in wagons, on mules, on camels — to my holy mountain Yerushalayim,” saysAdonai, “just as the people of Isra’el themselves bring their offerings in clean vessels to the house ofAdonai.

21 I will also takecohanimandL’vi’imfrom them,” saysAdonai.

22 “For just as the new heavens and the new earth that I am making will continue in my presence,” saysAdonai, “so will your descendants and your name continue.

23 “Every month onRosh-Hodesh

and every week onShabbat,

everyone living will come

to worship in my presence,” saysAdonai.

24 “As they leave, they will look on the corpses

of the people who rebelled against me.

For their worm will never die,

and their fire will never be quenched;

but they will be abhorrent

to all humanity.”

[“Every month onRosh-Hodesh

and every week onShabbat,

everyone living will come

to worship in my presence,” saysAdonai.]

M’lakhim Bet (2 Ki) 1

1 After Ach’av’s death Mo’av rebelled against Isra’el.

2 When Achazyah fell through a latticed window of his upper room in Shomron and lay injured, he sent messengers and said to them, “Go, consult Ba‘al-Z’vuv the god of ‘Ekron, and ask whether I will recover from this injury.”

3 But an angel ofAdonaisaid to Eliyahu from Tishbe, “Get up, and intercept the messengers of the king of Shomron, and ask them, ‘Is it because there’s no God in Isra’el that you’re on your way to consult Ba‘al-Z’vuv the god of ‘Ekron?

4 ThereforeAdonaisays, “You will never leave the bed you are lying on; you will certainly die.”’” Then Eliyahu left.

5 The messengers returned to Achazyah, and he asked them, “Why have you come back?”

6 They answered him, “A man came to meet us. He told us to go and return to the king who sent us, and tell him, ‘Here is whatAdonaisays: “Is it because there’s no God in Isra’el that you’re sending to consult Ba‘al-Z’vuv the god of ‘Ekron? Therefore you will never leave the bed you are lying on; you will certainly die.”’”

7 He asked them, “The man who came to meet you and told you these things, what kind of a man was he?”

8 “He was a hairy man,” they answered him, “with a leather belt around his waist.” He said, “It was Eliyahu from Tishbe.”

9 Then the king sent a commander of fifty to Eliyahu, together with his fifty men. Eliyahu was sitting at the top of a hill. The commander climbed up to him and said, “Man of God, the king says to come down.”

10 Eliyahu answered the commander of fifty, “If I am in fact a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and burn you up, along with your fifty men.” Fire came down from heaven, and it burned up him and his fifty men.

11 The king sent him another commander of fifty, together with his fifty men. He said to him, “Man of God, the king says, ‘Come down immediately!’”

12 Eliyahu answered them, “If I am in fact a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and burn you up, along with your fifty men.” Fire came down from heaven, and it burned up him and his fifty men.

13 The king sent a third commander of fifty, with his fifty men. The third commander of fifty climbed up, approached Eliyahu and fell on his knees before him. He pleaded with him: “Man of God, please! Have some regard for my life and the lives of these fifty servants of yours!

14 I know that fire came down from heaven and burned up the two other commanders with their fifty men; but now, have some regard for my life.”

15 The angel ofAdonaisaid to Eliyahu, “Go down with him; don’t be afraid of him.” So he got up and went down with him to the king.

16 Eliyahu said to the king, “Here is whatAdonaisays: ‘You sent messengers to consult Ba‘al-Z’vuv the god of ‘Ekron. Is it because there’s no God in Isra’el you can consult? Therefore, you will never leave the bed you are lying on; you will certainly die.’”

17 So he died, in keeping with the word ofAdonaispoken through Eliyahu.

Y’horam began to rule in place of him during the second year of Y’horam the son of Y’hoshafat king of Y’hudah, because he had no son.

18 Other activities of Achazyah are recorded in the Annals of the Kings of Isra’el.

M’lakhim Bet (2 Ki) 2

1 The time came forAdonaito take Eliyahu up into heaven in a whirlwind. Eliyahu and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal,

2 when Eliyahu said to Elisha, “Please wait here, becauseAdonaihas sent me all the way to Beit-El.” But Elisha said, “AsAdonailives, and as you live, I will not leave you.” So they went down to Beit-El.

3 The guild prophets of Beit-El came out to Elisha and said to him, “Do you know thatAdonaiis taking your master away from you today?” “Yes, I know,” he answered; “say no more.”

4 Eliyahu said to him, “Elisha, please wait here, becauseAdonaihas sent me to Yericho.” He replied, “AsAdonailives, and as you live, I will not leave you.” So they came to Yericho.

5 The guild prophets of Yericho approached Elisha and said to him, “Do you know thatAdonaiis taking your master away from you today?” “Yes, I know,” he answered; “say no more.”

6 Eliyahu said to him, “Please wait here, becauseAdonaihas sent me to the Yarden.” He replied, “AsAdonailives, and as you live, I will not leave you.” So the two of them went on.

7 Fifty of the guild prophets went and stood watching them from a distance, while they stood by the Yarden.

8 Then Eliyahu took his cloak, rolled it up and struck the water with it; and the water divided itself to the left and to the right; so that they crossed on dry ground.

9 After they had crossed, Eliyahu said to Elisha, “Tell me what I can do for you before I am taken away from you.” Elisha said, “Please! Let a double share of your spirit be on me!”

10 He replied, “You have requested a hard thing. Nevertheless, if you see me when I am taken from you, you will get what you asked for; but if not, you won’t.”

11 Suddenly, as they were walking on and talking, there appeared a fiery chariot with horses of fire; and as it separated the two of them from each other, Eliyahu went up into heaven in a whirlwind.

12 Elisha saw it and cried out, “My father! My father! The chariots and horsemen of Isra’el!” Then he lost sight of him. Seizing his clothes, he tore them in half.

13 Then he picked up Eliyahu’s cloak, which had fallen off him. Standing on the bank of the Yarden,

14 he took the cloak that had fallen off Eliyahu, struck the water and said, “Where isAdonai, the God of Eliyahu?” But when he actually did strike the water, it divided itself to the left and to the right; then Elisha crossed over.

15 When the guild prophets of Yericho saw him in the distance, they said, “The spirit of Eliyahu does rest on Elisha.” Advancing to meet him, they prostrated themselves on the ground before him

16 and said to him, “Here now, your servants include fifty strong men. Please let them go and look for your master, in the event that the Spirit ofAdonaihas taken him up and set him down on some mountain or in some valley.” He answered, “Don’t send them.”

17 But they kept pressing him until finally, embarrassed, he said to send them. So they sent fifty men. For three days they searched, but they didn’t find him.

18 On returning to him where he was waiting in Yericho, he said to them, “I told you not to go, didn’t I?”

19 The men of the city said to Elisha, “My lord can see that this is a pleasant city to live in; but the water is bad, so that the ground is causing miscarriages.”

20 “Bring me a new jug,” he said, “and put salt in it.” They brought it to him.

21 He went out to the source of the water, threw salt into it and said, “This is whatAdonaisays: ‘I have healed this water; it will no longer cause death or miscarrying.’”

22 The water was healed and has remained healed to this day, in keeping with Elisha’s spoken word.

23 Elisha left to go up to Beit-El. As he was on his way up the road, some boys came out of the town and began making fun of him. “Go on up, baldy! Go on up, baldy!”

24 He looked behind him, saw them and put a curse on them in the name ofAdonai; whereupon two female bears came out of the woods and mauled forty-two of the boys.

25 He went on from there to Mount Karmel and then returned to Shomron.

M’lakhim Bet (2 Ki) 3

1 Y’horam the son of Ach’av began his reign over Isra’el in Shomron during the eighteenth year of Y’hoshafat king of Y’hudah, and he ruled for twelve years.

2 He did what was evil fromAdonai’s perspective; but he was not as bad as his father and mother, because he got rid of Ba‘al’s standing-stone which his father had made.

3 Nevertheless, he clung to the sins of Yarov‘am the son of N’vat, with which he had led Isra’el into sin; he never turned away from them.

4 Mesha king of Mo’av was a sheep-breeder, and he used to send the king of Isra’el the wool of 100,000 lambs and of 100,000 rams as tribute.

5 But after Ach’av died, the king of Mo’av rebelled against the king of Isra’el.

6 Y’horam left Shomron and mustered all Isra’el.

7 He also went and sent this word to Y’hoshafat king of Y’hudah: “The king of Mo’av has rebelled against me. Will you join me in attacking Mo’av?” He answered, “I will join in the attack — I’m with you all the way; think of my people and horses as yours.

8 Which route should we take?” he added. “The road through the desert of Edom,” answered Y’horam.

9 So the king of Isra’el set out, along with the king of Y’hudah and the king of Edom. After a roundabout journey of seven days, there was no water for either the army or the animals following them.

10 “This is terrible!” exclaimed the king of Isra’el. “HasAdonaicalled these three kings together only to hand them over to Mo’av?”

11 But Y’hoshafat said, “Isn’t there a prophet ofAdonaihere through whom we can consultAdonai?” One of the servants of the king of Isra’el answered, “Elisha the son of Shafat is here, the one who used to pour water on Eliyahu’s hands.”

12 Y’hoshafat said, “The word ofAdonaiis with him.” So the king of Isra’el, Y’hoshafat and the king of Edom went down to consult him.

13 Elisha said to the king of Isra’el, “What do you and I have in common? Go, consult your father’s prophets and your mother’s prophets!” But the king of Isra’el answered him, “No, becauseAdonaihas called these three kings together to hand them over to Mo’av.”

14 Elisha said, “AsAdonai-Tzva’otlives, before whom I stand, if I didn’t respect the fact that Y’hoshafat the king of Y’hudah is here, I wouldn’t even look in your direction or take notice of you.

15 But now, bring me a musician.” As the musician played, the hand ofAdonaifell on Elisha;

16 and he said, “Adonaisays to dig until this valley is full of trenches.

17 For here is whatAdonaisays: ‘You won’t see wind, and you won’t see rain. Nevertheless the valley will be filled with water; and you will drink — you, your cattle and your other animals.

18 That’s an easy thing to do, fromAdonai’s perspective. He will also hand Mo’av over to you.

19 You will conquer every fortified city and every choice town, you will chop down every good tree, stop up every well and ruin every good field with stones.”

20 The next morning, around the time for making the offering, water came from the direction of Edom, and the countryside was filled with water.

21 When all Mo’av heard that the kings had come up to attack them, every man was summoned, from the youngest capable of bearing arms to older ones, and stationed on the border.

22 They rose early in the morning, when the sun was shining on the water. Mo’av, when they saw the water in the distance looking as red as blood,

23 said, “That’s blood! The kings must have quarreled, and their soldiers killed each other. Mo’av! To the plunder!”

24 When they arrived at the camp of Isra’el, Isra’el launched an attack, so that Mo’av fled before them. But they advanced on Mo’av and struck it.

25 They made ruins of the cities. Each man threw his stone on every good field, covering it. They stopped up all the wells. They chopped down all the good trees. Finally, all that remained was Kir-Hareset behind its stone wall, with the slingers surrounding and attacking it.

26 When the king of Mo’av saw that the fighting was too much for him, he took with him 700 men armed with swords and tried to break through to the king of Edom; but they couldn’t do it.

27 Then he took his firstborn son, who was to have succeeded him as king, and offered him as a burnt offering on the wall. Following this, such great anger came upon Isra’el that they left him and went back to their own land.

M’lakhim Bet (2 Ki) 4

1 The wife of one of the guild prophets complained to Elisha. “Your servant my husband died,” she said, “and you know that he fearedAdonai. Now a creditor has come to take my two children as his slaves.”

2 Elisha asked her, “What should I do for you? Tell me, what do you have in the house?” She answered, “Your servant has nothing in the house but a flask of oil.”

3 Then he said, “Go, and borrow containers from all your neighbors, empty containers; and don’t borrow just a few!

4 Then go in; shut the door, with you and your sons inside; and pour oil into all those containers; and as they are filled, put them aside.”

5 So she left him and shut the door on herself and her sons. They brought her the containers while she poured.

6 When the containers were full, she said to her son, “Bring me another container”; but he answered, “There isn’t another container.” Then the oil stopped flowing.

7 She came and told the man of God; and he said, “Go, sell the oil, and pay your debt; then you and your sons can live on what’s left.”

8 One day Elisha visited Shunem, and a well-to-do woman living there pressed him to stay and eat a meal. After this, whenever he came through, he stopped there for a meal.

9 She said to her husband, “I can see that this is a holy man of God who keeps stopping at our place.

10 Please, let’s build him a little room on the roof. We’ll put a bed and a table in it for him, and a stool and a candlestick. Then, whenever he comes to visit us, he can stay there.”

11 One day Elisha came to visit there, and he went into the upper room to lie down.

12 He said to Geichazi his servant, “Call this Shunamit.” He called her; and when she arrived,

13 he said to him, “Tell her this: ‘You have shown us so much hospitality! What can I do to show my appreciation? Do you want me to say anything to the king for you? or to the commander of the army?” She answered, “I’m happy living as I do, among my own people.”

14 He said, “What, then, is to be done for her?” Geichazi answered, “There’s one thing — she doesn’t have a son; and her husband is old.

15 Elisha said, “Call her.” After he called her, she stood in the doorway.

16 He said, “Next year, when the season comes around, you will be holding a son.” “No, my lord,” she answered. “Man of God, don’t lie to your servant!”

17 But the woman conceived and gave birth to a son the following year when the season came around, just as Elisha had said to her.

18 When the child was old enough, he went out one day to be with his father, who was with the reapers.

19 Suddenly he cried out to his father, “My head! My head hurts!” He said to his servant, “Carry him back to his mother.”

20 When he had taken him and brought him to his mother, he lay on her lap until noon; and then he died.

21 She went up and laid him on the bed of the man of God, shut the door on him and went out.

22 She called to her husband and said, “Please send me one of the servants with a donkey. I must get to the man of God as fast as I can; I’ll come straight back.”

23 He asked, “Why are you going to him today? It isn’tRosh-Hodeshand it isn’tShabbat.” She said, “It’s all right.”

24 Then she saddled the donkey and ordered her servant, “Drive as fast as you can; don’t slow down for me unless I say so.”

25 She set out and came to the man of God on Mount Karmel. When the man of God saw her in the distance, he said to Geichazi his servant, “Look, here comes that Shunamit.

26 Run now to meet her, and ask her, “Is everything all right with you? with your husband? with the child?” She answered, “Everything is all right.”

27 But when she reached the man of God on the hill, she grabbed his feet. Geichazi came up to push her away, but the man of God said, “Leave her alone. She is in great distress, butAdonaihas hidden from me what it is, he hasn’t told me.”

28 Then she said, “Did I ask my lord for a son? Didn’t I say not to deceive me?”

29 Then Elisha said to Geichazi, “Get dressed for action, take my staff in your hand, and be on your way. If you meet anyone, don’t greet him; if anyone greets you, don’t answer; and lay my staff on the child’s face.”

30 The mother of the child said, “AsAdonailives, and as you live, I will not leave you. He got up and followed her.

31 Geichazi went on ahead of them and laid the staff on the child’s face, but there was no sound or sign of life. So he went back to Elisha and told him, “The child didn’t wake up.”

32 When Elisha reached the house, there the child was, dead and laid on the bed.

33 He went in, shut the door on the two of them and prayed toAdonai.

34 Then he got up on the bed and lay on top of the child, putting his mouth on his mouth, his eyes on his eyes and his hands on his hands. As he stretched himself out on the child, its flesh began to grow warm.

35 Then he went down, walked around in the house awhile, went back up and stretched himself out on the child again. The child sneezed seven times, then opened his eyes.

36 Elisha called Geichazi and said, “Call this Shunamit.” So he called her; and when she came in to him, he said, “Pick up your son.”

37 She entered, fell at his feet and prostrated herself on the floor. Then she picked up her son and went out.

38 Elisha went back to Gilgal. At the time, there was a famine in the land. The guild prophets were sitting before him, and he said to his servant, “Put the big pot on the fire, and boil some soup for the prophets.”

39 One of them went out to the field to gather vegetables and came upon a wild vine, from which he filled the front of his cloak with wild squash. On returning he cut them up and put them into the stew; they didn’t know what they were.

40 Then they poured it out for the men to eat; but on tasting it, they cried, “Man of God! There’s death in that pot!” And they couldn’t eat it.

41 But he said, “Bring some flour.” He threw it in the pot, then said, “Pour it out for the people to eat.” This time there was nothing harmful in the pot.

42 A man came from Ba‘al-Shalishah bringing the man of God twenty loaves of bread made from the barley firstfruits and fresh ears of grain in his sack. Elisha said, “Give this to the people to eat.”

43 His servant said, “How am I to serve this to a hundred men?” But he said, “Give it to the people to eat; forAdonaisays that they will eat and have some left over.”

44 So he served them, and they ate and had some left over, asAdonaihad said.

M’lakhim Bet (2 Ki) 5

1 Na‘aman, commander of the king of Aram’s army, was highly respected and esteemed by his master; because through himAdonaihad brought victory to Aram. But although he was a brave warrior, he also suffered fromtzara‘at.

2 Now on one of their raids into Isra’el’s territory, Aram carried away captive a little girl, who became a servant for Na‘aman’s wife.

3 She said to her mistress, “I wish my lord could go to the prophet in Shomron! He could heal histzara‘at.”

4 Na‘aman went in and told his lord, “The girl from the land of Isra’el said such-and-such.”

5 The king of Aram said, “Go now, and I will send a letter to the king of Isra’el.”

He set out, taking with him 660 pounds of silver, 6,000 pieces of gold and ten changes of clothes.

6 He brought the king of Isra’el the letter, which said, “When this letter reaches you, you will see that I have sent my servant Na‘aman to you, so that you can heal histzara‘at.”

7 When the king of Isra’el finished reading the letter, he tore his clothes. “Am I God, able to kill and make alive,” he asked, “so that he sends me a man to heal oftzara‘at? You can see that he is only seeking an excuse to quarrel with me.”

8 But when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Isra’el had torn his clothes, he sent a message to the king: “Why did you tear your clothes? Just have him come to me, and he will know that there is a prophet in Isra’el.”

9 So Na‘aman came with his horses and chariots and stood at the door of Elisha’s house.

10 Elisha sent a messenger to him, who said, “Go, and bathe in the Yarden seven times. Your skin will become as it was, and you will be clean.”

11 But Na‘aman became angry and left, saying, “Here now! I thought for certain that he would come out personally, that he would stand, call on the name ofAdonaihis God and wave his hand over the diseased place and thus heal the person withtzara‘at.

12 Aren’t Amanah and Parpar, the rivers of Dammesek, better than all the water in Isra’el? Why can’t I bathe in them and be clean?” So he turned and went off in a rage.

13 But his servants approached him and said, “My father! If the prophet had asked you to do something really difficult, wouldn’t you have done it? So, doesn’t it make even more sense to do what he says, when it’s only, ‘Bathe, and be clean’?”

14 So he went down and immersed himself seven times in the Yarden, as the man of God had said to do; and his skin was restored and became like the skin of a child; and he became clean.

15 Then, with his whole retinue, he returned to the man of God, went and stood before him, and said, “Well, I’ve learned that there is no God in all the earth except in Isra’el; therefore, please accept a present from your servant.”

16 But Elisha answered, “AsAdonailives, before whom I stand, I will not accept it.” And despite his urging him to take it, he refused.

17 So Na‘aman said, “If you won’t take it, then please let your servant be given as much earth as two mules can carry; because from now on, your servant will offer neither burnt offerings nor sacrifices to other gods, but only toAdonai.

18 Except this, and mayAdonaiforgive your servant for it: when my master goes into the temple of Rimmon to worship there, and he leans on my hand, and I bow down in the temple of Rimmon — when I bow down, mayAdonaiforgive your servant for this.”

19 Elisha said to him, “Go in peace.”

Na‘aman had gone only a short distance from him,

20 when Geichazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, said to himself, “Here, my master has made it easy on this Arami Na‘aman by not accepting from him what he brought. AsAdonailives, I’ll run after him and get at least something from him.”

21 So Geichazi hurried off after Na‘aman. When Na‘aman saw someone running after him, he got down from his chariot to meet him and asked, “Is everything all right?”

22 “Yes,” he replied. “My master sent me with this message: ‘Two young men have just now come to me, guild prophets from the hills of Efrayim. Would you be kind enough to give them a talent of silver [sixty-six pounds] and two changes of clothes?”

23 “By all means, take two talents!” said Na‘aman, pressing him. He tied up the two talents of silver in two bags and gave them, with the two changes of clothes, to two of his servants, who carried them ahead of Geichazi.

24 On reaching the hill, he took the bags from them and put them away in the house. Then he let the men go, and they left.

25 He went in and stood before his master. Elisha asked, “Where have you been, Geichazi?” “Your servant hasn’t gone anywhere,” he said.

26 Elisha said to him, “Wasn’t my heart there with you when the man left his chariot to meet you? Is this a time to receive silver and clothing — and olive groves and vineyards and sheep and oxen and male and female slaves?

27 Therefore Na‘aman’stzara‘atwill cling to you and your descendants forever.” He left Elisha’s presence withtzara‘atas white as snow.