Elihu Proclaims God’s Majesty

¹“At this my heart also poundsand leaps from its place.

²Listen closely to the thunder of His voiceand the rumbling that comes from His mouth.

³He unleashes His lightning beneath the whole skyand sends it to the ends of the earth.

⁴Then there comes a roaring sound;He thunders with His majestic voice.He does not restrain the lightningwhen His voice resounds.

⁵God thunders wondrously with His voice;He does great things we cannot comprehend.

⁶For He says to the snow, ‘Fall on the earth,’and to the gentle rain, ‘Pour out a mighty downpour.’

⁷He seals up the hand of every man,so that all men may know His work.

⁸The wild animals enter their lairs;they settle down in their dens.

⁹The tempest comes from its chamber,and the cold from the driving north winds.

¹⁰By the breath of God the ice is formedand the watery expanses are frozen.

¹¹He loads the clouds with moisture;He scatters His lightning through them.

¹²They swirl about,whirling at His direction,accomplishing all that He commandsover the face of all the earth.

¹³Whether for punishment or for His land,He accomplishes this in His loving devotion.

¹⁴Listen to this, O Job;stand still and consider the wonders of God.

¹⁵Do you know how God dispatches the cloudsor makes the lightning flash?

¹⁶Do you understand how the clouds float,those wonders of Him who is perfect in knowledge?

¹⁷You whose clothes get hotwhen the land lies hushed under the south wind,

¹⁸can you, like Him, spread out the skies,as strong as a mirror of bronze?

¹⁹Teach us what we should say to Him;we cannot draw up our case because of our darkness.

²⁰Should He be told that I want to speak?Would a man ask to be swallowed up?

²¹Now no one can gaze at the sunwhen it is bright in the skiesafter the wind has swept them clean.

²²Out of the north He comes in golden splendor;awesome majesty surrounds Him.

²³The Almighty is beyond our reach;He is exalted in power!In His justice and great righteousnessHe does not oppress.

²⁴Therefore, men fear Him,for He is not partial to the wise in heart.”

The Builders of the Walls

¹At the Sheep Gate, Eliashib the high priest and his fellow priests began rebuilding. They dedicated it and installed its doors. After building as far as the Tower of the Hundred and the Tower of Hananel, they dedicated the wall.

²The men of Jericho built next to Eliashib, and Zaccur son of Imri built next to them.

³The Fish Gate was rebuilt by the sons of Hassenaah. They laid its beams and installed its doors, bolts, and bars.

⁴Next to them, Meremoth son of Uriah, the son of Hakkoz, made repairs. Next to him, Meshullam son of Berechiah, the son of Meshezabel, made repairs; and next to him, Zadok son of Baana made repairs as well.

⁵Next to him, the Tekoites made repairs, but their nobles did not put their shoulders to the work under their supervisors.

⁶The Jeshanah Gatewas repaired by Joiada son of Paseah and Meshullam son of Besodeiah. They laid its beams and installed its doors, bolts, and bars.

⁷Next to them, repairs were made by Melatiah the Gibeonite, Jadon the Meronothite, and the men of Gibeon and Mizpah, who were under the authority of the governor of the region west of the Euphrates.

⁸Next to them, Uzziel son of Harhaiah, one of the goldsmiths, made repairs. And next to him, Hananiah, one of the perfumers, made repairs. They fortified Jerusalem as far as the Broad Wall.

⁹Next to them, Rephaiah son of Hur, ruler of a half-district of Jerusalem, made repairs;

¹⁰next to him, Jedaiah son of Harumaph made repairs across from his house; and next to him, Hattush son of Hashabneiah made repairs.

¹¹Malchijah son of Harim and Hasshub son of Pahath-moab repaired another section, as well as the Tower of the Ovens.

¹²And next to them, Shallum son of Hallohesh, ruler of the other half-district of Jerusalem, made repairs, with the help of his daughters.

¹³The Valley Gate was repaired by Hanun and the residents of Zanoah. They rebuilt it, installed its doors, bolts, and bars, and repaired a thousand cubitsof the wall as far as the Dung Gate.

¹⁴The Dung Gate was repaired by Malchijah son of Rechab, ruler of the district of Beth-haccherem. He rebuilt it and installed its doors, bolts, and bars.

¹⁵The Fountain Gate was repaired by Shallunson of Col-hozeh, ruler of the district of Mizpah. He rebuilt it, roofed it, and installed its doors, bolts, and bars. He also repaired the wall of the Pool of Shelahnear the king’s garden, as far as the stairs that descend from the City of David.

¹⁶Beyond him, Nehemiah son of Azbuk, ruler of a half-district of Beth-zur, made repairs up to a point opposite the tombs of David, as far as the artificial pool and the House of the Mighty.

¹⁷Next to him, the Levites made repairs under Rehum son of Bani, and next to him, Hashabiah, ruler of a half-district of Keilah, made repairs for his district.

¹⁸Next to him, their countrymen made repairs under Binnuison of Henadad, ruler of the other half-district of Keilah.

¹⁹And next to him, Ezer son of Jeshua, ruler of Mizpah, repaired another section opposite the ascent to the armory, near the angle in the wall.

²⁰Next to him, Baruch son of Zabbai diligently repaired another section, from the angle to the doorway of the house of Eliashib the high priest.

²¹Next to him, Meremoth son of Uriah, the son of Hakkoz, repaired another section, from the doorway of the house of Eliashib to the end of the house.

²²And next to him, the priests from the surrounding area made repairs.

²³Beyond them, Benjamin and Hasshub made repairs in front of their house, and next to them, Azariah son of Maaseiah, the son of Ananiah, made repairs beside his house.

²⁴After him, Binnui son of Henadad repaired another section, from the house of Azariah to the angle and the corner,

²⁵and Palal son of Uzai made repairs opposite the angle and the tower that juts out from the upper palace of the king near the courtyard of the guard. Next to him, Pedaiah son of Parosh

²⁶and the temple servantsliving on the hill of Ophel made repairs opposite the Water Gate toward the east and the tower that juts out.

²⁷And next to them, the Tekoites repaired another section, from a point opposite the great tower that juts out to the wall of Ophel.

²⁸Above the Horse Gate, each of the priests made repairs in front of his own house.

²⁹Next to them, Zadok son of Immer made repairs opposite his house, and next to him, Shemaiah son of Shecaniah, the guard of the East Gate, made repairs.

³⁰Next to him, Hananiah son of Shelemiah, as well as Hanun the sixth son of Zalaph, repaired another section. Next to them, Meshullam son of Berechiah made repairs opposite his own quarters.

³¹Next to him, Malchijah, one of the goldsmiths, made repairs as far as the house of the temple servants and the merchants, opposite the Inspection Gate, and as far as the upper room above the corner.

³²And between the upper room above the corner and the Sheep Gate, the goldsmiths and merchants made repairs.

Elijah Taken Up to Heaven

¹Shortly before the LORD took Elijah up to heaven in a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal,

²and Elijah said to Elisha, “Please stay here, for the LORD has sent me on to Bethel.”But Elisha replied, “As surely as the LORD lives and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.”So they went down to Bethel.

³Then the sons of the prophets at Bethel came out to Elisha and said, “Do you know that the LORD will take your master away from you today?”“Yes, I know,” he replied. “Do not speak of it.”

⁴And Elijah said to Elisha, “Please stay here, for the LORD has sent me on to Jericho.”But Elisha replied, “As surely as the LORD lives and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.”So they went to Jericho.

⁵Then the sons of the prophets at Jericho came up to Elisha and said, “Do you know that the LORD will take your master away from you today?”“Yes, I know,” he replied. “Do not speak of it.”

⁶And Elijah said to Elisha, “Please stay here, for the LORD has sent me on to the Jordan.”But Elisha replied, “As surely as the LORD lives and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.”So the two of them went on.

⁷Then a company of fifty of the sons of the prophets went and stood at a distance, facing Elijah and Elisha as the two of them stood by the Jordan.

⁸And Elijah took his cloak, rolled it up, and struck the waters, which parted to the right and to the left, so that the two of them crossed over on dry ground.

⁹After they had crossed over, Elijah said to Elisha, “Tell me, what can I do for you before I am taken away from you?”“Please, let me inherit a double portion of your spirit,” Elisha replied.

¹⁰“You have requested a difficult thing,” said Elijah. “Nevertheless, if you see me as I am taken from you, it will be yours. But if not, then it will not be so.”

¹¹As they were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire with horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up into heaven in a whirlwind.

¹²As Elisha watched, he cried out, “My father, my father, the chariots and horsemen of Israel!” And he saw Elijah no more. So taking hold of his own clothes, he tore them in two.

¹³Elisha also picked up the cloak that had fallen from Elijah, and he went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan.

¹⁴Then he took the cloak of Elijah that had fallen from him and struck the waters. “Where now is the LORD, the God of Elijah?” he asked.And when he had struck the waters, they parted to the right and to the left, and Elisha crossed over.

Elisha Succeeds Elijah

¹⁵When the sons of the prophets who were watching him from Jericho saw what had happened, they said, “The spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha.” And they went to meet him and bowed down to the ground before him.

¹⁶“Look now,” they said to Elisha, “we your servants have fifty valiant men. Please let them go and search for your master. Perhaps the Spirit of the LORD has taken him up and put him on one of the mountains or in one of the valleys.”“Do not send them,” Elisha replied.

¹⁷But when they pressed him to the point of embarrassment, he said, “Send them.”And they sent fifty men, who searched for three days but did not find Elijah.

¹⁸When they returned to Elisha, who was staying in Jericho, he said to them, “Didn’t I tell you not to go?”

Elisha Heals the Waters of Jericho

¹⁹Then the men of the city said to Elisha, “Please note, our lord, that the city’s location is good, as you can see. But the water is bad and the land is unfruitful.”

²⁰“Bring me a new bowl,” he replied, “and put some salt in it.”So they brought it to him,

²¹and Elisha went out to the spring, cast the salt into it, and said, “This is what the LORD says: ‘I have healed this water. No longer will it cause death or unfruitfulness.’”

²²And the waters there have been healthy to this day, according to the word spoken by Elisha.

Elisha Mocked

²³From there, Elisha went up to Bethel, and as he was walking up the road, a group of boyscame out of the city and jeered at him, chanting, “Go up, you baldhead! Go up, you baldhead!”

²⁴Then he turned around, looked at them, and called down a curse on them in the name of the LORD.Suddenly two female bears came out of the woods and mauled forty-two of the boys.

²⁵And Elisha went on to Mount Carmel, and from there he returned to Samaria.

Ascribe Glory to the LORD

¹Ascribe to the LORD, O heavenly beings,ascribe to the LORD glory and strength.

²Ascribe to the LORD the glory due His name;worship the LORD in the splendor of His holiness.

³The voice of the LORD is over the waters;the God of glory thunders;the LORD is heard over many waters.

⁴The voice of the LORD is powerful;the voice of the LORD is majestic.

⁵The voice of the LORD breaks the cedars;the LORD shatters the cedars of Lebanon.

⁶He makes Lebanon skip like a calf,and Sirionlike a young wild ox.

⁷The voice of the LORDstrikes with flames of fire.

⁸The voice of the LORD shakes the wilderness;the LORD shakes the Wilderness of Kadesh.

⁹The voice of the LORD twists the oaksand strips the forests bare.And in His temple all cry, “Glory!”

¹⁰The LORD sits enthroned over the flood;the LORD is enthroned as King forever.

¹¹The LORD gives His people strength;the LORD blesses His people with peace.