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a captain of fifty with his fifty men; and fire from heaven likewise consumed them. And again a third captain was sent with those under him. who, coming to the prophet, fell down and worshipped and begged to be spared 1.143 punishment from him, saying he had come unwillingly, persuaded by a royal command, and he pleaded with him to go to the king. But Elijah, an angel having told him to go and not be afraid, came down from the mountain, and went to the king and said, "Because you have sent to a foreign god seeking if you will live, know that you will not rise from your illness, but will die." Ahaziah therefore died according to the prophet's prediction, leaving the kingdom to his brother Joram. who smashed the pillars of Baal, which Ahab his father had set up, but otherwise was impious and wicked and resembled his parents. And Elijah, being about to be taken up, journeyed with Elisha. And coming to the Jordan, he struck the water with his mantle, and the water was divided, and they both passed over on dry land. Then he said to Elisha, "Ask what I shall do for you." And he asked that a double portion of the grace of the spirit in him might be upon him. But Elijah said the request was a difficult one, "nevertheless, if you see me being taken up, it will be so for you." And while they were still speaking, a chariot of fire with like horses appeared and snatched up Elijah. And as he was being carried up, he threw his mantle down to Elisha. And he, taking it, no longer seeing Elijah, returned. And coming to the Jordan he made trial if he had received the grace as he had asked, and he struck the water with the mantle; but it was not divided. And he said, "Where is the God of Elijah?" and struck again; and the water parted, and he passed over. And fifty of the sons of the prophets, seeing him, said, "The spirit of Elijah rests upon Elisha," and they followed him. And they sought to go, to search lest the spirit of the Lord 1.144 had taken Elijah and cast him upon one of the mountains or the hills; but Elisha did not permit it; but as they insisted, he consented. And fifty men went and searched for three days and did not find him. But Elisha was in Jericho. And the men of the city came to him, begging that the waters of that place, being bad and causing barrenness, be changed by him. And he asked that salt be brought to him in a new vessel, and when it was brought, he cast salt into the spring of the waters, calling upon God, and the waters were changed from bitterness to sweetness and nothing harmful remained in them. And as the prophet Elisha was going away somewhere, small children were mocking him, shouting, "Go up, you baldhead." But being grieved at this, he cursed them. And bears came out from the mountain and killed forty-two of the children. And Joram the son of Ahab, being about to campaign against the Moabites, asked Jehoshaphat the king of Judah to ally with him. And he promised to take as an ally also the king of the Edomites who was subject to him. And the three kings, having united, went through the desert for seven days. And the water failed for the armies. The three kings therefore came to Elisha and begged him to save them and the army. But he said to Joram, "Go to the prophets of your father and your mother," and swore he would not have answered him were it not for Jehoshaphat. Then he commanded that a minstrel be called. And as he was playing, the spirit of the Lord inspired the prophet, and he commanded many ditches to be dug beside the wadi; "for you shall see," he said, "the wadi full, though neither wind 1.145 has blown nor rain has fallen, and you will drink your fill, and you will prevail over your enemies." And so he had prophesied; and in the morning on the next day the wadi was filled with water, and a flood occurring, the water covered the whole face of that land. And when the fiery sun rose and shone upon the waters, they appeared red in the light of the sun. The Moabites therefore, having encamped in the mountains and spying from above, supposed the water to be blood, and thinking that the kings against each other

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πεντηκόνταρχον μετὰ τῶν πεντήκοντα· κἀκείνους ὁμοίως πῦρ οὐράνιον ἐδαπάνησε. καὶ αυθις τρίτος ἐπέμφθη ταξίαρχος σὺν τοῖς ὑπ' αὐτόν. ος ἐπὶ τὸν προφήτην ἐλθών, πεσὼν προσεκύνησε καὶ παρῃτεῖτο 1.143 τὴν ἐξ αὐτοῦ τιμωρίαν, λέγων ακων ηκειν βασιλικῷ πεπεισμένος κελεύσματι, καὶ παρεκάλει αὐτὸν ἀπελθεῖν πρὸς τὸν βασιλέα. ̓Ηλιοὺ δέ, ἀγγέλου αὐτῷ πορευθῆναι εἰπόντος καὶ μὴ πτοεῖσθαι, κατῆλθεν ἐκ τοῦ ορους, καὶ ἀπελθὼν τῷ βασιλεῖ εφη "ἐπεὶ πρὸς ἀλλότριον θεὸν εστειλας ζητῶν εἰ ζήσεις, ισθι ὡς οὐκ ἀναστήσῃ ἐκ τῆς νόσου, ἀλλὰ τεθνήξῃ." ἀπέθανεν ουν ̓Οχοζίας κατὰ τὴν τοῦ προφήτου πρόρρησιν, τῷ ἀδελφῷ ̓Ιωρὰμ τὴν βασιλείαν καταλιπών. ος τὰς μὲν στήλας τοῦ Βάαλ, ας εστησεν ̓Αχαὰβ ὁ πατὴρ αὐτοῦ, συνέτριψε, ταλλα δὲ ἀσεβὴς καὶ πονηρὸς ην καὶ τοῖς γονεῦσι προσεοικώς. ̓Ηλιοὺ δὲ ἀναλαμβάνεσθαι μέλλων ἐπορεύθη μετὰ ̓Ελισσαιέ. καὶ ἐλθὼν εἰς τὸν ̓Ιορδάνην τῇ μηλωτῇ αὐτοῦ τὸ υδωρ ἐπάταξε, καὶ διῃρέθη τὸ υδωρ, καὶ διῆλθον αμφω ἐπὶ ξηρᾶς. ειτα "αιτησαι" ειπε τῷ ̓Ελισσαιέ "τί ποιήσω σοι." ὁ δὲ διπλῆν τὴν ἐν αὐτῷ τοῦ πνεύματος χάριν γενέσθαι ῃτησεν ἐπ' αὐτόν. ̓Ηλίας δὲ φορτικὸν ειπεν ειναι τὸ αιτημα, "πλὴν εἰ οψει με ἀναλαμβανόμενον, γενήσεταί σοι." ετι δὲ λαλούντων αὐτῶν αρμα εμπυρον σὺν ιπποις ὁμοίοις ἐπέστη καὶ ηρπασε τὸν ̓Ηλίαν. ἀναφερόμενος δὲ τὴν μηλωτὴν αὐτοῦ ἐπέρριψε τῷ ̓Ελισσαιέ. καὶ ος λαβὼν αὐτὴν μηκέτι τὸν ̓Ηλίαν ὁρῶν ὑπέστρεψε. καὶ ἐλθὼν εἰς τὸν ̓Ιορδάνην ἀπόπειραν ἐποιεῖτο εἰ ελαβε τὴν χάριν ὡς ῃτησε, καὶ ἐπάταξε τὸ υδωρ τῇ μηλωτῇ· τὸ δὲ οὐ διῄρητο. καὶ ειπε "ποῦ ὁ θεὸς ̓Ηλίου;" καὶ ἐπάταξε πάλιν· καὶ διέστη τὸ υδωρ, καὶ διῆλθεν. ἰδόντες δὲ αὐτὸν υἱοὶ τῶν προφητῶν πεντήκοντα ειπον "ἐπαναπέπαυται τὸ πνεῦμα ̓Ηλιοὺ ἐπὶ ̓Ελισσαιέ," καὶ ἠκολούθησαν αὐτῷ. καὶ ἐζήτουν πορευθῆναι, ἐρευνήσοντες μήποτε ηρε τὸν ̓Ηλίαν 1.144 πνεῦμα κυρίου καὶ ερριψεν αὐτὸν ἐφ' εν τῶν ὀρέων η τῶν βουνῶν· ̓Ελισσαιὲ δὲ οὐκ ἐπέτρεπεν· ἐγκειμένων δ' ἐκείνων κατένευσε. καὶ ἐπορεύθησαν πεντήκοντα ανδρες καὶ ἐζήτησαν τρεῖς ἡμέρας καὶ οὐχ ευρον. ̓Ελισσαιὲ δὲ ἐν ̔Ιεριχῷ ην. καὶ ηλθον οἱ ανδρες τῆς πόλεως πρὸς αὐτὸν δεόμενοι μεταβληθῆναι παρ' αὐτοῦ τὰ υδατα τοῦ τόπου ἐκείνου πονηρὰ οντα καὶ ἀτεκνοῦντα. ὁ δὲ ἐν ἀγγείῳ καινῷ αλας αὐτῷ κομισθῆναι ἐζήτησε, καὶ κομισθέντος εἰς τὴν πηγὴν τῶν ὑδάτων καθῆκεν αλας ἐπικαλούμενος τὸν θεόν, καὶ τὰ υδατα ἐκ πικρίας εἰς γλυκύτητα μετεβλήθησαν καὶ οὐδὲν αὐτοῖς ἐναπέμεινε βλαβερόν. ἀπιόντος δέ που τοῦ προφήτου ̓Ελισσαιὲ παιδάρια μικρὰ κατέπαιζον αὐτοῦ βοῶντα "ἀνάβαινε, φαλακρέ." ἀλγήσας δ' ἐπὶ τούτῳ κατηύξατο αὐτῶν. καὶ ἐξῆλθον αρκτοι ἀπὸ τοῦ ορους καὶ ἀπέκτειναν ἐκ τῶν παιδίων δύο καὶ τεσσαράκοντα. ̓Ιωρὰμ δὲ ὁ υἱὸς ̓Αχαὰβ μέλλων κατὰ Μωαβιτῶν ἐκστρατεύειν, ̓Ιωσαφὰτ τὸν βασιλέα τῆς ̓Ιουδαίας ἠξίου συμμαχῆσαι αὐτῷ. ὁ δὲ καὶ τὸν ̓Ιδουμαίων βασιλέα ὑπείκοντα αὐτῷ προσλαβέσθαι σύμμαχον ἐπηγγείλατο. ἑνωθέντες δ' οἱ τρεῖς βασιλεῖς διὰ τῆς ἐρήμου ἀπῄεσαν ἐπὶ ἡμέρας ἑπτά. καὶ τὸ υδωρ ἐπέλειψε τοῖς στρατεύμασιν. ηλθον ουν πρὸς ̓Ελισσαιὲ οἱ τρεῖς βασιλεῖς καὶ ἐδέοντο σώζειν αὐτοὺς καὶ τὴν στρατιάν. ὁ δὲ τῷ ̓Ιωρὰμ εφη "πρὸς τοὺς τοῦ πατρός σου καὶ τῆς μητρός σου απιθι προφήτας," καὶ ωμοσε μὴ αν ἀποκριθῆναι αὐτῷ εἰ μὴ διὰ ̓Ιωσαφάτ. ειτα ψάλλοντά τινα κληθῆναι ἐκέλευσε. ψάλλοντος δ' ἐκείνου πνεῦμα κυρίου ἐνέπνευσε τῷ προφήτῃ, καὶ ἐπέταξε βόθρους πολλοὺς ὀρύξαι παρὰ τὸν χείμαρρον· "οψεσθε γάρ" εφη "πλήρη τὸν χείμαρρον ουτε πνεύματος 1.145 πνεύσαντος ουθ' ὑετοῦ γεγονότος, καὶ πίεσθε εἰς κόρον, καὶ τῶν ἐχθρῶν κυριεύσετε." καὶ ὁ μὲν ουτως προείρηκεν· εωθεν δὲ τῇ ἐπαύριον ὁ χείμαρρος ὑδάτων ἐπέπληστο, καὶ πλημμύρας γενομένης απαν τὸ πρόσωπον τῆς γῆς ἐκείνης τὸ υδωρ ἐκάλυψεν. ἀνατείλαντος δὲ τοῦ ἡλίου πυρώδους καὶ προσβαλόντος τοῖς υδασιν, ἐρυθρὰ ταῦτα πρὸς τὴν αὐγὴν τοῦ ἡλίου ἐφαίνοντο. οἱ ουν Μωαβῖται ἐν τοῖς ορεσιν ἐστρατοπεδευκότες καὶ ὑψόθεν κατασκοποῦντες, αιμα τὸ υδωρ ὑπολαβόντες, καὶ νομίσαντες τοὺς βασιλεῖς πρὸς ἀλλήλους