ELISHA’S MIRACLES.



AFTER. Elijah had been translated, Elisha took the mantle that had fallen from him when he was taken up, and with it he smote the waters of the Jordan, and they parted as they did when Elijah smote them. Then Elisha walked through the bed of the river on dry ground, and when the sons of the prophets saw this, they said, "The spirit of Elijah doth rest on Elisha. And they came to meet him, and bowed themselves to the ground before him."

Then the men of Jericho complained that the water of that place was bad. So Elisha, in the name of the Lord, healed the waters, so that they were ever afterward wholesome and pleasant.

"And he went up from thence unto Bethel; and as he was going up by the way, there came forth little children out of the city, and mocked him, and said unto him, Go up, thou bald head; go up, thou bald head. And he turned back, and looked on them, and cursed them in the name of the Lord. And there came forth two she bears out of the wood, and tare forty and two children of them."

These little children were not so much to be blamed for mocking the prophet as were their parents, who had allowed them to cherish such an evil spirit, and probably taught it to them by their own bad example. The children must have been destroyed for the purpose of teaching these parents and others an important lesson.

Now the king of Israel, and the king of Edom, and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, joined their armies to go out against the king of Moab, and when they had marched seven days, they had no water, and the people were about to perish of thirst. Then at the request of Jehoshaphat they sent for Elisha; and when Elisha had come, he said, "Now bring me a minstrel; and it came to pass, when the minstrel played, that the hand of the Lord came upon him. And he said, Thus saith the Lord, Make this valley full of ditches. 

For thus saith the Lord, Ye shall not see wind, neither shall ye see rain; yet that valley shall be filled with water, that ye may drink, both ye, and your cattle, and your beasts. .... And it came to pass in the morning, when the meat offering was offered, that, behold, there came water by the way of Edom, and the country was filled with water.

And the Moabites rose up early in the morning, and looked upon the water as the sun was shining upon it, and it looked to them as red as blood; they said, "This is blood: the kings are surely slain, and they have smitten one another." And they came on in great haste into the camp of Israel. Then the Israelites rose up, and smote them, and pursued them, tearing down the walls of their cities, and destroying their lands.