2 Kings 2:23

NET Bible® (New English Translation)

He went up from there to Bethel. As he was traveling up the road, some young boys came out of the city and made fun of him, saying,“Go on up, baldy! Go on up, baldy!”

Additional Resources

Referenced Verses

  • 2 Chr 36:16 : 16 But they mocked God’s messengers, despised his warnings, and ridiculed his prophets. Finally the LORD got very angry at his people and there was no one who could prevent his judgment.
  • Job 30:1 : 1 Job’s Present Misery“But now they mock me, those who are younger than I, whose fathers I disdained too much to put with my sheep dogs.
  • Job 19:18 : 18 Even youngsters have scorned me; when I get up, they scoff at me.
  • Gen 21:9 : 9 But Sarah noticed the son of Hagar the Egyptian– the son whom Hagar had borne to Abraham– mocking.
  • 1 Kgs 12:28-32 : 28 After the king had consulted with his advisers, he made two golden calves. Then he said to the people,“It is too much trouble for you to go up to Jerusalem. Look, Israel, here are your gods who brought you up from the land of Egypt.” 29 He put one in Bethel and the other in Dan. 30 This caused Israel to sin; the people went to Bethel and Dan to worship the calves. 31 He built temples on the high places and appointed as priests common people who were not Levites. 32 Jeroboam inaugurated a festival on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, like the festival celebrated in Judah. On the altar in Bethel he offered sacrifices to the calves he had made. In Bethel he also appointed priests for the high places he had made.
  • Job 30:8-9 : 8 Sons of senseless and nameless people, they were driven out of the land with whips. 9 Job’s Indignities“And now I have become their taunt song; I have become a byword among them. 10 They detest me and maintain their distance; they do not hesitate to spit in my face. 11 Because God has untied my tent cord and afflicted me, people throw off all restraint in my presence. 12 On my right the young rabble rise up; they drive me from place to place, and build up siege ramps against me. 13 They destroy my path; they succeed in destroying me without anyone assisting them. 14 They come in as through a wide breach; amid the crash they come rolling in. 15 Terrors are turned loose on me; they drive away my honor like the wind, and like a cloud my deliverance has passed away. 16 Job’s Despondency“And now my soul pours itself out within me; days of suffering take hold of me. 17 Night pierces my bones; my gnawing pains never cease. 18 With great power God grasps my clothing; he binds me like the collar of my tunic. 19 He has flung me into the mud, and I have come to resemble dust and ashes. 20 I cry out to you, but you do not answer me; I stand up, and you only look at me. 21 You have become cruel to me; with the strength of your hand you attack me. 22 You pick me up on the wind and make me ride on it; you toss me about in the storm. 23 I know that you are bringing me to death, to the meeting place for all the living. 24 The Contrast With the Past“Surely one does not stretch out his hand against a broken man when he cries for help in his distress. 25 Have I not wept for the unfortunate? Was not my soul grieved for the poor? 26 But when I hoped for good, trouble came; when I expected light, then darkness came. 27 My heart is in turmoil unceasingly; the days of my affliction confront me. 28 I go about blackened, but not by the sun; in the assembly I stand up and cry for help. 29 I have become a brother to jackals and a companion of ostriches. 30 My skin has turned dark on me; my body is hot with fever. 31 My harp is used for mourning and my flute for the sound of weeping.
  • Ps 31:18 : 18 May lying lips be silenced– lips that speak defiantly against the innocent with arrogance and contempt!
  • Ps 35:15 : 15 But when I stumbled, they rejoiced and gathered together; they gathered together to ambush me. They tore at me without stopping to rest.
  • Prov 20:11 : 11 Even a young man is known by his actions, whether his activity is pure and whether it is right.
  • Prov 22:6 : 6 Train a child in the way that he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.
  • Prov 22:15 : 15 Folly is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod of discipline will drive it far from him.
  • Eccl 11:10 : 10 Banish emotional stress from your mind. and put away pain from your body; for youth and the prime of life are fleeting.
  • Isa 1:4 : 4 Beware sinful nation, the people weighed down by evil deeds. They are offspring who do wrong, children who do wicked things. They have abandoned the LORD, and rejected the Holy One of Israel. They are alienated from him.
  • Isa 3:5 : 5 The people will treat each other harshly; men will oppose each other; neighbors will fight. Youths will proudly defy the elderly and riffraff will challenge those who were once respected.
  • Isa 57:3-4 : 3 But approach, you sons of omen readers, you offspring of adulteresses and prostitutes! 4 At whom are you laughing? At whom are you opening your mouth and sticking out your tongue? You are the children of rebels, the offspring of liars,
  • Jer 7:18 : 18 Children are gathering firewood, fathers are building fires with it, and women are mixing dough to bake cakes to offer to the goddess they call the Queen of Heaven. They are also pouring out drink offerings to other gods. They seem to do all this just to trouble me.
  • Hos 4:15 : 15 Warning to Judah: Do Not Join in Israel’s Apostasy! Although you, O Israel, commit adultery, do not let Judah become guilty! Do not journey to Gilgal! Do not go up to Beth Aven! Do not swear,“As surely as the LORD lives!”
  • Hos 10:5 : 5 The Calf Idol and Idolaters of Samaria Will Be Exiled The inhabitants of Samaria will lament over the calf idol of Beth Aven. Its people will mourn over it; its idolatrous priests will wail over it, because its splendor will be taken from them into exile.
  • Hos 10:15 : 15 So will it happen to you, O Bethel, because of your great wickedness! When that day dawns, the king of Israel will be destroyed.
  • Amos 3:14 : 14 “Certainly when I punish Israel for their covenant transgressions, I will destroy Bethel’s altars. The horns of the altar will be cut off and fall to the ground.
  • Amos 4:4 : 4 Israel has an Appointment with God“Go to Bethel and rebel! At Gilgal rebel some more! Bring your sacrifices in the morning, your tithes on the third day!
  • Amos 5:5 : 5 Do not seek Bethel! Do not visit Gilgal! Do not journey down to Beer Sheba! For the people of Gilgal will certainly be carried into exile; and Bethel will become a place where disaster abounds.”
  • Amos 7:13 : 13 Don’t prophesy at Bethel any longer, for a royal temple and palace are here!”
  • Matt 27:29-31 : 29 and after braiding a crown of thorns, they put it on his head. They put a staff in his right hand, and kneeling down before him, they mocked him:“Hail, king of the Jews!” 30 They spat on him and took the staff and struck him repeatedly on the head. 31 When they had mocked him, they stripped him of the robe and put his own clothes back on him. Then they led him away to crucify him.
  • Matt 27:40-43 : 40 and saying,“You who can destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself! If you are God’s Son, come down from the cross!” 41 In the same way even the chief priests– together with the experts in the law and elders– were mocking him: 42 “He saved others, but he cannot save himself! He is the king of Israel! If he comes down now from the cross, we will believe in him! 43 He trusts in God– let God, if he wants to, deliver him now because he said,‘I am God’s Son’!”
  • Gal 4:29 : 29 But just as at that time the one born by natural descent persecuted the one born according to the Spirit, so it is now.
  • Heb 11:36 : 36 And others experienced mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment.
  • 2 Kgs 2:11 : 11 As they were walking along and talking, suddenly a fiery chariot pulled by fiery horses appeared. They went between Elijah and Elisha, and Elijah went up to heaven in a windstorm.

Similar Verses (AI)

These verses are found using AI-powered semantic similarity based on meaning and context. Results may occasionally include unexpected connections.

  • 2 Kgs 2:24-25
    2 verses
    84%

    24When he turned around and saw them, he called God’s judgment down on them. Two female bears came out of the woods and ripped forty-two of the boys to pieces.

    25From there he traveled to Mount Carmel and then back to Samaria.

  • 2 Kgs 2:22
    72%

    22The water has been pure to this very day, just as Elisha prophesied.

  • Isa 15:2
    70%

    2They went up to the temple, the people of Dibon went up to the high places to lament. Because of what happened to Nebo and Medeba, Moab wails. Every head is shaved bare, every beard is trimmed off.

  • 2 Kgs 6:31-32
    2 verses
    69%

    31Then he said,“May God judge me severely if Elisha son of Shaphat still has his head by the end of the day!”

    32Now Elisha was sitting in his house with the community leaders. The king sent a messenger on ahead, but before he arrived, Elisha said to the leaders,“Do you realize this assassin intends to cut off my head? Look, when the messenger arrives, shut the door and lean against it. His master will certainly be right behind him.”

  • 2 Kgs 1:3-9
    7 verses
    69%

    3But the LORD’s angel told Elijah the Tishbite,“Get up, go to meet the messengers from the king of Samaria. Say this to them:‘You must think there is no God in Israel! That explains why you are on your way to seek an oracle from Baal Zebub the god of Ekron.

    4Therefore this is what the LORD has said,“You will not leave the bed you lie on, for you will certainly die!”’” So Elijah went on his way.

    5When the messengers returned to the king, he asked them,“Why have you returned?”

    6They replied,“A man came up to meet us. He told us,“Go back to the king who sent you and tell him,‘This is what the LORD has said:“You must think there is no God in Israel! That explains why you are sending for an oracle from Baal Zebub, the god of Ekron. Therefore you will not leave the bed you lie on, for you will certainly die.”’”

    7The king asked them,“Describe the appearance of this man who came up to meet you and told you these things.”

    8They replied,“He was a hairy man and had a leather belt tied around his waist.” The king said,“He is Elijah the Tishbite.”

    9The king sent a captain and his fifty soldiers to retrieve Elijah. The captain went up to him, while he was sitting on the top of a hill. He told him,“Prophet, the king says,‘Come down!’”

  • 1 Kgs 18:27
    69%

    27At noon Elijah mocked them,“Yell louder! After all, he is a god; he may be deep in thought, or perhaps he stepped out for a moment or has taken a trip. Perhaps he is sleeping and needs to be awakened.”

  • 2 Kgs 2:1-3
    3 verses
    68%

    1Elijah Makes a Swift Departure Just before the LORD took Elijah up to heaven in a windstorm, Elijah and Elisha were traveling from Gilgal.

    2Elijah told Elisha,“Stay here, for the LORD has sent me to Bethel.” But Elisha said,“As certainly as the LORD lives and as you live, I will not leave you.” So they went down to Bethel.

    3Some members of the prophetic guild in Bethel came out to Elisha and said,“Do you know that today the LORD is going to take your master from you?” He answered,“Yes, I know. Be quiet.”

  • Mic 1:16
    68%

    16Shave your heads bald as you mourn for the children you love; shave your foreheads as bald as an eagle, for they are taken from you into exile.

  • 2 Kgs 2:13-18
    6 verses
    68%

    13He picked up Elijah’s cloak, which had fallen off him, and went back and stood on the shore of the Jordan.

    14He took the cloak that had fallen off Elijah, hit the water with it, and said,“Where is the LORD, the God of Elijah?” When he hit the water, it divided and Elisha crossed over.

    15When the members of the prophetic guild in Jericho, who were standing at a distance, saw him do this, they said,“The spirit that energized Elijah rests upon Elisha.” They went to meet him and bowed down to the ground before him.

    16They said to him,“Look, there are fifty capable men with your servants. Let them go and look for your master, for the wind sent from the LORD may have carried him away and dropped him on one of the hills or in one of the valleys.” But Elisha replied,“Don’t send them out.”

    17But they were so insistent, he became embarrassed. So he said,“Send them out.” They sent the fifty men out and they looked for three days, but could not find Elijah.

    18When they came back, Elisha was staying in Jericho. He said to them,“Didn’t I tell you,‘Don’t go’?”

  • 2 Kgs 4:18-19
    2 verses
    67%

    18The boy grew and one day he went out to see his father who was with the harvest workers.

    19He said to his father,“My head! My head!” His father told a servant,“Carry him to his mother.”

  • 1 Kgs 13:10-12
    3 verses
    67%

    10So he started back on another road; he did not travel back on the same road he had taken to Bethel.

    11Now there was an old prophet living in Bethel. When his sons came home, they told him everything the prophet had done in Bethel that day. And they told their father all the words that he had spoken to the king.

    12Their father asked them,“Which road did he take?” His sons showed him the road the prophet from Judah had taken.

  • 2 Kgs 1:15
    67%

    15The LORD’s angel said to Elijah,“Go down with him. Don’t be afraid of him.” So he got up and went down with him to the king.

  • 2 Kgs 4:29
    67%

    29Elisha told Gehazi,“Tuck your robes into your belt, take my staff, and go! Don’t stop to exchange greetings with anyone! Place my staff on the child’s face.”

  • 2 Kgs 6:18
    67%

    18As they approached him, Elisha prayed to the LORD,“Strike these people with blindness.” The LORD struck them with blindness as Elisha requested.

  • 2 Kgs 10:12
    67%

    12Jehu then left there and set out for Samaria. While he was traveling through Beth Eked of the Shepherds,

  • Num 23:7
    66%

    7Then Balaam uttered his oracle, saying,“Balak, the king of Moab, brought me from Aram, out of the mountains of the east, saying,‘Come, pronounce a curse on Jacob for me; come, denounce Israel.’

  • 2 Chr 30:10
    66%

    10The messengers journeyed from city to city through the land of Ephraim and Manasseh as far as Zebulun, but people mocked and ridiculed them.

  • 1 Sam 9:11
    66%

    11As they were going up the ascent to the town, they met some girls coming out to draw water. They said to them,“Is this where the seer is?”

  • 1 Kgs 20:38
    66%

    38The prophet then went and stood by the road, waiting for the king. He also disguised himself by putting a bandage down over his eyes.

  • 2 Kgs 4:31
    66%

    31Now Gehazi went on ahead of them. He placed the staff on the child’s face, but there was no sound or response. When he came back to Elisha he told him,“The child did not wake up.”

  • 2 Kgs 1:11
    66%

    11The king sent another captain and his fifty soldiers to retrieve Elijah. He went up and told him,“Prophet, this is what the king says,‘Come down at once!’”

  • 2 Kgs 8:14
    66%

    14He left Elisha and went to his master. Ben Hadad asked him,“What did Elisha tell you?” Hazael replied,“He told me you would surely recover.”

  • 1 Sam 19:23
    65%

    23So Saul went to Naioth in Ramah. The Spirit of God came upon him as well, and he walked along prophesying until he came to Naioth in Ramah.

  • 1 Kgs 19:20
    65%

    20He left the oxen, ran after Elijah, and said,“Please let me kiss my father and mother goodbye, then I will follow you.” Elijah said to him,“Go back! Indeed, what have I done to you?”

  • 2 Kgs 4:23
    65%

    23He said,“Why do you want to go see him today? It is not the new moon or the Sabbath.” She said,“Everything’s fine.”

  • 2 Kgs 23:17
    65%

    17He asked,“What is this grave marker I see?” The men from the city replied,“It’s the grave of the prophet who came from Judah and foretold these very things you have done to the altar of Bethel.”

  • Isa 22:12
    65%

    12At that time the Sovereign LORD of Heaven’s Armies, called for weeping and mourning, for shaved heads and sackcloth.

  • 2 Kgs 2:11
    65%

    11As they were walking along and talking, suddenly a fiery chariot pulled by fiery horses appeared. They went between Elijah and Elisha, and Elijah went up to heaven in a windstorm.

  • 1 Kgs 17:19-20
    2 verses
    65%

    19He said to her,“Hand me your son.” He took him from her arms, carried him to the upper room where he was staying, and laid him down on his bed.

    20Then he called out to the LORD,“O LORD, my God, are you also bringing disaster on this widow I am staying with by killing her son?”

  • Num 23:13
    65%

    13Balak said to him,“Please come with me to another place from which you can observe them. You will see only a part of them, but you will not see all of them. Curse them for me from there.”

  • 2 Sam 16:13
    65%

    13So David and his men went on their way. But Shimei kept going along the side of the hill opposite him, yelling curses as he threw stones and dirt at them.