2 Kings 2
1 Just before the Lord took Elijah up to heaven in a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were walking together on their way from Gilgal.
Now it happened that, when the Lord willed to lift up Elijah into heaven by a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were going out of Gilgal.
2 Elijah said to Elisha, “Please stay here, for the Lord has sent me to Bethel.” But Elisha replied, “As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So they went to Bethel.
And Elijah said to Elisha: “Remain here. For the Lord has sent me as far as Bethel.” And Elisha said to him, “As the Lord lives, and as your soul lives, I will not forsake you.” And when they had descended to Bethel,
3 The sons of the prophets who lived in Bethel came to Elisha and told him, “You do know that the Lord is going to take your master away from you today, don't you?” “Yes, I know,” he replied. “Don't talk about it.”
the sons of the prophets, who were at Bethel, went out to Elisha. And they said to him, “Do you not know that today the Lord will take away your lord from you?” And he responded: “I know it. Be silent.”
4 Then Elijah said to him, “Please stay here, Elisha, for the Lord has sent me to Jericho.” He replied, “As the Lord lives, and as you live, I will not leave you.” So they went to Jericho.
Then Elijah said to Elisha: “Remain here. For the Lord has sent me to Jericho.” And he said, “As the Lord lives, and as your soul lives, I will not forsake you.” And when they had arrived at Jericho,
5 The sons of the prophets who lived in Jericho came to Elisha and told him, “You do know that the Lord is going to take your master away from you today, don't you?” “Yes, I know,” he replied. “Don't talk about it.”
the sons of the prophets, who were at Jericho, drew near to Elisha. And they said to him, “Do you not know that today the Lord will take away your lord from you?” And he said: “I know it. Be silent.”
6 Then Elijah said to him, “Please stay here, Elisha, for the Lord has sent me to the Jordan.” He replied, “As the Lord lives, and as you live, I will not leave you.” So they travelled on together.
Then Elijah said to him: “Remain here. For the Lord has sent me as far as the Jordan.” And he said, “As the Lord lives, and as your soul lives, I will not forsake you.” And so, the two of them continued on together.
7 Then a group of fifty of the sons of the prophets went and stood facing Elijah and Elisha at a distance as the two of them stood by the Jordan.
And fifty men from the sons of the prophets followed them, and they stood opposite them, at a distance. But the two of them were standing above the Jordan.
8 Elijah took his cloak, rolled it up, and hit the water. It divided to the one side and to the other and both of them crossed over on dry ground.
And Elijah took his cloak, and he rolled it up, and he struck the waters, which were divided into two parts. And they both went across on dry ground.
9 When they arrived on the other side, Elijah asked Elisha, “What can I do for you before I'm taken from you?” “Please let me have a double amount of your spirit,” Elisha replied.
And when they had gone across, Elijah said to Elisha, “Ask what you wish that I may do for you, before I am taken from you.” And Elisha said, “I beg you, that twice your spirit may be accomplished in me.”
10 “What you have asked for is hard,” Elijah responded. “But if you see me when I am taken from you, you will have it, otherwise not.”
And he responded: “You have requested a difficult thing. Nevertheless, if you see me when I am taken from you, you will have what you requested. But if you do not see, it shall not be.”
11 As they were walking along, talking, a chariot of fire and horses of fire came between them, and Elijah was taken up in the whirlwind to heaven.
And as they continued on, they were conversing while walking. And behold, a fiery chariot with fiery horses divided the two. And Elijah ascended by a whirlwind into heaven.
12 Elisha saw what happened and cried out, “My father! My father! Look! The chariots and horsemen of Israel!” Then Elisha couldn't see him anymore. He took his clothes and ripped them to pieces.
Then Elisha saw it, and he cried out: “My father, my father! The chariot of Israel with its driver!” And he saw him no more. And he took hold of his own garments, and he tore them into two parts.
13 Then Elisha picked up Elijah's cloak that had fallen from him, and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan.
And he picked up the cloak of Elijah, which had fallen from him. And turning back, he stood above the bank of the Jordan.
14 He took Elijah's cloak that had fallen from him, hit the water, and cried out, “Where is the Lord, the God of Elijah?” When he hit the water, it divided to the one side and to the other and Elisha crossed over.
And he struck the waters with the cloak of Elijah, which had fallen from him, and they were not divided. And he said, “Where is the God of Elijah, even now?” And he struck the waters, and they were divided here and there. And Elisha went across.
15 The sons of the prophets who lived in Jericho saw him from the opposite side and shouted out, “Elijah's spirit now rests upon Elisha!” They went over to meet him, and bowed to the ground before him.
Then the sons of the prophets, who were at Jericho, watching from a distance, said, “The spirit of Elijah has rested upon Elisha.” And approaching to meet him, they reverenced him prone on the ground.
16 “Look,” they said to Elisha, “we your servants have fifty good men here. Please allow them to go and search for your master. Maybe the Spirit of the Lord has taken him and put him down on a mountain or in a valley somewhere.” “Don't bother sending them,” Elisha replied.
And they said to him, “Behold, with your servants there are fifty strong men, who are able to go forth and to seek your lord. For perhaps, the Spirit of the Lord has taken him up and cast him upon some mountain, or into some valley.” But he said, “Do not send them.”
17 But they went on trying to persuade him until he was too embarrassed to say no. “Go ahead and send them,” he told them. So they sent fifty men, who searched for Elijah for three days but couldn't find him.
And they urged him, until he acquiesced and said, “Send them.” And they sent fifty men. And after they had searched for three days, they did not find him.
18 When they returned to Elisha, who was staying in Jericho, he said to them, “Didn't I tell you not to bother going?”
And they returned to him, for he was living in Jericho. And he said to them: “Did I not say to you, ‘Do not send them?’”
19 The townspeople said to Elisha, “Look, sir, while our town has a good location as you can see, the water is bad and the soil is poor.”
Also, the men of the city said to Elisha: “Behold, this city is a very good habitation, as you yourself perceive, O lord. But the waters are very bad, and the ground is barren.”
20 “Bring me a brand new bowl and put some salt in it,” he replied. So they brought it to him.
And so he said, “Bring a new vessel to me, and place salt in it.” And when they had brought it,
21 Then Elisha went to the spring, threw the salt into it, and said, “This is what the Lord says: ‘I have purified this water. It won't cause death or miscarriages anymore.’”
he went out to the source of the waters, and he cast the salt into it. And he said: “Thus says the Lord: I have healed these waters, and no longer shall there be death or barrenness in them.”
22 The water there is still pure to this very day, just as Elisha said it would be.
Then the waters were healed, even to this day, in accord with the word of Elisha, which he spoke.
23 Elisha went on from there to Bethel. As he was walking along the road, a group of youths came from the town. They made fun of him, calling out, “Go on up, baldy! Go on up, baldy!”
Then he went up from there into Bethel. And as he was ascending along the way, little boys departed from the city. And they were mocking him, saying: “Go up, bald head! Go up, bald head!”
24 Turning around, he looked at them and called down a curse on them in the Lord's name. Suddenly two female bears came out of the forest and mauled forty-two of them.
And when he had looked back, he saw them, and he cursed them in the name of the Lord. And two bears went out from the forest, and they wounded forty-two boys among them.
25 Elisha carried on to Mount Carmel, and from there he went back to Samaria.
Then he went away from there to mount Carmel. And he returned from there into Samaria.
