2 Kings 2:4–25

⁴Elijah said to him, “Elisha, stay here; the Lord is sending me to Jericho.”^a

But Elisha said, “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 who were in Jericho came up to Elisha and said, “Do you know that the Lord will take your master away from you today?”

He said, “Yes, I know. Be quiet.”

⁶Elijah said to him, “Stay here; the Lord is sending me to the Jordan.”^b

But Elisha said, “As the Lord lives and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So the two of them went on.

⁷Fifty men from the sons of the prophets came and stood observing them at a distance while the two of them stood by the Jordan. ⁸Elijah took his mantle,^c rolled it up, and struck the water, which parted to the right and left. Then the two of them crossed over on dry ground.^{d 9}When they had crossed over, Elijah said to Elisha, “Tell me what I can do for you before I am taken from you.”

So Elisha answered, “Please, let me inherit two shares of your spirit.”^e

¹⁰Elijah replied, “You have asked for something difficult. If you see me being taken from you,^f you will have it. If not, you won’t.”

¹¹As they continued walking and talking, a chariot of fire with horses of fire^g suddenly appeared and separated the two of them. Then Elijah went up into heaven in the whirlwind.^{h 12}As Elisha watched, he kept crying out, “My father, my father, the chariots and horsemen of Israel!”ⁱ

ELISHA SUCCEEDS ELIJAH

When he could see him no longer, he took hold of his own clothes, tore them in two,^{j 13}picked up the mantle^k that had fallen off Elijah, and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan. ¹⁴He took the mantle Elijah had dropped, and he struck the water. “Where is the Lord God of Elijah?” he asked. He struck the water himself, and it parted to the right and the left, and Elisha crossed over.

¹⁵When the sons of the prophets from Jericho who were observing saw him, they said, “The spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha.” They came to meet him and bowed down to the ground in front of him.

¹⁶Then the sons of the prophets said to Elisha, “Since there are fifty strong men here with your servants, please let them go and search for your master. Maybe the Spirit of the Lord has carried him away and put him on one of the mountains or into one of the valleys.”^l

He answered, “Don’t send them.”

¹⁷However, they urged him to the point of embarrassment,^m so he said, “Send them.” They sent fifty men, who looked for three days but did not find him. ¹⁸When they returned to him in Jerichoⁿ where he was staying, he said to them, “Didn’t I tell you not to go?”

¹⁹The men of the city said to Elisha, “My lord can see that even though the city’s location is good, the water is bad and the land unfruitful.”^o

²⁰He replied, “Bring me a new bowl and put salt in it.”^p

After they had brought him one, ²¹Elisha went out to the spring, threw salt in it,^q and said, “This is what the Lord says: ‘I have healed this water. No longer will death or unfruitfulness result from it.’ ” ²²Therefore, the water still remains healthy today according to the word that Elisha spoke.

²³From there Elisha went up to Bethel.^r As he was walking up the path, some small boys came out of the city and jeered at him,^s chanting, “Go up, baldy! Go up, baldy!” ²⁴He turned around, looked at them, and cursed them in the name of the Lord.^t Then two female bears came out of the woods and mauled forty-two of the children. ²⁵From there Elisha went to Mount Carmel,^u and then he returned to Samaria.^v