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 mantlek that had fallen off Elijah, and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan. 14 He 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.

15 When 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.

16 Then 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.”

17 However, 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. 18 When they returned to him in Jerichon where he was staying, he said to them, “Didn’t I tell you not to go?”

19 The 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

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

After they had brought him one, 21 Elisha 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.’ ” 22 Therefore, the water still remains healthy today according to the word that Elisha spoke.

23 From 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!” 24 He 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. 25 From there Elisha went to Mount Carmel,u and then he returned to Samaria.v