2 Kings 2:9–18

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

10 Elijah 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.”

11 As they continued walking and talking, a chariot of fire with horses of fireg 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 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?”