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2 Kings 2:9–13

When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, “Tell me, what can I do for you before I am taken from you?”

“Let me inherit a doublel portion of your spirit,”m Elisha replied.

10 “You have asked a difficult thing,” Elijah said, “yet if you see me when I am taken from you, it will be yours—otherwise, it will not.”

11 As they were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of firen and horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up to heaveno in a whirlwind.p 12 Elisha saw this and cried out, “My father! My father! The chariotsq and horsemen of Israel!” And Elisha saw him no more. Then he took hold of his garment and torer it in two.

13 Elisha then picked up Elijah’s cloak that had fallen from him and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan.

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2 Kings 2:9–13 — English Standard Version (ESV)

When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, “Ask what I shall do for you, before I am taken from you.” And Elisha said, “Please let there be a double portion of your spirit on me.” 10 And he said, “You have asked a hard thing; yet, if you see me as I am being taken from you, it shall be so for you, but if you do not see me, it shall not be so.” 11 And as they still went on and talked, behold, chariots of fire and horses of fire separated the two of them. And Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. 12 And Elisha saw it and he cried, “My father, my father! The chariots of Israel and its horsemen!” And he saw him no more.

Then he took hold of his own clothes and tore them in two pieces. 13 And he took up the cloak of Elijah that had fallen from him and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan.

2 Kings 2:9–13 — King James Version (KJV 1900)

And it came to pass, when they were gone over, that Elijah said unto Elisha, Ask what I shall do for thee, before I be taken away from thee. And Elisha said, I pray thee, let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me. 10 And he said, Thou hast asked a hard thing: nevertheless, if thou see me when I am taken from thee, it shall be so unto thee; but if not, it shall not be so. 11 And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. 12 And Elisha saw it, and he cried, My father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof. And he saw him no more: and he took hold of his own clothes, and rent them in two pieces. 13 He took up also the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and went back, and stood by the bank of Jordan;

2 Kings 2:9–13 — New Living Translation (NLT)

When they came to the other side, Elijah said to Elisha, “Tell me what I can do for you before I am taken away.”

And Elisha replied, “Please let me inherit a double share of your spirit and become your successor.”

10 “You have asked a difficult thing,” Elijah replied. “If you see me when I am taken from you, then you will get your request. But if not, then you won’t.”

11 As they were walking along and talking, suddenly a chariot of fire appeared, drawn by horses of fire. It drove between the two men, separating them, and Elijah was carried by a whirlwind into heaven. 12 Elisha saw it and cried out, “My father! My father! I see the chariots and charioteers of Israel!” And as they disappeared from sight, Elisha tore his clothes in distress.

13 Elisha picked up Elijah’s cloak, which had fallen when he was taken up. Then Elisha returned to the bank of the Jordan River.

2 Kings 2:9–13 — The New King James Version (NKJV)

And so it was, when they had crossed over, that Elijah said to Elisha, “Ask! What may I do for you, before I am taken away from you?”

Elisha said, “Please let a double portion of your spirit be upon me.”

10 So he said, “You have asked a hard thing. Nevertheless, if you see me when I am taken from you, it shall be so for you; but if not, it shall not be so.” 11 Then it happened, as they continued on and talked, that suddenly a chariot of fire appeared with horses of fire, and separated the two of them; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.

12 And Elisha saw it, and he cried out, “My father, my father, the chariot of Israel and its horsemen!” So he saw him no more. And he took hold of his own clothes and tore them into two pieces. 13 He also took up the mantle of Elijah that had fallen from him, and went back and stood by the bank of the Jordan.

2 Kings 2:9–13 — New Century Version (NCV)

After they had crossed over, Elijah said to Elisha, “What can I do for you before I am taken from you?”

Elisha said, “Leave me a double share of your spirit.”

10 Elijah said, “You have asked a hard thing. But if you see me when I am taken from you, it will be yours. If you don’t, it won’t happen.”

11 As they were walking and talking, a chariot and horses of fire appeared and separated Elijah from Elisha. Then Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind. 12 Elisha saw it and shouted, “My father! My father! The chariots of Israel and their horsemen!” And Elisha did not see him anymore. Then Elisha grabbed his own clothes and tore them to show how sad he was.

13 He picked up Elijah’s coat that had fallen from him. Then he returned and stood on the bank of the Jordan.

2 Kings 2:9–13 — American Standard Version (ASV)

And it came to pass, when they were gone over, that Elijah said unto Elisha, Ask what I shall do for thee, before I am taken from thee. And Elisha said, I pray thee, let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me. 10 And he said, Thou hast asked a hard thing: nevertheless, if thou see me when I am taken from thee, it shall be so unto thee; but if not, it shall not be so. 11 And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, which parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. 12 And Elisha saw it, and he cried, My father, my father, the chariots of Israel and the horsemen thereof!

And he saw him no more: and he took hold of his own clothes, and rent them in two pieces.

13 He took up also the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and went back, and stood by the bank of the Jordan.

2 Kings 2:9–13 — 1890 Darby Bible (DARBY)

And it came to pass when they had gone over, that Elijah said to Elisha, Ask what I shall do for thee, before I am taken away from thee. And Elisha said, I pray thee, let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me. 10 And he said, Thou hast asked a hard thing: if thou see me when I am taken from thee, it shall be so to thee; but if not, it shall not be so. 11 And it came to pass as they went on, and talked, that behold, a chariot of fire and horses of fire; and they parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into the heavens. 12 And Elisha saw it, and he cried, My father, my father! the chariot of Israel and the horsemen thereof! And he saw him no more. Then he took hold of his own garments and rent them in two pieces.

13 And he took up the mantle of Elijah which fell from him, and went back and stood by the bank of the Jordan;

2 Kings 2:9–13 — GOD’S WORD Translation (GW)

While they were crossing, Elijah asked Elisha, “What should I do for you before I’m taken from you?” 

Elisha answered, “Let me inherit a double share of your spirit.” 

10 Elijah said, “You have asked for something difficult. If you see me taken from you, it will be yours. Otherwise, it will not.” 

11 As they continued walking and talking, a fiery chariot with fiery horses separated the two of them, and Elijah went to heaven in a windstorm. 

12 When Elisha saw this, he cried out, “Master! Master! Israel’s chariot and horses!” When he couldn’t see Elijah anymore, he grabbed his own garment and tore it in two ⸤to show his grief⸥. 13 Then he picked up Elijah’s coat (which had fallen off Elijah), went back, and stood on the bank of the Jordan River.

2 Kings 2:9–13 — The Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)

After 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.”

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

11 As they continued walking and talking, a chariot of fire with horses of fire suddenly appeared and separated the two of them. Then Elijah went up into heaven in the whirlwind. 12 As Elisha watched, he kept crying out, “My father, my father, the chariots and horsemen of Israel!” Then he never saw Elijah again. He took hold of his own clothes and tore them into two pieces.

13 Elisha picked up the mantle that had fallen off Elijah and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan.

2 Kings 2:9–13 — The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, “Tell me what I may do for you, before I am taken from you.” Elisha said, “Please let me inherit a double share of your spirit.” 10 He responded, “You have asked a hard thing; yet, if you see me as I am being taken from you, it will be granted you; if not, it will not.” 11 As they continued walking and talking, a chariot of fire and horses of fire separated the two of them, and Elijah ascended in a whirlwind into heaven. 12 Elisha kept watching and crying out, “Father, father! The chariots of Israel and its horsemen!” But when he could no longer see him, he grasped his own clothes and tore them in two pieces.

13 He picked up the mantle of Elijah that had fallen from him, and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan.

2 Kings 2:9–13 — The Lexham English Bible (LEB)

After they crossed over, Elijah said to Elisha, “Ask what I may do for you before I am taken away from you.” Then Elisha said, “Please let there come to me a double portion of your spirit.” 10 He said, “What you ask is difficult. If you see me being taken from you, it will be so for you, but if not, it will not happen.” 11 Then they were walking, talking as they went. Suddenly a fiery chariot with horses of fire appeared and separated between the two of them. Elijah went up in the storm to the heavens 12 while Elisha was watching and crying out, “My father, my father; the chariot of Israel and its horsemen!” But he could not see him any longer, and he grasped his clothes and tore them in two pieces.

13 Then he picked up Elijah’s cloak that had fallen off of him, and he returned and stood on the bank of the Jordan.

2 Kings 2:9–13 — New International Reader’s Version (1998) (NIrV)

After they had gone across, Elijah spoke to Elisha. He said, “Tell me. What can I do for you before I’m taken away from you?”

“Please give me a double share of your spirit,” Elisha replied.

10 “You have asked me for something I can’t give you,” Elijah said. “Only the Lord can give it. But suppose you see me when I’m taken away from you. Then you will receive what you have asked for. If you don’t see me, you won’t receive it.”

11 They kept walking along and talking together. Suddenly a chariot and horses appeared. Fire was all around them. The chariot and horses came between the two men. Then Elijah went up to heaven in a strong wind.

12 Elisha saw it. He cried out to Elijah, “My father! You are like a father to me! You are the true chariots and horsemen of Israel!”

Elisha didn’t see Elijah anymore. Then Elisha took hold of his own clothes and tore them apart.

13 He picked up the coat that had fallen from Elijah. He went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan River.

2 Kings 2:9–13 — New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update (NASB95)

When they had crossed over, Elijah said to Elisha, “Ask what I shall do for you before I am taken from you.” And Elisha said, “Please, let a double portion of your spirit be upon me.”

10 He said, “You have asked a hard thing. Nevertheless, if you see me when I am taken from you, it shall be so for you; but if not, it shall not be so.

11 As they were going along and talking, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire and horses of fire which separated the two of them. And Elijah went up by a whirlwind to heaven.

12 Elisha saw it and cried out, “My father, my father, the chariots of Israel and its horsemen!” And he saw Elijah no more. Then he took hold of his own clothes and tore them in two pieces.

13 He also took up the mantle of Elijah that fell from him and returned and stood by the bank of the Jordan.


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