Elijah Taken to Heaven

2 Now when the Lord was about to ^(A)take Elijah up to heaven by a whirlwind, Elijah and ^(B)Elisha were on their way from ^(C)Gilgal. ² And Elijah said to Elisha, ^(D)“Please stay here, for the Lord has sent me as far as Bethel.” But Elisha said, ^(E)“As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So they went down to Bethel. ³ And ^(F)the sons of the prophets who were in Bethel came out to Elisha and said to him, “Do you know that today the Lord will take away your master from over you?” And he said, “Yes, I know it; keep quiet.”

⁴ Elijah said to him, “Elisha, ^(G)please stay here, for the Lord has sent me to ^(H)Jericho.” But he said, ^(I)“As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So they came to Jericho. ^5 (J)The sons of the prophets who were at Jericho drew near to Elisha and said to him, “Do you know that today the Lord will take away your master from over you?” And he answered, “Yes, I know it; keep quiet.”

⁶ Then Elijah said to him, ^(K)“Please stay here, for the Lord has sent me to the Jordan.” But he said, “As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So the two of them went on. ⁷ Fifty men of ^(L)the sons of the prophets also went and stood at some distance from them, as they both were standing by the Jordan. ⁸ Then Elijah ^(M)took his cloak and rolled it up and struck the water, ^(N)and the water was parted to the one side and to the other, till the two of them could go over on dry ground.

⁹ 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, ^(O)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! ^(P)The chariots of Israel and its horsemen!” And he saw him no more.

Then he took hold of his own clothes ^(Q)and tore them in two pieces.

The Transfiguration

^2 (A)And after six days Jesus took with him ^(B)Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was ^(C)transfigured before them, ³ and ^(D)his clothes became radiant, intensely white, as no one^[a] on earth could bleach them. ⁴ And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus. ⁵ And Peter said to Jesus, ^(E)“Rabbi,^[b] it is good that we are here. Let us make three ^(F)tents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.” ⁶ For ^(G)he did not know what to say, for they were terrified. ⁷ And ^(H)a cloud overshadowed them, and ^(I)a voice came out of the cloud, ^(J)“This is my beloved Son;^{[c] (K)}listen to him.” ⁸ And suddenly, looking around, they no longer saw anyone with them but Jesus only.

^9 (L)And as they were coming down the mountain, ^(M)he charged them to tell no one what they had seen, ^(N)until the Son of Man had risen from the dead.