2 And it came to pass when Jehovah would take up Elijah into the heavens by a whirlwind, that Elijah went with Elisha from Gilgal.

² And Elijah said to Elisha, Abide here, I pray thee; for Jehovah has sent me to Bethel. And Elisha said, As Jehovah liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee! So they went down to Bethel.

³ And the sons of the prophets that were at Bethel came forth to Elisha, and said to him, Dost thou know that Jehovah will take away thy master from over thy head to-day? And he said, I also know it: be silent!

⁴ And Elijah said to him, Elisha, abide here, I pray thee; for Jehovah has sent me to Jericho. And he said, As Jehovah liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee! And they came to Jericho.

⁵ And the sons of the prophets that were at Jericho drew near to Elisha and said to him, Dost thou know that Jehovah will take away thy master from over thy head to-day? And he said, I also know it: be silent!

⁶ And Elijah said to him, Abide here, I pray thee; for Jehovah has sent me to the Jordan. And he said, As Jehovah liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee! And they two went on.

⁷ And fifty men of the sons of the prophets went and stood opposite afar off; and they two stood by the Jordan.

⁸ And Elijah took his mantle, and wrapped it together, and smote the waters, and they were divided hither and thither; and they two went over on dry ground.

⁹ 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;

¹⁴ and he took the mantle of Elijah which had fallen from him, and smote the waters, and said, Where is Jehovah, the God of Elijah? He also smote the waters, and they parted hither and thither, and Elisha went over.

¹⁵ And the sons of the prophets who were at Jericho on the opposite side saw him, and they said, The spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha. And they came to meet him, and bowed themselves to the ground before him,

¹⁶ and said to him, Behold now, there are with thy servants fifty valiant men; let them go, we pray thee, and seek thy master, lest perhaps the Spirit of Jehovah have taken him up, and cast him upon some mountain, or into some ravine. And he said, Ye shall not send.

¹⁷ And they pressed him till he was ashamed, and he said, Send. They sent therefore fifty men, and they sought three days, but did not find him.

¹⁸ And they came again to him (now he was staying at Jericho); and he said to them, Did I not say to you, Go not?

¹⁹ And the men of the city said to Elisha, Behold now, the situation of the city is good, as my lord sees; but the water is bad, and the land is barren.

²⁰ And he said, Bring me a new cruse, and put salt in it. And they brought it to him.

²¹ And he went forth to the source of the waters, and cast the salt in there, and said, Thus saith Jehovah: I have healed these waters: there shall not be from thence any more death or barrenness.

²² And the waters were healed to this day, according to the saying of Elisha which he spoke.

²³ And he went up from thence to Bethel, and as he went up by the way, there came forth little boys out of the city, and mocked him, and said to him, Go up, bald head; go up, bald head!

²⁴ And he turned back, and looked on them, and cursed them in the name of Jehovah. And there came forth two she-bears out of the wood, and tore forty-two children of them.

²⁵ And he went from thence to mount Carmel, and from thence he returned to Samaria.

Read full chapter

4 And a woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets cried to Elisha saying, Thy servant my husband is dead, and thou knowest that thy servant feared Jehovah; and the creditor is come to take my two children to be bondmen.

² And Elisha said to her, What shall I do for thee? Tell me, what hast thou in the house? And she said, Thy handmaid has not anything at all in the house but a pot of oil.

³ And he said, Go, borrow for thyself vessels abroad from all thy neighbours, empty vessels; let it not be few;

⁴ and go in, and shut the door upon thee and upon thy sons, and pour out into all those vessels, and set aside what is full.

⁵ And she went from him, and shut the door upon her and upon her sons: they brought [the vessels] to her, and she poured out.

⁶ And it came to pass when the vessels were full, that she said to her son, Bring me yet a vessel. And he said to her, There is not a vessel more. And the oil stayed.

⁷ And she came and told the man of God; and he said, Go, sell the oil, and pay thy debt, and live thou [and] thy sons on the rest.

⁸ And it came to pass on a day, that Elisha passed to Shunem, where was a wealthy woman; and she constrained him to eat bread. And so it was, [that] as oft as he passed by, he turned in thither to eat bread.

⁹ And she said to her husband, Behold now, I perceive that this is a holy man of God, who passes by us continually.

¹⁰ Let us make, I pray thee, a small upper chamber with walls, and let us set for him there a bed, and a table, and a seat, and a lampstand; and it shall be when he cometh to us, he shall turn in thither.

¹¹ And it came to pass on a day, that he came thither, and he turned into the upper chamber, and lay there.

¹² And he said to Gehazi his servant, Call this Shunammite. And he called her, and she stood before him.

¹³ And he said to him, Say now to her, Behold, thou hast been careful for us with all this care; what is to be done for thee? wouldest thou be spoken for to the king, or to the captain of the host? And she said, I dwell among mine own people.

¹⁴ And he said, What then is to be done for her? And Gehazi said, Verily, she has no son, and her husband is old.

¹⁵ And he said, Call her; and he called her; and she stood in the doorway.

¹⁶ And he said, At this appointed time, when thy term is come, thou shalt embrace a son. And she said, No, my lord, man of God, do not lie to thy handmaid.

¹⁷ And the woman conceived, and bore a son at that appointed time in the next year as Elisha had said to her.

¹⁸ And the child grew, and it came to pass one day, that he went out to his father to the reapers.

¹⁹ And he said to his father, My head, my head! And he said to the servant, Carry him to his mother.

²⁰ And he carried him, and brought him to his mother; and he sat on her knees till noon, and died.

²¹ And she went up, and laid him on the bed of the man of God, and shut [the door] upon him, and went out.

²² And she called to her husband, and said, Send me, I pray thee, one of the young men, and one of the asses, and I will run to the man of God, and come again.

²³ And he said, Why wilt thou go to him to-day? It is neither new moon nor sabbath. And she said, [It is] well.

²⁴ Then she saddled the ass, and said to her servant, Drive and go forward; slack not the riding for me, except I bid thee.

²⁵ And she went and came to the man of God, to mount Carmel. And it came to pass when the man of God saw her afar off, that he said to Gehazi his servant, Behold, there is the Shunammite:

²⁶ run now, I pray thee, to meet her, and say unto her, Is it well with thee? is it well with thy husband? is it well with the child? And she said, It is well.

²⁷ And she came to the man of God to the mountain, and caught him by the feet; and Gehazi drew near to thrust her away; but the man of God said, Let her alone, for her soul is troubled within her, and Jehovah has hidden it from me, and has not told me.

²⁸ And she said, Did I desire a son of my lord? did I not say, Do not deceive me?

²⁹ And he said to Gehazi, Gird up thy loins, and take my staff in thy hand, and go thy way. If thou meet any man, salute him not, and if any salute thee, answer him not again; and lay my staff upon the face of the lad.

³⁰ And the mother of the lad said, As Jehovah liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee! And he rose up and followed her.

³¹ And Gehazi passed on before them, and laid the staff upon the face of the lad; but there was neither voice, nor sign of attention. And he returned to meet him, and told him saying, The lad is not awaked.

³² And when Elisha came into the house, behold, the child was dead, [and] laid upon his bed.

³³ And he went in and shut the door upon them both, and prayed to Jehovah.

³⁴ And he went up, and lay upon the child, and put his mouth upon his mouth, and his eyes upon his eyes, and his hands upon his hands, and bent over him; and the flesh of the child grew warm.

³⁵ And he returned, and walked in the house to and fro; and went up, and bent over him. And the lad sneezed seven times, and the lad opened his eyes.

³⁶ And he called Gehazi, and said, Call this Shunammite. And he called her; and she came to him. And he said, Take up thy son.

³⁷ And she came and fell at his feet, and bowed herself to the ground; and she took up her son, and went out.

³⁸ And Elisha came again to Gilgal. And there was a famine in the land; and the sons of the prophets were sitting before him. And he said to his servant, Set on the great pot, and boil pottage for the sons of the prophets.

³⁹ Then one went out into the field to gather herbs, and found a wild vine, and gathered from it his lap full of wild colocynths, and came and shred them into the pot of pottage; for they did not know them.

⁴⁰ And they poured out for the men to eat. And it came to pass, as they were eating of the pottage, that they cried out and said, Man of God, there is death in the pot! And they could not eat [it].

⁴¹ And he said, Then bring meal. And he cast [it] into the pot, and said, Pour out for the people, that they may eat. And there was no harm in the pot.

⁴² And there came a man from Baal-shalishah, and brought the man of God bread of the first-fruits, twenty loaves of barley, and fresh ears of corn in his sack. And he said, Give to the people that they may eat.

⁴³ And his attendant said, How shall I set this before a hundred men? And he said, Give the people that they may eat; for thus saith Jehovah: They shall eat, and shall have to spare.

⁴⁴ And he set [it] before them, and they ate and left [thereof], according to the word of Jehovah.

Read full chapter