列王纪下 2
Chinese Union Version Modern Punctuation (Simplified)
以利沙求感以利亚之灵加倍感己
2 耶和华要用旋风接以利亚升天的时候，以利亚与以利沙从吉甲前往。 2 以利亚对以利沙说：“耶和华差我往伯特利去，你可以在这里等候。”以利沙说：“我指着永生的耶和华，又敢在你面前起誓：我必不离开你！”于是二人下到伯特利。 3 住伯特利的先知门徒出来见以利沙，对他说：“耶和华今日要接你的师傅离开你，你知道不知道？”他说：“我知道，你们不要作声。” 4 以利亚对以利沙说：“耶和华差遣我往耶利哥去，你可以在这里等候。”以利沙说：“我指着永生的耶和华，又敢在你面前起誓：我必不离开你！”于是二人到了耶利哥。 5 住耶利哥的先知门徒就近以利沙，对他说：“耶和华今日要接你的师傅离开你，你知道不知道？”他说：“我知道，你们不要作声。” 6 以利亚对以利沙说：“耶和华差遣我往约旦河去，你可以在这里等候。”以利沙说：“我指着永生的耶和华，又敢在你面前起誓：我必不离开你！”于是二人一同前往。 7 有先知门徒去了五十人，远远地站在他们对面，二人在约旦河边站住。 8 以利亚将自己的外衣卷起来，用以打水，水就左右分开，二人走干地而过。 9 过去之后，以利亚对以利沙说：“我未曾被接去离开你，你要我为你做什么，只管求我。”以利沙说：“愿感动你的灵加倍地感动我。” 10 以利亚说：“你所求的难得。虽然如此，我被接去离开你的时候，你若看见我，就必得着，不然必得不着了。”
以利亚乘旋风升天
11 他们正走着说话，忽有火车火马将二人隔开，以利亚就乘旋风升天去了。 12 以利沙看见，就呼叫说：“我父啊！我父啊！以色列的战车马兵啊！”
以后不再见他了。于是以利沙把自己的衣服撕为两片。 13 他拾起以利亚身上掉下来的外衣，回去站在约旦河边。 14 他用以利亚身上掉下来的外衣打水，说：“耶和华以利亚的神在哪里呢？”打水之后，水也左右分开，以利沙就过来了。
先知徒遣人寻以利亚三日弗遇
15 住耶利哥的先知门徒从对面看见他，就说：“感动以利亚的灵感动以利沙了。”他们就来迎接他，在他面前俯伏于地， 16 对他说：“仆人们这里有五十个壮士，求你容他们去寻找你师傅，或者耶和华的灵将他提起来，投在某山某谷。”以利沙说：“你们不必打发人去。” 17 他们再三催促他，他难以推辞，就说：“你们打发人去吧。”他们便打发五十人去，寻找了三天，也没有找着。 18 以利沙仍然在耶利哥，等候他们回到他那里，他对他们说：“我岂没有告诉你们不必去吗？”
以利沙在耶利哥行奇事
19 耶利哥城的人对以利沙说：“这城的地势美好，我主看见了，只是水恶劣，土产不熟而落。” 20 以利沙说：“你们拿一个新瓶来，装盐给我。”他们就拿来给他。 21 他出到水源，将盐倒在水中，说：“耶和华如此说：我治好了这水，从此必不再使人死，也不再使地土不生产。” 22 于是那水治好了，直到今日，正如以利沙所说的。
23 以利沙从那里上伯特利去。正上去的时候，有些童子从城里出来，戏笑他说：“秃头的，上去吧！秃头的，上去吧！” 24 他回头看见，就奉耶和华的名咒诅他们。于是有两个母熊从林中出来，撕裂他们中间四十二个童子。 25 以利沙从伯特利上迦密山，又从迦密山回到撒马利亚。
2 Kings 2
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
VI. Elisha Succeeds Elijah[a]
Chapter 2
Elijah’s Journey. 1 When the Lord was about to take Elijah up to heaven in a whirlwind, he and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal.[b]
2 Elijah said to Elisha, “Stay here, please. The Lord has sent me on to Bethel.” Elisha replied, “As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So they went down to Bethel. 3 The guild prophets who were in Bethel went out to Elisha and asked him, “Do you know that today the Lord will take your master from you?” He replied, “Yes, I know that. Be still.”
4 Elijah said to him, “Elisha, stay here, please. The Lord has sent me on to Jericho.” Elisha replied, “As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So they came to Jericho. 5 The guild prophets who were in Jericho approached Elisha and asked him, “Do you know that today the Lord will take your master from you?” He replied, “Yes, I know that. Be still.”
6 Elijah said to him, “Stay here, please. The Lord has sent me on to the Jordan.” Elisha replied, “As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So the two went on together. 7 Fifty of the guild prophets followed and stood facing them at a distance, while the two of them stood next to the Jordan.
Elisha Succeeds Elijah. 8 Elijah took his mantle, rolled it up and struck the water: it divided, and the two of them crossed over on dry ground.(A)
9 (B)When they had crossed over, Elijah said to Elisha, “Request whatever I might do for you, before I am taken from you.” Elisha answered, “May I receive a double portion of your spirit.”[c] 10 He replied, “You have asked something that is not easy. Still, if you see me taken up from you, your wish will be granted; otherwise not.” 11 As they walked on still conversing, a fiery chariot and fiery horses came between the two of them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind,(C) 12 and Elisha saw it happen. He cried out, “My father! my father![d] Israel’s chariot and steeds!” Then he saw him no longer.
He gripped his own garment, tore it into two pieces, 13 and picked up the mantle which had fallen from Elijah. Then he went back and stood at the bank of the Jordan. 14 Wielding the mantle which had fallen from Elijah, he struck the water and said, “The Lord, the God of Elijah—where is he now?”[e] He struck the water: it divided, and he crossed over.
Elisha’s Journey. 15 The guild prophets in Jericho, who were on the other side, saw him and said, “The spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha.” They went to meet him, bowing to the ground before him.(D) 16 They said, “Among your servants are fifty brave men. Let them go in search of your master. Perhaps the spirit of the Lord has lifted him up and left him on some mountain or in some valley.” He answered, “Do not send them.”(E) 17 But they kept urging him, until he was embarrassed and said, “Send them.” So they sent the fifty men, who searched for three days without finding him.(F) 18 When they returned to Elisha in Jericho, where he was staying, he said to them, “Did I not tell you not to go?”
19 (G)The inhabitants of the city complained to Elisha, “The site of the city is fine indeed, as my lord can see, but the water is bad and the land sterile.” 20 Elisha said, “Bring me a new bowl and put salt into it.” When they had brought it to him, 21 he went out to the spring and threw salt into it, saying, “Thus says the Lord: I have purified this water. Never again shall death or sterility come from it.” 22 And the water has stayed pure even to this day, according to the word Elisha had spoken.
23 [f]From there Elisha went up to Bethel. While he was on the way, some little boys came out of the city and jeered at him: “Go away, baldy; go away, baldy!” 24 The prophet turned and saw them, and he cursed them in the name of the Lord. Then two she-bears came out of the woods and tore forty-two of the children to pieces.
25 From there he went to Mount Carmel, and returned to Samaria from there.
Footnotes
- 2:1–25 The story of Elisha’s succession to Elijah’s prophetic office is oddly set between the death of Ahaziah (1:17) and the accession of his successor (3:1). The effect is to place this scene, which is the central scene in the whole of 1–2 Kings, outside of time. It thereby becomes almost mythic in its import and reminds us that, behind the transitory flow of kings and kingdoms, stand the eternal word of God and the prophets who give it voice. Just as 1–2 Kings pivots on this chapter, so this scene too is concentrically constructed. Together Elijah and Elisha journey to Bethel, thence to Jericho, and thence across the Jordan. There Elijah is taken up in the whirlwind and Elijah’s mantle of power comes to Elisha. Now alone, Elisha crosses the Jordan again, returns to Jericho and thence back to Bethel.
- 2:1 Gilgal: there are several places in the Hebrew Bible named Gilgal; the word probably means “circle,” viz. of stones. Here the route of the prophets’ journey rules out the most famous Gilgal (Jos 4–5), the one near Jericho. This Gilgal may have been located in the area of modern Jiljulieh, approximately seven miles north of Bethel, which seems to preserve the ancient name.
- 2:9 Double portion of your spirit: as the firstborn son inherited a double portion of his father’s property (Dt 21:17), so Elisha asks to inherit from Elijah his spirit of prophecy in the degree befitting his principal disciple. In Nm 11:17–25, God bestows some of the spirit of Moses on others.
- 2:12 My father: a religious title accorded prophetic leaders; cf. 6:21; 8:9; and 13:14, where King Joash of Israel reacts to Elisha’s own impending death with the same words Elisha uses here.
- 2:14 The Lord, the God of Elijah—where is he now?: the words in Hebrew have an incantatory quality, as if Elisha is invoking both the divine name and the name of his departed master in an attempt to duplicate Elijah’s miracle.
- 2:23–24 This story probably was told to warn children of the importance of respect for prophets.
2 Kings 2
New King James Version
Elijah Ascends to Heaven
2 And it came to pass, when the Lord was about to (A)take up Elijah into heaven by a whirlwind, that Elijah went with (B)Elisha from Gilgal. 2 Then Elijah said to Elisha, (C)“Stay here, please, for the Lord has sent me on to Bethel.”
But Elisha said, “As the Lord lives, and (D)as your soul lives, I will not leave you!” So they went down to Bethel.
3 Now (E)the sons of the prophets who were at Bethel came out to Elisha, and said to him, “Do you know that the Lord will take away your master [a]from over you today?”
And he said, “Yes, I know; keep silent!”
4 Then Elijah said to him, “Elisha, stay here, please, for the Lord has sent me on to Jericho.”
But he said, “As the Lord lives, and as your soul lives, I will not leave you!” So they came to Jericho.
5 Now the sons of the prophets who were at Jericho came to Elisha and said to him, “Do you know that the Lord will take away your master from over you today?”
So he answered, “Yes, I know; keep silent!”
6 Then Elijah said to him, “Stay here, please, for the Lord has sent me on to the Jordan.”
But he said, “As the Lord lives, and as your soul lives, I will not leave you!” So the two of them went on. 7 And fifty men of the sons of the prophets went and stood facing them at a distance, while the two of them stood by the Jordan. 8 Now Elijah took his mantle, rolled it up, and struck the water; and (F)it was divided this way and that, so that the two of them crossed over on dry (G)ground.
9 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 (H)a chariot of fire appeared with horses of fire, and separated the two of them; and Elijah (I)went up by a whirlwind into heaven.
12 And Elisha saw it, and he cried out, (J)“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. 14 Then he took the mantle of Elijah that had fallen from him, and struck the water, and said, “Where is the Lord God of Elijah?” And when he also had struck the water, (K)it was divided this way and that; and Elisha crossed over.
15 Now when the sons of the prophets who were (L)from[b] Jericho saw him, they said, “The spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha.” And they came to meet him, and bowed to the ground before him. 16 Then they said to him, “Look now, there are fifty strong men with your servants. Please let them go and search for your master, (M)lest perhaps the Spirit of the Lord has taken him up and cast him upon some mountain or into some valley.”
And he said, “You shall not send anyone.”
17 But when they urged him till he was (N)ashamed, he said, “Send them!” Therefore they sent fifty men, and they searched for three days but did not find him. 18 And when they came back to him, for he had stayed in Jericho, he said to them, “Did I not say to you, ‘Do not go’?”
Elisha Performs Miracles
19 Then the men of the city said to Elisha, “Please notice, the situation of this city is pleasant, as my lord sees; but the water is bad, and the ground barren.”
20 And he said, “Bring me a new bowl, and put salt in it.” So they brought it to him. 21 Then he went out to the source of the water, and (O)cast in the salt there, and said, “Thus says the Lord: ‘I have [c]healed this water; from it there shall be no more death or barrenness.’ ” 22 So the water remains (P)healed to this day, according to the word of Elisha which he spoke.
23 Then he went up from there to Bethel; and as he was going up the road, some youths came from the city and mocked him, and said to him, “Go up, you baldhead! Go up, you baldhead!”
24 So he turned around and looked at them, and (Q)pronounced a curse on them in the name of the Lord. And two female bears came out of the woods and mauled forty-two of the youths.
25 Then he went from there to (R)Mount Carmel, and from there he returned to Samaria.
Footnotes
- 2 Kings 2:3 Lit. from your head
- 2 Kings 2:15 Or at Jericho opposite him saw
- 2 Kings 2:21 purified
Copyright © 2011 by Global Bible Initiative
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
