2 Kings 2:19-25

New American Standard Bible

¹⁹ Then the men of the city said to Elisha, “Behold now, the site of the city is pleasant, as my lord sees; but the water is bad and the land ^[a]is unfruitful.” ²⁰ And he said, “Bring me a new jar, and put salt ^[b]in it.” So they brought it to him. ²¹ Then he went out to the spring of water and ^(A)threw salt ^[c]in it and said, “This is what the Lord says: ‘I have ^[d]purified these waters; there shall not come from there death or ^[e]unfruitfulness any longer.’” ²² So the waters have been ^[f]purified to this day, in accordance with the word of Elisha which he spoke.

²³ Now he went up from there to Bethel; and as he was going up by the road, some young boys came out from the city and ^(B)ridiculed him and said to him, “Go up, you baldhead; go up, you baldhead!” ²⁴ When he looked behind him and saw them, he ^(C)cursed them in the name of the Lord. Then two female bears came out of the woods and tore up forty-two ^[g]of the boys. ²⁵ He then went on from there to ^(D)Mount Carmel, and from there he returned to Samaria.