2 Kings 2
King James Version
2 And it came to pass, when the Lord would take up Elijah into heaven by a whirlwind, that Elijah went with Elisha from Gilgal.
2 And Elijah said unto Elisha, Tarry here, I pray thee; for the Lord hath sent me to Bethel. And Elisha said unto him, As the Lord 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 unto him, Knowest thou that the Lord will take away thy master from thy head to day? And he said, Yea, I know it; hold ye your peace.
4 And Elijah said unto him, Elisha, tarry here, I pray thee; for the Lord hath sent me to Jericho. And he said, As the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. So they came to Jericho.
5 And the sons of the prophets that were at Jericho came to Elisha, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the Lord will take away thy master from thy head to day? And he answered, Yea, I know it; hold ye your peace.
6 And Elijah said unto him, Tarry, I pray thee, here; for the Lord hath sent me to Jordan. And he said, As the Lord 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 to view afar off: and they two stood by Jordan.
8 And Elijah took his mantle, and wrapped it together, and smote the waters, and they were divided hither and thither, so that they two went over on dry ground.
9 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;
14 And he took the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and smote the waters, and said, Where is the Lord God of Elijah? and when he also had smitten the waters, they parted hither and thither: and Elisha went over.
15 And when the sons of the prophets which were to view at Jericho saw him, they said, The spirit of Elijah doth rest on Elisha. And they came to meet him, and bowed themselves to the ground before him.
16 And they said unto him, Behold now, there be with thy servants fifty strong men; let them go, we pray thee, and seek thy master: lest peradventure the Spirit of the Lord hath taken him up, and cast him upon some mountain, or into some valley. And he said, Ye shall not send.
17 And when they urged him till he was ashamed, he said, Send. They sent therefore fifty men; and they sought three days, but found him not.
18 And when they came again to him, (for he tarried at Jericho,) he said unto them, Did I not say unto you, Go not?
19 And the men of the city said unto Elisha, Behold, I pray thee, the situation of this city is pleasant, as my lord seeth: but the water is naught, and the ground barren.
20 And he said, Bring me a new cruse, and put salt therein. And they brought it to him.
21 And he went forth unto the spring of the waters, and cast the salt in there, and said, Thus saith the Lord, I have healed these waters; there shall not be from thence any more death or barren land.
22 So the waters were healed unto this day, according to the saying of Elisha which he spake.
23 And he went up from thence unto Bethel: and as he was going up by the way, there came forth little children out of the city, and mocked him, and said unto him, Go up, thou bald head; go up, thou bald head.
24 And he turned back, and looked on them, and cursed them in the name of the Lord. And there came forth two she bears out of the wood, and tare forty and two children of them.
25 And he went from thence to mount Carmel, and from thence he returned to Samaria.
2 Kings 2
Lexham English Bible
Elijah Taken Away from Elisha
2 When Yahweh was about to take Elijah up in the storm to heaven, Elijah and Elisha went from Gilgal. 2 Elijah said to Elisha, “Please stay here, for Yahweh has sent me up to Bethel.” Elisha said, “As Yahweh lives[a] and as your soul lives,[b] I will certainly not leave you!” So they went down to Bethel. 3 Then the sons of the prophets who were in Bethel came out to Elisha, and they said to him, “Do you know that Yahweh is going to take your master from you[c] today?” He said, “I also know; be quiet!”
4 Elijah said to him, “Elisha, please stay here because Yahweh has sent me to Jericho.” And he said, “As Yahweh lives[d] and as your soul lives,[e] I will certainly not leave you!” So they came to Jericho. 5 Then the sons of the prophets who were in Jericho came near to Elisha, and they said to him, “Do you know that Yahweh is going to take your master from you[f] today?” He said, “I also know; be quiet!”
6 Then Elijah said to him, “Please stay here, because Yahweh has sent me to the Jordan.” He said, “As Yahweh lives[g] and as your soul lives,[h] I will certainly not leave you!” So the two of them went on. 7 Then fifty men from the sons of the prophets went and stood opposite them at a distance while the two of them stood by the Jordan. 8 Elijah took his cloak, rolled it up, and struck the water. It divided in two,[i] and the two of them crossed over on dry land.
9 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. 14 He took Elijah’s cloak that had fallen from upon him and struck the water. Then he said, “Where is Yahweh, the God of Elijah?” So he also struck the water, and it divided in two,[j] and Elisha crossed over.
Elisha Begins His Ministry
15 When the sons of the prophets who were at Jericho saw him from the other side, they declared, “The spirit of Elijah rests upon Elisha,” and they came to meet him and bowed down to him to the ground. 16 Then they said to him, “Look, there are with your servants fifty able men. Please let them go and look for your master, lest the Spirit of Yahweh has lifted him up and thrown him on one of the mountains or into one of the valleys,” but he said, “You must not send them.” 17 But they urged him until embarrassing him, so he said, “Send them.” So they sent fifty men, and they looked for three days, but they could not find him. 18 Then they returned to him while he was staying in Jericho. He said to them, “Did I not tell you not to go?”
19 The men of the city said to Elisha, “Please now, the location of the city is good, as my master can see, but the water is bad and the land unproductive.” 20 So 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 spring of waters and threw the salt into it there and said, “Thus says Yahweh, ‘I hereby purify these waters; let there be no longer any death or unproductiveness from it.’” 22 Then the waters were purified until this very day according to the word of Elisha that he spoke.
23 Then he went up from there to Bethel; as he was going up along the way, young boys came out from the city and mocked at him and said to him, “Go up, baldhead; go up, baldhead!” 24 When he turned around and saw them, he cursed them in the name of Yahweh. Then two bears came out of the forest and mauled forty-two boys among them. 25 Then he went from there to Mount Carmel and from there he returned to Samaria.
Footnotes
- 2 Kings 2:2 Literally “The life of Yahweh”
- 2 Kings 2:2 Literally “life of your soul”
- 2 Kings 2:3 Literally “from over your head”
- 2 Kings 2:4 Literally “The life of Yahweh”
- 2 Kings 2:4 Literally “life of your soul”
- 2 Kings 2:5 Literally “from over your head”
- 2 Kings 2:6 Literally “The life of Yahweh”
- 2 Kings 2:6 Literally “life of your soul”
- 2 Kings 2:8 Literally “here and here”
- 2 Kings 2:14 Literally “here and here”
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