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?”