Elijah Taken to Heaven

2 And it came about when the Lord was about to ^(A)take up Elijah by a ^[a]whirlwind to heaven, that Elijah went with ^(B)Elisha from ^(C)Gilgal. ² Elijah said to Elisha, “^(D)Stay here please, for the Lord has sent me as far as ^(E)Bethel.” But Elisha said, “^(F)As the Lord lives and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So they went down to Bethel. ³ Then ^(G)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 from over ^[b]you today?” And he said, “Yes, I know; be still.”

⁴ Elijah said to him, “Elisha, please ^(H)stay here, for the Lord has sent me to ^(I)Jericho.” But he said, “^(J)As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So they came to Jericho. ^5 (K)The sons of the prophets who were at Jericho approached Elisha and said to him, “^(L)Do you know that the Lord will take away your master from over ^[c]you today?” And he ^[d]answered, “Yes, I know; be still.” ⁶ Then Elijah said to him, “Please ^(M)stay here, for the Lord has sent me to ^(N)the Jordan.” And he said, “As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So the two of them went on.

⁷ Now ^(O)fifty men of the sons of the prophets went and stood opposite them at a distance, while the two of them stood by the Jordan. ⁸ Elijah ^(P)took his mantle and folded it together and ^(Q)struck the waters, and they were divided here and there, so that the two of them crossed over on dry ground.

⁹ When they had crossed over, Elijah said to Elisha, “Ask what I shall do for you before I am taken from you.” And Elisha said, “Please, let a ^(R)double portion of your spirit be upon me.” ¹⁰ He said, “You have asked a hard thing. Nevertheless, if you ^(S)see me when I am taken from you, it shall be so for you; but if not, it shall not be so.” ¹¹ As they were going along and talking, behold, there appeared ^(T)a chariot of fire and horses of fire which separated the two of them. And Elijah went up by a ^[e]whirlwind to heaven. ¹² Elisha saw it and cried out, “^(U)My father, my father, the ^[f]chariots of Israel and its horsemen!” And he saw ^[g]Elijah no more. Then ^(V)he took hold of his own clothes and tore them in two pieces. ¹³ He also took up the mantle of Elijah that fell from him and returned and stood by the bank of the Jordan. ¹⁴ He took the mantle of Elijah that fell from him and struck the waters and said, “Where is the Lord, the God of Elijah?” And when he also had ^(W)struck the waters, they were divided here and there; and Elisha crossed over.

Elisha Succeeds Elijah

¹⁵ Now when ^(X)the sons of the prophets who were at Jericho opposite him saw him, they said, “The spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha.” And they came to meet him and bowed themselves to the ground before him. ¹⁶ They said to him, “Behold now, there are with your servants fifty strong men, please let them go and search for your master; perhaps ^(Y)the Spirit of the Lord has taken him up and cast him on some mountain or into some valley.” And he said, “You shall not send.” ¹⁷ But when ^(Z)they urged him until he was ashamed, he said, “Send.” They sent therefore fifty men; and they searched three days but did not find him. ¹⁸ They returned to him while he was staying at Jericho; and he said to them, “Did I not say to you, ‘Do not go’?”

¹⁹ Then the men of the city said to Elisha, “Behold now, the situation of this city is pleasant, as my lord sees; but the water is bad and the land ^[h]is unfruitful.” ²⁰ He said, “Bring me a new jar, and put salt ^[i]in it.” So they brought it to him. ²¹ He went out to the spring of water and ^(AA)threw salt ^[j]in it and said, “Thus says the Lord, ‘I have ^[k]purified these waters; there shall not be from there death or ^[l]unfruitfulness any longer.’” ²² So the waters have been ^[m]purified 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 by the way, young lads came out from the city and ^(AB)mocked him and said to him, “Go up, you baldhead; go up, you baldhead!” ²⁴ When he looked behind him and saw them, he ^(AC)cursed them in the name of the Lord. Then two female bears came out of the woods and tore up forty-two lads of ^[n]their number. ²⁵ He went from there to ^(AD)Mount Carmel, and from there he returned to Samaria.

Jesus Teaches in Parables

13 That day Jesus went out of ^(A)the house and was sitting ^(B)by the sea. ² And ^[a]large crowds gathered to Him, so ^(C)He got into a boat and sat down, and the whole crowd was standing on the beach.

³ And He spoke many things to them in ^(D)parables, saying, “Behold, the sower went out to sow; ⁴ and as he sowed, some seeds fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate them up. ⁵ Others fell on the rocky places, where they did not have much soil; and immediately they sprang up, because they had no depth of soil. ⁶ But when the sun had risen, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away. ⁷ Others fell ^[b]among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked them out. ⁸ And others fell on the good soil and *yielded a crop, some a ^(E)hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty. ^9 (F)He who has ears, ^[c]let him hear.”

An Explanation

¹⁰ And the disciples came and said to Him, “Why do You speak to them in parables?” ^11 [d]Jesus answered them, “^(G)To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted. ^12 (H)For whoever has, to him more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him. ¹³ Therefore I speak to them in parables; because while ^(I)seeing they do not see, and while hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. ^14 [e]In their case the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which says,

^16 (L)But blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear. ¹⁷ For truly I say to you that ^(M)many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.

The Sower Explained

¹⁸ “^(N)Hear then the parable of the sower. ¹⁹ When anyone hears ^(O)the ^[i]word of the kingdom and does not understand it, ^(P)the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is the one on whom seed was sown beside the road. ²⁰ The one on whom seed was sown on the rocky places, this is the man who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; ²¹ yet he has no firm root in himself, but is only temporary, and when affliction or persecution arises because of the ^[j]word, immediately he ^[k](Q)falls away. ²² And the one on whom seed was sown among the thorns, this is the man who hears the word, and the worry of ^(R)the ^[l]world and the ^(S)deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. ²³ And the one on whom seed was sown on the good soil, this is the man who hears the word and understands it; who indeed bears fruit and brings forth, some ^(T)a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty.”