2 Kings 2:15-22

International Standard Version

Elisha is Recognized as Elijah’s Successor

¹⁵ As soon as the Guild of Prophets who lived adjacent to Jericho saw Elisha,^[a] they began to announce, “The spirit^[b] of Elijah is at rest on Elisha!” So they came out to meet him and they greeted him by bowing low to the ground in front of him.

¹⁶ Then they asked Elisha,^[c] “Look! We have 50 valiant men here with your servant! Please let them go out and search for your master Elijah.^[d] Perhaps the Spirit of the Lord has taken him up on a mountain or into a valley.”

Elisha responded, “Don’t bother searching.”

¹⁷ But they persisted until he was frustrated, so he said, “Send them out!” So they sent out the 50 men, and they looked around for three days but did not find Elijah.^{[e] 18} By the time they returned, Elisha^[f] was living in Jericho. Then Elisha asked them, “Didn’t I tell you not to go?”

Elisha Cures the Waters of Jericho

¹⁹ The men who lived in the city addressed Elisha. “Look now,” they said, “our^[g] city’s location is good, as you^[h] have been observing, but the water springs^[i] here are bad and the land isn’t sustaining crops.”

²⁰ Elisha ordered them, “Bring me a new bowl and put some salt in it.” So they brought him what he had requested.^[j]

²¹ Elisha went out to the springs, threw the salt into them, and declared, “This is what the Lord says: ‘I have purified these waters. Neither death nor barrenness is to flow from them anymore.’” ²² As a result, the water springs^[k] remain pure to this day, just as^[l] Elisha had declared.