2 Kings 2

2 ¹As our Father was about to take Elijah up to heaven in a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha left Gilgal. ²Elijah told Elisha, "Please stay here; our Father sent me to Bethel." Elisha said, "As our Father lives, and as you live, I won't leave you." So they went down to Bethel.

³The prophets at Bethel came out to Elisha and asked, "Do you know today our Father will take your master from over your head?" "Yes, I know," he said. "Be quiet."

⁴Elijah said, "Elisha, please stay here; our Father sent me to Jericho." He replied, "As our Father lives, and as you live, I won't leave you." So they went to Jericho.

⁵The prophets' band at Jericho approached Elisha, asking, "Do you know our Father will take your master from you today?" "Yes, I know," he said. "Be quiet."

⁶Elijah said to him, "Please stay here; our Father has sent me to the Jordan." He said, "As our Father lives, and as you live, I won't leave you." So the two went on.

⁷Fifty men of the prophets' group went and stood facing them at a distance, while both stood by the Jordan. ⁸Elijah took his cloak, rolled it up, hit the water, and it split both ways; the two crossed on dry ground. ⁹Once they crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, "Ask what to do for you before I'm taken from you." Elisha said, "Please let me inherit a double portion of your spirit."

¹⁰"You've asked something hard," Elijah said. "If you see me taken from you, it's yours; if not, it won't be."

¹¹While they walked and talked, a fiery chariot and fiery horses separated them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind. ¹²Elisha saw and cried, "My father, my father! Israel's chariots and horsemen!" Then he saw him no more. He grabbed his clothes and tore them in two.

¹³He picked up Elijah's fallen cloak, went back, and stood on the bank of the Jordan. ¹⁴He took Elijah's fallen cloak, struck the water, and asked, "Where is our Father, the God of Elijah?" He struck it; the water divided right and left, and Elisha crossed over.

¹⁵Prophets at Jericho, across from him, saw and said, "Elijah's spirit rests on Elisha." They met him, bowing to the ground before him. ¹⁶"Look," they said, "your servants have fifty strong men. Let them go and search for your master—maybe the Spirit of our Father lifted him and dropped him on some mountain or in some valley." "No," Elisha said, "don't send them."

¹⁷They pressed him until he was ashamed to refuse. "Send them," he said. So they sent fifty men, who searched three days but did not find him.

¹⁸When they returned to Elisha, who was staying in Jericho, he said to them, "Didn't I tell you not to go?"

The Father Heals Jericho's Waters

¹⁹The people of the city told Elisha, "Look, our lord, this town sits well, as you see, but the water is bad and the land unproductive."

²⁰"Bring me a new bowl," he said, "and put salt in it." They brought it to him.

²¹He went out to the spring, threw in salt, and said, "This is what our Father says: I have healed this water; it will never cause death or barrenness again."

²²And the water has remained pure to this day, according to the word Elisha had spoken.

²³From there Elisha went up to Bethel. As he was walking along the road, small boys came from the city and mocked him: "Go up, baldhead! Go up, baldhead!" ²⁴He turned, looked at them, and cursed them in our Father's name. Two bears then left the woods and mauled forty-two of the boys. ²⁵And Elisha went on to Mount Carmel and from there returned to Samaria.