Elijah in the Whirlwind
1 The time had come for theLordto take Elijah up to heavenin a whirlwind.Elijah and Elishawere traveling from Gilgal,
2 and Elijah said to Elisha,“Stay here;theLordis sending me on to Bethel.”
But Elisha replied, “As theLordlives and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.”So they went down to Bethel.
3 Then the sons of the prophetswho were at Bethel came out to Elisha and said, “Do you know that theLordwill take your master away from you today? ”
He said, “Yes, I know. Be quiet.”
4 Elijah said to him, “Elisha, stay here; theLordis sending me to Jericho.”
But Elisha said, “As theLordlives and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So they went to Jericho.
5 Then the sons of the prophets who were in Jericho came up to Elisha and said, “Do you know that theLordwill take your master away from you today? ”
He said, “Yes, I know. Be quiet.”
6 Elijah said to him, “Stay here; theLordis sending me to the Jordan.”
But Elisha said, “As theLordlives and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So the two of them went on.
7 Fifty men from the sons of the prophets came and stood facing them from a distance while the two of them stood by the Jordan.
8 Elijah took his mantle,rolled it up, and struck the waters, which parted to the right and left. Then the two of them crossed over on dry ground.
9 After they had crossed over, Elijah said to Elisha, “Tell me what I can do for you before I am taken from you.”
So Elisha answered, “Please, let me inherit two sharesof your spirit.”
10 Elijah replied, “You have asked for something difficult. If you see me being taken from you,you will have it. If not, you won’t.”
11 As they continued walking and talking, a chariot of fire with horses of firesuddenly appeared and separated the two of them. Then Elijah went up into heaven in the whirlwind.
12 As Elisha watched, he kept crying out, “My father, my father, the chariots and horsemen of Israel! ”Then he never saw Elijah again. He took hold of his own clothes and tore them into two pieces.
Elisha Succeeds Elijah
13 Elisha picked up the mantlethat had fallen off Elijah and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan.
14 Then he took the mantle Elijah had dropped and struck the waters. “Where is theLordGod of Elijah? ” he asked. He struck the waters himself, and they parted to the right and the left, and Elisha crossed over.
15 When the sons of the prophets from Jericho who were facing him saw him, they said, “The spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha.” They came to meet him and bowed down to the ground in front of him.
16 Then the sons of the prophets said to Elisha, “Since there are 50 strong men here with your servants, please let them go and search for your master. Maybe the Spirit of theLordhas carried him away and put him on one of the mountains or into one of the valleys.”
He answered, “Don’t send them.”
17 However, they urged him to the point of embarrassment,so he said, “Send them.” They sent 50 men, who looked for three days but did not find him.
18 When they returned to him in Jerichowhere he was staying, he said to them, “Didn’t I tell you not to go? ”
19 Then the men of the city said to Elisha, “Even though our lord can see that the city’s location is good, the water is bad and the land unfruitful.”
20 He replied, “Bring me a new bowl and put salt in it.”
After they had brought him one,
21 Elisha went out to the spring of water, threw salt in it,and said, “This is what theLordsays: ‘I have healed this water. No longer will death or unfruitfulness result from it.’ ”
22 Therefore, the water remains healthy to this very day according to the word that Elisha spoke.
23 From there Elisha went up to Bethel.As he was walking up the path, some small boys came out of the city and harassed him,chanting, “Go up, baldy! Go up, baldy! ”
24 He turned around, looked at them, and cursed them in the name of theLord.Then two female bears came out of the woods and mauled 42 of the children.
25 From there Elisha went to Mount Carmel,and then he returned to Samaria.
—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/17/32k/2KI/2-63f366e6309b735ed0f76da994c4f77f.mp3?version_id=72—