2 Kings 2
1 And it came to pass, when the Lord was about to take up Elijah by a storm-wind to heaven, that Elijah went out with Elisha' from Gilgal.
When Yahweh was about to take [the prophet] Elijah up to heaven in a (whirlwind/twisting wind), Elijah and [his fellow prophet] Elisha were traveling [south] from Gilgal [town].
2 And Elijah said unto Elisha', Remain, I pray thee, here; for the Lord hath sent me as far as Beth-el. But Elisha' said, As the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. So they went down to Beth-el.
Elijah said to Elisha, “Stay here, because Yahweh has told [only] me to go to Bethel [town].” But Elisha replied, “Just as certainly as Yahweh lives and you live, I will not leave you!” So they went down [together] to Bethel.
3 And the sons of the prophets that were at Beth-el came forth to Elisha', and said unto him, Knowest thou that today the Lord will take away thy master from thy head? And he said, I also know it; be still.
A group of prophets came to Elisha [and Elijah before they entered the town], and they asked Elisha, “Do you know that Yahweh is going to take your master/boss [Elijah] away from you today?” Elisha answered, “Certainly I know that, but don’t talk about it!” [IDM]
4 And Elijah said unto him, Elisha', remain, I pray thee, here; for the Lord hath sent me to Jericho. But he said, As the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. So they came to Jericho.
Then Elijah said to Elisha, “Stay here, because Yahweh has told [only] me to go to Jericho.” But Elisha replied [again], “Just as certainly as Yahweh lives and you live, I will not leave you!” So they went [together] to Jericho [city].
5 And the sons of the prophets that were at Jericho came near to Elisha', and said unto him, Knowest thou that today the Lord will take away thy master from thy head? And he said, I also know it; be still.
[As they neared] Jericho, a group of prophets who were from there came to Elisha and said to him, “Do you know that Yahweh is going to take your master/boss [Elijah] away from you today?” He answered again, “Certainly I know that, but don’t talk about it!” [IDM]
6 And Elijah said unto him, Remain, I pray thee, here; for the Lord hath sent me to the Jordan. But he said, As the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. So these two went on.
Then Elijah said to Elisha, “Stay here, because Yahweh has told [only] me to go to the Jordan [River].” But [again] Elisha replied, “As certainly as Yahweh lives and you live, I will not leave you!” So they continued walking together.
7 And fifty men of the sons of the prophets went, and stood opposite [to them] afar off: and those two stood by the Jordan.
Fifty men from a group of prophets [who were from Jericho] also went, but they watched from a distance as Elijah and Elisha stopped at the edge of the Jordan [River].
8 And Elijah took his mantle, and folded it together, and smote the waters, and they were divided hither and thither, and they went, both of them, over on dry ground.
Then Elijah rolled up his cloak and struck the water with it. A path opened up for them through the river, and they walked across [as though they were] on dry ground.
9 And it came to pass, when they passed over, that Elijah said unto Elisha', Ask what I shall do for thee, before I shall be taken away from thee. And Elisha' said, Let there be, I pray thee, a double portion of thy spirit upon me.
When they came to the other side, Elijah said to Elisha, “What do you want me to do for you before (I am taken away/Yahweh takes me away)?” Elisha replied, “I want to receive twice as much of your power [as you have had, ] (OR enable me to very powerfully continue your ministry).”
10 And he said, Thou hast asked a hard thing: if thou see me when I am taken from thee, it shall be so [given] unto thee; but if not, it shall not be.
Elijah replied, “You have asked for something which is difficult [for me to cause to happen]. But, if you see me when (I am taken from you/Yahweh takes me from you), you will get what you are requesting. But if you do not see me, then you will not get it.”
11 And it came to pass, as they went on, speaking as they were going, that, behold, there came a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a storm-wind to heaven.
As they were walking and talking, suddenly a chariot that had fire [surrounding it], pulled by horses which also had fire [surrounding them], appeared. [The chariot driver] drove the chariot between Elijah and Elisha and separated them. Then Elijah was taken up to heaven in a (whirlwind/twisting wind).
12 And Elisha' saw it, and he cried, My father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and their horsemen. And he saw him no more; and he took hold of his clothes, and rent them in two pieces.
Elisha saw it. He cried out, “My father/master! My father/master! The chariots of us Israeli people and their drivers [have taken my master away]!” [They disappeared into the sky, ] and Elisha never saw Elijah again. Then Elisha tore his own robe into two pieces [to show that he was sad].
13 And he lifted up the mantle of Elijah that had fallen from him, and went back, and stood by the border of the Jordan;
Elijah’s cloak [had fallen off when he was taken away, so] Elisha picked it up and returned to the bank of the Jordan [River].
14 And he took the mantle of Elijah that had fallen from him, and smote the waters, and said, Where is the Lord the God of Elijah? and when he also had smitten the waters, they parted hither and thither; and Elisha' passed over.
He [rolled up the cloak and] struck the water with it, and cried out, “Will Yahweh, the God who [enabled] Elijah [to perform miracles, enable me to do similar things]?” Then the water separated, and a path opened up for him, and Elisha went across.
15 And when the sons of the prophets who were at Jericho, at a distance, saw him, they said, The spirit of Elijah Doth rest on Elisha'. And they came forth to meet him, and bowed themselves unto him to the ground.
When the group of prophets from Jericho saw what happened, they exclaimed, “Elisha now has the power that Elijah had!” [MTY] They walked over to him and bowed down in front of him.
16 And they said unto him, Behold now, there are among thy servants fifty strong men; let them go, we pray thee, and seek thy master; peradventure the Spirit of the Lord hath taken him up, and cast him upon one of the mountains, or into one of the valleys. And he said, Ye must not send.
[One of] them said, “Sir, if you permit us, 50 of our strongest men will go and search for your master [on the other side of the river]. Perhaps the Spirit of Yahweh has left him on some mountain or in some valley.” Elisha replied, “No, do not send them.”
17 And they urged him till he was ashamed, when he said, Send. And they sent fifty men; and they sought three days, but found him not.
But they kept insisting. Finally he was tired of saying “No,” and he said, “Okay, send them.” So 50 men searched for three days, but they did not find Elijah.
18 And they returned again to him, for he had remained at Jericho; and he then said unto them, Did I not say unto you, Ye should not go?
They returned to Jericho, and Elisha was still there. He said to them, “I told you that you should not go, [because you would not find him]!” [RHQ]
19 And the men of the city said unto Elisha', Behold, I pray thee, the situation of this city is good, as my Lord seeth; but the water is bad, and the land causeth untimely births.
Then the leaders of [Jericho] city came to talk with Elisha. One of them said, “Our master, we have a problem. You can see that this is a very nice place [to live in]. But the water is bad, and as a result, crops will not grow on the land.”
20 And he said, Fetch me a new flask, and put salt therein: and they fetched it to him.
Elisha said to them, “Put some salt in a new bowl and bring the bowl to me.” So they brought it to him.
21 And he went forth unto the spring of the waters, and cast therein the salt, and said, Thus hath said the Lord, I have healed these waters; there shall not be from there any more death or untimely births.
Then he went out to the spring [from which the people in the town got water]. He threw the salt into the spring. Then he said, “This is what Yahweh says: ‘I have made this water good/pure. No longer will anyone die, from having drunk this water, and now crops will be able to grow.’” [LIT]
22 So the waters were healed unto this day, according to the word of Elisha' which he spoke.
And the water became pure, just as Elisha said it would be. Since that time it has always remained pure.
23 And he went up from there to Beth-el: and as he was going up by the way, there came forth young lads out of the city, and they mocked him, and said unto him, Go up, bald-head! go up, bald-head!
Elisha left Jericho and went up to Bethel. As he was walking along the road, a group of young boys from Bethel [saw him and] started to make fun of him. They continued shouting, “Go away, you bald-headed man!”
24 And he turned back, and looked on them, and cursed them in the name of the Lord; and there came forth two she-bears out of the forest, and tore of them forty and two boys.
Elisha turned around and looked/glared at them. He asked Yahweh to (curse them/do something bad to them). Immediately two bears came out of the woods and mauled forty-two of them.
25 And he went from there to mount Carmel, and from there he returned to Samaria.
Elisha left Bethel and went to Carmel Mountain, and after that he returned to Samaria [city].
