2 Kings 2
1 And it comes to pass, at YHWH’s taking up Elijah to the heavens in a whirlwind, that Elijah goes, and Elisha, from Gilgal,
Shortly before the LORD took Elijah up to heaven in a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal,
2 and Elijah says to Elisha, “Please abide here, for YHWH has sent me to Beth-El”; and Elisha says, “YHWH lives, and your soul lives, if I leave you”; and they go down to Beth-El.
and Elijah said to Elisha, “Please stay here, for the LORD has sent me on to Bethel.” But Elisha replied, “As surely as the LORD lives and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So they went down to Bethel.
3 And sons of the prophets who [are] in Beth-El come out to Elisha, and say to him, “Have you known that today YHWH is taking your lord from your head?” And he says, “I also have known—keep silent.”
Then the sons of the prophets at Bethel came out to Elisha and said, “Do you know that the LORD will take your master away from you today?” “Yes, I know,” he replied. “Do not speak of it.”
4 And Elijah says to him, “Elisha, please abide here, for YHWH has sent me to Jericho”; and he says, “YHWH lives, and your soul lives, if I leave you”; and they come to Jericho.
And Elijah said to Elisha, “Please stay here, for the LORD has sent me on to Jericho.” But Elisha replied, “As surely as the LORD lives and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So they went to Jericho.
5 And sons of the prophets who [are] in Jericho come near to Elisha, and say to him, “Have you known that today YHWH is taking your lord from your head?” And he says, “I also have known—keep silent.”
Then the sons of the prophets at Jericho came up to Elisha and said, “Do you know that the LORD will take your master away from you today?” “Yes, I know,” he replied. “Do not speak of it.”
6 And Elijah says to him, “Please abide here, for YHWH has sent me to the Jordan”; and he says, “YHWH lives, and your soul lives, if I leave you”; and both of them go on—
And Elijah said to Elisha, “Please stay here, for the LORD has sent me on to the Jordan.” But Elisha replied, “As surely as the LORD lives and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So the two of them went on.
7 and fifty men of the sons of the prophets have gone on, and stand opposite [them] far off—and both of them have stood by the Jordan.
Then a company of fifty of the sons of the prophets went and stood at a distance, facing Elijah and Elisha as the two of them stood by the Jordan.
8 And Elijah takes his robe, and wraps [it] together, and strikes the waters, and they are halved, here and there, and both of them pass over on dry land.
And Elijah took his cloak, rolled it up, and struck the waters, which parted to the right and to the left, so that the two of them crossed over on dry ground.
9 And it comes to pass, at their passing over, that Elijah has said to Elisha, “Ask what I do for you before I am taken from you.” And Elisha says, “Indeed, please let there be a double portion of your spirit to me”;
After they had crossed over, Elijah said to Elisha, “Tell me, what can I do for you before I am taken away from you?” “Please, let me inherit a double portion of your spirit,” Elisha replied.
10 and he says, “You have asked a hard thing; if you see me taken from you, it is to you so; and if not, it is not.”
“You have requested a difficult thing,” said Elijah. “Nevertheless, if you see me as I am taken from you, it will be yours. But if not, then it will not be so.”
11 And it comes to pass, they are going, going on and speaking, and behold, a chariot of fire and horses of fire [appear], and they separate between them both, and Elijah goes up to the heavens in a whirlwind.
As they were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire with horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up into heaven in a whirlwind.
12 And Elisha is seeing, and he is crying, “My father! My father! The chariot of Israel and its horsemen!” And he has not seen him again; and he takes hold on his garments and tears them into two pieces.
As Elisha watched, he cried out, “My father, my father, the chariots and horsemen of Israel!” And he saw Elijah no more. So taking hold of his own clothes, he tore them in two.
13 And he takes up the robe of Elijah that fell from off him, and turns back and stands on the edge of the Jordan,
Elisha also picked up the cloak that had fallen from Elijah, and he went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan.
14 and he takes the robe of Elijah that fell from off him, and strikes the waters, and says, “Where [is] YHWH, God of Elijah—even He?” And he strikes the waters, and they are halved, here and there, and Elisha passes over.
Then he took the cloak of Elijah that had fallen from him and struck the waters. “Where now is the LORD, the God of Elijah?” he asked. And when he had struck the waters, they parted to the right and to the left, and Elisha crossed over.
15 And they see him—the sons of the prophets who [are] in Jericho—from opposite [them], and they say, “The spirit of Elijah has rested on Elisha”; and they come to meet him, and bow themselves to him to the earth,
When the sons of the prophets who were facing him from Jericho saw what had happened, they said, “The spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha.” And they went to meet him and bowed down to the ground before him.
16 and say to him, “Now behold, there are fifty men with your servants, sons of valor: please let them go, and they seek your lord, lest the Spirit of YHWH has taken him up, and casts him on one of the hills or into one of the valleys”; and he says, “You do not send.”
“Look now,” they said to Elisha, “we your servants have fifty valiant men. Please let them go and search for your master. Perhaps the Spirit of the LORD has taken him up and put him on one of the mountains or in one of the valleys.” “Do not send them,” Elisha replied.
17 And they press on him, until he is ashamed, and he says, “Send”; and they send fifty men, and they seek three days, and have not found him;
But when they pressed him to the point of embarrassment, he said, “Send them.” And they sent fifty men, who searched for three days but did not find Elijah.
18 and they return to him—and he is abiding in Jericho—and he says to them, “Did I not say to you, Do not go?”
When they returned to Elisha, who was staying in Jericho, he said to them, “Didn’t I tell you not to go?”
19 And the men of the city say to Elisha, “Now behold, the site of the city [is] good, as my lord sees, and the waters [are] bad, and the earth sterile.”
Then the men of the city said to Elisha, “Please note, our lord, that the city’s location is good, as you can see. But the water is bad and the land is unfruitful.”
20 And he says, “Bring a new dish to me, and place salt there”; and they bring [it] to him,
“Bring me a new bowl,” he replied, “and put some salt in it.” So they brought it to him,
21 and he goes out to the source of the waters, and casts salt there, and says, “Thus said YHWH: I have given healing to these waters; there is not anymore death and sterility there.”
and Elisha went out to the spring, cast the salt into it, and said, “This is what the LORD says: ‘I have healed this water. No longer will it cause death or unfruitfulness.’”
22 And the waters are healed to this day, according to the word of Elisha that he spoke.
And the waters there have been healthy to this day, according to the word spoken by Elisha.
23 And he goes up from there to Beth-El, and he is going up in the way, and little youths have come out from the city, and scoff at him, and say to him, “Go up, bald-head! Go up, bald-head!”
From there, Elisha went up to Bethel, and as he was walking up the road, a group of boys came out of the city and jeered at him, chanting, “Go up, you baldhead! Go up, you baldhead!”
24 And he looks behind him, and sees them, and declares them vile in the Name of YHWH, and two bears come out of the forest and ripped apart forty-two of the boys.
Then he turned around, looked at them, and called down a curse on them in the name of the LORD. Suddenly two female bears came out of the woods and mauled forty-two of the boys.
25 And he goes from there to the hill of Carmel, and from there he has turned back to Samaria.
And Elisha went on to Mount Carmel, and from there he returned to Samaria.
