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,
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 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.
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 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.”
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 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.
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 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.”
[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 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—
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 have gone on, and stand opposite [them] far off—and both of them have 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 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.
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 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”;
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 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.”
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 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 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 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.
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 takes up the robe of Elijah that fell from off him, and turns back and stands on the edge 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 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.
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 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 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 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.”
[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 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 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 return to him—and he is abiding in Jericho—and he says to them, “Did I not say to you, Do 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 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 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 says, “Bring a new dish to me, and place salt there”; and they bring [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 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.”
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 And the waters are healed to this day, according to the word of Elisha that 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 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!”
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 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.
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 goes from there to the hill of Carmel, and from there he has turned back to Samaria.
Elisha left Bethel and went to Carmel Mountain, and after that he returned to Samaria [city].
