UST 2 KI Chapter 2

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2 When Yahweh was about to take the prophet Elijah up to heaven in a whirlwind, Elijah and his fellow prophet Elisha left the city of Gilgal in the territory of Ephraim, where Elijah had been staying with a community of prophets. 2 Elijah told Elisha, “Yahweh has told me to go to the city of Bethel, but I would like you to stay here.” But Elisha replied, “I am not going to separate from you. I swear by Yahweh and by your own life that I will not do that!” So they went to Bethel together. 3 A group of prophets lived in the city of Bethel. Some of them came out and asked Elisha, “Do you know that Yahweh is going to take your master Elijah away from you today?” Elisha told them, “Yes, I know that. Please do not say anything further about it.” 4 Then Elijah told Elisha, “Yahweh has told me to go to the city of Jericho, but I would like you to stay here.” But Elisha replied again, “I am not going to separate from you. I swear by Yahweh and by your own life that I will not do that!” So they went to Jericho together. 5 A group of prophets lived in the city of Jericho. Some of them came up to Elisha and asked him, “Do you know that Yahweh is going to take your master Elijah away from you today?” Elisha told them, “Yes, I know that. Please do not say anything further about it.” 6 Then Elijah told Elisha, “Yahweh has told me to go to the Jordan River, but I would like you to stay here.” But again Elisha replied, “I am not going to separate from you. I swear by Yahweh and by your own life that I will not do that!” So they continued walking together. 7 Fifty men from the group of prophets who lived in Jericho followed them. They stood where they could watch Elijah and Elisha from a distance as the two of them stopped at the bank of the Jordan River. 8 Then Elijah took off his cloak and rolled it up. He hit the water with it, and path opened up for them through the Jordan River. The ground on this pathway became dry, and that allowed them to walk across to the other side. 9 When they got to the other side, Elijah told Elisha, “Tell me what you would like me to do for you before Yahweh takes me away.” Elisha replied, “Since I am going to be your successor, I want you to leave me twice as much of your spirit as you leave to any other prophet, as if I were your firstborn son.” 10 Elijah replied, “You have asked for something that would be difficult for me to make happen. But if you see me when Yahweh takes me from you, then you will get what you have requested. If you do not see me, then you will not get it.” 11 They continued to walk away from the Jordan River. They were talking together as they walked. Suddenly a fiery chariot that fiery horses were pulling appeared. Its driver drove the chariot between Elijah and Elisha to separate them. Then a whirlwind came and lifted Elijah up into the sky. 12 When Elisha saw this, he cried out, “Oh, my master! You protected Israel so well, but now you are gone!” Elijah disappeared into the sky, and Elisha never saw him again. Then Elisha tore his robe into two pieces to show that he was very sad. 13 Elijah’s cloak had fallen off when the whirlwind lifted him up. Elisha picked up the cloak and walked back to the Jordan River and stood at the water’s edge. 14 He rolled up the cloak and struck the water with it. As he did that, he cried out, “If Yahweh, the God of Elijah, is present, may he do for me what he did for Elijah!” A path opened up for him through the water, and Elisha went across.

15 The group of prophets who had come from Jericho saw from a distance what had happened. They exclaimed, “Elisha now has the power that Elijah had!” They walked over to Elisha and bowed down very low in front of him to show their respect. 16 Then one of them told him, “Sir, we are concerned that after the Spirit of Yahweh picked up Elijah, he may have dropped him onto some mountain or into some valley. We would like to send fifty of our strongest men to look for him on the other side of the river.” Elisha replied, “No, do not send them.” 17 But they kept asking, and finally he felt embarrassed because it appeared that he did not care about Elijah. So he said, “Very well, send them.” So they had fifty men search for three days, but they did not find Elijah. 18 Elisha went back to Jericho to wait for them. When they returned and told him they had not found Elijah, he told them, “I told you that you should not go, because he was actually in heaven and you would not find him!”

19 Then the leaders of Jericho came to talk with Elisha. One of them told him, “Sir, you can see that this is a very nice place to live in. But the water is harmful to drink. It is causing the women and female animals that live here to have miscarriages.” 20 Elisha told them, “Put some salt in a new bowl and bring it to me.” So they did that. 21 Then Elisha went out to the spring from which the people in the town got water. He threw the salt into the spring. Then he said, “Yahweh declares that he has made this water safe. Drinking it will no longer cause the women and female animals here to have miscarriages.” 22 And the water became safe, just as Elisha declared it would. Since that time, it has remained pure.

23 Elisha left Jericho and went to Bethel. As he was walking along the road, a group of boys came out from Bethel and started to make fun of him. They kept shouting at him, “Go away, you bald-headed man!” 24 Elisha turned around to look at them. He declared that Yahweh had cursed them. Immediately two female bears came out of the woods and mauled and killed 42 of them. 25 Elisha continued past Bethel and went to Mount Carmel. After that, he returned to the city of Samaria.

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UST 2 KI Chapter 2

UST 2 KI Chapter 2