Elijah, taking his leave of Elisha, with his mantle divideth Jordan,

1 ¶ And it came to pass,² when the LORDº would take upºª² Elijahº into heavenº by a whirlwind,º that Elijahº went¹ª² with Elishaº from² Gilgal.º 2 And Elijahº saidºª unto² Elisha,º Tarryºª here,² I pray thee;² for² the LORDº hath sentºª me to² Bethel.º And Elishaº saidºª [unto him, As] the LORDº liveth,º and [as] thy soulº liveth,º I will not² leaveºª thee. So they went downºª to Bethel.º 3 And the sonsº of the prophetsº that² [were] at Bethelº came forthºª to² Elisha,º and saidºª unto² him, Knowestºª thou that² the LORDº will take awayºª² thy masterº from²² thy headº to day?º And he said,ºª Yea,² I² knowºª [it]; hold ye your peace.ºª 4 And Elijahº saidºª unto him, Elisha,º tarryºª here,² I pray thee;² for² the LORDº hath sentºª me to Jericho.º And he said,ºª [As] the LORDº liveth,º and [as] thy soulº liveth,º I will not² leaveºª thee. So they cameºª to Jericho.º 5 And the sonsº of the prophetsº that² [were] at Jerichoº cameºª to² Elisha,º and saidºª unto² him, Knowestºª thou that² the LORDº will take awayºª² thy masterº from²² thy headº to day?º And he answered,ºª Yea,² I² knowºª [it]; hold ye your peace.ºª 6 And Elijahº saidºª unto him, Tarry,ºª I pray thee,² here;² for² the LORDº hath sentºª me to Jordan.º And he said,ºª [As] the LORDº liveth,º and [as] thy soulº liveth,º I will not² leaveºª thee. And they twoº went on.¹ª² 7 And fiftyº menº of the sonsº² of the prophetsº went,ºª and stoodºª to viewº² afar off:º² and they twoº stoodºª by² Jordan.º 8 And Elijahº tookºª² his mantle,º and wrapped [it] together,ºª and smoteºª² the waters,º and they were dividedºª hither² and thither,² so that they twoº went overºª on dry¹ ground.²

and, granting Elisha his request, is taken up by a whirlwind into heaven.

9 ¶ And it came to pass,² when they were gone over,ºª that Elijahº saidºª unto² Elisha,º Askºª what² I shall doºª for thee, before² I be taken awayºª from²² thee. And Elishaº said,ºª I pray thee,² let a doubleº portionº of thy spiritº be² upon² me. 10 And he said,ºª Thou hast askedºª a hard thing:ºª [nevertheless], if² thou seeºª me [when I am] takenºª from²² thee, it shall be² so² unto thee; but if² not,² it shall not² be² [so]. 11 And it came to pass,² as they² still¹ª went on,ºª and talked,ºª that, behold,² [there appeared] a chariotº of fire,º and horsesº of fire,º and partedºª them bothº asunder;º and Elijahº went upºª by a whirlwindº into heaven.º

Elisha, dividing Jordan with Elijah's mantle, is acknowledged his successor.

12 ¶ And Elishaº sawºª [it], and he² cried,ºª My father,º my father,º the chariotº of Israel,º and the horsemenº thereof. And he sawºª him no² more:² and he took holdºª of his own clothes,º and rentºª them in twoº pieces.º 13 He took upºª also² the mantleº of Elijahº that² fellºª from²² him, and went back,ºª and stoodºª by² the bankº of Jordan;º 14 And he tookºª² the mantleº of Elijahº that² fellºª from²² him, and smoteºª² the waters,º and said,ºª Where² [is] the LORDº Godº of Elijah?º and when he² also² had smittenºª² the waters,º they partedºª hither² and thither:² and Elishaº went over.ºª 15 And when the sonsº of the prophetsº which² [were] to view²² at Jerichoº sawºª him, they said,ºª The spiritº of Elijahº doth restºª on² Elisha.º And they cameºª to meetºª him, and bowed¹ª themselves² to the groundº before him.

The young prophets, hardly obtaining leave to seek Elijah, could not find him.

16 ¶ And they saidºª unto² him, Behold² now,² there beº with² thy servantsº fiftyº strongº² men;¹¹² let them go,¹ª² we pray thee,² and seekºª² thy master:º lest peradventure² the Spiritº of the LORDº hath taken him up,ºª and castºª him upon someº mountain,º or² into someº valley.º And he said,ºª Ye shall not² send.ºª 17 And when they urgedºª him till² he was ashamed,ºª he said,ºª Send.ºª They sentºª therefore fiftyº men;º and they soughtºª threeº days,º but foundºª him not.² 18 And when they came againºª to² him, (for he² tarriedºª at Jericho,)º he saidºª unto² them, Did I not² sayºª unto² you, Go¹ª² not?²

Elisha with salt healeth the unwholesome waters.

19 ¶ And the men¹² of the cityº saidºª unto² Elisha,º Behold,² I pray thee,² the situationº of this cityº [is] pleasant,º as² my lordº seeth:ºª but the waterº [is] naught,º and the groundº barren.ºª 20 And he said,ºª Bringºª me a newº cruse,º and putºª saltº therein.² And they broughtºª [it] to² him. 21 And he went forthºª unto² the springº of the waters,º and castºª the saltº in there,² and said,ºª Thus² saithºª the LORD,º I have healedºª these² waters;º there shall not² be² from thence²² any more² deathº or barrenºª [land]. 22 So the watersº were healedºª unto² this² day,º according to the sayingº of Elishaº which² he spake.ºª

Bears destroy the children that mocked Elisha.

23 ¶ And he went upºª from thence²² unto Bethel:º and as he² was going upºª by the way,º there came forthºª littleº childrenº out of² the city,º and mockedºª him, and saidºª unto him, Go up,ºª thou bald head;º go up,ºª thou bald head.º 24 And he turnedºª back,º and lookedºª on them, and cursedºª them in the nameº of the LORD.º And there came forthºª twoº she bearsº out of² the wood,º and tareºª fortyº and twoº childrenº of² them. 25 And he went¹ª² from thence²² to² mountº Carmel,º and from thence²² he returnedºª to Samaria.º