1When the LORD was about to take Elijah up to heaven in a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were traveling from Gilgal.
2Elijah said to Elisha, 'Stay here — the LORD is sending me to Bethel.' But Elisha replied, 'As surely as the LORD lives and as you live, I will not leave you.' So they went down to Bethel together.
3A group of prophets from Bethel came out to Elisha and asked, 'Do you know that the LORD is going to take your master away from you today?' Elisha said, 'Yes, I know. Be quiet.'
4Then Elijah said to Elisha, 'Stay here — the LORD is sending me to Jericho.' But Elisha replied, 'As surely as the LORD lives and as you live, I will not leave you.' So they went to Jericho.
5A group of prophets from Jericho came to Elisha and asked, 'Do you know that the LORD is going to take your master away from you today?' Elisha said, 'Yes, I know. Be quiet.'
6Then Elijah said to him, 'Stay here — the LORD is sending me to the Jordan.' Elisha replied, 'As surely as the LORD lives and as you live, I will not leave you.' So they walked on together.
7Fifty of the prophets went and watched from a distance while Elijah and Elisha stood at the edge of the Jordan River.
8Elijah rolled up his cloak and struck the water with it. The river divided to each side, and the two of them crossed over on dry ground.
9After they had crossed, Elijah asked Elisha, 'What can I do for you before I am taken from you?' Elisha said, 'Please let me inherit a double portion of your spirit.'
10Elijah replied, 'You have asked for a difficult thing. Still, if you see me when I am taken from you, it will be granted to you. If not, it will not.'
11As they walked along talking, suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah was taken up to heaven in a whirlwind.
12Elisha watched this and cried out, 'My father! My father! The chariots and horsemen of Israel!' When Elijah disappeared from sight, Elisha tore his own robe in grief.
13He picked up the cloak that had fallen from Elijah and went back to stand at the bank of the Jordan.
14He struck the water with Elijah's cloak and cried out, 'Where is the LORD, the God of Elijah?' When he struck the water, it divided to each side and Elisha crossed over.
15When the group of prophets from Jericho saw this from a distance, they said, 'The spirit of Elijah is resting on Elisha.' They went to meet him and bowed down before him.
16They said to Elisha, 'Look, there are fifty strong men among us. Let them go search for your master. Perhaps the Spirit of the LORD has carried him and dropped him on some mountain or in some valley.' But Elisha said, 'No, don't send them.'
17They kept pressing him until he was embarrassed, and he finally said, 'Send them.' So they sent fifty men who searched for three days but could not find Elijah.
18When they returned to Elisha, who was staying in Jericho, he said, 'Didn't I tell you not to go?'
19The people of the city said to Elisha, 'Look, this city is well situated, as you can see, but the water is bad and the land is unproductive.'
20Elisha said, 'Bring me a new bowl and put salt in it.' They brought it to him.
21He went to the spring and threw the salt into it, declaring, 'This is what the LORD says: I have made this water pure. It will no longer cause death or make the land unproductive.'
22The water has remained pure to this day, just as Elisha declared.
23From there Elisha went up to Bethel. While he was walking on the road, some youths came out from the city and mocked him, shouting, 'Get out of here, baldhead! Get out of here, baldhead!'
24He turned around, looked at them, and called down a curse on them in the name of the LORD. Then two female bears came out of the woods and mauled forty-two of the youths.
25From there Elisha went to Mount Carmel, and then returned to Samaria.