2 Kings 2:1-18

Expanded Bible

Elijah Is Taken to Heaven

2 When the Lord was about to take Elijah by a whirlwind up into heaven, Elijah and Elisha were leaving Gilgal. ² Elijah said to Elisha, “Please stay here. The Lord has ·told me to go to [^Lsent me as far as] Bethel.”

But Elisha said, “As the Lord lives, and as you live, I won’t leave you.” So they went down to Bethel. ³ The ·groups [company; brotherhood; ^Lsons] of prophets at Bethel came out to Elisha and said to him, “Do you know the Lord will take your ·master [lord] away from you today?”

Elisha said, “Yes, I know, ·but don’t talk about it [be quiet/still].”

⁴ Elijah said to him, “Stay here, Elisha, because the Lord has sent me to Jericho.”

But Elisha said, “As the Lord lives, and as you live, I won’t leave you.”

So they went to Jericho. ⁵ The ·groups [company; brotherhood; ^Lsons] of prophets at Jericho came to Elisha and said, “Do you know that the Lord will take your ·master [lord] away from you today?”

Elisha answered, “Yes, I know, ·but don’t talk about it [be quiet/still].”

⁶ Elijah said to Elisha, “Stay here. The Lord has sent me to the Jordan River.”

Elisha answered, “As the Lord lives, and as you live, I won’t leave you.”

So the two of them went on. ⁷ Fifty men of the ·groups [company; brotherhood; ^Lsons] of prophets came and stood ·far [at a distance] from where Elijah and Elisha were standing by the Jordan. ⁸ Elijah took off his ·coat [cloak; ^Tmantle], ·rolled [folded] it up, and hit the water. The water divided to ·the right and to the left [^Lone side and the other], and Elijah and Elisha crossed over on dry ground [^Creminiscent of the crossing of the Sea; Ex. 14].

⁹ After they had crossed over, Elijah said to Elisha, “What can I do for you before I am taken from you?”

Elisha said, “Leave me a double ·share [portion] of your spirit [^Clike a firstborn heir (Deut. 21:17), he asks for double the blessing of other followers of Elijah, not twice as much as Elijah].”

¹⁰ Elijah said, “You have asked a ·hard [difficult] thing. But if you see me when I am taken from you, it will be ·yours [as you request]. If you don’t, it won’t happen.”

¹¹ As they were walking along and talking, a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and ·separated [drove between] Elijah from Elisha. Then Elijah ·went up [ascended] to heaven in a whirlwind. ¹² Elisha saw it and shouted, “My father! My father! The chariots of Israel and ·their horsemen [its charioteers/or horses]!” And Elisha did not see him anymore. Then Elisha grabbed his own clothes and tore them in two [^Ca sign of mourning or distress].

¹³ He picked up Elijah’s ·coat [cloak; ^Tmantle] that had fallen from him. Then he returned and stood on the bank of the Jordan. ¹⁴ Elisha hit the water with Elijah’s ·coat [cloak; ^Tmantle] and said, “Where is the Lord, the God of Elijah?” When he hit the water, it divided to ·the right and to the left [^Lone side and the other], and Elisha crossed over [2:8].

¹⁵ The ·groups [company; brotherhood; ^Lsons] of prophets at Jericho were watching from a distance and said, “·Elisha now has the spirit Elijah had [^LElijah’s spirit now rests on Elisha].” And they came to meet him, bowing down to the ground before him. ¹⁶ They said to him, “There are fifty ·strong [able] men with us. Please let them go and look for your ·master [lord]. Maybe the Spirit of the Lord has taken Elijah up and set him down on some mountain or in some valley.”

But Elisha answered, “No, don’t send them.”

¹⁷ When the ·groups [company; brotherhood; ^Lsons] of prophets had begged Elisha until he ·couldn’t refuse them anymore [was too embarrassed/ashamed to refuse], he said, “Send them.” So they sent fifty men who looked for three days, but they could not find him. ¹⁸ Then they came back to Elisha at Jericho where he was staying. He said to them, “I told you not to go, didn’t I?”