When God was about to take Elijah up to heaven in a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha set out from Gilgal. Elijah told Elisha to stay because God had sent him to Bethel, but Elisha swore that he would not leave him. They went down to Bethel together.
The company of prophets at Bethel asked Elisha whether he knew that God would take his master that day. Elisha said that he knew and told them to be quiet. Elijah then told Elisha to stay because God had sent him to Jericho, but Elisha again refused to leave. They went to Jericho together.
The prophets at Jericho gave the same warning, and Elisha gave the same answer. Elijah then told him to stay because God had sent him to the Jordan. Elisha again would not leave. Fifty prophets followed at a distance and stood watching.
Elijah rolled up his cloak and struck the water. It divided to the right and left, and the two crossed on dry ground. After they crossed, Elijah asked what he could do for Elisha before he was taken away. Elisha asked for a double portion of Elijah’s spirit.
Elijah said that this was a difficult request, but that it would be granted if Elisha saw him when he was taken. As they walked and talked, a chariot of fire and horses of fire separated them. Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind.
Elisha saw it and cried out, calling Elijah the chariots and horsemen of Israel. Then he saw him no more. Elisha tore his own clothes in two and picked up Elijah’s cloak that had fallen.
At the Jordan he struck the water with the cloak and asked where the God of Elijah was. The water divided, and Elisha crossed. The prophets at Jericho saw him from a distance and said that Elijah’s spirit rested on Elisha. They came and bowed before him.
They wanted to send fifty men to search for Elijah. Elisha first told them not to send anyone, but after they pressed him, he allowed it. They searched for three days and did not find Elijah. When they returned to Elisha at Jericho, he reminded them that he had told them not to go.
The people of Jericho told Elisha that the city’s location was good but its water was bad and the land unproductive. Elisha threw salt from a new bowl into the spring and declared that God had healed the water. It remained wholesome. Later, on the way to Bethel, a group of youths mocked him. Elisha pronounced a curse in God’s name, and two bears came from the woods and mauled forty-two of them. Elisha went on to Carmel and then returned to Samaria.