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    2 Kings · 25 verses

    2 Kings 2

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    Elisha’s first act after Elijah vanished was to pick up the fallen cloak, strike the Jordan, and ask where Elijah’s God had gone. The river, rather remarkably, answered by parting; later, at Bethel, two female bears dealt with a much less reverent enquiry from forty-two boys.

    The cloak and the whirlwindvv. 1–18

    Elijah and Elisha leave Gilgal for Bethel, then Jericho, then the Jordan, with the sons of the prophets repeatedly announcing that Elijah will be taken away. Elisha refuses every invitation to remain behind. At the Jordan, Elijah rolls up his cloak and strikes the water, which parts so that they cross on dry ground. Elisha asks for a double portion of Elijah’s spirit; Elijah calls it a difficult thing, with the small proviso that Elisha must actually see him go. He does: a chariot of fire and horses of fire separate them, and Elijah rises into heaven in a whirlwind. Elisha tears his clothes, takes up the fallen cloak, and makes the Jordan part again. The watching prophets bow to him, then persuade him to send fifty men searching for Elijah. Three days produce nothing but a return journey and Elisha’s mildly exasperated “Didn’t I tell you not to go?”

    Salt, bears, and the road onwardvv. 19–25

    The men of Jericho report that their city has a good location but bad water and unfruitful land. Elisha requests a new bowl with salt, casts it into the spring, and declares the water healed; the account says the waters remain healthy to this day. From there he goes up to Bethel, where a group of boys chant, “Go up, you baldhead!” twice. Elisha calls down a curse in the name of the LORD, and two female bears come out of the woods and maul forty-two of the boys. Elisha then continues to Mount Carmel and returns to Samaria, leaving the chapter with an impressive number, two bears, and no further explanation.

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    Berean Standard Bible, public domain. Names the Hebrew and Greek put in the verse link to the person, place or people they name; the address beside each verse is a link to that verse, which is what a reader copies and shares.

    1. 2 Kgs 2:1Shortly before the LORD took Elijah up to heaven in a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal,

    2. 2 Kgs 2:2and Elijah said to Elisha, “Please stay here, for the LORD has sent me on to Bethel.” But Elisha replied, “As surely as the LORD lives and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So they went down to Bethel.

    3. 2 Kgs 2:3Then the sons of the prophets at Bethel came out to Elisha and said, “Do you know that the LORD will take your master away from you today?” “Yes, I know,” he replied. “Do not speak of it.”

    4. 2 Kgs 2:4And Elijah said to Elisha, “Please stay here, for the LORD has sent me on to Jericho.” But Elisha replied, “As surely as the LORD lives and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So they went to Jericho.

    5. 2 Kgs 2:5Then the sons of the prophets at Jericho came up to Elisha and said, “Do you know that the LORD will take your master away from you today?” “Yes, I know,” he replied. “Do not speak of it.”

    6. 2 Kgs 2:6And Elijah said to Elisha, “Please stay here, for the LORD has sent me on to the Jordan.” But Elisha replied, “As surely as the LORD lives and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So the two of them went on.

    7. 2 Kgs 2:7Then a company of fifty of the sons of the prophets went and stood at a distance, facing Elijah and Elisha as the two of them stood by the Jordan.

    8. 2 Kgs 2:8And Elijah took his cloak, rolled it up, and struck the waters, which parted to the right and to the left, so that the two of them crossed over on dry ground.

    9. 2 Kgs 2:9After they had crossed over, Elijah said to Elisha, “Tell me, what can I do for you before I am taken away from you?” “Please, let me inherit a double portion of your spirit,” Elisha replied.

    10. 2 Kgs 2:10“You have requested a difficult thing,” said Elijah. “Nevertheless, if you see me as I am taken from you, it will be yours. But if not, then it will not be so.”

    11. 2 Kgs 2:11As they were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire with horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up into heaven in a whirlwind.

    12. 2 Kgs 2:12As Elisha watched, he cried out, “My father, my father, the chariots and horsemen of Israel!” And he saw Elijah no more. So taking hold of his own clothes, he tore them in two.

    13. 2 Kgs 2:13Elisha also picked up the cloak that had fallen from Elijah, and he went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan.

    14. 2 Kgs 2:14Then he took the cloak of Elijah that had fallen from him and struck the waters. “Where now is the LORD, the God of Elijah?” he asked. And when he had struck the waters, they parted to the right and to the left, and Elisha crossed over.

    15. 2 Kgs 2:15When the sons of the prophets who were watching him from Jericho saw what had happened, they said, “The spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha.” And they went to meet him and bowed down to the ground before him.

    16. 2 Kgs 2:16“Look now,” they said to Elisha, “we your servants have fifty valiant men. Please let them go and search for your master. Perhaps the Spirit of the LORD has taken him up and put him on one of the mountains or in one of the valleys.” “Do not send them,” Elisha replied.

    17. 2 Kgs 2:17But when they pressed him to the point of embarrassment, he said, “Send them.” And they sent fifty men, who searched for three days but did not find Elijah.

    18. 2 Kgs 2:18When they returned to Elisha, who was staying in Jericho, he said to them, “Didn’t I tell you not to go?”

    19. 2 Kgs 2:19Then the men of the city said to Elisha, “Please note, our lord, that the city’s location is good, as you can see. But the water is bad and the land is unfruitful.”

    20. 2 Kgs 2:20“Bring me a new bowl,” he replied, “and put some salt in it.” So they brought it to him,

    21. 2 Kgs 2:21and Elisha went out to the spring, cast the salt into it, and said, “This is what the LORD says: ‘I have healed this water. No longer will it cause death or unfruitfulness.’”

    22. 2 Kgs 2:22And the waters there have been healthy to this day, according to the word spoken by Elisha.

    23. 2 Kgs 2:23From there, Elisha went up to Bethel, and as he was walking up the road, a group of boys came out of the city and jeered at him, chanting, “Go up, you baldhead! Go up, you baldhead!”

    24. 2 Kgs 2:24Then he turned around, looked at them, and called down a curse on them in the name of the LORD. Suddenly two female bears came out of the woods and mauled forty-two of the boys.

    25. 2 Kgs 2:25And Elisha went on to Mount Carmel, and from there he returned to Samaria.

    01 — Also here

    Who else the chapter reaches

    Names written in the English are linked in the text above. These are the ones that are not: an entity the Hebrew or Greek names under a spelling the translation does not use, or one reached only by an assertion about a verse of this chapter.

    Named in the Hebrew or Greek somewhere in this chapter, under a form the English renders differently — the registry's Ludim against the translation's Ludites — so there is no word in the sentence to hang the link on.

    Reached by an assertion Atlas extracted from a verse of this chapter rather than by a name written in it — a pronoun, a title, or a participant the sentence carries without naming. This layer is model-read and measured at 88.6–90.3% precision, and it is kept separate from the names above for that reason.

    02 — Read alongside

    Where this is echoed

    Readers' own connections, from OpenBible's crowd-voted cross-references — agreement about relevance, and not scholarly confidence. 260 passages were voted onto 23 verses of this chapter; the 16 shown lead on votes, and each is listed at the verse it was voted onto most strongly.

    • 19Exodus 23:26No woman in your land will miscarry or be barren; I will fulfill the number of your days.
    • 19Deuteronomy 28:2–4And all these blessings will come upon you and overtake you, if you will obey the voice of the LORD your God:
    • 9Numbers 11:17And I will come down and speak with you there, and I will take some of the Spirit that is on you and put that Spirit on them. They will help you bear the burden of the people, so that you do not have to bear it by yourself.
    • 21Exodus 15:25–26And Moses cried out to the LORD, and the LORD showed him a log. And when he cast it into the waters, they were sweetened. There the LORD made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there He tested them,
    • 232 Chronicles 36:16But they mocked the messengers of God, despising His words and scoffing at His prophets, until the wrath of the LORD against His people was stirred up beyond remedy.
    • 1Genesis 5:24Enoch walked with God, and then he was no more, because God had taken him away.
    • 9Deuteronomy 21:17Instead, he must acknowledge the firstborn, the son of his unloved wife, by giving him a double portion of all that he has. For that son is the firstfruits of his father’s strength; the right of the firstborn belongs to him.
    • 112 Kings 6:17Then Elisha prayed, “O LORD, please open his eyes that he may see.” And the LORD opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw that the hills were full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.
    • 11Psalms 104:3–4laying the beams of His chambers in the waters above, making the clouds His chariot, walking on the wings of the wind.
    • 19Deuteronomy 28:11The LORD will make you prosper abundantly—in the fruit of your womb, the offspring of your livestock, and the produce of your land—in the land that the LORD swore to your fathers to give you.
    • 81 Kings 19:19So Elijah departed and found Elisha son of Shaphat. He was plowing with twelve teams of oxen, and he was with the twelfth team. Elijah passed by him and threw his cloak around him.
    • 1Hebrews 11:5By faith Enoch was taken up so that he did not see death: “He could not be found, because God had taken him away.” For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God.
    • 42 Kings 2:2and Elijah said to Elisha, “Please stay here, for the LORD has sent me on to Bethel.” But Elisha replied, “As surely as the LORD lives and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So they went down to Bethel.
    • 8Exodus 14:21–22Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and all that night the LORD drove back the sea with a strong east wind that turned it into dry land. So the waters were divided,
    • 9John 16:7But I tell you the truth, it is for your benefit that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you.
    • 122 Kings 13:14When Elisha had fallen sick with the illness from which he would die, Jehoash king of Israel came down to him and wept over him, saying, “My father, my father, the chariots and horsemen of Israel!”

    Onward

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    Next chapter2 Kings 327 verses.Named hereCarmel MountEverything the graph connects to this name.Book2 KingsAll 25 chapters.Every bookThe Bible66 books, 1,189 chapters.