10. Elijah said, “You have asked a hard thing. If you see me when I am taken from you, it will happen. But if you don’t see me when I am taken from you, it will not happen.”
11. Elijah and Elisha were walking and talking together. Suddenly, some horses and a chariot came and separated Elijah from Elisha. The horses and the chariot were like fire. Then Elijah was carried up into heaven in a whirlwind.
12. Elisha saw it, and shouted, “My father! My father! The chariot of Israel and his horses!” Elisha never saw Elijah again. Elisha grabbed his own clothes and tore them in two to show his sadness.
13. Elijah’s coat had fallen to the ground, so Elisha picked it up. He went back and stood at the edge of the Jordan River.
14. He hit the water and said, “Where is the Lord, the God of Elijah?” Just as Elisha hit the water, the water separated to the right and to the left! Then Elisha crossed the river.
15. When the group of prophets at Jericho saw Elisha, they said, “Elijah’s spirit is now on Elisha!” They came to meet Elisha. They bowed very low to the ground before him.
16. They said, “Look, we have 50 good men. Please let them go and look for your master. Maybe the Lord’S Spirit has taken Elijah up and dropped him on some mountain or in some valley.” But Elisha answered, “No, don’t send men to look for Elijah!”
17. The group of prophets begged Elisha until he was embarrassed. Then Elisha said, “Send the men to look for Elijah.” The group of prophets sent the 50 men to look for Elijah. They looked three days, but they could not find him.
18. So the men went to Jericho where Elisha was staying and told him. Elisha said to them, “I told you not to go.”
19. The men of the city said to Elisha, “Sir, you can see this city is in a nice place, but the water is bad. That is why the land cannot grow crops.”
20. Elisha said, “Bring me a new bowl and put salt in it.” They brought the bowl to Elisha.
21. Then he went out to the place where the water began flowing from the ground. Elisha threw the salt into the water and said, “The Lord said, ‘I am making this water pure! From now on this water will not cause any more death or keep the land from growing crops.’”
22. The water became pure and is still good today. It happened just as Elisha had said.