Elias bliver taget op til Himlen
1Da Herren hentede Elias op til Himlen i en hvirvelvind, foregik det på følgende måde:
Elias og Elisa kom gående sammen på vejen fra Gilgal.2,1 Flere byer bærer navnet Gilgal. Den by, der tænkes på her, ligger tæt ved Shilo, nord for Betel. 2Så sagde Elias til Elisa: „Bliv her, for Herren har sagt, at jeg skal tage til Betel.”
Men Elisa svarede: „Så sandt Herren lever, og så sandt du lever, du går ingen steder uden mig.” Så fulgtes de ad mod Betel.
3Inden de nåede byen, kom eleverne fra profetskolen i Betel dem i møde, og de spurgte Elisa: „Ved du, at Herren vil tage din herre fra dig i dag?”
„Jeg ved det godt,” svarede Elisa. „Ti bare stille.”
4Så sagde Elias til Elisa: „Bliv her i Betel, for Herren har sagt, at jeg skal tage til Jeriko.”
Men Elisa svarede som før: „Så sandt Herren lever, og så sandt du lever, du går ingen steder uden mig.” Så fulgtes de ad ned mod Jeriko.
5Eleverne fra profetskolen i Jeriko kom dem også i møde, og de stillede Elisa samme spørgsmål: „Ved du, at Herren vil tage din herre fra dig i dag?”
„Jeg ved det godt,” svarede Elisa. „Ti bare stille.”
6Derpå sagde Elias til Elisa: „Bliv her i Jeriko, for nu vil Herren have mig hen til Jordanfloden.”
Men Elisa svarede igen: „Så sandt Herren lever, og så sandt du lever, du går ingen steder uden mig.” Så fulgtes de ad og kom til Jordanflodens bred.
750 af profeteleverne gik hen og stillede sig et sted, hvor de kunne holde øje med dem på afstand. 8Elias rullede sin kappe sammen og slog på vandet med den, og vandet delte sig, så de kunne gå tørskoet over.
9Da de var kommet over på den anden side, sagde Elias til Elisa: „Hvad ønsker du, at jeg skal gøre for dig, før jeg bliver taget bort?”
„Lad din profetiske ånd gå i arv til mig,”2,9 Ordret står der: „Lad mig nu få to dele af din ånd”. Det var skik, når en far delte sin jord og sine ejendele mellem sine sønner, at den førstefødte fik dobbelt så stor en del som de øvrige sønner, idet han fik ansvar for at føre slægtsgården videre, jf. 5.Mos. 21,17. Når Elisa beder om en dobbelt portion af Elias’ ånd, er det sikkert et udtryk for, at han er parat til at tage arven op efter Elias. var Elisas svar.
10„Det er en dristig bøn,” svarede Elias. „Men hvis du ser mig i det øjeblik, jeg bliver taget bort, vil din bøn blive opfyldt. Hvis du derimod ikke ser mig, bliver den ikke opfyldt.”
11Mens de gik og talte sammen på vejen, kørte der pludselig en ildvogn med ildheste ind imellem dem. Elias blev taget op i vognen og fór op mod himlen i en hvirvelvind.
12Elisa fulgte ham med øjnene og råbte: „Min mester og herre. Du var et bedre værn for Israel end alle dets stridsvogne og ryttere.”
Da Elisa ikke længere kunne se ham, rev han sin kjortel itu. 13-14Så samlede han profetkappen op, som var faldet af Elias, og gik tilbage til Jordanflodens bred. Han slog vandet med kappen, ligesom Elias havde gjort, og sagde:
„Hvor er nu Herren, Elias’ Gud?” Straks delte vandet sig, så Elisa kunne gå tørskoet over.
15Da eleverne fra profetskolen i Jeriko så det, råbte de: „Se, Elias’ ånd er kommet over Elisa.” Så gik de ham i møde og bøjede sig for ham.
16„Herre,” sagde de, „vi er 50 mænd i god form. Skal vi ikke gå ud og lede efter din herre? Måske Herrens Ånd har sat ham på et af bjergene eller i en kløft.”
„Nej,” svarede Elisa, „lad være med det.”
17Men de blev ved med at presse ham. Til sidst gav han efter og sagde: „Godt, så gør det bare.” De 50 mænd søgte efter Elias i tre dage, men de fandt ham ikke. 18Elisa var stadig i Jeriko, da de kom tilbage, og han sagde til dem: „Det var jo det, jeg sagde.”
Elisas første mirakler
19En dag kom Jerikos ledere til Elisa med et problem. „Vores by ligger på et godt sted, som du kan se,” sagde de. „Men der er noget galt med vandet. Det forårsager aborter her i området.”
20„Bring mig en ny skål og kom salt i den,” beordrede Elisa. Det gjorde de.
21Så gik han ned til kilden, kastede saltet ned i den og sagde: „Herren siger: Jeg gør dette vand sundt. Det vil ikke længere forårsage død eller aborter.” 22Så blev vandet sundt, ganske som Elisa havde sagt. Og det er det den dag i dag.
23Fra Jeriko gik Elisa nu mod Betel. Da han nærmede sig byen, kom der en flok drenge ud derfra og gjorde nar af ham. De råbte til ham: „Kom herop, skaldepande, kom herop.” 24Da vendte Elisa sig mod børnene og forbandede dem i Herrens navn. Straks kom to hunbjørne ud fra krattet og sønderrev 42 af dem. 25Derfra gik Elisa videre til Karmels bjerg og vendte siden tilbage til Samaria.
Elijah Taken Up to Heaven
1When the Lord was about to take Elijah up to heaven in a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal. 2Elijah said to Elisha, “Stay here; the Lord has sent me to Bethel.”
But Elisha said, “As surely as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you.” So they went down to Bethel.
3The company of the prophets at Bethel came out to Elisha and asked, “Do you know that the Lord is going to take your master from you today?”
“Yes, I know,” Elisha replied, “so be quiet.”
4Then Elijah said to him, “Stay here, Elisha; the Lord has sent me to Jericho.”
And he replied, “As surely as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you.” So they went to Jericho.
5The company of the prophets at Jericho went up to Elisha and asked him, “Do you know that the Lord is going to take your master from you today?”
“Yes, I know,” he replied, “so be quiet.”
6Then Elijah said to him, “Stay here; the Lord has sent me to the Jordan.”
And he replied, “As surely as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you.” So the two of them walked on.
7Fifty men from the company of the prophets went and stood at a distance, facing the place where Elijah and Elisha had stopped at the Jordan. 8Elijah took his cloak, rolled it up and struck the water with it. The water divided to the right and to the left, and the two of them crossed over on dry ground.
9When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, “Tell me, what can I do for you before I am taken from you?”
“Let me inherit a double portion of your spirit,” Elisha replied.
10“You have asked a difficult thing,” Elijah said, “yet if you see me when I am taken from you, it will be yours—otherwise, it will not.”
11As they were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind. 12Elisha saw this and cried out, “My father! My father! The chariots and horsemen of Israel!” And Elisha saw him no more. Then he took hold of his garment and tore it in two.
13Elisha then picked up Elijah’s cloak that had fallen from him and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan. 14He took the cloak that had fallen from Elijah and struck the water with it. “Where now is the Lord, the God of Elijah?” he asked. When he struck the water, it divided to the right and to the left, and he crossed over.
15The company of the prophets from Jericho, who were watching, said, “The spirit of Elijah is resting on Elisha.” And they went to meet him and bowed to the ground before him. 16“Look,” they said, “we your servants have fifty able men. Let them go and look for your master. Perhaps the Spirit of the Lord has picked him up and set him down on some mountain or in some valley.”
“No,” Elisha replied, “do not send them.”
17But they persisted until he was too embarrassed to refuse. So he said, “Send them.” And they sent fifty men, who searched for three days but did not find him. 18When they returned to Elisha, who was staying in Jericho, he said to them, “Didn’t I tell you not to go?”
Healing of the Water
19The people of the city said to Elisha, “Look, our lord, this town is well situated, as you can see, but the water is bad and the land is unproductive.”
20“Bring me a new bowl,” he said, “and put salt in it.” So they brought it to him.
21Then he went out to the spring and threw the salt into it, saying, “This is what the Lord says: ‘I have healed this water. Never again will it cause death or make the land unproductive.’ ” 22And the water has remained pure to this day, according to the word Elisha had spoken.
Elisha Is Jeered
23From there Elisha went up to Bethel. As he was walking along the road, some boys came out of the town and jeered at him. “Get out of here, baldy!” they said. “Get out of here, baldy!” 24He turned around, looked at them and called down a curse on them in the name of the Lord. Then two bears came out of the woods and mauled forty-two of the boys. 25And he went on to Mount Carmel and from there returned to Samaria.
