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.
ኤልያስ ወደ ሰማይ ዐረገ
1እግዚአብሔር ኤልያስን በዐውሎ ነፋስ ወደ ሰማይ የሚወስድበት ጊዜ ሲደርስ፣ ኤልያስና ኤልሳዕ ከጌልገላ ተነሥተው ይጓዙ ነበር። 2ኤልያስም ኤልሳዕን፣ “እግዚአብሔር እኔን ወደ ቤቴል ልኮኛልና አንተ በዚሁ ቈይ” አለው።
ኤልሳዕ ግን፣ “ሕያው እግዚአብሔርን፣ በሕያው ነፍስህም እምላለሁ፤ ከአንተ አልለይም” አለው። ስለዚህ አብረው ወደ ቤቴል ወረዱ።
3በቤቴል የነበሩ የነቢያት ማኅበር ወደ ኤልሳዕ ወጥተው፣ “እግዚአብሔር፣ ጌታህን ኤልያስን ዛሬ ከአንተ ነጥሎ እንደሚወስደው ዐውቀሃልን?” አሉት።
ኤልሳዕም፣ “አዎን ዐውቄአለሁ፤ እናንተ ግን ዝም በሉ” አለ።
4ከዚያም ኤልያስ፣ “ኤልሳዕ ሆይ፤ እግዚአብሔር እኔን ወደ ኢያሪኮ ልኮኛልና አንተ በዚሁ ቈይ” አለው።
እርሱም፤ “ሕያው እግዚአብሔርን፣ በሕያው ነፍስህም እምላለሁ፤ ከአንተ አልለይም” ሲል መለሰ። ስለዚህ አብረው ወደ ኢያሪኮ ሄዱ።
5በኢያሪኮ የነበሩትም የነቢያት ማኅበር ወደ ኤልሳዕ ወጥተው፣ “ለመሆኑ እግዚአብሔር፣ ጌታህን ኤልያስን ዛሬ ከአንተ ነጥሎ እንደሚወስደው ዐውቀሃልን?” አሉት።
እርሱም፣ “አዎን ዐውቄአለሁ፤ እናንተ ግን ዝም በሉ” ሲል መለሰ።
6ከዚያም ኤልያስ፣ “እግዚአብሔር እኔን ወደ ዮርዳኖስ ልኮኛልና አንተ እዚሁ ቈይ” አለው።
እርሱም፣ “ሕያው እግዚአብሔርን፤ በሕያው ነፍስህም እምላለሁ፤ ከአንተ አልለይም” ሲል መለሰ። ስለዚህ ሁለቱም አብረው ሄዱ።
7ከነቢያትም ማኅበር አምሳው ሄደው፣ ኤልያስና ኤልሳዕ ከቆሙበት ከዮርዳኖስ ትይዩ ራቅ ብለው ቆሙ። 8ኤልያስም ካባውን አውልቆ ጠቀለለውና ውሃውን መታበት፤ ከዚያም ውሃው ግራና ቀኝ ተከፈለ፤ ሁለቱም በደረቅ ምድር ተሻገሩ።
9ከተሻገሩ በኋላም ኤልያስ ኤልሳዕን፤ “ከአንተ ከመወሰዴ በፊት ምን ላደርግልህ እንደምትፈልግ ንገረኝ” አለው።
ኤልሳዕም፣ “መንፈስህ በዕጥፍ እንዲያድርብኝ እለምንሃለሁ” ብሎ መለሰ።
10ኤልያስም፣ “አስቸጋሪ ነገር ጠይቀሃል፤ ይሁን እንጂ እኔ ከአንተ ስወሰድ ብታየኝ፣ እንዳልከው ይሆንልሃል፤ አለዚያ ግን አይሆንም” አለው።
11እያዘገሙም ሲነጋገሩ ሳለ፣ የእሳት ሠረገላና የእሳት ፈረሶች ድንገት በመካከላቸው ገብተው ሁለቱን ለዩአቸው፤ ኤልያስም በዐውሎ ነፋስ ወደ ሰማይ ዐረገ። 12ኤልሳዕም ይህን አይቶ፣ “አባቴ አባቴ የእስራኤል ሠረገሎችና ፈረሰኞች!” ብሎ ጮኸ፤ ዳግመኛም ኤልያስን አላየውም፤ ከዚያም የገዛ ልብሱን ይዞ ከሁለት ቦታ ቀደደው። 13እርሱም ከኤልያስ የወደቀውን ካባ አነሣ፤ ተመልሶም በዮርዳኖስ ወንዝ ዳር ቆመ። 14ከኤልያስ፣ የወደቀውንም ካባ ይዞ ውሃውን መታና፣ “የኤልያስ አምላክ እግዚአብሔር ወዴት ነው?” አለ። ውሃውን ሲመታውም በግራና በቀኝ ተከፍሎለት ተሻገረ። 15ከኢያሪኮም መጥተው ይህን ያዩ የነበሩት የነቢያት ወገኖች፣ “የኤልያስ መንፈስ በኤልሳዕ ላይ ዐርፏል” አሉ፤ ሊያገኙትም ሄደው በፊቱ ወደ መሬት ዝቅ ብለው እጅ ነሡ። 16ከዚያም፣ “እነሆ፤ እኛ አገልጋዮችህ እዚህ አምሳ ጠንካራ ሰዎች አሉን፤ ምናልባትም የእግዚአብሔር መንፈስ ጌታህን አንሥቶ ከአንዱ ተራራ ላይ አስቀምጦት ወይም ከአንዱ ሸለቆ አግብቶት ይሆናልና እስቲ ሄደው ይፈልጉት” አሉት። ኤልሳዕም፣ “አይሆንም፤ አትላኳቸው” አለ።
17አይሆንም ለማለት ዕፍረት እስኪሰማው ድረስ ግድ አሉት፤ ስለዚህ፣ “በሉ እንግዲያው ላኳቸው” አለ። እነርሱም አምሳ ሰዎች ላኩ፤ ሰዎቹም ሦስት ቀን ሙሉ ፈልገው ሳያገኙት ቀሩ። 18በኢያሪኮ ቈይቶ ወደ ነበረው ወደ ኤልሳዕ በተመለሱም ጊዜ፣ “ቀድሞውንስ ቢሆን አትሂዱ ብያችሁ አልነበረምን?” አላቸው።
የውሃው መፈወስ
19የከተማዪቱም ሰዎች ኤልሳዕን፣ “እነሆ ጌታችን፤ እንደምታያት ይህች ከተማ ለኑሮ የተመቸች ናት፤ ይሁን እንጂ ውሃው መጥፎ ሲሆን ምድሪቱም ፍሬ የማትሰጥ ናት” አሉት።
20እርሱም፣ “እስቲ በአዲስ ማሰሮ ጨው ጨምራችሁ አምጡልኝ” አለ፤ እንዳለውም አመጡለት። 21ከዚያም ወደ ውሃው ምንጭ ሄዶ ጨው ጣለበትና “እግዚአብሔር እንዲህ ይላል፤ ‘ይህን ውሃ ፈውሸዋለሁ፤ ከእንግዲህ ወዲያ ለሞት ምክንያት አይሆንም፤ ምድሪቱንም ፍሬ እንዳትሰጥ አያደርጋትም’ አለ።” 22ኤልሳዕ እንደ ተናገረውም ውሃው እስከ ዛሬ ድረስ የተፈወሰ ነው።
በኤልሳዕ ላይ ተፌዘበት
23ኤልሳዕም ከዚያ ተነሥቶ ወደ ቤቴል ወጣ፤ በመንገድ ላይ ሲሄድ ሳለም ልጆች ከከተማ ወጥተው፣ “አንተ መላጣ፤ ውጣ! አንተ መላጣ ውጣ!” እያሉ አፌዙበት። 24ኤልሳዕም ዘወር ብሎ ተመለከታቸውና በእግዚአብሔር ስም ረገማቸው፤ ከዚያም ሁለት እንስት ድቦች ከዱር ወጥተው ከልጆቹ አርባ ሁለቱን ሰባበሯቸው። 25እርሱም ወደ ቀርሜሎስ ተራራ ሄደ፤ ከዚያም ወደ ሰማርያ ተመለሰ።
