And now the time had come when the Lord would have Elias carried up by a whirlwind into heaven. Elias was but then leaving Galgal, with Eliseus in his company;

and he said to Eliseus, Pray stay on here awhile; the Lord has an errand for me at Bethel. As the Lord is a living God, said he, and thou a living soul, I will not part from thee.

So together they journeyed to Bethel, where there was a school of prophets. And here the disciples greeted Eliseus by asking, Has it been made known to thee that the Lord means, this day, to carry off thy master? I, too, know it, he answered; say no more.

Stay on here, Elias told him; the Lord has an errand for me at Jericho. As the Lord is a living God, said he, and thy soul a living soul, I will not part from thee. So together they reached Jericho,

and here, too, the disciples of the prophets asked Eliseus whether he knew his master was to be carried away from him. I, too, know it, he answered; say no more.

Here, too, Elias would have him stay on; for himself, the Lord had an errand for him at the Jordan; but still he said, As the Lord is a living God, and thy soul a living soul, I will not part from thee. So they went still in company;

fifty of the prophets’ disciples followed them, and stood watching, far away.

They came to a halt, those two, at Jordan bank.

And there Elias, taking off his mantle and folding it together, struck the waters of Jordan with it. Whereupon they parted, this way and that, allowing those two to pass over dry-shod.

When they had crossed, Elias said to Eliseus, Make what request of me thou wilt, before I am carried away from thee. And he answered, I would have a double portion of the spirit thou leavest behind thee.✻

It is no light request thou hast made, said he. If I am carried away in full view of thee, it means thy request is granted; if not, it is refused.

And they were still going on, and talking as they went, when all at once, between them, a flaming chariot appeared, drawn by flaming horses, and Elias went up on a whirlwind into heaven.

Eliseus watched it, crying out, My father, my father, Israel’s chariot and charioteer! But now he had sight of him no longer. He caught at his own clothes, and tore them across;

then he took up the mantle of Elias, that had fallen from him; and when he reached Jordan bank again,

with this mantle that had fallen from Elias he struck the waters; but they did not part. Alas, cried he, where is he now, the God of Elias? With that, he struck the waters again, and they parted this way and that, for Eliseus to cross over.

When they saw that, the disciples from Jericho that stood watching cried out, The spirit Elias had has come down to rest on Eliseus! And so, meeting him, they fell down face to earth;

Lord prophet, they said, we can muster fifty strong men of our company to go out and look for this master of thine; it may be the Spirit of the Lord has carried him off and left him on some hill-top or in some cleft of the valleys. He would not have them send,

but they were urgent with him, till at last he relented and gave them leave. So the fifty men were sent, and for three days they searched in vain.

When they came back (for he was still waiting at Jericho), all he said was, Did I not warn you not to send?

The citizens there had a complaint to bring before Eliseus; This city, my lord, has a fair site, as thou canst see for thyself, but the water is foul, and the soil barren.

Bring me a new jar, said he, filled with salt. And when this was brought,

he went out to the spring from which the water came and cast the salt in. Here, he said, is a promise the Lord makes to you: I have healed this water, it shall bring death and dearth no longer.

And from that day to this the water has been pure, in fulfilment of Eliseus’ promise.

Then he went back to Bethel, and as he climbed up along the road, he was mocked by some young boys from the city; Up with thee, bald-pate, they cried, up with thee, bald-pate!

And he, turning to look, called down the Lord’s curse on them. Thereupon, out came two bears from the forest, and forty-two of the boys were torn in pieces.

From Bethel he went on to mount Carmel, and afterwards made his way back to Samaria.