Elijah Ascends to Heaven

²Now when the ^Lord was about to take Elijah up to heaven by a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal.²Elijah said to Elisha, ‘Stay here; for the ^Lord has sent me as far as Bethel.’ But Elisha said, ‘As the ^Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.’ So they went down to Bethel. ⁶ Then Elijah said to him, ‘Stay here; for the ^Lord has sent me to the Jordan.’ But he said, ‘As the ^Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.’ So the two of them went on.⁷Fifty men of the company of prophets also went, and stood at some distance from them, as they both were standing by the Jordan.⁸Then Elijah took his mantle and rolled it up, and struck the water; the water was parted to the one side and to the other, until the two of them crossed on dry ground. ⁹ When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, ‘Tell me what I may do for you, before I am taken from you.’ Elisha said, ‘Please let me inherit a double share of your spirit.’¹⁰He responded, ‘You have asked a hard thing; yet, if you see me as I am being taken from you, it will be granted you; if not, it will not.’¹¹As they continued walking and talking, a chariot of fire and horses of fire separated the two of them, and Elijah ascended in a whirlwind into heaven.¹²Elisha kept watching and crying out, ‘Father, father! The chariots of Israel and its horsemen!’ But when he could no longer see him, he grasped his own clothes and tore them in two pieces.

Elisha Succeeds Elijah

¹³ He picked up the mantle of Elijah that had fallen from him, and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan.¹⁴He took the mantle of Elijah that had fallen from him, and struck the water, saying, ‘Where is the ^Lord, the God of Elijah?’ When he had struck the water, the water was parted to the one side and to the other, and Elisha went over.

The Ascension of Jesus

⁶ So when they had come together, they asked him, ‘Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?’⁷He replied, ‘It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority.⁸But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.’⁹When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight.¹⁰While he was going and they were gazing up towards heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood by them.¹¹They said, ‘Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up towards heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.’