Elijah Taken to Heaven
1 Now when the Lord was about to mtake Elijah up to heaven by a whirlwind, Elijah and nElisha were on their way from oGilgal. 2 And Elijah said to Elisha, p“Please stay here, for the Lord has sent me as far as Bethel.” But Elisha said, q“As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So they went down to Bethel. 3 And rthe sons of the prophets who were in Bethel came out to Elisha and said to him, “Do you know that today the Lord will take away your master from over you?” And he said, “Yes, I know it; keep quiet.”
4 Elijah said to him, “Elisha, pplease stay here, for the Lord has sent me to tJericho.” But he said, q“As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So they came to Jericho. 5 rThe sons of the prophets who were at Jericho drew near to Elisha and said to him, “Do you know that today the Lord will take away your master from over you?” And he answered, “Yes, I know it; keep quiet.”
6 Then Elijah said to him, p“Please 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. 7 Fifty men of rthe sons of the prophets also went and stood at some distance from them, as they both were standing by the Jordan. 8 Then Elijah utook his cloak and rolled it up and struck the water, vand the water was parted to the one side and to the other, till the two of them could go over on dry ground.
9 When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, “Ask what I shall do for you, before I am taken from you.” And Elisha said, “Please let there be a double portion of your spirit on me.” 10 And he said, “You have asked a hard thing; yet, if you see me as I am being taken from you, it shall be so for you, but if you do not see me, it shall not be so.” 11 And as they still went on and talked, behold, wchariots of fire and horses of fire separated the two of them. And Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. 12 And Elisha saw it and he cried, “My father, my father! xThe chariots of Israel and its horsemen!” And he saw him no more.
Then he took hold of his own clothes yand tore them in two pieces.
God Himself Is Judge
A Psalm of nAsaph.
1 oThe Mighty One, God the Lord,
speaks and summons the earth
pfrom the rising of the sun to its setting.
2 Out of Zion, qthe perfection of beauty,
rGod shines forth.
3 Our God comes; he sdoes not keep silence;1
before him is a devouring tfire,
around him a mighty tempest.
4 uHe calls to the heavens above
and to the earth, that he may judge his people:
5 “Gather to me my faithful ones,
who made va covenant with me by sacrifice!”
6 wThe heavens declare his righteousness,
for xGod himself is judge! Selah
12 Since we have such a hope, jwe are very bold, 13 not like Moses, kwho would put a veil over his face so that the Israelites might not gaze at the outcome of what was being brought to an end. 14 But ltheir minds were mhardened. For to this day, nwhen they read othe old covenant, that same veil remains unlifted, because only through Christ is it taken away. 15 Yes, to this day whenever Moses is read a veil lies over their hearts. 16 But when pone1 turns to the Lord, qthe veil is removed. 17 Now the Lord2 is the Spirit, and where rthe Spirit of the Lord is, there is sfreedom. 18 And we all, with unveiled face, tbeholding uthe glory of the Lord,3 vare being transformed into the same image wfrom one degree of glory to another.4 For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.
The Light of the Gospel
1 Therefore, having xthis ministry yby the mercy of God,1 we do not lose heart. 2 But we have renounced zdisgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice2 cunning or ato tamper with God’s word, but bby the open statement of the truth cwe would commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God. 3 And even dif our gospel is veiled, eit is veiled to fthose who are perishing. 4 In their case gthe god of this world dhas blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing hthe light of ithe gospel of the glory of Christ, jwho is the image of God. 5 For what kwe proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with lourselves as your servants3 for Jesus’ sake. 6 For God, who said, m“Let light shine out of darkness,” nhas shone in our hearts to give othe light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
The Transfiguration
2 oAnd after six days Jesus took with him pPeter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was qtransfigured before them, 3 and rhis clothes became radiant, intensely white, as no one1 on earth could bleach them. 4 And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus. 5 And Peter said to Jesus, s“Rabbi,2 it is good that we are here. Let us make three ttents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.” 6 For uhe did not know what to say, for they were terrified. 7 And va cloud overshadowed them, and va voice came out of the cloud, w“This is my beloved Son;3 xlisten to him.” 8 And suddenly, looking around, they no longer saw anyone with them but Jesus only.
9 yAnd as they were coming down the mountain, zhe charged them to tell no one what they had seen, auntil the Son of Man had risen from the dead.
