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. 13 And he took up the cloak of Elijah that had fallen from him and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan. 14 Then he took the cloak of Elijah that had fallen from him and struck the water, saying, “Where is the Lord, the God of Elijah?” And when he had struck the water, ^vthe water was parted to the one side and to the other, and Elisha went over.

Elisha Succeeds Elijah

15 Now when ^rthe sons of the prophets who were at Jericho saw him opposite them, they said, “The spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha.” And they came to meet him and bowed to the ground before him. 16 And they said to him, “Behold now, there are with your servants fifty strong men. Please let them go and seek your master. It may be that ^zthe Spirit of the Lord has caught him up and cast him upon some mountain or into some valley.” And he said, “You shall not send.” 17 But when they urged him ^atill he was ashamed, he said, “Send.” They sent therefore fifty men. And for three days they sought him but did not find him. 18 And they came back to him while he was staying at Jericho, and he said to them, “Did I not say to you, ‘Do not go’?”

Unity in the Body of Christ

1 I therefore, ^ma prisoner for the Lord, urge you to ⁿwalk in a manner worthy of ^othe calling to which you have been called, 2 with all ^phumility and ^qgentleness, with ^rpatience, ^sbearing with one another in love, 3 eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in ^tthe bond of peace. 4 There is ^uone body and ^vone Spirit—just as you were called to the one ^whope that belongs to your call— 5 ^xone Lord, ^yone faith, ^zone baptism, 6 ^aone God and Father of all, ^bwho is over all and through all and in all. 7 But ^cgrace was given ^dto each one of us ^eaccording to the measure of Christ’s gift. 8 Therefore it says,

9 (^hIn saying, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended into ⁱthe lower regions, the earth?² 10 He who descended is the one who also ^jascended ^kfar above all the heavens, that he might ^lfill all things.) 11 And ^mhe gave the ⁿapostles, the prophets, the ^oevangelists, the ^pshepherds³ and teachers,⁴ 12 ^qto equip the saints for the work of ministry, for ^rbuilding up ^sthe body of Christ, 13 until we all attain to ^tthe unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, ^uto mature manhood,⁵ to the measure of the stature of ^vthe fullness of Christ, 14 so that we may no longer be children, ^wtossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in ^xdeceitful schemes. 15 Rather, ^yspeaking the truth in love, we are to ^zgrow up in every way into him who is ^athe head, into Christ, 16 ^bfrom whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, ^cwhen each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.

The New Life

17 Now this I say and ^dtestify in the Lord, ^ethat you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, ^fin the futility of their minds. 18 They ^gare darkened in their understanding, ^halienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to ⁱtheir hardness of heart. 19 They ^jhave become callous and ^khave given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. 20 But that is not the way you ^llearned Christ!— 21 assuming that ^myou have heard about him and ⁿwere taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, 22 to ^oput off ^pyour old self,⁶ which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through ^qdeceitful desires, 23 and ^rto be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 24 and to put on ^sthe new self, ^tcreated after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.