¹³ Elisha then picked up Elijah’s cloak that had fallen from him and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan. ¹⁴ He took the cloak^(A) that had fallen from Elijah and struck^(B) 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.

¹⁵ The company^(C) of the prophets from Jericho, who were watching, said, “The spirit^(D) 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^(E) of the Lord has picked him up^(F) and set him down on some mountain or in some valley.”

“No,” Elisha replied, “do not send them.”

¹⁷ But they persisted until he was too embarrassed^(G) to refuse. So he said, “Send them.” And they sent fifty men, who searched for three days but did not find him. ¹⁸ When they returned to Elisha, who was staying in Jericho, he said to them, “Didn’t I tell you not to go?”

¹² He said to his servant Gehazi, “Call the Shunammite.”^(A) So he called her, and she stood before him.

¹³ Elisha said to him, “Tell her, ‘You have gone to all this trouble for us. Now what can be done for you? Can we speak on your behalf to the king or the commander of the army?’”

She replied, “I have a home among my own people.”

¹⁷ Also, in those days the nobles of Judah were sending many letters to Tobiah, and replies from Tobiah kept coming to them. ¹⁸ For many in Judah were under oath to him, since he was son-in-law to Shekaniah son of Arah, and his son Jehohanan had married the daughter of Meshullam son of Berekiah. ¹⁹ Moreover, they kept reporting to me his good deeds and then telling him what I said. And Tobiah sent letters to intimidate me.