As Elisha went up to Bethel, some youths came out and mocked him, saying, “Go up, you baldhead!” Elisha turned back, cursed them in the name of the LORD, and two she-bears came out of the woods and tore forty-two of them. Then Elisha went on to Mount Carmel and returned to Samaria (2 Kings 2:23–25).
In 2 Kings 2:23–25 Elisha travels toward Bethel and is met by a group of youths who jeer at him, repeatedly telling him to “go up” and calling him “baldhead.” Elisha turns, sees them, and speaks a curse invoking Yahweh’s name. Immediately, two female bears come from the nearby woods and maul forty-two of the youths. This scene follows directly after Elijah’s departure and Elisha’s public confirmation as Elijah’s successor, including the earlier sign of authority at Jericho (the healed waters) in 2 Kings 2:19–22.
The passage presents Elisha’s authority being publicly challenged and then publicly upheld. In the text’s own sequence, mockery of the prophet is followed immediately by a curse “in the name of Yahweh” and a sudden, frightening outcome.
A careful answer keeps the immediate passage, the book's argument, and the whole-Bible storyline together, so the question is answered in context instead of as a detached idea.
Start with 2 Kings 2:23-25, then read the surrounding section so the answer stays connected to the passage's flow.
23He went up from there to Bethel; and as he was going up by the way, there came forth young lads out of the city, and mocked him, and said to him, Go up, you baldy; go up, you baldhead.
24He looked behind him and saw them, and cursed them in the name of Yahweh. There came forth two she-bears out of the wood, and mauled forty-two lads of them.
25He went from there to Mount Carmel, and from there he returned to Samaria.