Anden Kongebog 6
1 Profetsønnerne sagde engang til Elisa: »Se, der er for lidt Plads til os her, hvor vi sidder hos dig.
One day a group of prophets said to Elisha, “Look, this place where we meet together with you is very small.
2 Vi vil gaa til Jordan og hver tage en Bjælke og der indrette os et Rum, vi kan sidde i!« Han sagde: »Ja, gør det!«
Allow us to go to the Jordan [River and cut down some trees to make] logs to build a new meeting place.” So Elisha said, “Okay, go.”
3 Men en af dem sagde: »Vil du ikke nok følge med dine Trælle!« Og han svarede: »Jo, det vil jeg!«
One of them said to Elisha, “Please come with us.” So Elisha replied, “Okay, I will go with you.”
4 Han gik saa med, og da de kom til Jordan, gav de sig til at fælde Træer.
So they went together. When they reached the Jordan [River], they cut down some trees.
5 Medens nu en af dem var ved at fælde en Bjælke, faldt hans Øksejern i Vandet. Da gav han sig til at raabe: »Ak, min Herre! Og det var endda laant!«
But while one of them was cutting down a tree, suddenly the axe head [separated from the handle and] fell into the water. He cried out to Elisha, “O, Master, what shall I do? [The axe is not mine]; I borrowed it!”
6 Men den Guds Mand sagde: »Hvor faldt det?« Og da han havde vist ham Stedet, skar han en Gren af og kastede den derhen. Da kom Øksen op paa Overfladen;
Elisha replied, “Where did it fall into the water?” After the man showed him the place, Elisha cut off a stick, and threw it into the water, and caused the iron axe head to float [on top of the water].
7 og han sagde: »Tag den op!« Saa rakte han Haanden ud og tog den.
Elisha said, “Take it out of the water.” So the man reached his hand down and picked up the axe head.
8 Engang Arams Konge laa i Krig med Israel, aftalte han med sine Folk, at de skulde lægge sig i Baghold paa det og det Sted.
Whenever the king of Syria [prepared to send his army to] fight against Israel, he first consulted his officers, and then told them where they should set up their tents.
9 Men den Guds, Mand sendte Bud til Israels Konge og lod sige: »Vogt dig for at drage forbi det Sted, thi der ligger Aramæerne i Baghold!«
But each time, Elisha would send a message to warn the king of Israel, [telling him where the army of Syria was planning to attack them, ] saying, “Be sure that your army does not go near that place, because the army of Syria has set up their tents there.”
10 Israels Konge sendte da Folk til det Sted, den Guds Mand havde sagt ham. Saaledes mindede han ham om at være paa sin Post der; og det gjorde han ikke een, men flere Gange.
So the king of Israel would send [messengers] to warn [the people who lived in] that place, and the people would remain on guard. That happened several times.
11 Derover blev Arams Konge urolig i sit Sind, og han lod sine Folk kalde og spurgte dem: »Han I ikke sige mig, hvem det er, der forraader os til Israels Konge?«
The king of Syria was very upset/disturbed/angry about that. So he summoned his army officers and said to them, “[Obviously] one of you is (betraying us/revealing our plans) to the king of Israel. Which one of you is doing it?”
12 Da sagde en af hans Hærførere: »Det er ingen af os, Herre Konge; det er Profeten Elisa i Israel, der lader Israels Konge vide, hvad du taler i dit Sovekammer.«
One of his officers answered, “Your Majesty, it is not one of us. Elisha the prophet [knows what we plan to do, and he] tells the king of Israel everything. He even knows what you say in your own bedroom!”
13 Da sagde han: »Gaa hen og se, hvor han er, for at jeg kan sende Folk ud og lade ham gribe!« Da det meldtes ham, at han var i Dotan,
The king of Syria replied, “Go and find out where he is, and I will send [some men there] to capture him.” Someone told him, “People say that he is in Dothan [town north of Samaria].”
14 sendte han Heste og Vogne og en stor Hærstyrke derhen; og de kom ved Nattetide og omringede Byen.
So the king sent a large group of soldiers [to Dothan] with horses and chariots. They arrived at night and surrounded the town.
15 Næste Morgen tidlig, da den Guds Mand gik ud, se, da var Byen omringet af en Hær og Heste og Vogne, Da sagde hans Tjener til ham: »Ak, Herre, hvad skal vi dog gribe til?«
Early the next morning, Elisha’s servant got up and went outside the house. He saw the soldiers of Syria with their horses and chariots surrounding the town. So he went inside [the house and reported it to Elisha] and exclaimed, “O, sir! What are we going to do?”
16 Men han svarede: »Frygt ikke, thi de, der er med os, er flere end de, der er med dem!«
Elisha replied, “Do not be afraid! Those who will be helping us will be more than those who will be helping them!”
17 Og Elisa bad og sagde: »HERRE, luk hans Øjne op, saa han kan se!« Da lukkede HERREN Tjenerens Øjne op, og han saa, at Bjerget var fuldt af Ildheste og Ildvogne rundt om Elisa.
Then he prayed, “Yahweh, I request that you open my servant’s eyes in order that he can see [what is out there]!” So Yahweh enabled the servant to look out and see that surrounding the hill on which the town [was built] was a huge number of horses, and chariots made of fire!
18 Da nu Fjenderne rykkede ned imod ham, bad Elisa til HERREN og sagde: »Slaa de Folk med Blindhed!« Og han slog dem med Blindhed efter Elisas Ord.
When the army of Syria prepared to attack Elisha, he prayed again, saying, “Yahweh, cause all these soldiers to become blind!” Yahweh answered his prayer and caused them to be unable to see clearly.
19 Da sagde Elisa til dem: »Det er ikke den rigtige Vej eller den rigtige By; følg med mig, saa skal jeg føre eder til den Mand, I søger!« Han førte dem saa til Samaria,
Then Elisha went to them and said, “You are not on the right road; this is not the city that you are searching for. I will take you to the man whom you are searching for.” But he led them to Samaria, [the capital of Israel]!
20 og da de var kommet ind i Samaria, bad Elisa: »Herre, luk nu deres Øjne op, saa at de kan se!« Da lukkede HERREN deres Øjne op, og de saa, at de var midt i Samaria.
As soon as they entered Samaria, Elisha prayed again, saying, “Yahweh, now enable these soldiers to see correctly again!” So Yahweh enabled them to see correctly, and they were surprised to see that they were inside Samaria [city].
21 Da Israels Konge saa dem, spurgte han Elisa: »Skal jeg hugge dem ned, min Fader?«
When the king of Israel saw them, he said to Elisha, “Sir, shall I [tell my soldiers to] kill them? Shall we kill all of them?”
22 Men han svarede: »Nej, du maa ikke hugge dem ned! Bruger du at hugge Folk ned, som du ikke har taget til Fange med Sværd eller Bue? Sæt Brød og Vand for dem, at de kan spise og drikke, og lad dem saa vende tilbage til deres Herre!«
Elisha replied, “No, you must not kill them. If your army captured many of your enemies in a battle, you would certainly not [RHQ] kill them. Give these men something to eat and drink, and then allow them to return to their king.”
23 Saa gav han dem et godt Maaltid, og da de havde spist og drukket, lod han dem gaa, og de drog tilbage til deres Herre. Men fra den Tid af kom der ikke flere aramaiske Strejfskarer i Israels Land.
So the king of Israel did that. He told his servants to provide a big feast for them. And when they had eaten and drunk plenty, he sent them away. They returned to the king of Syria [and told him what had happened]. So for a while after that, soldiers from Syria stopped raiding/attacking towns in Israel.
24 Siden hændte det, at Kong Benhadad af Aram samlede hele sin Hær og drog op og belejrede Samaria;
But some time later, Ben-Hadad, the king of Syria, assembled his entire army, and they went to Samaria and surrounded the city [for a long time].
25 og under Belejringen blev der stor Hungersnød i Byen, saa at et Æselhoved til sidst kostede tresindstyve Sekel Sølv og en Fjerdedel Kab Duegødning fem.
Because of that, after a while there was hardly any food left inside the city, with the result that eventually a donkey’s head, [which was usually worthless, ] cost eighty pieces of silver, and (one cup/0.3 liter) of dove’s dung cost five pieces of silver.
26 Da Israels Konge en Dag gik oppe paa Bymuren, raabte en Kvinde til ham: »Hjælp, Herre Konge!«
One day when the king of Israel was walking on top of the city wall, a woman cried out to him, “Your Majesty, help me!”
27 Han svarede: »Hjælper HERREN dig ikke, hvor skal saa jeg skaffe dig Hjælp fra? Fra Tærskepladsen eller Vinpersen?«
He replied, “If Yahweh will not help you, I certainly cannot [RHQ] help you. I certainly [RHQ] do not have any wheat or wine!
28 Og Kongen spurgte hende videre: »Hvad fattes dig?« Da sagde hun: »Den Kvinde der sagde til mig: Kom med din Dreng, saa fortærer vi ham i Dag; i Morgen vil vi saa fortære min Dreng!
What is your problem?” She replied, “Several days ago, that woman [over there] said to me, ‘[Because we have nothing left to eat, ] let’s kill your son today, in order that we can eat his flesh. Then tomorrow we can [kill] my son [and] eat his flesh.’
29 Saa kogte vi min Dreng og fortærede ham. Næste Dag sagde jeg til hende: Kom nu med din Dreng, at vi kan fortære ham! Men hun holdt Drengen skjult.«
So we [killed my son and cut his body up and] boiled his flesh and ate it. The next day, I said to her, ‘Now give your son to me, in order that we can [kill him and cook his flesh and] eat it.’ But she has hidden her son!”
30 Da Kongen hørte Kvindens Ord, sønderrev han sine Klæder, som han stod der paa Muren; og Folket saa da, at han indenunder har Sæk paa den bare Krop.
When the king heard what the woman said, he tore his robe [to show that he was very distressed]. The people who were standing close to the wall were able to see that the king was wearing rough cloth underneath his robe [because he was very distressed].
31 Og han sagde: »Gud ramme mig baade med det ene og det andet, om Elisas, Sjafats Søns, Hoved skal blive siddende mellem Skuldrene paa ham Dagen til Ende!«
The king exclaimed, “I wish/hope that God will strike me dead if I do not cut off the head of Elisha today, [because he is the one who has caused these terrible things to happen to us]!”
32 Elisa sad imidlertid i sit Hus sammen med de Ældste; da sendte Kongen en Mand i Forvejen. Men før Sendebudet kom til ham, sagde han til de Ældste: »Ved I, at denne Mordersjæl har sendt en Mand herhen for at tage mit Hoved? Se, naar Budet kommer, skal I lukke Døren og stemme jer imod den! Allerede hører jeg hans Herres Trin bag ham.«
So the king sent an officer to get Elisha. Before the officer arrived, Elisha was sitting in his house with some Israeli elders who were talking with him. Elisha said to them, “That murderer, [the king of Israel, ] is sending someone here to kill me. Listen: When he arrives, shut the door and do not allow him to come in. And the king will be coming right behind that officer!”
33 Og medens han endnu talte med dem, kom Kongen ned til ham og sagde: »Se, hvilken Ulykke HERREN har bragt over os! Hvorfor skal jeg da bie længer paa HERREN?«
And while he was still speaking, the king and the officer arrived. The king said, “It is Yahweh who has caused us to have all this trouble/suffering. (Why should I wait any longer [RHQ] for him to do something [to help us]?/It is useless for me to wait any longer for him [to help us]!)”
