2 Kings 6
1 And the sons of the prophets said unto Elisha, Behold now, the place where we dwell with thee is too strait for us.
One day a group of prophets said to Elisha, “Look, this place where we meet together with you is very small.
2 Let us go, we pray thee, unto Jordan, and take thence every man a beam, and let us make us a place there, where we may dwell. And he answered, Go ye.
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 And one said, Be content, I pray thee, and go with thy servants. And he answered, I will go.
One of them said to Elisha, “Please come with us.” So Elisha replied, “Okay, I will go with you.”
4 So he went with them. And when they came to Jordan, they cut down wood.
So they went together. When they reached the Jordan [River], they cut down some trees.
5 But as one was felling a beam, the axe head fell into the water: and he cried, and said, Alas, master! for it was borrowed.
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 And the man of God said, Where fell it? And he shewed him the place. And he cut down a stick, and cast it in thither; and the iron did swim.
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 Therefore said he, Take it up to thee. And he put out his hand, and took it.
Elisha said, “Take it out of the water.” So the man reached his hand down and picked up the axe head.
8 Then the king of Syria warred against Israel, and took counsel with his servants, saying, In such and such a place shall be my camp.
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 And the man of God sent unto the king of Israel, saying, Beware that thou pass not such a place; for thither the Syrians are come down.
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 And the king of Israel sent to the place which the man of God told him and warned him of, and saved himself there, not once nor twice.
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 Therefore the heart of the king of Syria was sore troubled for this thing; and he called his servants, and said unto them, Will ye not shew me which of us is for the king of Israel?
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 And one of his servants said, None, my lord, O king: but Elisha, the prophet that is in Israel, telleth the king of Israel the words that thou speakest in thy bedchamber.
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 And he said, Go and spy where he is, that I may send and fetch him. And it was told him, saying, Behold, he is in Dothan.
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 Therefore sent he thither horses, and chariots, and a great army: and they came by night, and compassed the city about.
So the king sent a large group of soldiers [to Dothan] with horses and chariots. They arrived at night and surrounded the town.
15 And when the servant of the man of God was risen early, and gone forth, behold, an army compassed the city both with horses and chariots. And his servant said unto him, Alas, my master! how shall we do?
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 And he answered, Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them.
Elisha replied, “Do not be afraid! Those who will be helping us will be more than those who will be helping them!”
17 And Elisha prayed, and said, Yhwh, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And Yhwh opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha.
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 And when they came down to him, Elisha prayed unto Yhwh, and said, Smite this people, I pray thee, with blindness. And he smote them with blindness according to the word of Elisha.
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 And Elisha said unto them, This is not the way, neither is this the city: follow me, and I will bring you to the man whom ye seek. But he led them to 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 And it came to pass, when they were come into Samaria, that Elisha said, Yhwh, open the eyes of these men, that they may see. And Yhwh opened their eyes, and they saw; and, behold, they were in the midst of 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 And the king of Israel said unto Elisha, when he saw them, My father, shall I smite them? shall I smite them?
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 And he answered, Thou shalt not smite them: wouldest thou smite those whom thou hast taken captive with thy sword and with thy bow? set bread and water before them, that they may eat and drink, and go to their master.
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 And he prepared great provision for them: and when they had eaten and drunk, he sent them away, and they went to their master. So the bands of Syria came no more into the land of Israel.
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 And it came to pass after this, that Ben–hadad king of Syria gathered all his army, and went up, and besieged 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 And there was a great famine in Samaria: and, behold, they besieged it, until a donkey’s head was sold for fourscore pieces of silver, and the fourth part of a cab of dove’s dung for five pieces of silver.
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 And as the king of Israel was passing by upon the wall, there cried a woman unto him, saying, Help, my lord, O king.
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 And he said, If Yhwh do not help thee, whence shall I help thee? out of the barnfloor, or out of the winepress?
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 And the king said unto her, What aileth thee? And she answered, This woman said unto me, Give thy son, that we may eat him to day, and we will eat my son to morrow.
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 So we boiled my son, and did eat him: and I said unto her on the next day, Give thy son, that we may eat him: and she hath hid her son.
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 And it came to pass, when the king heard the words of the woman, that he rent his clothes; and he passed by upon the wall, and the people looked, and, behold, he had sackcloth within upon his flesh.
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 Then he said, God do so and more also to me, if the head of Elisha the son of Shaphat shall stand on him this day.
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 But Elisha sat in his house, and the elders sat with him; and the king sent a man from before him: but ere the messenger came to him, he said to the elders, See ye how this son of a murderer hath sent to take away mine head? look, when the messenger cometh, shut the door, and hold him fast at the door: is not the sound of his master’s feet behind him?
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 And while he yet talked with them, behold, the messenger came down unto him: and he said, Behold, this evil is of Yhwh; what should I wait for Yhwh any longer?
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]!)”
