2 Kings 6
1 And sons of the prophet say to Elisha, “Now behold, the place where we are dwelling before you is too narrow for us;
The sons of the prophets told Elisha, “Look, the place we meet with you is too small for us.
2 please let us go to the Jordan, and we each take one beam from there, and we make a place there for ourselves to dwell there”; and he says, “Go.”
Let's go to the Jordan and each of us can carry one log back. We can build a new place there for us to meet.” “Go ahead,” said Elisha.
3 And the one says, “Please be willing, and go with your servants”; and he says, “I go.”
One of them asked, “Please come with your servants.” “I'll come,” he replied.
4 And he goes with them, and they come to the Jordan, and cut down the trees,
So he went with them. When they got to the Jordan, they started cutting down trees.
5 and it comes to pass, the one is felling the beam, and the iron [ax head] has fallen into the water, and he cries and says, “Aah! My lord, for it was borrowed!”
But as one of them was cutting down a tree, the iron axhead fell into the water. “Oh no! My master, it was one that was borrowed!” he shouted.
6 And the man of God says, “To where has it fallen?” And he shows him the place, and he cuts a stick, and casts [it] there, and causes the iron to swim,
“Where did it fall?” the man of God asked. When he showed him the place, the man of God cut a stick, threw it in there, and made the iron axhead float.
7 and says, “Raise [it] up for yourself”; and he puts forth his hand and takes it.
“Pick it up,” Elisha told the man. So he reached out his hand and picked it up.
8 And the king of Aram has been fighting against Israel, and takes counsel with his servants, saying, “At such and such a place [is] my encamping.”
The Aramean king was at war with Israel. After consulting with his officers, he said, “I will set up my camp in this particular place.”
9 And the man of God sends to the king of Israel, saying, “Take heed of passing by this place, for the Arameans are coming down there”;
Then the man of God sent a warning to the king of Israel: “Watch out if you go near this place, because the Arameans are going to be there.”
10 and the king of Israel sends to the place of which the man of God spoke to him, and warned him, and he is preserved there not [just] once and not [just] twice.
So the king of Israel sent a warning to the place the man of God had indicated. Elisha repeatedly warned the king, so that he was on the alert in those places.
11 And the heart of the king of Aram is tossed about concerning this thing, and he calls to his servants and says to them, “Do you not declare to me who of us [is] for the king of Israel?”
This made the Aramean king really mad. He summoned his officers, demanding an answer: “Tell me, which of us is on the side of the king of Israel?”
12 And one of his servants says, “No, my lord, O king, for Elisha the prophet, who [is] in Israel, declares to the king of Israel the words that you speak in the inner part of your bed-chamber.”
“It's none of us, my lord the king,” one of his officers replied. “It's Elisha, the prophet who lives in Israel—he tells the king of Israel even what you say in your bedroom.”
13 And he says, “Go and see where he [is], and I send and take him”; and it is declared to him, saying, “Behold—in Dothan.”
So the king gave the order, “Go and find out where he is so I can send soldiers to capture him.” He was told, “Elisha is in Dothan.”
14 And he sends horses and chariot, and a heavy force there, and they come in by night, and go around against the city.
So he sent horses, chariots, and a large army. They came at night and surrounded the town.
15 And the servant of the man of God rises early, and goes out, and behold, a force is surrounding the city, and horse and chariot, and his young man says to him, “Aah! My lord, how do we do?”
Early in the morning when the servant of the man of God got up, he went out and saw that an army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city. “Oh, my master, what are we going to do?” he asked Elisha.
16 And he says, “Do not fear, for more [are] they who [are] with us than they who [are] with them.”
Elisha replied, “Don't be afraid, for there are many more who are with us than there are with them!”
17 And Elisha prays and says, “YHWH, please open his eyes, and he sees”; and YHWH opens the eyes of the young man, and he sees, and behold, the hill is full of horses and chariots of fire around Elisha.
Elisha prayed, saying, “Lord, please open his eyes so he can see.” The Lord opened the servant's eyes, and when he looked he saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.
18 And they come down to it, and Elisha prays to YHWH and says, “Please strike this nation with blindness”; and He strikes them with blindness, according to the word of Elisha.
As the army descended on him, Elisha prayed to the Lord, “Please strike these people with blindness.” So he struck them with blindness, as Elisha had asked.
19 And Elisha says to them, “This [is] not the way, nor [is] this the city; come after me, and I lead you to the man whom you seek”; and he leads them to Samaria.
Then Elisha went and told them, “This isn't the right road, and this isn't the right town. Follow me, and I'll take you to the man you're looking for.” He led them to Samaria.
20 And it comes to pass, at their coming to Samaria, that Elisha says, “YHWH, open the eyes of these, and they see”; and YHWH opens their eyes, and they see, and behold, [they are] in the midst of Samaria!
After they had entered Samaria, Elisha prayed, “Lord, open the eyes of these men that they can see.” The Lord opened their eyes, and they looked around and saw that they were in Samaria.
21 And the king of Israel says to Elisha at his seeing them, “My father, do I strike, do I strike?”
When the king of Israel saw them, he asked Elisha, “My father, shall I kill them? Shall I kill them?”
22 And he says, “You do not strike; are you striking those whom you have taken captive with your sword and with your bow? Set bread and water before them, and they eat, and drink, and go to their lord.”
“No, don't you kill them!” he replied. “Would you kill prisoners you captured with your own sword or bow? Give them some food and water so that they may eat and drink, and then let them go back to their master.”
23 And he prepares great provision for them, and they eat and drink, and he sends them away, and they go to their lord: and troops of Aram have not added to come into the land of Israel anymore.
So the king had a great feast prepared for them, and once they had finished eating and drinking, he sent them back to their master. The Aramean raiders did not enter the land of Israel again.
24 And it comes to pass afterward, that Ben-Hadad king of Aram gathers all his camp, and goes up, and lays siege to Samaria,
Sometime after this Ben-hadad king of Aram called up all his army and went to lay siege to Samaria.
25 and there is a great famine in Samaria, and behold, they are laying siege to it, until the head of a donkey is at eighty pieces of silver, and a forth of the cab of dove’s dung at five pieces of silver.
So there was a major famine in Samaria. In fact the siege lasted so long that a donkey's head cost eighty shekels of silver, and a quarter cab of dove's dung cost five shekels of silver.
26 And it comes to pass, the king of Israel is passing by on the wall, and a woman has cried to him, saying, “Save, my lord, O king.”
As the king of Israel was walking by on the city wall, a woman called out to him, “Help me, my lord the king!”
27 And he says, “YHWH does not save you—from where do I save you? Out of the threshing-floor or out of the wine-vat?”
“If the Lord doesn't help you, why would you think I can help you?” the king replied. “I don't have grain from the threshing floor, or wine from the winepress.”
28 And the king says to her, “What is [troubling] you?” And she says, “This woman said to me, Give your son, and we eat him today, and we eat my son tomorrow;
But then he asked her, “What's the problem?” “This woman told me, ‘Give up your son and we'll eat him today, and tomorrow we'll eat my son,’” she answered.
29 and we boil my son and eat him, and I say to her on the next day, Give your son, and we eat him; and she hides her son.”
“So we cooked my son and we ate him. The next day I said to her, ‘Give up your son so we can eat him,’ but she's hidden her son.”
30 And it comes to pass, at the king’s hearing the words of the woman, that he tears his garments, and he is passing by on the wall, and the people see, and behold, the sackcloth [is] within on his flesh.
When the king heard what the woman said he ripped his clothes. As he walked by on the wall, the people saw that he was wearing sackcloth under his clothes next to his skin.
31 And he says, “Thus God does to me and thus He adds, if the head of Elisha son of Shaphat remains on him this day.”
“May God punish me very severely if the head of Elisha, son of Shaphat, remains on his shoulders today!” he declared.
32 And Elisha is sitting in his house, and the elderly are sitting with him, and [the king] sends a man from before him; before the messenger comes to him, even he himself said to the elderly, “Have you seen that this son of the murderer has sent [him] to turn aside my head? See, at the coming in of the messenger, shut the door, and you have held him fast at the door, is not the sound of the feet of his lord behind him?”
Elisha was sitting in his house with the elders. The king had sent a messenger on ahead, but before he got there, Elisha told the elders, “Can you see how this murderer is sending someone to cut off my head? So, as soon as the messenger arrives, close the door and hold it shut against him. Isn't that the sound of his master's footsteps following him?”
33 He is yet speaking with them, and behold, the messenger is coming down to him, and he says, “Behold, this [is] the calamity from YHWH; why do I wait for YHWH anymore?”
While Elisha was still speaking with them, the messenger arrived. The king said, “This disaster is from the Lord. Why should I wait for the Lord any longer?”
