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;
And the sons of the prophets said unto Elisha, Behold now, the place where we dwell with thee is too strait 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 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.
3 And the one says, “Please be willing, and go with your servants”; and he says, “I go.”
And one said, Be content, I pray thee, and go with thy servants. And he answered, I will go.
4 And he goes with them, and they come to the Jordan, and cut down the trees,
So he went with them. And when they came to Jordan, they cut down wood.
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 was felling a beam, the axe head fell into the water: and he cried, and said, Alas, master! for it was borrowed.
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,
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.
7 and says, “Raise [it] up for yourself”; and he puts forth his hand and takes it.
Therefore said he, Take it up to thee. And he put out his hand, and took it.
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.”
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.
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”;
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.
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.
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.
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?”
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?
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.”
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.
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.”
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.
14 And he sends horses and chariot, and a heavy force there, and they come in by night, and go around against the city.
Therefore sent he thither horses, and chariots, and a great army: and they came by night, and compassed the city about.
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?”
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?
16 And he says, “Do not fear, for more [are] they who [are] with us than they who [are] with them.”
And he answered, Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
21 And the king of Israel says to Elisha at his seeing them, “My father, do I strike, do I strike?”
And the king of Israel said unto Elisha, when he saw them, My father, shall I smite them? shall I smite 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.”
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.
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.
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.
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,
And it came to pass after this, that Ben–hadad king of Syria gathered all his army, and went up, and besieged 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.
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.
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.”
And as the king of Israel was passing by upon the wall, there cried a woman unto him, saying, Help, my lord, O 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?”
And he said, If Yhwh do not help thee, whence shall I help thee? out of the barnfloor, or out of 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;
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.
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 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.
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.
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.
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.”
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.
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?”
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?
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?”
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?
