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 said to Elisha, “The place where we live with you is too small for us all.
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.”
Please let us go to the Jordan, and let every man cut down a tree there, and let us build us a place there where we may live.” Elisha answered, “You may go ahead.”
3 And the one says, “Please be willing, and go with your servants”; and he says, “I go.”
One of them said, “Please go with your servants.” Elisha 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 the Jordan, they began to cut 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 was chopping, the ax head fell into the water; he cried out and said, “Oh no, my master, 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,
So the man of God said, “Where did it fall?” The man showed Elisha the place. He then cut off a stick, threw it in the water, and made the iron float.
7 and says, “Raise [it] up for yourself”; and he puts forth his hand and takes it.
Elisha said, “Pick it up.” So the man reached out his hand and grabbed 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.”
Now the king of Aram was waging war against Israel. He consulted with his servants, saying, “My camp will be in such and such a 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”;
So the man of God sent to the king of Israel, saying, “Be careful not to pass that place, for the Arameans are going down 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.
The king of Israel sent a message to the place about which the man of God had spoken and warned him. More than once or twice, when the king went there, he was on his guard.
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?”
The king of Aram was enraged about these warnings, and he called his servants and said to them, “Will you not tell me who among 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.”
So one of his servants said, “No, my master, king, for Elisha the prophet in Israel tells the king of Israel the words that you speak in your own 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.”
The king replied, “Go and see where Elisha is so I may send men and capture him.” It was told him, “See, 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.
So the king sent to Dothan horses, chariots, and a large army. They came by night and surrounded the city.
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?”
When the servant of the man of God had risen early and gone outside, behold, a large army with horses and chariots surrounded the city. His servant said to him, “Oh, my master! What will we do?”
16 And he says, “Do not fear, for more [are] they who [are] with us than they who [are] with them.”
Elisha answered, “Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who 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 and said, “Yahweh, I beg that you will open his eyes that he may see.” Then Yahweh opened the servant's eyes, and he saw. Behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire 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.
When the Arameans came down to him, Elisha prayed to Yahweh and said, “Strike these people blind, I ask you.” So Yahweh made them blind, just 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 told the Arameans, “This is not the way, neither is this the city. Follow me, and I will bring you to the man whom you are looking for.” Then 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!
It came about that when they had come into Samaria, Elisha said, “Yahweh, open the eyes of these men that they may see.” Yahweh opened their eyes and they saw, and behold, they were in the middle of the city of Samaria.
21 And the king of Israel says to Elisha at his seeing them, “My father, do I strike, do I strike?”
The king of Israel said to Elisha, when he saw them, “My father, should I kill them? Should 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.”
Elisha answered, “You must not kill them. Would you kill those whom you had taken captive with your sword and bow? Put 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.
So the king prepared much food for them, and when they had eaten and drunk, he sent them away, and they went back to their master. Those bands of Aramean soldiers did not return for a long time 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,
Later after this Ben Hadad king of Aram gathered all his army and attacked Samaria and besieged it.
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 great famine in Samaria. Behold, they besieged it until a donkey's head was sold for eighty pieces of silver, and the fourth part of a kab 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.”
As the king of Israel was passing by on the wall, a woman cried to him, saying, “Help, my master, 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?”
He said, “If Yahweh does not help you, how can I help you? Is there anything coming from the threshing floor or 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;
The king continued, “What is troubling you?” She answered, “This woman said to me, 'Give your son so that we may eat him today, and we will eat my son tomorrow.'”
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 ate him, and I said to her on the next day, “Give your son that we may eat him, but she has 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.
So when the king heard the words of the woman, he tore his clothes (now he was passing by on the wall), and the people looked and saw that he had sackcloth underneath, against 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.”
Then he said, “May God do so to me, and more also, if the head of Elisha son of Shaphat remains on him today.”
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 was sitting in his house, and the elders were sitting with him. The king sent a man from before him, but when the messenger came to Elisha, he said to the elders, “See how this son of a murderer has sent to take away my head? Look, when the messenger comes, shut the door, and hold the door shut against him. 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?”
While he was still talking with them, behold, the messenger came down to him. The king had said, “Behold, this trouble comes from Yahweh. Why should I wait for Yahweh any longer?”
