2 Kings 6
1 And the sons of the prophets said unto Elisha, —See, we pray thee, the place wherein we sit before 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, as far as the Jordan, and fetch from thence every man a single beam, and let us make us a place wherein we may sit. And he said—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 Then said one—Be content, we pray thee, and go with thy servants. And he said—I myself, 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 the Jordan, they cut down wood.
So they went together. When they reached the Jordan [River], they cut down some trees.
5 And it came to pass, as one was felling a branch, that, the axe-head, fell into the water, so he made outcry and said—Alas! my lord, 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 piece of wood 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 And he said—Take it up to thee. So he put forth 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 Now, the king of Syria, was making war against Israel, —so he took counsel with his servants, saying—In such and such a place, shall be my encampment.
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 The man of God, therefore, sent unto the king of Israel, saying—Beware of passing by this place, —for, thither, are the Syrians coming 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 So the king of Israel sent unto the place whereof the man of God had spoken to him and warned him, and was on his guard 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 Then was the heart of the king of Syria disquieted concerning this thing, —and he called his servants, and said unto them, Will ye not tell me, who of our men are 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 Then said one of his servants, None, my lord O king, —but, Elisha, the prophet, who is in Israel, telleth the king of Israel the words which thou speakest in thy bed-chamber.
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 see where he is, that I may send and take him. And it was told him, saying—Lo! 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 strong force, —and they came in by night, and encompassed the city.
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 attendant of the man of God arose early and went forth, lo! a force surrounding the city, with horses and chariots. Then said his young man unto him—Alas! my lord, what 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 said—Do not fear, —for, more, are, they who are with us, than, they who are 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 Then prayed Elisha, and said, O Yahweh! open, I beseech thee, his eyes, that he may see. And Yahweh opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw, and lo! 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 Yahweh, and said—Smite, I beseech thee, this people, with sudden blindness. And he smote them with sudden 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 Then Elisha said unto them—This, is not the way, neither is, this, the city, follow me, that I may lead you unto the man, whom ye would secure! So 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 had entered Samaria, that Elisha said, O Yahweh! open the eyes of these men, that they may see! And Yahweh opened their eyes, and they saw, and lo! 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 Then said the king of Israel unto Elisha, when he saw them, —Shall I smite—shall I smite, my father?
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 said—Thou shalt not smite. Them whom thou hadst taken captive with thy sword and with thy bow, wouldst, thou, have been smiting? Set bread and water before them, that they may eat and drink, and go their way unto their lord.
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 made for them a great feast, and, when they had eaten and drunk, he let them go, and they went their way unto their lord. So then, troops of Syrians came again, 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 But it came to pass, after this, that Ben-hadad king of Syria gathered together all his host, —and came up and laid siege against 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 came to be, a great famine, in Samaria, and lo! they continued the siege against it, —until an ass’s head was sold for eighty pieces of silver, and one pint 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 so it was that, as the king of Israel was passing by on the wall, a woman, made outcry unto him, saying—Save, 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 Yahweh do not save thee, whence should I save thee? out of the threshing-floor or out of the wine-press?
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 to her—What aileth thee? And she said—This woman, said unto me—Give thy son, that we may eat him, to-day, and, my son, will we eat 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 cooked my son, and did eat him, —and I said unto her, on the next day, Give thy son, that we may eat him; But she had 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, while yet he was passing by upon the wall, —so the people looked, and lo! sackcloth upon his flesh, within.
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 And he said—So, let God do to me, and, so, let him add, —if the head of Elisha son of Shaphat remain on him, to-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 Now, Elisha, being seated in his house, and, the elders, seated with him, —when he had sent a man from before him, ere yet the messenger could come in unto him, he himself, said unto the elders—Do ye see how this son of a murderer hath sent to take away my head? See! when the messenger is coming in, close ye the door, and press him back with the door, is not the sound of his lord’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 While yet he was speaking with them, lo! the messenger, coming down unto him, —and he said, —Lo! this, is a calamity from Yahweh, why should I wait for Yahweh, 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]!)”
