2 Kings 6
1 One day a group of prophets said to Elisha, “Look, this place where we meet together with you is very small.
| وَقَالَ بَنُو الأَنْبِيَاءِ لأَلِيشَعَ: «ضَاقَ بِنَا الْمَكَانُ الَّذِي نَحْنُ مَاكِثُونَ فِيهِ للاجْتِمَاعِ بِكَ. | ١ |
2 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.”
| فَاسْمَحْ لَنَا أَنْ نَذْهَبَ إِلَى الأُرْدُنِّ فَيَقْطَعَ كُلٌّ مِنَّا بَعْضَ الأَخْشَابِ لِنَبْنِيَ مَكَاناً أَرْحَبَ نُقِيمُ فِيهِ». فَقَالَ: «اذْهَبُوا». | ٢ |
3 One of them said to Elisha, “Please come with us.” So Elisha replied, “Okay, I will go with you.”
| وَقَالَ لَهُ أَحَدُهُمْ: «أَلا تَتَكَرَّمُ بِالذِّهَابِ مَعَ عَبِيدِكَ؟» فَقَبِلَ. | ٣ |
4 So they went together. When they reached the Jordan [River], they cut down some trees.
| وَمَضَى مَعَهُمْ. وَعِنْدَمَا وَصَلُوا إِلَى نَهْرِ الأُردُنِّ شَرَعُوا فِي قَطْعِ الْخَشَبِ. | ٤ |
5 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!”
| وَفِيمَا كَانَ أَحَدُهُمْ يَقْطَعُ خَشَبَةً سَقَطَ رَأْسُ فَأْسِهِ الْحَدِيدِيُّ فِي الْمَاءِ، فَاسْتَغَاثَ بِأَلِيشَعَ قَائِلاً: «آهِ يَا سَيِّدِي، إنِّي اسْتَعَرْتُهُ». | ٥ |
6 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].
| فَسَأَلَهُ رَجُلُ اللهِ: «أَيْنَ سَقَطَ؟» فَأَشَارَ إِلَى الْمَوْضِعِ. فَقَطَعَ أَلِيشَعُ عُودَ حَطَبٍ أَلْقَاهُ فِي الْمَاءِ فَطَفَا رَأْسُ الْفَأْسِ، فَقَالَ: «الْتَقِطْهُ». | ٦ |
7 Elisha said, “Take it out of the water.” So the man reached his hand down and picked up the axe head.
| فَمَدَّ الرَّجُلُ يَدَهُ وَالْتَقَطَهُ. | ٧ |
8 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.
| وَحَارَبَ مَلِكُ أَرَامَ إِسْرَائِيلَ. وَبَعْدَ التَّدَاوُلِ مَعَ ضُبَّاطِهِ قَالَ: «سَأُعَسْكِرُ فِي مَوْضِعِ كَذَا (لأَتَرَبَّصَ بِمَلِكِ إِسْرَائِيلَ)». | ٨ |
9 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.”
| فَبَعَثَ رَجُلُ اللهِ إِلَى مَلِكِ إِسْرَائِيلَ قَائِلاً: «احْذَرْ الاجْتِيَازَ فِي مَوْضِعِ كَذَا، لأَنَّ الأَرَامِيِّينَ مُتَرَبِّصُونَ بِكَ فِيهِ». | ٩ |
10 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.
| فَأَرْسَلَ مَلِكُ إِسْرَائِيلَ مُرَاقِبِيهِ إِلَى الْمَوْضِعِ الَّذِي أَخْبَرَهُ عَنْهُ رَجُلُ اللهِ وَحَذَّرَهُ مِنْهُ، فَتَأَكَّدَ مِنْ صِحَّةِ النَّبَأِ. وَتَكَرَّرَتْ تَحْذِيرَاتُ أَلِيشَعَ لِلْمَلِكِ مَرَّاتٍ عَدِيدَةً، فَكَانَ الْمَلِكُ يَتَحَفَّظُ دَائِماً لِنَفْسِهِ. | ١٠ |
11 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?”
| فَانْزَعَجَ مَلِكُ أَرَامَ مِنْ هَذَا الأَمْرِ، وَجَمَعَ ضُبَّاطَهُ وَسَأَلَهُمْ: «أَلا تُخْبِرُونَنِي مَنْ مِنْكُمْ مُتَآمِرٌ مَعَ مَلِكِ إِسْرَائِيلَ؟» | ١١ |
12 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!”
| فَأَجَابَهُ وَاحِدٌ مِنْ ضُبَّاطِهِ: «لا يُوْجَدُ مَنْ يَتَآمَرُ عَلَيْكَ يَا سَيِّدِي الْمَلِكَ، وَلَكِنَّ النَّبِيَّ أَلِيشَعَ الْمُقِيمَ فِي إِسْرَائِيلَ يُبَلِّغُ مَلِكَ إِسْرَائِيلَ حَتَّى بِالأُمُورِ الَّتِي تَهْمِسُ بِها فِي مُخْدَعِ نَوْمِكَ». | ١٢ |
13 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].”
| فَقَالَ: «اذْهَبُوا وَابْحَثُوا لِي عَنْ مَكَانِ إِقَامَتِهِ، فَأُرْسِلَ مَنْ يَعْتَقِلُهُ». فَقِيلَ لَهُ إِنَّهُ فِي دُوثَانَ. | ١٣ |
14 So the king sent a large group of soldiers [to Dothan] with horses and chariots. They arrived at night and surrounded the town.
| فَوَجَّهَ مَلِكُ أَرَامَ إِلَى هُنَاكَ جَيْشاً كَبِيراً مُجَهَّزاً بِخُيُولٍ وَمَرْكَبَاتٍ، وَحَاصَرَ الْمَدِينَةَ لَيْلاً. | ١٤ |
15 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?”
| فَنَهَضَ خَادِمُ رَجُلِ اللهِ مُبَكِّراً وَخَرَجَ، وَإذَا بِهِ يَجِدُ جَيْشاً مُجَهَّزاً بِخُيُولٍ وَمَرْكَبَاتٍ يُحَاصِرُ الْمَدِينَةَ. فَقَالَ الْخَادِمُ: «آهِ يَا سَيِّدِي، مَا الْعَمَلُ؟» | ١٥ |
16 Elisha replied, “Do not be afraid! Those who will be helping us will be more than those who will be helping them!”
| فَأَجَابَهُ أَلِيشَعُ: «لا تَخَفْ لأَنَّ الَّذِينَ مَعَنَا أَكْثَرُ مِنَ الَّذِينَ مَعَهُمْ». | ١٦ |
17 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!
| وَتَضَرَّعَ أَلِيشَعُ قَائِلاً: «يَا رَبُّ، افْتَحْ عَيْنَيْهِ فَيُبْصِرَ». فَفَتَحَ الرَّبُّ عَيْنَيِ الْخَادِمِ، وَإذَا بِهِ يُشَاهِدُ الْجَبَلَ يَكْتَظُّ بِخَيْلٍ وَمَرْكَبَاتِ نَارٍ تُحِيطُ بِأَلِيشَعَ. | ١٧ |
18 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.
| وَعِنْدَمَا تَقَدَّمَ جَيْشُ أَرَامَ نَحْوَ أَلِيشَعَ صَلَّى إِلَى الرَّبِّ قَائِلاً: «أَصِبْ هَذَا الْجَيْشَ بِالْعَمَى». فَضَرَبَهُمُ الرَّبُّ بِالْعَمَى اسْتِجَابَةً لِدُعَاءِ أَلِيشَعَ. | ١٨ |
19 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]!
| عِنْدَئِذٍ قَالَ لَهُمْ أَلِيشَعُ: «لَقَدْ ضَلَلْتُمْ طَرِيقَكُمْ فَأَخْطَأْتُمْ مُحَاصَرَةَ الْمَدِينَةِ الْمَطْلُوبَةِ. اتْبَعُونِي فَأُرْشِدَكُمْ إِلَى الرَّجُلِ الَّذِي تَبْحَثُونَ عَنْهُ». فَقَادَهُمْ إِلَى السَّامِرَةِ. | ١٩ |
20 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].
| فَلَمَّا أَصْبَحُوا دَاخِلَ السَّامِرَةِ صَلَّى أَلِيشَعُ قَائِلاً: «يَا رَبُّ افْتَحْ عُيُونَهُمْ فَيُبْصِرُوا». فَفَتَحَ الرَّبُّ عُيُونَهُمْ، وَإذَا بِهِمْ يَجِدُونَ أَنْفُسَهُمْ فِي وَسَطِ السَّامِرَةِ! | ٢٠ |
21 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?”
| وَعِنْدَمَا شَاهَدَهُمْ مَلِكُ إِسْرَائِيلَ سَأَلَ أَلِيشَعَ: «هَلْ أَقْتُلُهُمْ، هَلْ أَقْتُلُهُمْ يَا أَبِي؟» | ٢١ |
22 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.”
| فَأَجَابَهُ: «لا تَقْتُلْ أَحَداً. إِنَّمَا اقْتُلِ الَّذِينَ تَسْبِيهِمْ بِسَيْفِكَ وَقَوْسِكَ. أَمَّا هَؤُلاءِ فَقَدِّمْ لَهُمْ طَعَاماً وَمَاءً فَيَأْكُلُوا وَيَشْرَبُوا ثُمَّ يَنْطَلِقُوا إِلَى سَيِّدِهِمْ». | ٢٢ |
23 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.
| فَأَقَامَ لَهُمُ الْمَلِكُ مَأْدُبَةً عَظِيمَةً، فَأَكَلُوا وَشَرِبُوا، ثُمَّ أَطْلَقَهُمْ، فَرَجَعُوا إِلَى سَيِّدِهِمْ. وَتَوَقَّفَتْ جُيُوشُ أَرَامَ عَنْ غَزْوِ أَرْضِ إِسْرَائِيلَ فَتْرَةً. | ٢٣ |
24 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].
| وَحَشَدَ بَنْهَدَدُ مَلِكُ أَرَامَ، بَعْدَ زَمَنٍ، كُلَّ جَيْشِهِ وَحَاصَرَ السَّامِرَةَ. | ٢٤ |
25 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.
| وَإِذْ طَالَ الْحِصَارُ، عَمَّتِ الْمَجَاعَةُ السَّامِرَةَ حَتَّى صَارَ رَأْسُ الْحِمَارِ يُبَاعُ بِثَمَانِينَ قِطْعَةً مِنْ الْفِضَّةِ، وَأُوقِيَةُ زِبْلِ الْحَمَامِ بِخَمْسِ قِطَعٍ مِنَ الْفِضَّةِ. | ٢٥ |
26 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!”
| وَفِيمَا كَانَ مَلِكُ إِسْرَائِيلَ يَتَفَقَّدُ سُورَ الْمَدِينَةِ اسْتَغَاثَتْ بِهِ امْرَأَةٌ قَائِلَةً: «أَغِثْ يَا سَيِّدِي الْمَلِكَ». | ٢٦ |
27 He replied, “If Yahweh will not help you, I certainly cannot [RHQ] help you. I certainly [RHQ] do not have any wheat or wine!
| فَقَالَ لَهَا: «إِنْ لَمْ يُغِثْكِ الرَّبُّ، فَمِنْ أَيْنَ يُمْكِنُنِي أَنْ أَحْصُلَ لَكِ عَلَى الْغَوْثِ؟ أَمِنْ قَمْحِ الْبَيْدَرِ أَمْ مِنْ نَبِيذِ الْمِعْصَرَةِ؟» | ٢٧ |
28 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.’
| ثُمَّ سَأَلَهَا الْمَلِكُ: «مَالَكِ؟» فَأَجَابَتْ: «لَقَدْ قَالَتْ لِي هَذِهِ الْمرْأَةُ، هَاتِي ابْنَكِ فَنَأْكُلَهُ الْيَوْمَ، ثُمَّ نَأْكُلَ ابْنِي فِي الْيَوْمِ التَّالِي. | ٢٨ |
29 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!”
| فَسَلَقْنَا ابْنِي وَأَكَلْنَاهُ. وَعِنْدَمَا قُلْتُ لَهَا فِي الْيَوْمِ التَّالِي: هَاتِي ابْنَكِ لِنَأْكُلَهُ، خَبَّأَتِ ابْنَهَا». | ٢٩ |
30 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].
| فَلَمَّا سَمِعَ الْمَلِكُ حَدِيثَ الْمَرْأَةِ مَزَّقَ ثِيَابَهُ وَهُوَ يَتَفَقَّدُ السُّورَ، فَرَأَى الْمُحِيطُونَ بِهِ أَنَّهُ كَانَ يَرْتَدِي مُسُوحاً فَوْقَ جَسَدِهِ. | ٣٠ |
31 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]!”
| وَقَالَ: «لِيُعَاقِبْنِي الرَّبُّ أَشَدَّ عِقَابٍ وَيَزِدْ، إِنْ لَمْ أَقْطَعْ رَأْسَ أَلِيشَعَ بْنِ شَافَاطَ الْيَوْمَ». | ٣١ |
32 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!”
| وَكَانَ أَلِيشَعُ آنَئِذٍ مُجْتَمِعاً فِي بَيْتِهِ مَعَ شُيُوخِ إِسْرَائِيلَ، فَوَجَّهَ الْمَلِكُ رَسُولاً إِلَيْهِ يَتَقَدَّمُهُ. وَقَبْلَ أَنْ يَصِلَ الرَّسُولُ قَالَ أَلِيشَعُ لِلشُّيُوخِ: «أَرَأَيْتُمْ كَيْفَ أَنَّ هَذَا الْقَاتِلَ قَدْ أَرْسَلَ رَسُولاً لِيَقْطَعَ رَأْسِي؟ فَحَالَمَا يَأْتِي الرَّسُولُ أَغْلِقُوا الْبَابَ وَاتْرُكُوهُ مُوْصَداً فِي وَجْهِهِ. فَإِنَّ وَقْعَ خَطْوَاتِ سَيِّدِهِ يَتَجَاوَبُ وَرَاءَهُ» | ٣٢ |
33 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]!)”
| وَبَيْنَمَا هُوَ يُخَاطِبُهُمْ أَقْبَلَ الرَّسُولُ إِلَيْهِ، وَتَبِعَهُ الْمَلِكُ الَّذِي قَالَ: «إِنَّ هَذَا الشَّرَّ قَدْ حَلَّ بِنَا مِنْ عِنْدِ الرَّبِّ، فَأَيَّ شَيْءٍ أَتَوَقَّعُ مِنَ الرَّبِّ بَعْدُ؟» | ٣٣ |
