< Ii Regum 6 >

1 Dixerunt autem filii prophetarum ad Eliseum: Ecce locus, in quo habitamus coram te, angustus est nobis.
Now the sons of the prophets said to Elisha, “Please take note that the place where we meet with you is too small for us.
2 Eamus usque ad Iordanem, et tollant singuli de silva materias singulas, ut ædificemus nobis ibi locum ad habitandum. Qui dixit: Ite.
Please let us go to the Jordan, where each of us can get a log so we can build ourselves a place to live there.” “Go,” said Elisha.
3 Et ait unus ex illis: Veni ergo et tu cum servis tuis. Respondit: Ego veniam.
Then one of them said, “Please come with your servants.” “I will come,” he replied.
4 Et abiit cum eis. Cumque venissent ad Iordanem, cædebant ligna.
So Elisha went with them, and when they came to the Jordan, they began to cut down some trees.
5 Accidit autem, ut cum unus materiam succidisset, caderet ferrum securis in aquam: exclamavitque ille, et ait: Heu heu heu domine mi, et hoc ipsum mutuo acceperam.
As one of them was cutting down a tree, the iron axe head fell into the water. “Oh, my master,” he cried out, “it was borrowed!”
6 Dixit autem homo Dei: Ubi cecidit? At ille monstravit ei locum. præcidit ergo lignum, et misit illuc: natavitque ferrum,
“Where did it fall?” asked the man of God. And when he showed him the place, the man of God cut a stick, threw it there, and made the iron float.
7 et ait: Tolle. Qui extendit manum, et tulit illud.
“Lift it out,” he said, and the man reached out his hand and took it.
8 Rex autem Syriæ pugnabat contra Israel, consiliumque iniit cum servis suis, dicens: In loco illo, et illo ponamus insidias.
Now the king of Aram was at war against Israel. After consulting with his servants, he said, “My camp will be in such and such a place.”
9 Misit itaque vir Dei ad regem Israel, dicens: Cave ne transeas in locum illum: quia ibi Syri in insidiis sunt.
Then the man of God sent word to the king of Israel: “Be careful passing by this place, for the Arameans are going down there.”
10 Misit itaque rex Israel ad locum, quem dixerat ei vir Dei, et præoccupavit eum, et observavit se ibi non semel neque bis.
So the king of Israel sent word to the place the man of God had pointed out. Time and again Elisha warned the king, so that he was on his guard in such places.
11 Conturbatumque est cor regis Syriæ pro hac re: et convocatis servis suis, ait: Quare non indicatis mihi quis proditor mei sit apud regem Israel?
For this reason the king of Aram became enraged and called his servants to demand of them, “Tell me, which one of us is on the side of the king of Israel?”
12 Dixitque unus servorum eius: Nequaquam domine mi rex, sed Eliseus propheta, qui est in Israel, indicat regi Israel omnia verba quæcumque locutus fueris in conclavi tuo.
But one of his servants replied, “No one, my lord the king. For Elisha, the prophet in Israel, tells the king of Israel the very words you speak in your bedroom.”
13 Dixitque eis: Ite, et videte ubi sit: ut mittam, et capiam eum. Annunciaveruntque ei, dicentes: Ecce in Dothan.
So the king said, “Go and see where he is, that I may send men to capture him.” On receiving the report, “Elisha is in Dothan,”
14 Misit ergo illuc equos et currus, et robur exercitus: qui cum venissent nocte, circumdederunt civitatem.
the king of Aram sent horses, chariots, and a great army. They went there by night and surrounded the city.
15 Consurgens autem diluculo minister viri Dei, egressus, vidit exercitum in circuitu civitatis, et equos et currus: nunciavitque ei, dicens: Heu heu heu domine mi, quid faciemus?
When the servant of the man of God got up and went out early in the morning, an army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city. So he asked Elisha, “Oh, my master, what are we to do?”
16 At ille respondit: Noli timere: plures enim nobiscum sunt, quam cum illis.
“Do not be afraid,” Elisha answered, “for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.”
17 Cumque orasset Eliseus, ait: Domine, aperi oculos huius, ut videat. Et aperuit Dominus oculos pueri, et vidit: et ecce mons plenus equorum, et curruum igneorum, in circuitu Elisei.
Then Elisha prayed, “O LORD, please open his eyes that he may see.” And the LORD opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw that the hills were full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.
18 Hostes vero descenderunt ad eum: porro Eliseus oravit ad Dominum, dicens: Percute, obsecro, gentem hanc cæcitate. Percussitque eos Dominus, ne viderent, iuxta verbum Elisei.
As the Arameans came down against him, Elisha prayed to the LORD, “Please strike these people with blindness.” So He struck them with blindness, according to the word of Elisha.
19 Dixit autem ad eos Eliseus: Non est hæc via, neque ista est civitas: sequimini me, et ostendam vobis virum, quem quæritis. Duxit ergo eos in Samariam:
And Elisha told them, “This is not the way, and this is not the city. Follow me, and I will take you to the man you are seeking.” And he led them to Samaria.
20 cumque ingressi fuissent in Samariam, dixit Eliseus: Domine aperi oculos istorum, ut videant. Aperuitque Dominus oculos eorum, et viderunt se esse in medio Samariæ.
When they had entered Samaria, Elisha said, “O LORD, open the eyes of these men that they may see.” Then the LORD opened their eyes, and they looked around and discovered that they were in Samaria.
21 Dixitque rex Israel ad Eliseum, cum vidisset eos: Numquid percutiam eos, pater mi?
And when the king of Israel saw them, he asked Elisha, “My father, shall I kill them? Shall I kill them?”
22 At ille ait: Non percuties: neque enim cepisti eos gladio, et arcu tuo, ut percutias: sed pone panem, et aquam coram eis, ut comedant, et bibant, et vadant ad dominum suum.
“Do not kill them,” he replied. “Would you kill those you have captured with your own sword or bow? Set food and water before them, that they may eat and drink and then return to their master.”
23 Appositaque est eis ciborum magna præparatio, et comederunt, et biberunt, et dimisit eos, abieruntque ad dominum suum, et ultra non venerunt latrones Syriæ in Terram Israel.
So the king prepared a great feast for them, and after they had finished eating and drinking, he sent them away, and they returned to their master. And the Aramean raiders did not come into the land of Israel again.
24 Factum est autem post hæc, congregavit Benadad rex Syriæ, universum exercitum suum, et ascendit, et obsidebat Samariam.
Some time later, Ben-hadad king of Aram assembled his entire army and marched up to besiege Samaria.
25 Factaque est fames magna in Samaria: et tandiu obsessa est, donec venundaretur caput asini octoginta argenteis, et quarta pars cabi stercoris columbarum quinque argenteis.
So there was a great famine in Samaria. Indeed, they besieged the city so long that a donkey’s head sold for eighty shekels of silver, and a quarter cab of dove’s dung sold for five shekels of silver.
26 Cumque rex Israel transiret per murum, mulier quædam exclamavit ad eum, dicens: Salva me domine mi rex.
As the king of Israel was passing by on the wall, a woman cried out to him, “Help me, my lord the king!”
27 Qui ait: Non te salvat Dominus: unde te possum salvare? de area, vel de torculari? Dixitque ad eam rex: Quid tibi vis? Quæ respondit:
He answered, “If the LORD does not help you, where can I find help for you? From the threshing floor or the winepress?”
28 Mulier ista dixit mihi: Da filium tuum, ut comedamus eum hodie, et filium meum comedemus cras.
Then the king asked her, “What is the matter?” And she answered, “This woman said to me, ‘Give up your son, that we may eat him, and tomorrow we will eat my son.’
29 Coximus ergo filium meum, et comedimus. Dixique ei die altera: Da filium tuum, ut comedamus eum. Quæ abscondit filium suum.
So we boiled my son and ate him, and the next day I said to her, ‘Give up your son, that we may eat him.’ But she had hidden her son.”
30 Quod cum audisset rex, scidit vestimenta sua, et transibat per murum. Viditque omnis populus cilicium, quo vestitus erat ad carnem intrinsecus.
When the king heard the words of the woman, he tore his clothes. And as he passed by on the wall, the people saw the sackcloth under his clothes next to his skin.
31 Et ait rex: Hæc mihi faciat Deus, et hæc addat, si steterit caput Elisei filii Saphat super ipsum hodie.
He announced, “May God punish me, and ever so severely, if the head of Elisha son of Shaphat remains on his shoulders through this day!”
32 Eliseus autem sedebat in domo sua, et senes sedebant cum eo. Præmisit itaque virum: et antequam veniret nuncius ille, dixit ad senes: Numquid scitis quod miserit filius homicidæ hic, ut præcidatur caput meum? videte ergo, cum venerit nuncius, claudite ostium, et non sinatis eum introire: ecce enim sonitus pedum domini eius post eum est.
Now Elisha was sitting in his house, and the elders were sitting with him. The king sent a messenger ahead, but before he arrived, Elisha said to the elders, “Do you see how this murderer has sent someone to cut off my head? Look, when the messenger comes, shut the door to keep him out. Is not the sound of his master’s footsteps behind him?”
33 Adhuc illo loquente eis, apparuit nuncius, qui veniebat ad eum. Et ait: Ecce, tantum malum a Domino est: quid amplius expectabo a Domino?
While Elisha was still speaking with them, the messenger came down to him. And the king said, “This calamity is from the LORD. Why should I wait for the LORD any longer?”

< Ii Regum 6 >