Ii Regum 6
1 Dixerunt autem filii prophetarum ad Eliseum: Ecce locus, in quo habitamus coram te, angustus est nobis.
The sons of the prophets told Elisha, “Look, the place we meet with you is too small for us.
2 Eamus usque ad Iordanem, et tollant singuli de silva materias singulas, ut aedificemus nobis ibi locum ad habitandum. Qui dixit: Ite.
Let's go to the Jordan and each of us can carry one log back. We can build a new place there for us to meet.” “Go ahead,” said Elisha.
3 Et ait unus ex illis: Veni ergo et tu cum servis tuis. Respondit: Ego veniam.
One of them asked, “Please come with your servants.” “I'll come,” he replied.
4 Et abiit cum eis. Cumque venissent ad Iordanem, caedebant ligna.
So he went with them. When they got to the Jordan, they started cutting down 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.
But as one of them was cutting down a tree, the iron axhead fell into the water. “Oh no! My master, it was one that was borrowed!” he shouted.
6 Dixit autem homo Dei: Ubi cecidit? At ille monstravit ei locum. praecidit ergo lignum, et misit illuc: natavitque ferrum,
“Where did it fall?” the man of God asked. When he showed him the place, the man of God cut a stick, threw it in there, and made the iron axhead float.
7 et ait: Tolle. Qui extendit manum, et tulit illud.
“Pick it up,” Elisha told the man. So he reached out his hand and picked it up.
8 Rex autem Syriae pugnabat contra Israel, consiliumque iniit cum servis suis, dicens: In loco illo, et illo ponamus insidias.
The Aramean king was at war with Israel. After consulting with his officers, he said, “I will set up my camp in this particular 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 a warning to the king of Israel: “Watch out if you go near this place, because the Arameans are going to be there.”
10 Misit itaque rex Israel ad locum, quem dixerat ei vir Dei, et praeoccupavit eum, et observavit se ibi non semel neque bis.
So the king of Israel sent a warning to the place the man of God had indicated. Elisha repeatedly warned the king, so that he was on the alert in those places.
11 Conturbatumque est cor regis Syriae pro hac re: et convocatis servis suis, ait: Quare non indicatis mihi quis proditor mei sit apud regem Israel?
This made the Aramean king really mad. He summoned his officers, demanding an answer: “Tell me, which 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 quaecumque locutus fueris in conclavi tuo.
“It's none of us, my lord the king,” one of his officers replied. “It's Elisha, the prophet who lives in Israel—he tells the king of Israel even what you say in your bedroom.”
13 Dixitque eis: Ite, et videte ubi sit: ut mittam, et capiam eum. Annunciaveruntque ei, dicentes: Ecce in Dothain.
So the king gave the order, “Go and find out where he is so I can send soldiers to capture him.” He was told, “Elisha is in Dothan.”
14 Misit ergo illuc equos et currus, et robur exercitus: qui cum venissent nocte, circumdederunt civitatem.
So he sent horses, chariots, and a large army. They came at night and surrounded the town.
15 Consurgens autem diluculo minister viri Dei, egressus portam, vidit exercitum in circuitu civitatis, et equos et currus: nunciavitque ei, dicens: Heu heu heu domine mi, quid faciemus?
Early in the morning when the servant of the man of God got up, he went out and saw that an army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city. “Oh, my master, what are we going to do?” he asked Elisha.
16 At ille respondit: Noli timere: plures enim nobiscum sunt, quam cum illis.
Elisha replied, “Don't be afraid, for there are many more who are with us than there 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.
Elisha prayed, saying, “Lord, please open his eyes so he can see.” The Lord opened the servant's eyes, and when he looked he saw the hills 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 caecitate. Percussitque eos Dominus, ne viderent, iuxta verbum Elisei.
As the army descended on him, Elisha prayed to the Lord, “Please strike these people with blindness.” So he struck them with blindness, as Elisha had asked.
19 Dixit autem ad eos Eliseus: Non est haec via, neque ista est civitas: sequimini me, et ostendam vobis virum, quem quaeritis. Duxit ergo eos in Samariam:
Then Elisha went and told them, “This isn't the right road, and this isn't the right town. Follow me, and I'll take you to the man you're looking for.” 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 Samariae.
After they had entered Samaria, Elisha prayed, “Lord, open the eyes of these men that they can see.” The Lord opened their eyes, and they looked around and saw that they were in Samaria.
21 Dixitque rex Israel ad Eliseum, cum vidisset eos: Numquid percutiam eos, pater mi?
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.
“No, don't you kill them!” he replied. “Would you kill prisoners you captured with your own sword or bow? Give them some food and water so that they may eat and drink, and then let them go back to their master.”
23 Appositaque est eis ciborum magna praeparatio, et comederunt, et biberunt, et dimisit eos, abieruntque ad dominum suum, et ultra non venerunt latrones Syriae in Terram Israel.
So the king had a great feast prepared for them, and once they had finished eating and drinking, he sent them back to their master. The Aramean raiders did not enter the land of Israel again.
24 Factum est autem post haec, congregavit Benadad rex Syriae, universum exercitum suum, et ascendit, et obsidebat Samariam.
Sometime after this Ben-hadad king of Aram called up all his army and went to lay siege to 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 major famine in Samaria. In fact the siege lasted so long that a donkey's head cost eighty shekels of silver, and a quarter cab of dove's dung cost five shekels of silver.
26 Cumque rex Israel transiret per murum, mulier quaedam exclamavit ad eum, dicens: Salva me domine mi rex.
As the king of Israel was walking by on the city wall, a woman called 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? Quae respondit:
“If the Lord doesn't help you, why would you think I can help you?” the king replied. “I don't have grain from the threshing floor, or wine from the winepress.”
28 Mulier ista dixit mihi: Da filium tuum, ut comedamus eum hodie, et filium meum comedemus cras.
But then he asked her, “What's the problem?” “This woman told me, ‘Give up your son and we'll eat him today, and tomorrow we'll eat my son,’” she answered.
29 Coximus ergo filium meum, et comedimus. Dixique ei die altera: Da filium tuum, ut comedamus eum. Quae abscondit filium suum.
“So we cooked my son and we ate him. The next day I said to her, ‘Give up your son so we can eat him,’ but she's 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 what the woman said he ripped his clothes. As he walked by on the wall, the people saw that he was wearing sackcloth under his clothes next to his skin.
31 Et ait rex: Haec mihi faciat Deus, et haec addat, si steterit caput Elisei filii Saphat super ipsum hodie.
“May God punish me very severely if the head of Elisha, son of Shaphat, remains on his shoulders today!” he declared.
32 Eliseus autem sedebat in domo sua, et senes sedebant cum eo. Praemisit itaque virum: et antequam veniret nuncius ille, dixit ad senes: Numquid scitis quod miserit filius homicidae hic, ut praecidatur caput meum? videte ergo, cum venerit nuncius, claudite ostium, et non sinatis eum introire: ecce enim sonitus pedum domini eius post eum est.
Elisha was sitting in his house with the elders. The king had sent a messenger on ahead, but before he got there, Elisha told the elders, “Can you see how this murderer is sending someone to cut off my head? So, as soon as the messenger arrives, close the door and hold it shut against him. Isn't that the sound of his master's footsteps following 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 arrived. The king said, “This disaster is from the Lord. Why should I wait for the Lord any longer?”
