2 Kongebok 6
1 Profetenes disipler sa til Elisa: Huset som vi sitter i her hos dig, er for trangt for oss.
One day a group of prophets said to Elisha, “Look, this place where we meet together with you is very small.
2 La oss få gå til Jordan og der hente hver sin bjelke og så bygge oss et hus der som vi kan holde til i! Han svarte: Ja, gjør det!
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 Da sa en av dem: Vær så snild og gå med dine tjenere! Han svarte: Ja, jeg skal gå med.
One of them said to Elisha, “Please come with us.” So Elisha replied, “Okay, I will go with you.”
4 Så gikk han med dem, og da de kom til Jordan, tok de til å felle trær.
So they went together. When they reached the Jordan [River], they cut down some trees.
5 Men da en av dem felte sin bjelke, falt øksen i vannet; da ropte han: Å, min herre, den var enda lånt.
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 Da sa den Guds mann: Hvor falt den? Han viste ham stedet; da hugg han av et stykke tre og kastet det dit ned og fikk øksen til å flyte op.
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 Og han sa: Ta den op! Så rakte mannen ut hånden og tok den.
Elisha said, “Take it out of the water.” So the man reached his hand down and picked up the axe head.
8 Kongen i Syria lå i krig med Israel; og han rådførte sig med sine menn og sa: På det og det sted vil jeg slå leir.
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 Men den Guds mann sendte bud til Israels konge og lot si: Ta dig i vare for å dra forbi dette sted! For der vil syrerne dra ned.
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 Så sendte Israels konge folk til det sted som den Guds mann hadde nevnt for ham og advart ham for, og han tok sig i vare der. Dette hendte ikke bare en gang, men flere ganger.
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 Kongen i Syria blev meget urolig over dette; han kalte sine menn til sig og sa til dem: Kan I ikke si mig hvem det er av våre folk som holder med Israels konge?
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 Da sa en av hans menn: Det har sig ikke så, herre konge; det er Elisa, profeten i Israel, som åpenbarer for Israels konge hvert ord du taler i ditt sovekammer.
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 Han sa: Gå og se å få rede på hvor han er, så jeg kan sende folk dit og la ham hente! Da det så blev meldt ham at han var i Dotan,
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 sendte han hester og vogner og en stor hær dit; de kom der om natten og omringet byen.
So the king sent a large group of soldiers [to Dothan] with horses and chariots. They arrived at night and surrounded the town.
15 Og da den Guds manns tjener tidlig om morgenen gikk ut, fikk han se at en hær med hester og vogner omringet byen. Da sa hans dreng til ham: Å, min herre, hvad skal vi gjøre?
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 Han svarte: Vær ikke redd! De som er med oss, er flere enn de som er med dem.
Elisha replied, “Do not be afraid! Those who will be helping us will be more than those who will be helping them!”
17 Og Elisa bad og sa: Herre! Oplat hans øine, så han kan se! Og Herren oplot drengens øine, og han fikk se at fjellet var fullt av gloende hester og vogner rundt omkring Elisa.
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 Da så syrerne kom ned til ham, bad Elisa til Herren og sa: Slå dette folk med blindhet! Og han slo dem med blindhet, som Elisa hadde bedt om.
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 Da sa Elisa til dem: Dette er ikke den rette vei og ikke den rette by; følg mig, så skal jeg føre eder til den mann I leter efter. Så førte han dem til 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 Og da de kom inn i Samaria, sa Elisa: Herre, oplat deres øine, så de kan se! Og Herren oplot deres øine, og de fikk se at de var midt i 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 Da Israels konge så dem, sa han til Elisa: Skal jeg hugge dem ned, min far, skal jeg hugge dem ned?
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 Han svarte: Du skal ikke hugge dem ned; hugger du vel ned dem som du gjør til fanger med ditt sverd og din bue? Sett brød og vann for dem, så de kan ete og drikke og så vende tilbake til sin herre!
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 Da lot han stelle til et måltid for dem, og de åt og derefter lot han dem fare, vendte tilbake til sin herre. Siden kom det ikke mere syriske herjeflokker inn i Israels land.
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 Nogen tid efter samlet kongen i Syria Benhadad hele sin hær og drog op og kringsatte 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 Og mens de holdt Samaria kringsatt, blev det så stor hungersnød i byen at til sist hodet av et asen kostet åtti sekel sølv, og fjerdedelen av en kab duemøkk fem sekel sølv.
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 Og da Israels konge engang gikk omkring på muren, ropte en kvinne til ham: Hjelp, herre konge!
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 Han svarte: Når Herren ikke vil hjelpe dig, hvorfra skulde da jeg hente hjelp til dig? Fra treskeplassen eller fra vinpersen?
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 Og kongen spurte henne: Hvad fattes dig? Hun svarte: Denne kvinne sa til mig: Kom hit med din sønn, så vil vi ete ham idag, og imorgen vil vi ete min sønn.
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 Så kokte vi min sønn og åt ham. Dagen efter sa jeg til henne: Kom nu hit med din sønn, så vil vi ete ham. Men hun gjemte bort sin sønn.
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 Da kongen hørte det som kvinnen fortalte, sønderrev han sine klær, som han gikk der omkring på muren; da fikk folket se at han hadde sekk innenfor på sitt legeme.
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 Og han sa: Gud la det gå mig ille både nu og siden, om Elisas, Safats sønns hode skal bli sittende på ham idag!
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 Mens Elisa satt i sitt hus, og de eldste satt der hos ham, sendte kongen en mann dit foran sig; men før budet kom til ham, sa han til de eldste: Ser I at denne mordersønn har sendt bud hit for å ta mitt hode? Se nu til å stenge døren når budet kommer, og trykke ham tilbake med den! Høres ikke allerede lyden av hans herres trin efter ham?
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 Mens han ennu talte med dem, kom budet ned til ham. Da sa han: Se for en ulykke det er kommet fra Herren! Hvorfor skulde jeg lenger bie på Herren?
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]!)”
