2 Ahemfo 6
1 Da bi, adiyifo kuw baa Elisa nkyɛn bɛka kyerɛɛ no se, “Sɛnea wo ara wuhu no, baabi a yɛne wo hyia ha yi sua.
One day a group of prophets said to Elisha, “Look, this place where we meet together with you is very small.
2 Ma yɛnkɔ Asubɔnten Yordan ho a nnua bebree wɔ hɔ. Ɛhɔ de, yebetumi asi ɔdan foforo, ahyia mu wɔ hɔ.” Ɔka kyerɛɛ wɔn se, “Eye, monkɔyɛ.”
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 Obi kaa nʼadwene se, “Mesrɛ wo, bɛka yɛn ho na yɛnkɔ.” Ɔkae se, “Mate yɛbɛkɔ.”
One of them said to Elisha, “Please come with us.” So Elisha replied, “Okay, I will go with you.”
4 Bere a woduu Yordan ho no, wofii ase buu nnua.
So they went together. When they reached the Jordan [River], they cut down some trees.
5 Nanso wɔn mu baako rebu dua no, nʼabonnua hɔn tɔɔ asu no mu. Ɔteɛɛ mu se, “O me wura! Ɛyɛ abonnua a mekɔsrɛe!”
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 Onyankopɔn nipa no bisae se, “Ɛhefa na ɛtɔe?” Ɔkyerɛɛ Elisa baabi ko no, Elisa twaa pema, na ɔtow kyenee asu no mu. Ɛhɔ ara abonnua ti no pagyaw ne ho, bɛtɛn asu no ani.
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 Elisa ka kyerɛɛ no se, “Ma so yi.” Na ɔbarima no teɛɛ ne nsa yii.
Elisha said, “Take it out of the water.” So the man reached his hand down and picked up the axe head.
8 Bere a Aramhene ne Israel redi ako no, ɔne ne mpanyimfo tuu agyina, kae se, “Yɛbɛboaboa yɛn asraafo ano wɔ ha anaa ɛha.”
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 Ntɛm pa ara, Onyankopɔn nipa Elisa bɔɔ Israelhene kɔkɔ se, “Ntwiw mmɛn beae hɔ, efisɛ Aramfo no reyɛ nhyehyɛe, aboaboa wɔn asraafo ano wɔ hɔ.”
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 Enti Israelhene hwɛɛ beae a Onyame nipa no kyerɛe no no. Elisa kɔɔ so bɔɔ ɔhene no kɔkɔ mpɛn pii, na ɛmaa nʼani daa fam wɔ mmeae a ɛtete saa no ho.
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 Aramhene werɛ how wɔ asɛm yi ho. Ɔfrɛɛ ne mpanyimfo bisaa wɔn se, “Mo mu hena na ɔyɛ ɔfatwafo no? Hena na ɔka me nhyehyɛe a mayɛ kyerɛ Israelhene?”
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 Mpanyimfo no mu baako buae se, “Me wura, ɛnyɛ yɛn. Elisa a ɔyɛ odiyifo wɔ Israel no na ɔka wo kokoamsɛm kyerɛ Israelhene.”
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 Ɔhene no hyɛe se, “Monkɔhwehwɛ baabi a Elisa wɔ, na yɛbɛsoma asraafo ama wɔakɔkyere no.” Na nkra bae se, “Elisa wɔ 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 Enti anadwo bi, Aramhene somaa asraafo bebree ne wɔn nteaseɛnam ne wɔn apɔnkɔ kotwaa dantaban faa kuropɔn no ho.
So the king sent a large group of soldiers [to Dothan] with horses and chariots. They arrived at night and surrounded the town.
15 Bere a Onyankopɔn nipa no somfo sɔree ahemadakye, sii afikyiri no, na asraafo, apɔnkɔ ne nteaseɛnam atwa hɔ ahyia. Ɔteɛɛ mu kyerɛɛ Elisa se, “O, me wura! Dɛn na yɛnyɛ?”
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 Elisa ka kyerɛɛ no se, “Nsuro na yɛwɔ dɔm sen wɔn.”
Elisha replied, “Do not be afraid! Those who will be helping us will be more than those who will be helping them!”
17 Afei, Elisa bɔɔ mpae se, “Awurade, bue nʼani na ma onhu ade,” Awurade buee ne somfo ani, na ɔmaa nʼani so no, ohuu sɛ Elisa nkyɛn mu a ɛkyerɛ bepɔw no, ogya apɔnkɔ ne nteaseɛnam na ayɛ hɔ ma.
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 Bere a Aramfo asraafo bɔ puaa wɔn no, Elisa bɔɔ mpae se, “Awurade, mesrɛ wo, ma wɔn ani mfurafura.” Na Awurade yɛɛ nea Elisa bisae no.
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 Na Elisa fii adi, kɔka kyerɛɛ wɔn se, “Moafa ɔkwan bɔne so aba. Ɛnyɛ kurow a morehwehwɛ no ni. Munni mʼakyi, na mede mo bɛkɔ onipa a morehwehwɛ no no nkyɛn.” Na odii wɔn anim koduu 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 Na woduu Samaria pɛ, Elisa bɔɔ mpae se, “Awurade, afei bue wɔn ani, na ma wonhu ade.” Na Awurade yɛe, na wohuu sɛ wɔwɔ 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 Bere a Israelhene huu wɔn no, ɔteɛɛ mu, bisaa Elisa se, “Mʼagya, minkunkum wɔn ana?”
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 Elisa buaa no se, “Nkunkum wɔn. So wubekunkum wɔn a wode wʼankasa afoa ne agyan afa wɔn nnommum no ana? Ma wɔn aduan ne nsu, na wonnidi, nnom na ma wɔnsan nkɔ wɔn wura nkyɛn.”
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 Enti ɔhene no too wɔn pon kɛse, na wodidi, nom wiee no ɔma wɔsan kɔɔ wɔn hene nkyɛn. Enti Aramfo afowfo no twee wɔn ho fii Israel asase ho koraa.
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 Akyiri no, Aramhene Ben-Hadad boaboaa nʼakofo nyinaa ano, de wɔn kotuaa Samaria ano.
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 Ɛbaa saa no, ɔkɔm kɛse baa kurow no mu. Ɛyɛɛ kakra no, na wɔtɔn afurum ti nsania ani dwetɛ kilogram baako, na aborɔnoma bin kuruwa ma, na ne bo yɛ nsania ani dwetɛ gram aduonum awotwe.
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 Da bi a Israelhene nam kurow no fasu ho no, ɔbea bi kɔɔ ne nkyɛn kɔsrɛɛ no se, “Me wura ɔhene, mesrɛ wo, boa me.”
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 Obuaa no se, “Sɛ Awurade ammoa wo a, dɛn na metumi ayɛ? Minni aduan anaa nsa a mede bɛma wo.”
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 Ɔhene no bisaa no se, “Dɛn asɛm?” Obuae se, “Saa ɔbea yi kae se, yɛnwe me babarima da bi, na ade kye a, yɛawe ɔno nso de.
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 Enti yɛnoaa me babarima wee. Afei, ade kyee no, meka kyerɛɛ no se, ‘Kum wo babarima no ma yɛnwe,’ nanso na ɔde no akosie.”
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 Na ɔhene no tee saa asɛm no, osunsuan ne ntade mu. Na ɔhene no nenam ɔfasu no ho no, nnipa no huu sɛ ɔhyɛ atweaatam wɔ nʼase.
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 Ɔhene no kaa ntam se, “Sɛ nnɛ mankum Safat babarima Elisa a, Onyankopɔn nkum me.”
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 Elisa te ne fi a ɔne Israel mpanyimfo reyɛ nhyiamu na ɔhene somaa abɔfo kɔfrɛɛ no. Nanso ansa na abɔfo no rebedu no, Elisa ka kyerɛɛ mpanyimfo no se, “Owudifo asoma ɔbarima bi sɛ ommekum me. Sɛ odu ha a, to pon no mu, na ɔnka akyi. Na ɛrenkyɛ ne wura no bedi nʼakyi aba.”
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 Elisa gu so rekasa no, ɔbɔfo no bae. Na ɔhene no kae se, “Ɛyɛ Awurade na ɔde saa ɔhaw yi abrɛ yɛn! Adɛn nti na ɛsɛ sɛ mekɔ so twɛn Awurade?”
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]!)”
