6:1 The company of the prophets said to Elisha, “Look, the place where we meet with you is too small for us.
6:2 Let us go to the Jordan, where each of us can get a pole; and let us build a place there for us to live.” And he said, “Go.”
6:3 Then one of them said, “Won’t you please come with your servants?” “I will,” Elisha replied.
6:4 And he went with them. They went to the Jordan and began to cut down trees.
6:5 As one of them was cutting down a tree, the iron axhead fell into the water. “Oh, my lord,” he cried out, “it was borrowed!”
6:6 The man of God asked, “Where did it fall?” When he showed him the place, Elisha cut a stick and threw it there, and made the iron float.
6:7 “Lift it out,” he said. Then the man reached out his hand and took it.
6:8 Now the king of Aram was at war with Israel. After conferring with his officers, he said, “I will set up my camp in such and such a place.”
6:9 The man of God sent word to the king of Israel: “Beware of passing that place, because the Arameans are going down there.”
6:10 So the king of Israel checked on the place indicated by the man of God. Time and again Elisha warned the king, so that he was on his guard in such places.
6:11 This enraged the king of Aram. He summoned his officers and demanded of them, “Will you not tell me which of us is on the side of the king of Israel?”
6:12 “None of us, my lord the king,” said one of his officers, “but Elisha, the prophet who is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the very words you speak in your bedroom.”
6:13 “Go, find out where he is,” the king ordered, “so I can send men and capture him.” The report came back: “He is in Dothan.”
6:14 Then he sent horses and chariots and a strong force there. They went by night and surrounded the city.
6:15 When the servant of the man of God got up and went out early the next morning, an army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city. “Oh, my lord, what shall we do?” the servant asked.
6:16 “Don’t be afraid,” the prophet answered. “Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.”
6:17 And Elisha prayed, “O LORD, open his eyes so he may see.” Then the LORD opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.
6:18 As the enemy came down toward him, Elisha prayed to the LORD, “Strike these people with blindness.” So he struck them with blindness, as Elisha had asked.
6:19 Elisha told them, “This is not the road and this is not the city. Follow me, and I will lead you to the man you are looking for.” And he led them to Samaria.
6:20 After they entered the city, Elisha said, “LORD, open the eyes of these men so they can see.” Then the LORD opened their eyes and they looked, and there they were, inside Samaria.
6:21 When the king of Israel saw them, he asked Elisha, “Shall I kill them, my father? Shall I kill them?”
6:22 “Do not kill them,” he answered. “Would you kill men you have captured with your own sword or bow? Set food and water before them so that they may eat and drink and then go back to their master.”
6:23 So he prepared a great feast for them, and after they had finished eating and drinking, he sent them away, and they returned to their master. So the bands from Aram stopped raiding Israel’s territory.
6:24 Some time later, Ben-Hadad king of Aram mobilized his entire army and marched up and laid siege to Samaria.
6:25 There was a great famine in the city; the siege lasted so long that a donkey’s head sold for eighty shekels of silver, and a quarter of a cab of seed pods for five shekels.
6:26 As the king of Israel was passing by on the wall, a woman cried to him, “Help me, my lord the king!”
6:27 The king replied, “If the LORD does not help you, where can I get help for you? From the threshing floor? From the winepress?”
6:28 Then he asked her, “What’s the matter?” She answered, “This woman said to me, ‘Give up your son so we may eat him today, and tomorrow we’ll eat my son.’
6:29 So we cooked my son and ate him. The next day I said to her, ‘Give up your son so we may eat him,’ but she had hidden him.”
6:30 When the king heard the woman’s words, he tore his robes. As he went along the wall, the people looked, and there, underneath, he had sackcloth on his body.
6:31 He said, “May God deal with me, be it ever so severely, if the head of Elisha son of Shaphat remains on his shoulders today!”
6:32 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, “Don’t you see how this murderer is sending someone to cut off my head? Look, when the messenger comes, shut the door and hold it shut against him. Is not the sound of his master’s footsteps behind him?”
6:33 While he was still talking to them, the messenger came down to him. And the king said, “This disaster is from the LORD. Why should I wait for the LORD any longer?”
6:1 Then the sons of the prophets said to Elisha, The place here where we dwell before you is too narrow for us.
6:2 Let us go to the Jordan and each take a beam from there, and let us make for ourselves a place there, where we may dwell. And he said, Go.
6:3 And someone said, Please go with your servants. And he said, I will go.
6:4 And he went with them. And when they came to the Jordan, they cut down the trees.
6:5 But as one was felling a beam, the ax head fell into the water; and he cried out and said, Alas, my master! It was borrowed.
6:6 And the man of God said, Where did it fall? And he showed him the place. And he cut down a stick and threw it there and made the iron float.
6:7 And he said, Take it up for yourself. And he stretched out his hand and took it.
6:8 Now the king of Syria waged war against Israel. And he took counsel with his servants, saying, In such and such a place shall my camp be.
6:9 And the man of God sent word to the king of Israel, saying, Beware that you do not pass such a place, for the Syrians are going down there.
6:10 And the king of Israel sent word to the place that the man of God told him about. So the king alerted the place and put it on guard not merely once or twice.
6:11 And the heart of the king of Syria was enraged over this matter. And he called his servants and said to them, Tell me, which of us sides with the king of Israel?
6:12 And one of his servants said, None, O my lord the king; but Elisha, the prophet who is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the words which you speak in your bedroom.
6:13 And he said, Go and see where he is, that I may send for him and seize him. And it was told him, saying, He is in Dothan.
6:14 And he sent horses and chariots and a massive army there. And they came by night and surrounded the city.
6:15 And the servant of the man of God rose early and went out, and there it was: an army with horses and chariots surrounding the city. And his attendant said to him, Alas, my master! What shall we do?
6:16 And he said, Do not fear, for they who are with us are more than they who are with them.
6:17 And Elisha prayed and said, O Jehovah, open his eyes that he may see. And Jehovah opened the eyes of the attendant, and he saw: The mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.
6:18 And when the Syrians came down to him, Elisha prayed to Jehovah and said, Strike this nation with blindness. And He struck them with blindness according to Elisha s word.
6:19 Then Elisha said to them, This is not the way, and this is not the city. Follow me, and I will bring you to the man whom you seek. And he brought them to Samaria.
6:20 And when they came to Samaria, Elisha said, O Jehovah, open the eyes of these men that they may see. And Jehovah opened their eyes and they saw that they were in the midst of Samaria.
6:21 And when he saw them, the king of Israel said to Elisha, Shall I strike them? Shall I strike them, my father?
6:22 And he said, You shall not strike them. Would you strike those whom you have taken captive by your sword and your bow? Set bread and water before them, and let them eat and drink and go back to their master.
6:23 Then he prepared a great feast for them; and when they had eaten and drunk, he sent them away, and they went to their master. And the bands of Syria no longer came into the land of Israel.
6:24 And after this Ben-hadad the king of Syria gathered all his army and went up and besieged Samaria.
6:25 And there was a great famine in Samaria; and they besieged it until the head of a donkey was sold for eighty pieces of silver and a fourth part of a kab of doves dung was sold for five pieces of silver.
6:26 And once, as the king of Israel was passing by upon the wall, a woman cried out to him, saying, Help me, O my lord the king.
6:27 And he said, If Jehovah does not help you, from where shall I help you? From the threshing floor or the winepress?
6:28 And the king said to her, What is your trouble? And she said, This woman said to me, Give up your son that we may eat him today, and we will eat my son tomorrow.
6:29 So we boiled my son and ate him. And on the next day I said to her, Give up your son that we may eat him; but she hid her son.
6:30 And when the king heard the woman s words, he tore his clothes. And as he passed by upon the wall, the people could see that he had sackcloth upon his flesh underneath.
6:31 And he said, God do so to me, and even more, if the head of Elisha the son of Shaphat remains on him today.
6:32 Now Elisha was sitting in his house, and the elders were sitting with him. And the king had sent a man from before him. Before the messenger came to him, he said to the elders, Do you see that this son of a murderer has sent someone to take away my head? When the messenger comes, see that you shut the door and hold the door closed against him. Surely the sound of his master s feet is behind him.
6:33 While he was still talking with them, the king came down to him and said, This evil is from Jehovah; why should I wait for Jehovah any longer?