2 Kings 6
6
1And sons of the prophet say unto Elisha, ‘Lo, we pray thee, the place where we are dwelling before thee is too strait for us;
2let us go, we pray thee, unto the Jordan, and we take thence each one beam, and we make for ourselves there a place to dwell there;’ and he saith, ‘Go.’
3And the one saith, ‘Be pleased, I pray thee, and go with thy servants;’ and he saith, ‘I — I go.’
4And he goeth with them, and they come in to the Jordan, and cut down the trees,
5and it cometh to pass, the one is felling the beam, and the iron hath fallen into the water, and he crieth and saith, ‘Alas! my lord, and it asked!’
6And the man of God saith, ‘Whither hath it fallen?’ and he sheweth him the place, and he cutteth a stick, and casteth thither, and causeth the iron to swim,
7and saith, ‘Raise to thee;’ and he putteth forth his hand and taketh it.
8And the king of Aram hath been fighting against Israel, and taketh counsel with his servants, saying, ‘At such and such a place [is] my encamping.’
9And the man of God sendeth unto the king of Israel, saying, ‘Take heed of passing by this place, for thither are the Aramaeans coming down;
10and the king of Israel sendeth unto the place of which the man of God spake to him, and warned him, and he is preserved there not once nor twice.
11And the heart of the king of Aram is tossed about concerning this thing, and he calleth unto his servants, and saith unto them, ‘Do ye not declare to me who of us [is] for the king of Israel?’
12And one of his servants saith, ‘Nay, my lord, O king, for Elisha the prophet, who [is] in Israel, declareth to the king of Israel the words that thou speakest in the inner part of thy bedchamber.’
13And he saith, ‘Go ye and see where he [is], and I send and take him;’ and it is declared to him, saying, ‘Lo — in Dothan.’
14And he sendeth thither horses and chariot, and a heavy force, and they come in by night, and go round against the city.
15And the servant of the man of God riseth early, and goeth out, and lo, a force is surrounding the city, and horse and chariot, and his young man saith unto him, ‘Alas! my lord, how do we do?’
16And he saith, ‘Fear not, for more [are] they who [are] with us than they who [are] with them.’
17And Elisha prayeth, and saith, ‘Jehovah, open, I pray Thee, his eyes, and he doth see;’ and Jehovah openeth the eyes of the young man, and he seeth, and lo, the hill is full of horses and chariots of fire, round about Elisha.
18And they come down unto it, and Elisha prayeth unto Jehovah, and saith, ‘Smite, I pray Thee, this nation with blindness;’ and He smiteth them with blindness, according to the word of Elisha.
19And Elisha saith unto them, ‘This [is] not the way, nor [is] this the city; come after me, and I lead you unto the man whom ye seek;’ and he leadeth them to Samaria.
20And it cometh to pass, at their coming in to Samaria, that Elisha saith, ‘Jehovah, open the eyes of these, and they see;’ and Jehovah openeth their eyes, and they see, and lo, in the midst of Samaria!
21And the king of Israel saith unto Elisha, at his seeing them, ‘Do I smite — do I smite — my father?’
22And he saith, ‘Thou dost not smite; those whom thou hast taken captive with thy sword and with thy bow art thou smiting? set bread and water before them, and they eat, and drink, and go unto their lord.’
23And he prepareth for them great provision, and they eat and drink, and he sendeth them away, and they go unto their lord: and troops of Aram have not added any more to come in to the land of Israel.
24And it cometh to pass afterwards, that Ben-Hadad king of Aram gathereth all his camp, and goeth up, and layeth siege to Samaria,
25and there is a great famine in Samaria, and lo, they are laying siege to it, till the head of an ass is at eighty silverlings, and a forth of the cab of dovesdung at five silverlings.
26And it cometh to pass, the king of Israel is passing by on the wall, and a woman hath cried unto him, saying, ‘Save, my lord, O king.’
27And he saith, ‘Jehovah doth not save thee — whence do I save thee? out of the threshing-floor, or out of the wine-vat?’
28And the king saith to her, ‘What — to thee?’ and she saith, ‘This woman said unto me, Give thy son, and we eat him to-day, and my son we eat to-morrow;
29and we boil my son and eat him, and I say unto her on the next day, Give thy son, and we eat him; and she hideth her son.’
30And it cometh to pass, at the king's hearing the words of the woman, that he rendeth his garments, and he is passing by on the wall, and the people see, and lo, the sackcloth [is] on his flesh within.
31And he saith, ‘Thus doth God do to me, and thus He doth add — if it remain — the head of Elisha son of Shaphat — upon him this day.’
32And Elisha is sitting in his house, and the elders are sitting with him, and [the king] sendeth a man from before him; before the messenger doth come unto him, even he himself said unto the elders, ‘Have ye seen that this son of the murdererhath sent to turn aside my head? see, at the coming in of the messenger, shut the door, and ye have held him fast at the door, is not the sound of the feet of his lord behind him?’
33He is yet speaking with them, and lo, the messenger is coming down unto him, and he saith, ‘Lo, this [is] the evil from Jehovah: what — do I wait for Jehovah any more?’
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2 Kings 6: YLT98
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maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society
2 Kings 6
6
Elisha and the Floating Ax Head
1The disciples of the prophets said to Elisha, “The place where we’re staying is too small for us. 2Let’s go to the Jordan River. Each of us can get some logs and make a place for us to live there.”
Elisha said, “Go ahead.”
3Then one of the disciples asked, “Won’t you please come with us?”
Elisha answered, “I’ll go.”
4So he went with them. They came to the Jordan River and began to cut down trees. 5As one of them was cutting down a tree, the ax head fell into the water. He cried out, “Oh no, master! It was borrowed!”
6The man of God asked, “Where did it fall?” When he showed Elisha the place, Elisha cut off a piece of wood. He threw it into the water at that place and made the ax head float. 7Elisha said, “Pick it up.” The disciple reached for it and picked it up.
The Aramean Army Is Struck with Blindness
8Whenever the king of Aram was fighting against Israel, he asked for advice from his officers about where they were to camp.
9So the man of God would send a message to the king of Israel, “Be careful not to go by that place. The Arameans are hiding there.” 10Then the king of Israel would send someone to the place that the man of God told him about. Elisha warned them so that they would be on their guard. He did this repeatedly.
11The king of Aram was very angry about this. He called his officers and asked them, “Won’t you tell me who among us is ⌞a spy⌟ for the king of Israel?”
12One of his officers answered, “No one, Your Majesty. Elisha, the prophet in Israel, tells the king of Israel everything you say—even what you say in your bedroom.”
13The king said, “Find out where he is. Then I will send men to capture him.”
The king was told, “He is in Dothan.” 14So the king sent horses and chariots and a large fighting unit there. They came at night and surrounded the city.
15When the servant of the man of God got up in the morning and went outside, he saw troops, horses, and chariots surrounding the city. Elisha’s servant asked, “Master, what should we do?”
16Elisha answered, “Don’t be afraid. We have more forces on our side than they have on theirs.” 17Then Elisha prayed, “Lord, please open his eyes so that he may see.” The Lord opened the servant’s eyes and let him see. The mountain around Elisha was full of fiery horses and chariots.
18As the Arameans came down to get him, Elisha prayed to the Lord, “Please strike these people with blindness.” The Lord struck them with blindness, as Elisha had asked. 19Elisha told them, “This isn’t the way! This isn’t the city. Follow me, and I will lead you to the man you’re looking for.” So he led them into Samaria. 20When they came into Samaria, Elisha said, “Lord, open the eyes of these men, and let them see.” The Lord opened their eyes and let them see that they were in the middle of Samaria.
21When the king of Israel saw them, he asked Elisha, “Master, should I kill them? Should I kill them?”
22Elisha answered, “Don’t kill them. Do you kill everyone you take captive in combat? Give them food and water. Let them eat and drink. Then let them go back to their master.”
23So the king prepared a great feast for them. They ate and drank, and then he sent them back to their master. After this, Aramean troops didn’t raid Israel’s territory anymore.
The Aramean Army Blockades Samaria
24Later King Benhadad of Aram assembled his whole army. They went to Samaria and blockaded it. 25The shortages caused by the blockade of Samaria became so severe that a donkey’s head sold for two pounds of silver and a half-pint of dove #6:25 Or “pigeon.” manure for two ounces of silver.
26As the king of Israel was walking on the city wall, a woman cried to him, “Help me, Your Majesty!”
27He answered, “If the Lord doesn’t help you, how can I help you? I can’t give you something from the threshing floor #6:27 A threshing floor is an outdoor area where grain is separated from its husks. or the winepress.” 28Then the king asked her, “What’s the matter?”
She answered, “This woman told me, ‘Give up your son. Let’s eat him today. We’ll eat my son tomorrow.’ 29So we boiled my son and ate him. The next day I told her, ‘Give up your son. We’ll eat him,’ but she hid her son.”
30When the king heard the woman say this, he tore his clothes ⌞in distress⌟. As he was walking on the city wall, the people saw that he was wearing sackcloth under his clothes. 31He said, “May God strike me dead if the head of Elisha, son of Shaphat, stays on his ⌞body⌟ today.”
32Elisha was sitting in his home with the ⌞city’s⌟ leaders. The king had sent one of his men ahead of him ⌞to Elisha’s house⌟. But before the messenger arrived, Elisha asked the leaders, “Do you see how this murderer has sent someone to tear off my head? When the messenger comes, close the door. Hold it shut because the king will be following him.”
33While he was still talking to them, the messenger arrived. He said to Elisha, “This severe famine is from the Lord. Why should I wait any longer for the Lord ⌞to help us⌟?”
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