CHAPTER 6
Now the sons
of the prophets
said
to
Elisha,
“Please
take note
that the place
where
we
meet
with you
is too small
for us.
Please
let us go
to
the Jordan,
where
each of us
can get
a
log
so we can build
ourselves a place
to live
there.”
“Go,”
said Elisha.
As one
of them was cutting down
a tree,
the iron axhead
fell
into
the water.
“Oh,
my master,”
he cried out,
“it
was borrowed!”
“Where
did it fall?”
asked
the man
of God.
And when he showed
him the place,
the man of God cut
a stick,
threw
it there,
and made the iron
float.
Now the king
of Aram
was
at war
against Israel.
After consulting
with
his servants,
he said,
“My camp will be
in
such
and such
a place.”
Then the man
of God
sent
word to
the king
of Israel:
“Be careful
passing by
this
place,
for
the Arameans
are going down
there.”
So the king
of Israel
sent
word to
the place
the man
of God
had pointed out.
Time and again
Elisha warned the king,
so that he was on his guard
in such places.
For
this
reason,
the king
of Aram
became enraged
and called
his servants
to demand
of them,
“Tell me,
which one
of us
is on the side
of the king
of Israel?”
But one
of his servants
replied,
“No one,
my lord
the king.
For
Elisha,
the prophet
in Israel,
tells
the king
of Israel
the very words
you speak
in your bedroom.”
So the king said,
“Go
and see
where
he is,
that I may send
men to capture him.”
On receiving the report,
“Elisha is in Dothan,”
the king of Aram sent
horses,
chariots,
and a great
army.
They went there
by night
and surrounded
the city.
When the servant
of the man
of God
got up
and went out
early in the morning,
an army
with horses
and chariots
had surrounded
the city.
So he
asked Elisha,
“Oh,
my master,
what
are we to do?”
“Do not
be afraid,”
Elisha answered,
“for
those who are
with us
are more
than those who are
with them.”
Then Elisha
prayed,
“O LORD,
please
open
his eyes
that he may see.”
And the LORD
opened
the eyes
of the young man,
and he saw that
the hills
were full of
horses
and chariots
of fire
all around
Elisha.
As the Arameans came down
against him,
Elisha
prayed
to
the LORD,
“Please
strike
these
people
with blindness.”
So He struck
them with blindness,
according to the word
of Elisha.
And Elisha
told
them,
“This
is not
the way,
and this
is not
the city.
Follow
me,
and I will take
you to
the man
you are seeking.”
And he led
them to Samaria.
When they had entered
Samaria,
Elisha
said,
“O LORD,
open
the eyes
of these men
that they may see.”
Then the LORD
opened
their eyes,
and they looked around
and discovered
they were in
Samaria.
And when the king
of Israel
saw
them,
he asked
Elisha,
“My father,
shall I kill them?
Shall I kill them?”
“Do not
kill them,”
he replied.
“Would you
kill
those
you have captured
with your own sword
or bow?
Set
food
and water
before them,
that they may eat
and drink
and then return
to
their master.”
So the king prepared a great
feast
for them,
and after they had finished eating
and drinking,
he sent them away,
and they returned
to
their master.
And the Aramean
raiders
did not
come
into the land
of Israel
again.
Some time later,
Ben-hadad
king
of Aram
assembled
his entire
army
and marched up
to besiege
Samaria.
So there was
a great
famine
in Samaria.
Indeed,
they besieged
the city
so long that
a donkey’s
head
sold
for eighty shekels
of silver,
and a quarter
cab
of dove’s dung
sold for five shekels
of silver.
As the king
of Israel
was passing by
on
the wall,
a woman
cried out
to him,
“Help me,
my lord
the king!”
He answered,
“If the LORD
does not
help you,
where
can I find help for you?
From
the threshing floor
or
the winepress?”
Then the king
asked her,
“What is the matter?”
And she answered,
“This
woman
said
to me,
‘Give up
your son,
and we will eat him today,
and
tomorrow
we will eat
my son.’
So we boiled
my son
and ate him,
and the next
day
I said
to her,
‘Give up
your son,
and we will eat him.’
But she has hidden
her son.”
When the king
heard
the words
of the woman,
he tore
his clothes.
And as he
passed by
on
the wall,
the people
saw
the sackcloth
under his clothes
next to
his skin.
He announced,
“May God
punish
me,
and ever so
severely,
if
the head
of Elisha
son
of Shaphat
remains
on his shoulders
through this day!”
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,
“Do you see
how
this
murderer
has sent
someone to cut off
my head?
Look,
when the messenger
comes,
shut
the door
to keep him out.
Is not
the sound
of his master's
footsteps
behind him?"
While Elisha was still
speaking
with them,
the messenger
came down
to him.
And the king said,
“This
calamity is
from
the LORD.
Why
should I wait
for the LORD
any longer?”