1The group of the prophets said to Elisha, ‘Look. The place where we meet with you is too small for us.2We would like to go to the River Jordan. Each of us can get some wood there. We want to build a place there for us to meet.’ Elisha said, ‘Go’.3Then one of them said, ‘Won’t you please come with us?’ ‘I will’, Elisha replied.4And he went with them. They went to the River Jordan. There they began to cut down trees.5One of them was cutting down a tree. The iron blade of his axe fell into the water. ‘Oh no, master!’ he cried out. ‘This axe was borrowed!’6The man of God asked, ‘Where did the blade fall?’ He showed Elisha the place. Then Elisha cut a stick and threw it there. That made the iron blade float.7‘Take it out of the water,’ he said. So the man reached out and took it.
Elisha makes the soldiers of Aram blind
8The king of Aram was at war with Israel. He talked things over with his officers. Then he said, ‘I’m going to set up my camp in a certain place.’9Elisha, the man of God, sent a message to the king of Israel. Elisha said, ‘Try to stay away from that place. Aram’s army is going to be down there.’10The king of Israel checked on the place the man of God had told him about. Time after time Elisha warned the king. So the king was on guard in those places.11All of that made the king of Aram very angry. He sent for his officers. He said to them, ‘Tell me! Which of us is on the side of the king of Israel?’12‘You are my king and master,’ said one of his officers. ‘None of us is on Israel’s side. But Elisha is a prophet in Israel. He tells the king of Israel even the words you speak in your own bedroom.’13‘Go and find out where he is,’ the king ordered. ‘Then I can send my men and capture him.’ The report came back. The officers said, ‘He’s in Dothan.’14Then the king sent horses and chariots and a strong army there. They went at night and surrounded the city.15The servant of the man of God got up the next morning. He went out early. He saw that an army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city. ‘Oh no, my master!’ the servant said. ‘What can we do?’16‘Don’t be afraid,’ the prophet answered. ‘Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.’17Elisha prayed, ‘LORD, open my servant’s eyes so that he can see.’ Then the LORD opened his eyes. Elisha’s servant looked up and saw the hills. He saw that Elisha was surrounded by horses and chariots made of fire.18Aram’s army came down towards Elisha. Then he prayed to the LORD, ‘Make these soldiers blind.’ So the LORD made them blind, just as Elisha had prayed.19Elisha told them, ‘This isn’t the right road. This isn’t the right city. Follow me. I’ll lead you to the man you are looking for.’ He led them to Samaria.20They entered the city. Then Elisha said, ‘LORD, open the eyes of these men. Help them see again.’ Then the LORD opened their eyes. They looked around. And there they were, inside Samaria!21The king of Israel saw them. So he asked Elisha, ‘Should I kill them? I need your advice. You are like a father to me. Should I kill them?’22‘Don’t kill them,’ he answered. ‘Would you kill people you have captured with your own sword or bow? Put some food and water in front of them. Then they can eat and drink. They can go back to their master.’23So the king of Israel prepared a great feast for them. After they had finished eating and drinking, he sent them away. They returned to their master. So the groups of fighting men from Aram stopped attacking Israel’s territory.
Aram’s army attacks Samaria and people go hungry
24Some time later, Ben-Hadad gathered his entire army together. Ben-Hadad was the king of Aram. His army marched up and surrounded Samaria. Then they attacked it.25There wasn’t enough food anywhere in the city. It was surrounded for so long that people had to weigh out a kilogram of silver for a donkey’s head. They had to weigh out 60 grams of silver for 200 grams of seed pods.26One day the king of Israel was walking on top of the city wall. A woman cried out to him, ‘You are my king and master. Please help me!’27The king replied, ‘If the LORD doesn’t help you, where can I get help for you? From the threshing-floor? From the winepress?’28He continued, ‘What’s wrong?’ She answered, ‘A woman said to me, “Give up your son. Then we can eat him today. Tomorrow we’ll eat my son.”29So we cooked my son. Then we ate him. The next day I said to her, “Give up your son. Then we can eat him.” But she had hidden him.’30When the king heard the woman’s words, he tore his royal robes. As he walked along the wall, the people looked up at him. They saw that under his robes he was wearing the rough clothing people wear when they’re sad.31He said, ‘I’ll cut the head of Shaphat’s son Elisha off his shoulders today. If I don’t, may God punish me greatly!’32Elisha was sitting in his house. The elders were sitting there with him. The king went to see Elisha. He sent a messenger on ahead of him. Before the messenger arrived, Elisha spoke to the elders. He said, ‘That murderer is sending someone here to cut off my head. Can’t you see that? When the messenger comes, close the door. Hold it shut against him. Can’t you hear his master’s footsteps right behind him?’33Elisha was still talking to the elders when the messenger came down to him. The king also arrived. He said, ‘The LORD has sent this horrible trouble on us. Why should I wait any longer for him to help us?’
2 Kings 6
English Standard Version
The Axe Head Recovered
1Now the sons of the prophets said to Elisha, “See, the place where we dwell under your charge is too small for us. (2Ki 2:3)2Let us go to the Jordan and each of us get there a log, and let us make a place for us to dwell there.” And he answered, “Go.”3Then one of them said, “Be pleased to go with your servants.” And he answered, “I will go.”4So he went with them. And when they came to the Jordan, they cut down trees.5But as one was felling a log, his axe head fell into the water, and he cried out, “Alas, my master! It was borrowed.”6Then the man of God said, “Where did it fall?” When he showed him the place, he cut off a stick and threw it in there and made the iron float. (2Ki 2:21)7And he said, “Take it up.” So he reached out his hand and took it.
Horses and Chariots of Fire
8Once when the king of Syria was warring against Israel, he took counsel with his servants, saying, “At such and such a place shall be my camp.”9But the man of God sent word to the king of Israel, “Beware that you do not pass this place, for the Syrians are going down there.”10And the king of Israel sent to the place about which the man of God told him. Thus he used to warn him, so that he saved himself there more than once or twice.11And the mind of the king of Syria was greatly troubled because of this thing, and he called his servants and said to them, “Will you not show me who of us is for the king of Israel?”12And one of his servants said, “None, my lord, O king; but Elisha, the prophet who is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the words that you speak in your bedroom.”13And he said, “Go and see where he is, that I may send and seize him.” It was told him, “Behold, he is in Dothan.” (Ge 37:17)14So he sent there horses and chariots and a great army, and they came by night and surrounded the city.15When the servant of the man of God rose early in the morning and went out, behold, an army with horses and chariots was all around the city. And the servant said, “Alas, my master! What shall we do?”16He said, “Do not be afraid, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” (2Ch 32:7; Ps 55:18; Ro 8:31)17Then Elisha prayed and said, “O Lord, please open his eyes that he may see.” So the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw, and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. (2Ki 2:11; 2Ki 6:20; Ps 34:7; Ps 68:17; Zec 1:8; Zec 6:1)18And when the Syrians came down against him, Elisha prayed to the Lord and said, “Please strike this people with blindness.” So he struck them with blindness in accordance with the prayer of Elisha. (Ge 19:11)19And 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 led them to Samaria.20As soon as they entered Samaria, Elisha said, “O Lord, open the eyes of these men, that they may see.” So the Lord opened their eyes and they saw, and behold, they were in the midst of Samaria. (2Ki 6:17)21As soon as the king of Israel saw them, he said to Elisha, “My father, shall I strike them down? Shall I strike them down?” (Jud 17:10; 2Ki 5:13; 2Ki 8:9)22He answered, “You shall not strike them down. Would you strike down those whom you have taken captive with your sword and with your bow? Set bread and water before them, that they may eat and drink and go to their master.” (Ge 48:22; Ro 12:20)23So he prepared for them a great feast, and when they had eaten and drunk, he sent them away, and they went to their master. And the Syrians did not come again on raids into the land of Israel. (2Ki 5:2; 2Ki 6:8; 2Ki 24:2)
Ben-hadad’s Siege of Samaria
24Afterward Ben-hadad king of Syria mustered his entire army and went up and besieged Samaria. (1Ki 20:1)25And there was a great famine in Samaria, as they besieged it, until a donkey’s head was sold for eighty shekels of silver, and the fourth part of a kab[1] of dove’s dung for five shekels of silver.26Now as the king of Israel was passing by on the wall, a woman cried out to him, saying, “Help, my lord, O king!”27And he said, “If the Lord will not help you, how shall I help you? From the threshing floor, or from the winepress?”28And the king asked her, “What is your trouble?” She answered, “This woman said to me, ‘Give your son, that we may eat him today, and we will eat my son tomorrow.’29So we boiled my son and ate him. And on the next day I said to her, ‘Give your son, that we may eat him.’ But she has hidden her son.” (Le 26:29; De 28:53; De 28:57; Eze 5:10)30When the king heard the words of the woman, he tore his clothes—now he was passing by on the wall—and the people looked, and behold, he had sackcloth beneath on his body— (1Ki 21:27)31and he said, “May God do so to me and more also, if the head of Elisha the son of Shaphat remains on his shoulders today.” (Ru 1:17; 1Ki 19:2)32Elisha was sitting in his house, and the elders were sitting with him. Now the king had dispatched a man from his presence, but before the messenger arrived Elisha said to the elders, “Do you see how this murderer has sent to take off my head? Look, when the messenger comes, shut the door and hold the door fast against him. Is not the sound of his master’s feet behind him?” (1Ki 18:4; 1Ki 21:13; Eze 8:1; Eze 14:1; Eze 20:1)33And while he was still speaking with them, the messenger came down to him and said, “This trouble is from the Lord! Why should I wait for the Lord any longer?” (Job 2:9)