SECOND KINGS

 

2 Kings Chapter 6

1 ¶ Now the sons of the prophets said to Elisha, You can see, the place where we are staying is too small for us.

2 Allow us to go to the Jordan, and each man there get a beam, and let us build a place there, where we can live. And he answered, Go ahead.

3 And one said, Will you please go with your servants. And he answered, I will go.

4 So he went with them. And when they got to the Jordan, they cut down trees.

5 But as one was felling a log, the axe head fell into the water: and he cried out, Alas, my master! for it was borrowed.

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 in at that place; and the iron floated.

7 Then he said, Pick it up. And he reached out his hand, and picked it up.

8 ¶ When the king of Syria was fighting against Israel, he advised his officers, saying, My camp shall be in such and such a place.

9 And the man of God sent to the king of Israel, saying, Be careful not to pass that place; for the Syrians are coming down there.

10 And the king of Israel would send someone to the place about which the man of God told him and warned him, and would be on guard there, more than once or twice.

11 Therefore the mind of the king of Syria was greatly troubled about this; and he called his officers, and said to them, Will you not show me who of us is for the king of Israel?

12 And one of his officers said, None, my lord, O king: but Elisha, the prophet who is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the words that you speak even in your bedroom.

13 ¶ Then he said, Go and find out where he is, so that I may send men and get him. And he was told, He is in Dothan.

14 So he sent horses, and chariots, and a great army there: and they came by night, and surrounded the city.

15 And when the servant of the man of God rose early, and went out, behold, an army surrounded the city with both horses and chariots. And his servant said to him, Alas, my master! what shall we do?

16 And he answered, Do not be afraid: for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.

17 And Elisha prayed, and said, LORD, I pray you, open his eyes, so that he may see. And the LORD opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire around Elisha.

18 And when the Syrians came down to him, Elisha prayed to the LORD, and said, Strike this people, I pray you, with blindness. And he struck them with blindness according to the word of Elisha.

19 Then Elisha said to them, This is not the way, nor is this the city: follow me, and I will take you to the man whom you seek. But he led them to Samaria.

20 And when they had entered Samaria, Elisha said, LORD, open the eyes of these men, so that they may see. And the LORD opened their eyes, and they saw that they were in the midst of Samaria.

21 And when the king of Israel saw them he said to Elisha, My father, shall I slay them? shall I slay them?

22 And he answered, You shall not slay them: would you slay those whom you have taken captive with your sword and with your bow? set bread and water before them, so that they may eat and drink, and go to their master.

23 So the king prepared a great meal for them: and after they ate and drank, he sent them away, and they went to their master. So the Syrian bands no longer raided the land of Israel.

24 ¶ Afterward, Benhadad the king of Syria gathered his entire army, and went up, and besieged Samaria.

25 And there was a great famine in Samaria: and they besieged it, until a donkey’s head was sold for eighty pieces of silver, and one fourth of a cab of dove’s dung for five pieces of silver.

26 And as the king of Israel was passing by upon the wall, a woman shouted to him, saying, Help, my lord, O king.

27 And he said, If the LORD does not help you, where can I get help? out of the threshing floor, or out of the winepress?

28 Then the king said to her, What is your problem? And she answered, This woman said to me, Give me your son, so that we may eat him to day, and we will eat my son tomorrow.

29 So we boiled my son, and ate him: and I said to her on the next day, Give me your son, so that we may eat him: and she has hidden her son.

30 And when the king heard the words of the woman, he tore his clothes; and as he walked along the wall the people looked, and could see he had sackcloth underneath against his body.

31 Then 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.

32 But Elisha was sitting in his house, and the elders were sitting with him; and the king sent a man ahead of him: but before the messenger got to him, he said to the elders, Do you see how this son of a murderer has sent someone to remove my head? look, when the messenger comes, shut the door, and hold it fast against him: isn’t that the sound of his master’s feet just behind him?

  1. And while he was yet talking with him, the king came down to him: and said, Behold, this evil is from the LORD; why should I wait for the LORD any longer?