2 Kings 6

The sons of the prophets said to Elisha, “Look, the place where we live before you is too small for us.

Let us go to the Jordan and every man take a log from there, and let us make us a place there where we can live.” And he answered, “Go.”

One said, “Please consent to go with your servants.” And he answered, “I will go.”

So he went with them, and when they came to the Jordan they cut down trees.

But as one was cutting down the log, the iron axe head fell into the water. Then he cried out, and said, “Oh no, my lord! It was borrowed!”

Then the man of God asked, “Where did it fall?” So he showed him the place. So he whittled down a stick, threw it in there and made the iron float.

Then he said, “Pick it up.” So he stretched out his hand and took it.

Now the king of Syria was warring against Israel, and he sought advice from his servants, saying, “My camp will be in such and such a place.”

The man of God sent to the king of Israel, saying, “Be careful that you do not pass by this place, for the Syrians are coming down there.”

The king of Israel sent word to the place that the man of God told and warned him about, and he protected himself there not once nor twice.

Now the heart of the king of Syria was very troubled about this. So he called his servants and said to them, “Will you not show me which of us is for the king of Israel?”

Then one of his servants said, “No, 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.”

He said, “Go and see where he is, so that I may send and capture him.” And it was reported to him, saying, “Behold, he is in Dothan.”

So he sent horses, chariots, and a great army there. They came at night and surrounded the city.

And when the servant of the man of God had risen early and gone out, behold, an army with horses and chariots was surrounding the city. So his servant said to him, “Alas, my lord! What are we to do?”

But he answered, “Do not be afraid, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.”

Elisha prayed and said, “O Yahweh, please open his eyes so that he can see.” So Yahweh opened the eyes of the young man and he saw, and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire surrounding Elisha.

And when they came down against him, Elisha prayed to Yahweh and said, “Please strike this people with blindness.” So he struck them with blindness according to the word of Elisha.

Then Elisha said to them, “This is not the way, nor is this the city. Follow me and I will bring you to the man whom you seek.” But he led them to Samaria.

And when they had come into Samaria, Elisha said, “O Yahweh, open the eyes of these men, so that they can see.” So Yahweh opened their eyes and they saw, and behold, they were in the midst of Samaria.

When he saw them, the king of Israel said to Elisha, “My father, should I strike them down, should I strike them down?”

He answered, “Do 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 so that they may eat and drink and go back to their lord.”

So he prepared a great feast for them. When they had finished eating and drinking he sent them away, and they went back to their lord. So the raiding bands of Syria stopped coming into the land of Israel.

And after this Ben-hadad king of Syria gathered all his army and went up and besieged Samaria.

And there was a great famine in Samaria. Behold, they besieged it until a donkey’s head was sold for 80 pieces of silver, and the fourth part of a kab of dove’s dung for five pieces of silver.

And as the king of Israel was passing by on the wall, a woman cried out to him, saying, “Save me, my lord, O king!”

But he said, “If Yahweh does not save you, how can I save you? From the threshing floor or from the winepress?”

The king said to her, “What is troubling you?” She answered, “This woman said to me, ‘Give your son, that we may eat him today, and we will eat my son tomorrow.’

So we boiled my son and ate him. Then I said to her on another day, ‘Give up your son, so that we can eat him;’ but she has hidden her son.”

And when the king heard the words of the woman, he tore his clothes, and as he was passing by on the wall the people saw that, behold, he had sackcloth underneath on his flesh.

Then he said, “May God do so to me, and more also, if the head of Elisha the son of Shaphat is left standing on him this day.”

Now Elisha was sitting in his house and the elders were sitting with him. And the king sent a man from his presence, but before the messenger came to him, he said to the elders, “Do you see how this son of a murderer has sent to take away my head? Behold, when the messenger comes, shut the door and hold the door shut against him. Isn’t the sound of his lord’s feet behind him?”

While he was still talking with them, behold, the messenger came down to him. Then he said, “Behold, this evil is from Yahweh. Why should I wait for Yahweh any longer?”