2 Kings

¹The group of prophets said to Elisha, 'The place where we meet with you is too small for us.'

²Let us go to the Jordan, where we can each get a log and build a place to live.' Elisha said, 'Go ahead.'

³One of them said, 'Please come with your servants.' Elisha replied, 'I will.'

⁴So he went with them, and when they arrived at the Jordan, they began cutting down trees.

⁵As one of them was cutting down a tree, the iron axe head fell into the water. 'Oh no, master!' he cried out. 'It was borrowed!'

⁶The man of God asked, 'Where did it fall?' When he showed him the spot, Elisha cut a stick and threw it in there, and made the iron float.

⁷Go, pick it up,' he said. The man reached out and took it.

⁸The king of Aram was at war with Israel. He consulted with his officers and said, 'I will set up my camp in such and such a place.'

⁹But the man of God sent word to the king of Israel: 'Be careful not to pass through that area, because the Arameans are going there.'

¹⁰So the king of Israel checked the place the man of God had warned him about. Time and again Elisha warned the king, and the king stayed on guard in those places.

¹¹This made the king of Aram furious. He summoned his officers and demanded, 'Tell me, which of us is on the side of the king of Israel?'

¹²One of his officers said, 'None of us, my lord the king. It is Elisha the prophet in Israel who tells the king of Israel what you say even in your own bedroom.'

¹³Go, find out where he is,' the king ordered, 'so I can send men to capture him.' He was told: 'He is in Dothan.'

¹⁴The king sent horses, chariots, and a large army there. They arrived at night and surrounded the city.

¹⁵When the servant of the man of God got up early the next morning, he went outside and saw an army with horses and chariots surrounding the city. 'Oh no, my lord! What shall we do?' he cried out.

¹⁶Don't be afraid,' Elisha answered. 'Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.'

¹⁷Elisha prayed, 'LORD, open his eyes so he can see.' Then the LORD opened the servant's eyes, and he saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.

¹⁸As the Aramean army came down toward him, Elisha prayed to the LORD, 'Strike these people with blindness.' And God struck them with blindness, just as Elisha had asked.

¹⁹Elisha said to them, 'This is not the right road and this is not the right city. Follow me, and I will lead you to the man you are looking for.' He led them to Samaria.

²⁰After they entered Samaria, Elisha said, 'LORD, open these men's eyes so they can see.' The LORD opened their eyes, and they saw that they were inside Samaria.

²¹When the king of Israel saw them, he asked Elisha, 'My father, should I kill them? Should I kill them?'

²²Elisha answered, 'Do not kill them. Would you kill people you captured with your own sword and bow? Give them food and water to eat and drink, and then let them return to their master.'

²³So the king prepared a great feast for them, and after they ate and drank, he sent them away, and they returned to their master. The Aramean raiding parties stopped coming into the land of Israel.

²⁴Some time later, Ben-hadad king of Aram mobilized his entire army and marched up to besiege Samaria.

²⁵The siege lasted until there was a severe famine in the city. The scarcity was so bad that a donkey's head sold for eighty shekels of silver, and half a cup of dove's dung sold for five shekels.

²⁶One day the king of Israel was walking along the wall when a woman cried out to him, 'Help me, my lord the king!'

²⁷If the LORD doesn't help you, where can I find help for you?' he replied. 'From the threshing floor? From the winepress?'

²⁸Then the king asked her, 'What is your trouble?' She answered, 'This woman said to me, Give up your son so we can eat him today, and tomorrow we'll eat my son.'

²⁹So we boiled my son and ate him. The next day I said to her, Give up your son so we can eat him — but she had hidden her son.'

³⁰When the king heard the woman's words, he tore his robes. As he walked along the wall, the people could see that he was wearing sackcloth underneath next to his skin.

³¹He said, 'May God deal with me severely if the head of Elisha son of Shaphat remains on his shoulders today.'

³²Now Elisha was sitting in his house with the elders. The king sent a messenger ahead of him, but before the messenger arrived, Elisha said to the elders, 'Do you see how this murderer is sending someone to cut off my head? Look — when the messenger arrives, shut the door and hold it shut against him. Can't you hear his master's footsteps behind him?'

³³While he was still talking with them, the messenger arrived. The king said, 'This disaster is from the LORD. Why should I wait for the LORD any longer?'