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?'