2 Kings 6

1The sons of the prophets said to Elisha, “Please see, the place where we dwell before you is too cramped for us.”

2Please let us go to the Jordan, and let each man take from there one beam, and let us make a place for ourselves there to dwell there." And he said, "Go."

3Then one said, “Please be willing to go with your servants.” And he said, “I will go.”

4So he went with them, and they came to the Jordan and cut down the trees.

5But as one was felling a beam, the iron fell into the water, and he cried out and said, “Alas, my master! It was borrowed.”

6Then the man of God said, “Where did it fall?” And he showed him the place. Then he cut off a stick and threw it there, and the iron floated.

7And he said, “Pick it up for yourself.” So he reached out his hand and took it.

8The king of Aram was warring against Israel, and he consulted with his servants, saying, “At such-and-such a place shall be my camp.”

9Then the man of God sent word to the king of Israel, saying, “Be careful not to pass by this place, because the Arameans are coming down there.”

10So the king of Israel sent to the place about which the man of God had spoken to him and warned him, and he kept himself on guard there—not once or twice.

11The heart of the king of Aram was greatly troubled over this matter, and he called his servants and said to them, “Will you not tell me who among us is for the king of Israel?”

12But one of his servants said, “No, my lord the king. Rather, 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.” And it was reported to him, saying, “Behold, he is in Dothan.”

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

15When the servant of the man of God rose early and went out, behold, an army with horses and chariots was surrounding the city. And his servant said to him, “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.”

17Then Elisha prayed and said, “Yahweh, please open his eyes so that he may see.” So Yahweh opened the young man’s eyes, and he saw; and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.

18When they came down against him, Elisha prayed to Yahweh and said, “Please strike this nation with blindness.” So he struck them with blindness, according to the word of Elisha.

19And Elisha said to them, “This is not the way, and this is not the city. Follow me, and I will lead you to the man whom you seek.” And he led them to Samaria.

20And when they came into Samaria, Elisha said, “O Yahweh, open the eyes of these men so that they may see.” So Yahweh opened their eyes, and they saw; and behold, they were in the midst of Samaria.

21Then the king of Israel said to Elisha when he saw them, “Shall I strike them down? Shall I strike them down, my father?”

22But he said, “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, so that they may eat and drink and go to their master.”

23So he prepared a great feast for them, and they ate and drank. Then he sent them away, and they went to their master. And the raiding bands of Aram did not come again into the land of Israel.

24And it happened after this that Ben-hadad king of Aram gathered all his army, and he went up and besieged Samaria.

25And there was a great famine in Samaria; and behold, they were besieging it until a donkey’s head was eighty pieces of silver, and a fourth of a kab of dove’s dung was five pieces of silver.

26And as the king of Israel was passing by on the wall, a woman cried out to him, saying, “Help, my lord the king!”

27And he said, “If Yahweh does not help you, from where can I help you? From the threshing floor, or from the winepress?”

28And the king said to her, “What is the matter with you?” And she said, “This woman said to me, ‘Give your son, so that we may eat him today, and tomorrow we will eat my son.’”

29So we boiled my son and ate him. Then I said to her on the next day, ‘Give your son, so that we may eat him,’ but she hid her son.

30And when the king heard the words of the woman, he tore his clothes as he was passing by on the wall, and the people looked, and behold, sackcloth was on his body underneath.

31And he said, “May God do so to me, and more also, if the head of Elisha son of Shaphat remains on him today.”

32Elisha 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 came to him, he said to the elders, “Do you see how this son of a murderer has sent to take away my head? Look, when the messenger comes, shut the door and hold him fast at the door. Is not the sound of his master’s feet behind him?”

33While he was still speaking with them, behold, the messenger came down to him and said, “Behold, this evil is from Yahweh. Why should I wait for Yahweh any longer?”