1 The company of prophets said to Elisha, “Look, the place where we sit before you is too small for us. 2 Please let us go to the Jordan. Each of us can take a beam from there, and we can make a place there for us to live.” He said, “Go.” 3 One of them said, “Please be willing to come with your servants.” He said, “I will come.” 4 So he went with them. When they came to the Jordan, they began cutting down trees. 5 As one of them was felling a tree, the iron axe head fell into the water. He cried out, “Alas, my master! It was borrowed!” 6 The man of God said, “Where did it fall?” He showed him the place. Then Elisha cut a stick, threw it in there, and made the iron float. 7 He said, “Pick it up.” So the man reached out his hand and took it.

8 The king of Aram was at war with Israel. He consulted his servants and said, “I will set up my camp at such and such a place.” 9 But the man of God sent word to the king of Israel: “Be careful not to pass that place, for the Arameans are coming down there.” 10 So the king of Israel sent men to the place the man of God had told him about. Warned by him, he kept on his guard there. This happened more than once or twice. 11 The king of Aram was deeply troubled by this. He called his servants and said to them, “Will you not tell me which of us is on the side of the king of Israel?” 12 One of his servants said, “None of us, my lord the king. It is Elisha, the prophet in Israel, who tells the king of Israel the words you speak in your bedroom.” 13 He said, “Go and find out where he is, so I can send men to capture him.” He was told, “He is in Dothan.” 14 So he sent horses, chariots, and a large army there. They came by night and surrounded the city. 15 When the attendant of the man of God rose early and went out, he saw an army with horses and chariots surrounding the city. His servant said to him, “Alas, my master! What shall we do?” 16 He said, “Do not be afraid, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” 17 Then Elisha prayed, “LORD, please open his eyes so he may see.” The LORD opened the servant’s eyes, and he saw that the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. 18 When the Arameans came down toward him, Elisha prayed to the LORD, “Please strike this people with blindness.” And he struck them with blindness according to Elisha’s word. 19 Elisha said to them, “This is not the road, and this is not the city. Follow me, and I will lead you to the man you are seeking.” And he led them to Samaria. 20 When they entered Samaria, Elisha said, “LORD, open these men’s eyes so they may see.” The LORD opened their eyes, and they saw that they were in the middle of Samaria. 21 When the king of Israel saw them, he said to Elisha, “Shall I strike them down? Shall I strike them down, my father?” 22 He said, “Do not strike them down. Would you strike down those you have taken captive with your sword and bow? Set bread and water before them so they may eat and drink and return to their master.” 23 So he prepared a great feast for them. They ate and drank, and he sent them away. They returned to their master, and the Aramean raiding parties no longer came into the land of Israel.

24 Afterward, Ben-hadad king of Aram gathered his entire army, went up, and besieged Samaria. 25 There was a great famine in Samaria. The siege continued until a donkey’s head sold for about two pounds of silver, and about a cup of dove’s dung for about two ounces of silver. 26 As the king of Israel was passing along the wall, a woman cried out to him, “Help me, my lord the king!” 27 He said, “If the LORD does not help you, where can I get help for you? From the threshing floor or the winepress?” 28 The king asked her, “What is wrong?” She said, “This woman said to me, ‘Give up your son so we can eat him today, and we will eat my son tomorrow.’ 29 So 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 has hidden her son.” 30 When the king heard the woman’s words, he tore his clothes. As he passed along the wall, the people saw that he was wearing sackcloth against his skin beneath his clothes. 31 He said, “May God do so to me, and more also, if the head of Elisha son of Shaphat remains on his shoulders today!” 32 Elisha was sitting in his house, and the elders were sitting with him. The king sent a man ahead of him, but before the messenger reached him, Elisha said to the elders, “Do you see how this son of a murderer has sent someone to cut off my head? When the messenger comes, shut the door and hold it closed against him. Is not the sound of his master’s footsteps behind him?” 33 While he was still speaking with them, the messenger came down to him. He said, “This disaster is from the LORD. Why should I wait for the LORD any longer?”