1 Now A2 Kin 2:3the sons of the prophets said to Elisha, “Behold now, the place before you where we are living is too limited for us. 2  “Please let us go to the Jordan and each of us take from there a beam, and let us make a place there for ourselves where we may live.” So he said, “Go.” 3 Then one said, “Please be willing to go with your servants.” And he 1Lit saidanswered, “I shall go.” 4 So he went with them; and when they came to the Jordan, they cut down trees. 5 But as one was felling a beam, 1Lit as for the iron, it fellthe axe head fell into the water; and he cried out and said, “Alas, my master! For it was borrowed.” 6 Then the man of God said, “Where did it fall?” And when he showed him the place, AEx 15:25; 2 Kin 2:21; 4:41he cut off a stick and threw it in there, and made the iron float. 7 He said, “Take it up for yourself.” So he put out his hand and took it.

8 Now the king of Aram was warring against Israel; and he 1Lit took counselcounseled with his servants saying, “In such and such a place shall be my camp.” 9 A2 Kin 4:1, 7; 6:12The man of God sent word to the king of Israel saying, “Beware that you do not pass this place, for the Arameans are coming down there.” 10 The king of Israel sent to the place about which the man of God had told him; thus he warned him, so that he guarded himself there, 1Lit not once or twicemore than once or twice.

11 Now the heart of the king of Aram was enraged over this thing; and he called his servants and said to them, “Will you tell me which of us is for the king of Israel?” 12 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.” 13 So he said, “Go and see where he is, that I may send and take him.” And it was told him, saying, “Behold, he is in AGen 37:17Dothan.” 14 He sent horses and chariots and a great army there, and they came by night and surrounded the city.

15 Now when the attendant of the man of God had risen early and gone out, behold, an army with horses and chariots was circling the city. And his servant said to him, “Alas, my master! 1Lit HowWhat shall we do?” 16 So he 1Lit saidanswered, “AEx 14:13Do not fear, for B2 Chr 32:7, 8; Rom 8:31those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” 17 Then Elisha prayed and said, “A2 Kin 6:20O Loʀᴅ, I pray, open his eyes that he may see.” And the Loʀᴅ opened the servant’s eyes and he saw; and behold, the mountain was full of B2 Kin 2:11; Ps 68:17; Zech 6:1-7horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. 18 When they came down to him, Elisha prayed to the Loʀᴅ and said, “Strike this 1Lit nationpeople with blindness, I pray.” So He AGen 19:11struck them with blindness according to the word of Elisha. 19 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.” And he brought them to Samaria.

20 When they had come into Samaria, Elisha said, “O A2 Kin 6:17Loʀᴅ, open the eyes of these men, that they may see.” So the Loʀᴅ opened their eyes and they saw; and behold, they were in the midst of Samaria. 21 Then the king of Israel when he saw them, said to Elisha, “A2 Kin 2:12; 5:13; 8:9My father, shall I 1Lit smitekill them? Shall I 1Lit smitekill them?” 22 He 1Lit saidanswered, “You shall not 2Lit smitekill them. Would you 2Lit smiteADeut 20:11-16; 2 Chr 28:8-15kill those you have taken captive with your sword and with your bow? BRom 12:20Set bread and water before them, that they may eat and drink and go to their master.” 23 So he prepared a great feast for them; and when they had eaten and drunk he sent them away, and they went to their master. And A2 Kin 5:2; 24:2the marauding bands of Arameans did not come again into the land of Israel.

24 Now it came about after this, that A1 Kin 20:1Ben-hadad king of Aram gathered all his army and went up and besieged Samaria. 25 There was a great ALev 26:26famine in Samaria; and behold, they besieged it, until a donkey’s head was sold for eighty shekels of silver, and a fourth of a 1I.e. One kab equals approx 2 qtskab of dove’s dung for five shekels of silver. 26 As the king of Israel was passing by on the wall a woman cried out to him, saying, “Help, my lord, O king!” 27 He said, “1Lit No, let the Loʀᴅ help youIf the Loʀᴅ does not help you, from where shall I help you? From the threshing floor, or from the wine press?” 28 And the king said to her, “AJudg 18:23What 1Lit to youis the matter with you?” And she 2Lit saidanswered, “This woman said to me, ‘Give your son that we may eat him today, and we will eat my son tomorrow.’ 29  “ALev 26:27-29; Deut 28:52, 53, 57; Lam 4:10So we boiled my son and ate him; and I said to her on the next day, ‘Give your son, that we may eat him’; but she has hidden her son.” 30 When the king heard the words of the woman, A1 Kin 21:27he tore his clothes—now he was passing by on the wall—and the people looked, and behold, he had sackcloth 1Lit withinbeneath on his 2Lit fleshbody. 31 Then he said, “May ARuth 1:17; 1 Kin 19:2God do so to me and more also, if the head of Elisha the son of Shaphat 1Lit standsremains on him today.”

32 Now Elisha was sitting in his house, and AEzek 8:1; 14:1; 20:1the 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 B1 Kin 18:4, 13, 14; 21:10, 13see how this son of a murderer has sent to take away my head? Look, when the messenger comes, shut the door and 1Lit press him with the doorhold the door shut against him. Is not the sound of his master’s feet behind him?” 33 While he was still talking with them, behold, the messenger came down to him and he said, “AIs 8:21Behold, this evil is from the Loʀᴅ; why should I wait for the Loʀᴅ any longer?”