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2 Kings 6

2 Kings 6:1 The sons of the prophets said to Elisha, “Please notice that the place where we live under your supervision is too small for us.

2 Kings 6:2 Please let us go to Jordan, where we can each get a log and build ourselves a place to live. “Go,” he said.

2 Kings 6:3 Then one said, “Please come with your slaves.” “I’ll come,” he answered.

2 Kings 6:4 So he went with them, and when they came to the Jordan, they cut down trees.

2 Kings 6:5 As one of them was cutting down a tree, the iron ax head fell into the water, and he cried out, “Oh, my lord, it was borrowed!”

2 Kings 6:6 Then the man of God asked, “Where did it fall?” When he showed him the place, the man of God cut a piece of wood, threw it there, and made the iron float.

2 Kings 6:7 Then he said, “Pick it up.” So, he reached out and took it.

2 Kings 6:8 When the king of Aram was waging war against Israel, he conferred with his servants, “My camp will be at such and such a place.”

2 Kings 6:9 But the man of God sent word to the king of Israel: “Be careful passing by this place, for the Arameans are going down there.”

2 Kings 6:10 Consequently, the king of Israel sent word to the place the man of God had told him about. The man of God repeatedly warned the king, so the king would be on his guard.

2 Kings 6:11 The king of Aram was enraged because of this matter, and he called his slaves and demanded of them, “Tell me, which one of us is for the king of Israel?”

2 Kings 6:12 One of his slaves said, “No one, my lord king. Elisha, the prophet in Israel, tells the king of Israel even the words you speak in your bedroom.”

2 Kings 6:13 So the king said, “Go and see where he is, so I can send men to capture him.” When he was told, “Elisha is in Dothan,”

2 Kings 6:14 he sent horses, chariots, and a massive army there. They went by night and surrounded the city.

2 Kings 6:15 When the attendant of the man of God got up early and went out, he discovered an army with horses and chariots surrounding the city. So, the boy asked Elisha, “Oh, my lord, what are we to do?”

2 Kings 6:16 Elisha said, “Don’t be afraid, for those who are with us outnumber those who are with them.”

2 Kings 6:17 Then Elisha prayed, “Lord, please open his eyes and let him see.” So Yahveh opened the boy’s eyes, and he saw that the mountain was covered with horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.

2 Kings 6:18 When the Arameans came against him, Elisha prayed to Yahveh, “Please strike this nation with blindness.” According to Elisha’s words, he struck them with blindness.

2 Kings 6:19 Then Elisha said to them, “This is not the way, and this is not the city. Follow me, and I will take you to the man you’re looking for.” And he led them to Samaria.

2 Kings 6:20 When they entered Samaria, Elisha said, “Lord, open these men’s eyes and let them see.” So Yahveh opened their eyes, and they saw that they were in the middle of Samaria.

2 Kings 6:21 When the king of Israel saw them, he said to Elisha, “Should I kill them, my father?”

2 Kings 6:22 Elisha replied, “Don’t kill them. Do you kill those you have captured with your sword or your bow? Set food and water in front of them so they can eat and drink and go to their lord.”

2 Kings 6:23 So he prepared a big feast for them. When they had eaten and drunk, he sent them away, and they went to their lord. The Aramean raiders did not come into Israel’s land again.

2 Kings 6:24 It happened after this: King Ben-hadad of Aram brought all his military camps together, marched up, and laid siege to Samaria.

2 Kings 6:25 So there was a severe famine in Samaria, and they continued the siege against it until a donkey’s head sold for thirty-four ounces of silver, and a cup of dove’s dung sold for two ounces of silver.

2 Kings 6:26 As the king of Israel was passing by on the wall, a woman cried out to him, “My lord king, help!”

2 Kings 6:27 He answered, “If Yahveh doesn’t help you, where can I get help for you? From the threshing floor or the winepress?”

2 Kings 6:28 Then the king asked her, “What’s the matter?” She said, “This woman said to me, ‘Give up your son, and we will eat him today. Then we will eat my son tomorrow.’

2 Kings 6:29 So we boiled my son and ate him, and I said to her the next day, ‘Give up your son, and we will eat him,’ but she has hidden her son.”

2 Kings 6:30 When the king heard the woman’s words, he tore his clothes. Then, as he was passing by the wall, the people saw that there was a sackcloth under his clothes next to his skin.

2 Kings 6:31 He announced, “May God punish me and do so severely if the head of Elisha, son of Shaphat, remains on his shoulders today.”

2 Kings 6:32 Elisha was sitting in his house, and the elders were sitting with him. The king sent a man ahead of him, but before the agent got to him, Elisha said to the elders, “Do you see how this murderer has sent someone to remove my head? Look, when the agent comes, shut the door to keep him out. Isn’t the sound of his lord’s feet behind him?”

2 Kings 6:33 While Elisha was still speaking with them, the agent came down to him. Then he said, “This disaster is from Yahveh. Why should I wait for Yahveh any longer?”