2 Kings 6

The Axe Head Floatsⓘ

The floating axe head¹Now the sons of the prophets said to Elisha, “Please take note that the place where we meet with you is too small for us. ²Please let us go to the Jordan, where each of us can get a log so we can build ourselves a place to live there.”

“Go,” said Elisha.

³Then one of them said, “Please come with your servants.”

“I will come,” he replied.

⁴So Elisha went with them, and when they came to the Jordan, they began to cut down some trees. ⁵As one of them was cutting down a tree, the iron axe head fell into the water. “Oh, my master,” he cried out, “it was borrowed!”

⁶“Where did it fall?” asked the man of God.

And when he showed him the place, the man of God cut a stick, threw it there, and made the iron float.

⁷“Lift it out,” he said, and the man reached out his hand and took it.

Elisha Captures the Blinded Arameansⓘ

Elisha reveals the Arameans' plans⁸Now the king of Aram was at war against Israel. After consulting with his servants, he said, “My camp will be in such and such a place.”

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

¹⁰So the king of Israel sent word to the place the man of God had pointed out. Time and again^a Elisha warned the king, so that he was on his guard in such places. ¹¹For this reason the king of Aram became enraged and called his servants to demand of them, “Tell me, which one of us is on the side of the king of Israel?”

¹²But one of his servants replied, “No one, my lord the king. For Elisha, the prophet in Israel, tells the king of Israel the very words you speak in your bedroom.”

¹³So the king said, “Go and see where he is, that I may send men to capture him.”

On receiving the report, “Elisha is in Dothan,” ¹⁴the king of Aram sent horses, chariots, and a great army. They went there by night and surrounded the city.

Blinded army led to Samaria and fed¹⁵When the servant of the man of God got up and went out early in the morning, behold, an army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city. So he asked Elisha, “Oh, my master, what are we to do?”

¹⁶“Do not be afraid,” Elisha answered, “for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.”

¹⁷Then Elisha prayed, “O Lord, please open his eyes that he may see.”

And the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw that the hills were full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.

¹⁸As the Arameans came down against him, Elisha prayed to the Lord, “Please strike these people with blindness.” So He struck them with blindness, according to the word of Elisha.

¹⁹And Elisha told them, “This is not the way, and this is not the city. Follow me, and I will take you to the man you are seeking.” And he led them to Samaria.

²⁰When they had entered Samaria, Elisha said, “O Lord, open the eyes of these men that they may see.”

Then the Lord opened their eyes, and they looked around and discovered that they were in Samaria.

²¹And when the king of Israel saw them, he asked Elisha, “My father, shall I kill them? Shall I kill them?”

²²“Do not kill them,” he replied. “Would you kill those you have captured with your own sword or bow? Set food and water before them, that they may eat and drink and then return to their master.”

²³So the king prepared a great feast for them, and after they had finished eating and drinking, he sent them away, and they returned to their master. And the Aramean raiders did not come into the land of Israel again.

The Siege and Famine of Samariaⓘ

Siege and famine in Samaria²⁴Some time later, Ben-hadad king of Aram assembled his entire army and marched up to besiege Samaria.

²⁵So there was a great famine in Samaria. Indeed, they besieged the city so long that a donkeyʼs head sold for eighty shekels of silver,^b and a quarter cab of doveʼs dung^c sold for five shekels of silver.^d

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

²⁷He answered, “If the Lord does not help you, where can I find help for you? From the threshing floor or the winepress?” ²⁸Then the king asked her, “What is the matter?”

And she answered, “This woman said to me, ‘Give up your son, that we may eat him, and tomorrow we will eat my son.’ ²⁹So we boiled my son and ate him, and the next day I said to her, ‘Give up your son, that we may eat him.’ But she had hidden her son.”

³⁰When the king heard the words of the woman, he tore his clothes. And as he passed by on the wall, the people saw the sackcloth under his clothes next to his skin. ³¹He announced, “May God punish me, and ever so severely, if the head of Elisha son of Shaphat remains on his shoulders through this day!”

³²Now Elisha was sitting in his house, and the elders were sitting with him. The king sent a messenger ahead, but before he arrived, Elisha said to the elders, “Do you see how this murderer has sent someone to cut off my head? Look, when the messenger comes, shut the door to keep him out. Is not the sound of his masterʼs footsteps behind him?”

³³While Elisha was still speaking with them, the messenger came down to him. And the king said, “This calamity is from the Lord. Why should I wait for the Lord any longer?”