Open English Translation 2KI Chapter 6

6 One day, the prophets-in-training said to Elisha, “Please look, The place where we’re sitting to learn from you is too narrow to fit us all in. 2 Please, let us go down by the Yordan river, and let each of us cut down and bring back a log from there to make a new classroom for us to sit in.”

“Go ahead,” he answered.

3 One of them insisted, “Please, say that you’ll come with your servants.”

“Okay then, I’ll come,” he said. 4 So he went with them to the Yordan valley to cut down some trees, 5 but while one of them was chopping down a tree, suddenly the axe head separated from the handle and went flying into the water. The man called out to Elisha, “Oh, Master, what should I do? It’s not my axe—I borrowed it!”

6 “Where did it fall in?” the man of God asked. After the man had shown him the place, Elisha cut off a stick and threw it there, and the iron axe head rose to the surface. 7 “Now get it out,” he said, and the man stretched out and grabbed it.

8 In those days, the king of Aram was fighting against Israel, and he’d instruct his servants, “Set up our camp in such and such a place.” 9 However, the man of God sent to Israel’s king of Israel to warn him, “Beware of passing by such and such a place, because the Aramean army will be attacking there.” 10 So the king would send messengers to the people at that place to warn them to watch and be prepared.

That happened several times 11 and the Aramean king got very upset about it. He called in his servants and demanded, “Which one of you is a traitor—passing military intelligence to the king of Israel?”

12 “No, my master the king,” a servant answered. “It’s the prophet Elisha in Israel who tells their king the things that you say even in your bedroom.”

13 “Go and find out where he is,” he instructed, “and I’ll send some men there to capture him.”

“He’s in Dothan,” he was told later. 14 So he sent chariots and horses and a large contingent, and they arrived there at night and surrounded the town.

15 Early the next morning, the man of God’s servant got up, and going outside he was shocked to see chariots and horses and an army surrounding the town, so he called Elisha, “Oh, my master! What will we do?”

16 “Don’t be afraid,” he said, “because we have many more than that on our side.” 17 Then Elisha prayed, “Yahweh, please enable his sight so he can see.” Then Yahweh enabled the eyes of the young man, and he was stunned to see that the hill was covered with chariots of fire and horses all around Elisha.

18 When the Arameans approached to swoop in, Elisha prayed to Yahweh, “Please, strike those warriors with blinding light.” So Yahweh struck them with blinding light just as Elisha had requested, 19 and Elisha told them, “This isn’t the right way, and this isn’t the town. Follow me, and let me lead you to the man you’re looking for.”

Then he led them to Shomron (Samaria, 20 and when they’d entered the city, Elisha said, “Yahweh, open the eyes of these people so they can see.” So Yahweh opened their eyes, and then they were stunned to see that they were in the middle of Shomron.

21 When he saw them, the king of Israel asked Elish, “Should I kill them? Should I kill them, my father?” 22 “No, don’t kill them,” he replied. “Would you cold-bloodedly kill your prisoners of war? No, give them bread and water and let them eat and drink, and then they can return to their master.” 23 So the king prepared a large meal for them, and they ate and drank, and he sent them off to return to their master. After that, the Aramean troops didn’t continue their ventures into Israel.

24 Sometime after that, King Ben-Hadad of Aram assembled all of his warriors and attacked Shomron (Samaria), and besieged it. 25 Being surrounded like that caused a terrible famine inside the city, until a donkey’s head would be sold for eighty silver coins, and a cup of doves droppings was sold for five silver coins.

26 One day as the king of Israel was walking past past on the top of the city wall, a woman cried out to him, “Save me, my master, the king!”

27 “If Yahweh won’t save you, how could I possibly save you?” he snapped. “Some grain from the threshing floor or some wine from the winepress?” 28 Then he asked her, “Okay, what’s your problem?”

“This woman said to me, ‘Let’s have your son and we’ll eat him today, then we’ll eat my son tomorrow,’ ” she answered. 29 “So we boiled my son and ate him, and then the next day I said, ‘Hand over your son and we’ll eat him,’ but she’d hidden him.”

30 When he heard that, the king (standing up on the wall) tore his clothes, and the people could see to their astonishment that he was wearing sackcloth underneath, 31 and he said, “May God do that to me and more, if Shafat’s son Elisha still has his head on him by the end of the day.”

32 Meanwhile, Elisha was sitting at home, joined by the city elders. The king had sent a warrior ahead of him, and before he’d arrived at the house, Elisha had told the elders, “Well now, that son of a murderer has sent an assassin to separate me from my head. Listen, when that hitman arrives, shut the door and lean against it. His master won’t be far behind him.” 33 He was still talking with them, when, wow, the warrior was coming towards the house soon followed by the king who said, “Listen, Yahweh caused this disaster so why should I trust him any longer?”