2 Kings 6
1 The company of prophets said to Elisha, “Look, the place where we live with you is too small for us.
2 Let us go to the Jordan, and let each of us take a beam from there, so we can build a place for ourselves to live.” He said, “Go.”
3 One of them said, “Please come with your servants.” He replied, “I will go.”
4 He went with them. They came to the Jordan and cut down trees.
5 As one of them was felling a tree, the iron fell into the water. He cried out, “Oh, my lord! It was borrowed!”
6 The man of God asked, “Where did it fall?” He showed him the place. Then he cut a piece of wood, threw it there, and the iron floated.
7 He said, “Pick it up.” The man reached out his hand and took it.
8 The king of Aram was at war with Israel. He took counsel with his servants, saying, “I will camp at such-and-such a place.”
9 But the man of God sent word to the king of Israel: “Be careful when you pass that place, for the Arameans are going down there.”
10 The king of Israel sent word to the place the man of God had mentioned and warned him about, and kept watch there—not just once or twice.
11 The king of Aram was greatly troubled by this. He called his servants and said to them, “Won’t you tell me which one of us is on the side of the king of Israel?”
12 One of his servants said, “No one, 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 for him and seize him.” They told him, “He is in Dothan.”
14 So he sent horses, chariots, and a large army there. They arrived by night and surrounded the city.
15 When the servant of the man of God got up early and went out, he saw an army surrounding the city, with horses and chariots. His servant said to him, “Oh, my lord! What are we going to do?”
16 He replied, “Don’t be afraid, for those who are with us are more numerous than those who are with them.”
17 Elisha prayed, “LORD, please open his eyes so he can see.” The LORD opened the servant’s eyes, and he saw the mountain 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 nation with blindness.” And he struck them with blindness, as Elisha had asked.
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 looking for.” And he led them to Samaria.
20 When they entered Samaria, Elisha said, “LORD, open the eyes of these men so they can 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 asked Elisha, “Shall I kill them, my father? Shall I kill them?”
22 He replied, “Don’t kill them. Would you kill those you have captured with your sword and bow? Set bread and water before them, so they can eat and drink and then return to their master.”
23 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 bands never again entered the land of Israel.
24 After this, Ben-hadad king of Aram gathered his whole army, marched up, and besieged Samaria.
25 There was a severe famine in Samaria while the siege continued. A donkey’s head sold for eighty shekels of silver, and a quarter of a cab 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, “Help me, my lord the king!”
27 He replied, “If the LORD does not help you, where can I get help for you? From the threshing floor or the winepress?”
28 Then the king asked her, “What is the matter?” She answered, “This woman said to me, ‘Give up your son, and we will eat him today. Tomorrow we will eat my son.’
29 So we cooked my son and ate him. The next day I said to her, ‘Give up your son, and we will eat him.’ But she hid her son.”
30 When the king heard the woman’s words, he tore his clothes. As he was passing by on the wall, the people saw that he was wearing sackcloth underneath, against his skin.
31 He said, “May God do so to me, and more besides, 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, but before the messenger arrived, Elisha said to the elders, “Do you see how this murderer’s son has sent someone to take off my head? When the messenger arrives, shut the door and hold it against him. Can’t you hear the sound of his master’s footsteps behind him?”
33 He was still speaking with them when the messenger came down to him and said, “Look, this disaster comes from the LORD. Why should I wait for the LORD any longer?”
Read and listen to this chapter in the Shalem app, free: narration, chapter video and reading progress. Get the app