The Miracle of the Ax Head

6 Now the sons of the prophets said to Eli′sha, “See, the place where we dwell under your charge is too small for us. ² Let us go to the Jordan and each of us get there a log, and let us make a place for us to dwell there.” And he answered, “Go.” ³ Then one of them said, “Be pleased to go with your servants.” And he answered, “I will 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 log, his axe head fell into the water; and he cried out, “Alas, my master! It was borrowed.” ⁶ Then the man of God said, “Where did it fall?” When he showed him the place, he cut off a stick, and threw it in there, and made the iron float. ⁷ And he said, “Take it up.” So he reached out his hand and took it.

The Aramean Attack Is Thwarted

⁸ Once when the king of Syria was warring against Israel, he took counsel with his servants, saying, “At such and such a place shall be my camp.” ⁹ But the man of God sent word to the king of Israel, “Beware that you do not pass this place, for the Syrians are going down there.” ¹⁰ And the king of Israel sent to the place of which the man of God told him. Thus he used to warn him, so that he saved himself there more than once or twice.

¹¹ And the mind of the king of Syria was greatly troubled because of this thing; and he called his servants and said to them, “Will you not show me who of us is for the king of Israel?” ¹² And one of his servants said, “None, my lord, O king; but Eli′sha, the prophet who is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the words that you speak in your bedchamber.” ¹³ And he said, “Go and see where he is, that I may send and seize him.” It was told him, “Behold, he is in Dothan.” ¹⁴ So he sent there horses and chariots and a great army; and they came by night, and surrounded the city.

¹⁵ When the servant of the man of God rose early in the morning and went out, behold, an army with horses and chariots was round about the city. And the servant said, “Alas, my master! What shall we do?” ¹⁶ He said, “Fear not, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” ¹⁷ Then Eli′sha prayed, and said, “O Lord, I pray thee, open his eyes that he may see.” So the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw; and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Eli′sha. ¹⁸ And when the Syrians came down against him, Eli′sha prayed to the Lord, and said, “Strike this people, I pray thee, with blindness.” So he struck them with blindness in accordance with the prayer of Eli′sha. ¹⁹ And Eli′sha said to them, “This is not the way, and this is not the city; follow me, and I will bring you to the man whom you seek.” And he led them to Samar′ia.

²⁰ As soon as they entered Samar′ia, Eli′sha said, “O Lord, open the eyes of these men, that they may see.” So the Lord opened their eyes, and they saw; and lo, they were in the midst of Samar′ia. ²¹ When the king of Israel saw them he said to Eli′sha, “My father, shall I slay them? Shall I slay them?” ²² He answered, “You shall not slay them. Would you slay those whom you have taken captive with your sword and with your bow? Set bread and water before them, that they may eat and drink and go to their master.” ²³ So he prepared for them a great feast; and when they had eaten and drunk, he sent them away, and they went to their master. And the Syrians came no more on raids into the land of Israel.

Ben-hadad’s Siege of Samaria

²⁴ Afterward Ben-ha′dad king of Syria mustered his entire army, and went up, and besieged Samar′ia. ²⁵ And there was a great famine in Samar′ia, as they besieged it, until an ass’s head was sold for eighty shekels of silver, and the fourth part of a kab of dove’s dung for five shekels of silver. ²⁶ Now as the king of Israel was passing by upon the wall, a woman cried out to him, saying, “Help, my lord, O king!” ²⁷ And he said, “If the Lord will not help you, whence shall I help you? From the threshing floor, or from the wine press?” ²⁸ And the king asked her, “What is your trouble?” She answered, “This woman said to me, ‘Give your son, that we may eat him today, and we will eat my son tomorrow.’ ²⁹ So we boiled my son, and ate him. And on the next day I said to her, ‘Give your son, that we may eat him’; but she has hidden her son.” ³⁰ When the king heard the words of the woman he rent his clothes—now he was passing by upon the wall—and the people looked, and behold, he had sackcloth beneath upon his body— ³¹ and he said, “May God do so to me and more also, if the head of Eli′sha the son of Shaphat remains on his shoulders today.”

³² Eli′sha was sitting in his house, and the elders were sitting with him. Now the king had dispatched a man from his presence; but before the messenger arrived Eli′sha said to the elders, “Do you see how this murderer has sent to take off my head? Look, when the messenger comes, shut the door, and hold the door fast against him. Is not the sound of his master’s feet behind him?” ³³ And while he was still speaking with them, the king^[a] came down to him and said, “This trouble is from the Lord! Why should I wait for the Lord any longer?” 7 ¹ But Eli′sha said, “Hear the word of the Lord: thus says the Lord, Tomorrow about this time a measure of fine meal shall be sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, at the gate of Samar′ia.” ² Then the captain on whose hand the king leaned said to the man of God, “If the Lord himself should make windows in heaven, could this thing be?” But he said, “You shall see it with your own eyes, but you shall not eat of it.”

The Arameans Flee

³ Now there were four men who were lepers at the entrance to the gate; and they said to one another, “Why do we sit here till we die? ⁴ If we say, ‘Let us enter the city,’ the famine is in the city, and we shall die there; and if we sit here, we die also. So now come, let us go over to the camp of the Syrians; if they spare our lives we shall live, and if they kill us we shall but die.” ⁵ So they arose at twilight to go to the camp of the Syrians; but when they came to the edge of the camp of the Syrians, behold, there was no one there. ⁶ For the Lord had made the army of the Syrians hear the sound of chariots, and of horses, the sound of a great army, so that they said to one another, “Behold, the king of Israel has hired against us the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Egypt to come upon us.” ⁷ So they fled away in the twilight and forsook their tents, their horses, and their asses, leaving the camp as it was, and fled for their lives. ⁸ And when these lepers came to the edge of the camp, they went into a tent, and ate and drank, and they carried off silver and gold and clothing, and went and hid them; then they came back, and entered another tent, and carried off things from it, and went and hid them.

⁹ Then they said to one another, “We are not doing right. This day is a day of good news; if we are silent and wait until the morning light, punishment will overtake us; now therefore come, let us go and tell the king’s household.” ¹⁰ So they came and called to the gatekeepers of the city, and told them, “We came to the camp of the Syrians, and behold, there was no one to be seen or heard there, nothing but the horses tied, and the asses tied, and the tents as they were.” ¹¹ Then the gatekeepers called out, and it was told within the king’s household. ¹² And the king rose in the night, and said to his servants, “I will tell you what the Syrians have prepared against us. They know that we are hungry; therefore they have gone out of the camp to hide themselves in the open country, thinking, ‘When they come out of the city, we shall take them alive and get into the city.’” ¹³ And one of his servants said, “Let some men take five of the remaining horses, seeing that those who are left here will fare like the whole multitude of Israel that have already perished; let us send and see.” ¹⁴ So they took two mounted men, and the king sent them after the army of the Syrians, saying, “Go and see.” ¹⁵ So they went after them as far as the Jordan; and lo, all the way was littered with garments and equipment which the Syrians had thrown away in their haste. And the messengers returned, and told the king.

¹⁶ Then the people went out, and plundered the camp of the Syrians. So a measure of fine meal was sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, according to the word of the Lord. ¹⁷ Now the king had appointed the captain on whose hand he leaned to have charge of the gate; and the people trod upon him in the gate, so that he died, as the man of God had said when the king came down to him. ¹⁸ For when the man of God had said to the king, “Two measures of barley shall be sold for a shekel, and a measure of fine meal for a shekel, about this time tomorrow in the gate of Samar′ia,” ¹⁹ the captain had answered the man of God, “If the Lord himself should make windows in heaven, could such a thing be?” And he had said, “You shall see it with your own eyes, but you shall not eat of it.” ²⁰ And so it happened to him, for the people trod upon him in the gate and he died.

Gifts of Prophecy and Tongues

14 Make love your aim, and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy. ² For one who speaks in a tongue speaks not to men but to God; for no one understands him, but he utters mysteries in the Spirit. ³ On the other hand, he who prophesies speaks to men for their upbuilding and encouragement and consolation. ⁴ He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself, but he who prophesies edifies the church. ⁵ Now I want you all to speak in tongues, but even more to prophesy. He who prophesies is greater than he who speaks in tongues, unless some one interprets, so that the church may be edified.

⁶ Now, brethren, if I come to you speaking in tongues, how shall I benefit you unless I bring you some revelation or knowledge or prophecy or teaching? ⁷ If even lifeless instruments, such as the flute or the harp, do not give distinct notes, how will any one know what is played? ⁸ And if the bugle gives an indistinct sound, who will get ready for battle? ⁹ So with yourselves; if you in a tongue utter speech that is not intelligible, how will any one know what is said? For you will be speaking into the air. ¹⁰ There are doubtless many different languages in the world, and none is without meaning; ¹¹ but if I do not know the meaning of the language, I shall be a foreigner to the speaker and the speaker a foreigner to me. ¹² So with yourselves; since you are eager for manifestations of the Spirit, strive to excel in building up the church.

¹³ Therefore, he who speaks in a tongue should pray for the power to interpret. ¹⁴ For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays but my mind is unfruitful. ¹⁵ What am I to do? I will pray with the spirit and I will pray with the mind also; I will sing with the spirit and I will sing with the mind also. ¹⁶ Otherwise, if you bless^[a] with the spirit, how can any one in the position of an outsider^[b] say the “Amen” to your thanksgiving when he does not know what you are saying? ¹⁷ For you may give thanks well enough, but the other man is not edified. ¹⁸ I thank God that I speak in tongues more than you all; ¹⁹ nevertheless, in church I would rather speak five words with my mind, in order to instruct others, than ten thousand words in a tongue.

²⁰ Brethren, do not be children in your thinking; be babes in evil, but in thinking be mature. ²¹ In the law it is written, “By men of strange tongues and by the lips of foreigners will I speak to this people, and even then they will not listen to me, says the Lord.” ²² Thus, tongues are a sign not for believers but for unbelievers, while prophecy is not for unbelievers but for believers. ²³ If, therefore, the whole church assembles and all speak in tongues, and outsiders or unbelievers enter, will they not say that you are mad? ²⁴ But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or outsider enters, he is convicted by all, he is called to account by all, ²⁵ the secrets of his heart are disclosed; and so, falling on his face, he will worship God and declare that God is really among you.

Orderly Worship

²⁶ What then, brethren? When you come together, each one has a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. Let all things be done for edification. ²⁷ If any speak in a tongue, let there be only two or at most three, and each in turn; and let one interpret. ²⁸ But if there is no one to interpret, let each of them keep silence in church and speak to himself and to God. ²⁹ Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others weigh what is said. ³⁰ If a revelation is made to another sitting by, let the first be silent. ³¹ For you can all prophesy one by one, so that all may learn and all be encouraged; ³² and the spirits of prophets are subject to prophets. ³³ For God is not a God of confusion but of peace.

As in all the churches of the saints, ³⁴ the women should keep silence in the churches. For they are not permitted to speak, but should be subordinate, as even the law says. ³⁵ If there is anything they desire to know, let them ask their husbands at home. For it is shameful for a woman to speak in church. ³⁶ What! Did the word of God originate with you, or are you the only ones it has reached?

³⁷ If any one thinks that he is a prophet, or spiritual, he should acknowledge that what I am writing to you is a command of the Lord. ³⁸ If any one does not recognize this, he is not recognized. ³⁹ So, my brethren, earnestly desire to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues; ⁴⁰ but all things should be done decently and in order.