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2 Kings 4-6
Common English Bible
2 Kings 4-6
Common English Bible
A poor widow
4 Now there was a woman who had been married to a member of a group of prophets. She appealed to Elisha, saying, “My husband, your servant, is dead. You know how he feared the Lord. But now someone he owed money to has come to take my two children away as slaves.”
2 Elisha said to her, “What can I do for you? Tell me what you still have left in the house.”
She said, “Your servant has nothing at all in the house except a small jar of oil.”
3 He said, “Go out and borrow containers from all your neighbors. Get as many empty containers as possible. 4 Then go in and close the door behind you and your sons. Pour oil into all those containers. Set each one aside when it’s full.”
5 She left Elisha and closed the door behind her and her sons. They brought her containers as she kept on pouring. 6 When she had filled the containers, she said to her son, “Bring me another container.”
He said to her, “There aren’t any more.” Then the oil stopped flowing, 7 and she reported this to the man of God.
He said, “Go! Sell the oil and pay your debts. You and your sons can live on what remains.”
A rich woman
8 One day Elisha went to Shunem. A rich woman lived there. She urged him to eat something, so whenever he passed by, he would stop in to eat some food. 9 She said to her husband, “Look, I know that he is a holy man of God and he passes by regularly. 10 Let’s make a small room on the roof. We’ll set up a bed, a table, a chair, and a lamp for him there. Then when he comes to us, he can stay there.”
11 So one day Elisha came there, headed to the room on the roof, and lay down. 12 He said to his servant Gehazi, “Call this Shunammite woman.” Gehazi called her, and she stood before him. 13 Elisha then said to Gehazi, “Say to her, ‘Look, you’ve gone to all this trouble for us. What can I do for you? Is there anything I can say on your behalf to the king or to the commander of the army?’”
She said, “I’m content to live at home with my own people.”
14 Elisha asked, “So what can be done for her?”
Gehazi said, “Well, she doesn’t have a son, and her husband is old.”
15 Elisha said, “Call her.” So Gehazi called her, and she stood at the door. 16 Elisha said, “About this time next year, you will be holding a son in your arms.”
But she said, “No, man of God, sir; don’t lie to your servant.”
17 But the woman conceived and gave birth to a son at about the same time the next year. This was what Elisha had promised her.
18 The child grew up. One day he ran to his father, who was with the harvest workers. 19 He said to his father, “Oh, my head! My head!”
The father said to a young man, “Carry him to his mother.” 20 So he picked up the boy and brought him to his mother.
The boy sat on her lap until noon. Then he died. 21 She went up and laid him down on the bed for the man of God. Then she went out and closed the door. 22 She called her husband and said, “Send me one of the young men and one of the donkeys so that I can hurry to the man of God and come back.”
23 Her husband said, “Why are you going to him today? It’s not a new moon or sabbath.”
She said, “Don’t worry about it.” 24 She saddled the donkey, then said to her young servant, “Drive the donkey hard. Don’t let me slow down unless I tell you.” 25 So she went off and came to the man of God at Mount Carmel.
As soon as the man of God saw her from a distance, he said to Gehazi his servant, “Look, it’s the Shunammite woman! 26 Run out to meet her and ask her, ‘Are things okay with you, your husband, and your child?’”
She said, “Things are okay.”
27 When she got to the man of God at the mountain, she grabbed his feet. Gehazi came up to push her away, but the man of God said, “Leave her alone! She is distraught, but the Lord has hidden the reason from me and hasn’t told me why.”
28 She said, “Did I ask you for a son, sir? Didn’t I say, ‘Don’t raise my hopes’?”
29 Elisha said to Gehazi, “Get ready, take my staff, and go! If you encounter anyone, don’t stop to greet them. If anyone greets you, don’t reply. Put my staff on the boy’s face.”
30 But the boy’s mother said, “I swear by your life and by the Lord’s life, I won’t leave you!” So Elisha got up and followed her.
31 Gehazi went on ahead of them. He set the staff on the young boy’s face, but there was no sound or response. So he went back to meet Elisha and told him, “The boy didn’t wake up.”
32 Elisha came into the house and saw the boy lying dead on his bed. 33 He went in and closed the door behind the two of them. Then he prayed to the Lord. 34 He got up on the bed and lay down on top of the child, putting his mouth on the boy’s mouth, his eyes on the boy’s eyes, his hands on the boy’s hands. And as he bent over him, the child’s skin grew warm. 35 Then Elisha got down and paced back and forth in the house. Once again he got up on the bed and bent over the boy, at which point the boy sneezed[a] seven times and opened his eyes. 36 Elisha called for Gehazi and said, “Call the Shunammite woman.” Gehazi called her, and she came to Elisha. He told her, “Pick up your son.” 37 She came and fell at his feet, facedown on the ground. Then she picked up her son and left.
Miracles with food
38 When Elisha returned to Gilgal, there was a famine in the land. A group of prophets was sitting before him. He said to his servant, “Put on the big pot and cook some stew for the prophets.” 39 So one of them went out to the field to gather plants; he found a wild vine and gathered wild gourds from it, filling his garment. He came and cut them up into the pot of stew, but no one knew what they were.
40 The stew was served to the men, but as they started to eat it, they cried out and said, “There is death in that pot, man of God!” They couldn’t eat it.
41 Elisha said, “Get some flour.” He threw it into the pot and said, “Serve the people so they can eat.” At that point, there was nothing bad left in the pot.
42 A man came from Baal-shalishah, bringing the man of God some bread from the early produce—twenty loaves of barley bread and fresh grain from his bag.[b] Elisha said, “Give it to the people so they can eat.”
43 His servant said, “How can I feed one hundred men with this?”
Elisha said, “Give it to the people so they can eat! This is what the Lord says: ‘Eat and there will be leftovers.’” 44 So the servant gave the food to them. They ate and had leftovers, in agreement with the Lord’s word.
Naaman is healed
5 Naaman, a general for the king of Aram, was a great man and highly regarded by his master, because through him the Lord had given victory to Aram. This man was a mighty warrior, but he had a skin disease.[c] 2 Now Aramean raiding parties had gone out and captured a young girl from the land of Israel. She served Naaman’s wife.
3 She said to her mistress, “I wish that my master could come before the prophet who lives in Samaria. He would cure him of his skin disease.” 4 So Naaman went and told his master what the young girl from the land of Israel had said.
5 Then Aram’s king said, “Go ahead. I will send a letter to Israel’s king.”
So Naaman left. He took along ten kikkars of silver, six thousand shekels of gold, and ten changes of clothing. 6 He brought the letter to Israel’s king. It read, “Along with this letter I’m sending you my servant Naaman so you can cure him of his skin disease.”
7 When the king of Israel read the letter, he ripped his clothes. He said, “What? Am I God to hand out death and life? But this king writes me, asking me to cure someone of his skin disease! You must realize that he wants to start a fight with me.”
8 When Elisha the man of God heard that Israel’s king had ripped his clothes, he sent word to the king: “Why did you rip your clothes? Let the man come to me. Then he’ll know that there’s a prophet in Israel.”
9 Naaman arrived with his horses and chariots. He stopped at the door of Elisha’s house. 10 Elisha sent out a messenger who said, “Go and wash seven times in the Jordan River. Then your skin will be restored and become clean.”
11 But Naaman went away in anger. He said, “I thought for sure that he’d come out, stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, wave his hand over the bad spot, and cure the skin disease. 12 Aren’t the rivers in Damascus, the Abana[d] and the Pharpar, better than all Israel’s waters? Couldn’t I wash in them and get clean?” So he turned away and proceeded to leave in anger.
13 Naaman’s servants came up to him and spoke to him: “Our father, if the prophet had told you to do something difficult, wouldn’t you have done it? All he said to you was, ‘Wash and become clean.’” 14 So Naaman went down and bathed in the Jordan seven times, just as the man of God had said. His skin was restored like that of a young boy, and he became clean.
15 He returned to the man of God with all his attendants. He came and stood before Elisha, saying, “Now I know for certain that there’s no God anywhere on earth except in Israel. Please accept a gift from your servant.”
16 But Elisha said, “I swear by the life of the Lord I serve that I won’t accept anything.”
Naaman urged Elisha to accept something, but he still refused. 17 Then Naaman said, “If not, then let me, your servant, have two mule loads of earth. Your servant will never again offer entirely burned offerings or sacrifices to any other gods except the Lord. 18 But may the Lord forgive your servant for this one thing: When my master comes into Rimmon’s temple to bow down there and is leaning on my arm, I must also bow down in Rimmon’s temple. When I bow down in Rimmon’s temple, may the Lord forgive your servant for doing that.”
19 Elisha said to him, “Go in peace.”
But when Naaman had gone some distance from Elisha, 20 Gehazi (who was the servant of Elisha the man of God) thought, My master let this Aramean Naaman off the hook by not accepting the gift he brought! As surely as the Lord lives, I’ll go after him and accept something from him. 21 So Gehazi pursued Naaman.
Naaman saw him running after him, so he got down off his chariot to meet him. He said, “Is everything okay?”
22 Gehazi answered, “Yes, but my master sent me to say, ‘Two young men who are members of a group of prophets have just now come to me from the hills of Ephraim. Give them a kikkar of silver and two changes of clothing.’”
23 Naaman said, “By all means, take two kikkars!” He encouraged Gehazi to accept them. He tied two kikkars of silver up in two bags, along with two changes of clothes. Naaman gave them to two of his servants, and they carried them in front of Gehazi. 24 When Gehazi arrived at the elevated fortress,[e] he took the items from them and stored them in his house. Then he sent the servants away, and they left. 25 Gehazi then went and stood before his master.
Elisha said to Gehazi, “Where did you come from, Gehazi?”
“Your servant didn’t go anywhere,” Gehazi replied.
26 Elisha said to him, “Wasn’t my heart going along with you[f] when the man got off his chariot to meet you? Is this the time to accept silver, clothes, olive trees, vineyards, sheep, cattle, or male and female servants? 27 Naaman’s skin disease will now cling to you and to your descendants forever!” And Gehazi left Elisha’s presence, flaky like snow with skin disease.
An ax head floats
6 The members of the group of prophets said to Elisha, “Look, the place where we now live under your authority is too small for us. 2 Let’s go to the Jordan River and each get a log from there. Then we can make a place to live there.”
Elisha said, “Do it!”
3 One of them said, “Please come with us, your servants.”
Elisha said, “Okay, I’ll go.” 4 So he went with them. They came to the Jordan River and began cutting down trees. 5 One of them was cutting down a tree when his ax head fell into the water. He cried out, “Oh, no! Master, it was a borrowed ax!”
6 The man of God said, “Where did it fall?” He showed Elisha the place. Elisha then cut a piece of wood, threw it into the river there, and the ax head floated up. 7 “Lift it out,” Elisha said. So the man then reached out and grabbed it.
Aramean attacks are stopped
8 Aram’s king was fighting against Israel. He took counsel with his officers, saying, “I’ll camp at such-and-such a place.”
9 The man of God sent word to Israel’s king: “Beware of passing by this place because the Arameans are going down there.” 10 Then Israel’s king sent word to the place the man of God had mentioned to him. Time after time, Elisha warned the king, and the king stayed on the alert.
11 Aram’s king was extremely upset about this. He called his officers and said to them, “Tell me! Who among us is siding with Israel’s king?”
12 One of his officers said, “No one, Your Majesty! It’s Elisha the Israelite prophet who tells Israel’s king the words that you speak in the privacy of your bedroom.”
13 He said, “Go and find out where he is. Then I will send men to capture him.”
They told him, “He is in Dothan.” 14 So the king sent horses and chariots there with a strong army. They came at night and surrounded the city.
15 Elisha’s servant got up early and went out. He saw an army with horses and chariots surrounding the city. His servant said to Elisha, “Oh, no! Master, what will we do?”
16 “Don’t be afraid,” Elisha said, “because there are more of us than there are of them.” 17 Then Elisha prayed, “Lord, please open his eyes that he may see.” Then the Lord opened the servant’s eyes, and he saw that the mountain was full of horses and fiery chariots surrounding Elisha. 18 The Arameans came toward him, so Elisha prayed to the Lord, “Strike this nation with blindness.” And the Lord struck them blind, just as Elisha asked. 19 Elisha said to them, “This isn’t the right road or the right city. Follow me, and I’ll lead you to the man you are looking for.” But he took them to Samaria!
20 When they arrived in 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 right in the middle of Samaria! 21 When he saw them, Israel’s king said to Elisha, “Should I kill them, my father? Should I?”
22 He said, “No, don’t kill them. Did you capture them with your own sword or bow? Do you have the right to kill them?[g] Put food and water in front of them so they can eat and drink and return to their master.” 23 So the king gave them a great feast, and they ate and drank. Then the king let them go, and they returned to their master. After that, Aramean raiding parties didn’t come into Israel anymore.
Ben-hadad attacks Samaria
24 Now it happened later that Aram’s King Ben-hadad gathered all his forces and went up to attack Samaria. 25 The siege lasted so long that there was a great famine in Samaria. A donkey’s head sold for eighty shekels of silver and a quarter kab of doves’ dung[h] for five shekels. 26 Israel’s king was passing by on the city wall when a woman appealed to him, “Help me, Your Majesty!”
27 The king said, “No! May the Lord help you! Where can I find help for you? From the threshing floor or the winepress?” 28 But then the king asked her, “What’s troubling you?”
She answered, “A woman said to me, ‘Give up your son so we can eat him today; we’ll eat my son tomorrow.’ 29 So we cooked and ate my son. The next day I said to her, ‘Hand over your son so we can eat him.’ But she had hidden her son.”
30 When the king heard the woman’s story, he ripped his clothes. And as he passed by along the wall, the people could see that he was wearing mourning clothes underneath. 31 He said, “So may God do to me, and more, if the head of Elisha, Shaphat’s son, remains on his shoulders today!”
32 Elisha was sitting in his house, and the elders were sitting with him. The king sent a messenger on ahead, but before the man arrived, Elisha said to the elders, “Do you see that this murderer has sent someone to cut off my head? Watch for when the messenger comes, then close the door and hold it shut against him. The sound of his master’s feet is right behind him, isn’t it?”
33 While Elisha was still speaking with them, the messenger[i] arrived and said, “Look, this disaster is the Lord’s doing. Why should I trust the Lord any longer?”
Footnotes
- 2 Kings 4:35 Or gasped; Heb uncertain
- 2 Kings 4:42 Or still on its stem
- 2 Kings 5:1 Traditionally leprosy, a kind of scale skin disease
- 2 Kings 5:12 Or Amana
- 2 Kings 5:24 Or hillside; Heb uncertain
- 2 Kings 5:26 LXX; MT lacks along with you.
- 2 Kings 6:22 Heb uncertain
- 2 Kings 6:25 Or wild onions or carob pods
- 2 Kings 6:33 Or perhaps the king; cf 7:2
2 Kings 4-6
New International Version
2 Kings 4-6
New International Version
The Widow’s Olive Oil
4 The wife of a man from the company(A) of the prophets cried out to Elisha, “Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that he revered the Lord. But now his creditor(B) is coming to take my two boys as his slaves.”
2 Elisha replied to her, “How can I help you? Tell me, what do you have in your house?”
“Your servant has nothing there at all,” she said, “except a small jar of olive oil.”(C)
3 Elisha said, “Go around and ask all your neighbors for empty jars. Don’t ask for just a few. 4 Then go inside and shut the door behind you and your sons. Pour oil into all the jars, and as each is filled, put it to one side.”
5 She left him and shut the door behind her and her sons. They brought the jars to her and she kept pouring. 6 When all the jars were full, she said to her son, “Bring me another one.”
But he replied, “There is not a jar left.” Then the oil stopped flowing.
7 She went and told the man of God,(D) and he said, “Go, sell the oil and pay your debts. You and your sons can live on what is left.”
The Shunammite’s Son Restored to Life
8 One day Elisha went to Shunem.(E) And a well-to-do woman was there, who urged him to stay for a meal. So whenever he came by, he stopped there to eat. 9 She said to her husband, “I know that this man who often comes our way is a holy man of God. 10 Let’s make a small room on the roof and put in it a bed and a table, a chair and a lamp for him. Then he can stay(F) there whenever he comes to us.”
11 One day when Elisha came, he went up to his room and lay down there. 12 He said to his servant Gehazi, “Call the Shunammite.”(G) So he called her, and she stood before him. 13 Elisha said to him, “Tell her, ‘You have gone to all this trouble for us. Now what can be done for you? Can we speak on your behalf to the king or the commander of the army?’”
She replied, “I have a home among my own people.”
14 “What can be done for her?” Elisha asked.
Gehazi said, “She has no son, and her husband is old.”
15 Then Elisha said, “Call her.” So he called her, and she stood in the doorway. 16 “About this time(H) next year,” Elisha said, “you will hold a son in your arms.”
“No, my lord!” she objected. “Please, man of God, don’t mislead your servant!”
17 But the woman became pregnant, and the next year about that same time she gave birth to a son, just as Elisha had told her.
18 The child grew, and one day he went out to his father, who was with the reapers.(I) 19 He said to his father, “My head! My head!”
His father told a servant, “Carry him to his mother.” 20 After the servant had lifted him up and carried him to his mother, the boy sat on her lap until noon, and then he died. 21 She went up and laid him on the bed(J) of the man of God, then shut the door and went out.
22 She called her husband and said, “Please send me one of the servants and a donkey so I can go to the man of God quickly and return.”
23 “Why go to him today?” he asked. “It’s not the New Moon(K) or the Sabbath.”
“That’s all right,” she said.
24 She saddled the donkey and said to her servant, “Lead on; don’t slow down for me unless I tell you.” 25 So she set out and came to the man of God at Mount Carmel.(L)
When he saw her in the distance, the man of God said to his servant Gehazi, “Look! There’s the Shunammite! 26 Run to meet her and ask her, ‘Are you all right? Is your husband all right? Is your child all right?’”
“Everything is all right,” she said.
27 When she reached the man of God at the mountain, she took hold of his feet. Gehazi came over to push her away, but the man of God said, “Leave her alone! She is in bitter distress,(M) but the Lord has hidden it from me and has not told me why.”
28 “Did I ask you for a son, my lord?” she said. “Didn’t I tell you, ‘Don’t raise my hopes’?”
29 Elisha said to Gehazi, “Tuck your cloak into your belt,(N) take my staff(O) in your hand and run. Don’t greet anyone you meet, and if anyone greets you, do not answer. Lay my staff on the boy’s face.”
30 But the child’s mother said, “As surely as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you.” So he got up and followed her.
31 Gehazi went on ahead and laid the staff on the boy’s face, but there was no sound or response. So Gehazi went back to meet Elisha and told him, “The boy has not awakened.”
32 When Elisha reached the house, there was the boy lying dead on his couch.(P) 33 He went in, shut the door on the two of them and prayed(Q) to the Lord. 34 Then he got on the bed and lay on the boy, mouth to mouth, eyes to eyes, hands to hands. As he stretched(R) himself out on him, the boy’s body grew warm. 35 Elisha turned away and walked back and forth in the room and then got on the bed and stretched out on him once more. The boy sneezed seven times(S) and opened his eyes.(T)
36 Elisha summoned Gehazi and said, “Call the Shunammite.” And he did. When she came, he said, “Take your son.”(U) 37 She came in, fell at his feet and bowed to the ground. Then she took her son and went out.
Death in the Pot
38 Elisha returned to Gilgal(V) and there was a famine(W) in that region. While the company of the prophets was meeting with him, he said to his servant, “Put on the large pot and cook some stew for these prophets.”
39 One of them went out into the fields to gather herbs and found a wild vine and picked as many of its gourds as his garment could hold. When he returned, he cut them up into the pot of stew, though no one knew what they were. 40 The stew was poured out for the men, but as they began to eat it, they cried out, “Man of God, there is death in the pot!” And they could not eat it.
41 Elisha said, “Get some flour.” He put it into the pot and said, “Serve it to the people to eat.” And there was nothing harmful in the pot.(X)
Feeding of a Hundred
42 A man came from Baal Shalishah,(Y) bringing the man of God twenty loaves(Z) of barley bread(AA) baked from the first ripe grain, along with some heads of new grain. “Give it to the people to eat,” Elisha said.
43 “How can I set this before a hundred men?” his servant asked.
But Elisha answered, “Give it to the people to eat.(AB) For this is what the Lord says: ‘They will eat and have some left over.(AC)’” 44 Then he set it before them, and they ate and had some left over, according to the word of the Lord.
Naaman Healed of Leprosy
5 Now Naaman was commander of the army of the king of Aram.(AD) He was a great man in the sight of his master and highly regarded, because through him the Lord had given victory to Aram. He was a valiant soldier, but he had leprosy.[a](AE)
2 Now bands of raiders(AF) from Aram had gone out and had taken captive a young girl from Israel, and she served Naaman’s wife. 3 She said to her mistress, “If only my master would see the prophet(AG) who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy.”
4 Naaman went to his master and told him what the girl from Israel had said. 5 “By all means, go,” the king of Aram replied. “I will send a letter to the king of Israel.” So Naaman left, taking with him ten talents[b] of silver, six thousand shekels[c] of gold and ten sets of clothing.(AH) 6 The letter that he took to the king of Israel read: “With this letter I am sending my servant Naaman to you so that you may cure him of his leprosy.”
7 As soon as the king of Israel read the letter,(AI) he tore his robes and said, “Am I God?(AJ) Can I kill and bring back to life?(AK) Why does this fellow send someone to me to be cured of his leprosy? See how he is trying to pick a quarrel(AL) with me!”
8 When Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his robes, he sent him this message: “Why have you torn your robes? Have the man come to me and he will know that there is a prophet(AM) in Israel.” 9 So Naaman went with his horses and chariots and stopped at the door of Elisha’s house. 10 Elisha sent a messenger to say to him, “Go, wash(AN) yourself seven times(AO) in the Jordan, and your flesh will be restored and you will be cleansed.”
11 But Naaman went away angry and said, “I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, wave his hand(AP) over the spot and cure me of my leprosy. 12 Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters(AQ) of Israel? Couldn’t I wash in them and be cleansed?” So he turned and went off in a rage.(AR)
13 Naaman’s servants went to him and said, “My father,(AS) if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more, then, when he tells you, ‘Wash and be cleansed’!” 14 So he went down and dipped himself in the Jordan seven times,(AT) as the man of God had told him, and his flesh was restored(AU) and became clean like that of a young boy.(AV)
15 Then Naaman and all his attendants went back to the man of God(AW). He stood before him and said, “Now I know(AX) that there is no God in all the world except in Israel. So please accept a gift(AY) from your servant.”
16 The prophet answered, “As surely as the Lord lives, whom I serve, I will not accept a thing.” And even though Naaman urged him, he refused.(AZ)
17 “If you will not,” said Naaman, “please let me, your servant, be given as much earth(BA) as a pair of mules can carry, for your servant will never again make burnt offerings and sacrifices to any other god but the Lord. 18 But may the Lord forgive your servant for this one thing: When my master enters the temple of Rimmon to bow down and he is leaning(BB) on my arm and I have to bow there also—when I bow down in the temple of Rimmon, may the Lord forgive your servant for this.”
19 “Go in peace,”(BC) Elisha said.
After Naaman had traveled some distance, 20 Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, said to himself, “My master was too easy on Naaman, this Aramean, by not accepting from him what he brought. As surely as the Lord(BD) lives, I will run after him and get something from him.”
21 So Gehazi hurried after Naaman. When Naaman saw him running toward him, he got down from the chariot to meet him. “Is everything all right?” he asked.
22 “Everything is all right,” Gehazi answered. “My master sent me to say, ‘Two young men from the company of the prophets have just come to me from the hill country of Ephraim. Please give them a talent[d] of silver and two sets of clothing.’”(BE)
23 “By all means, take two talents,” said Naaman. He urged Gehazi to accept them, and then tied up the two talents of silver in two bags, with two sets of clothing. He gave them to two of his servants, and they carried them ahead of Gehazi. 24 When Gehazi came to the hill, he took the things from the servants and put them away in the house. He sent the men away and they left.
25 When he went in and stood before his master, Elisha asked him, “Where have you been, Gehazi?”
“Your servant didn’t go anywhere,” Gehazi answered.
26 But Elisha said to him, “Was not my spirit with you when the man got down from his chariot to meet you? Is this the time(BF) to take money or to accept clothes—or olive groves and vineyards, or flocks and herds, or male and female slaves?(BG) 27 Naaman’s leprosy(BH) will cling to you and to your descendants forever.” Then Gehazi(BI) went from Elisha’s presence and his skin was leprous—it had become as white as snow.(BJ)
An Axhead Floats
6 The company(BK) of the prophets said to Elisha, “Look, the place where we meet with you is too small for us. 2 Let us go to the Jordan, where each of us can get a pole; and let us build a place there for us to meet.”
And he said, “Go.”
3 Then one of them said, “Won’t you please come with your servants?”
“I will,” Elisha replied. 4 And he went with them.
They went to the Jordan and began to cut down trees. 5 As one of them was cutting down a tree, the iron axhead fell into the water. “Oh no, my lord!” he cried out. “It was borrowed!”
6 The man of God asked, “Where did it fall?” When he showed him the place, Elisha cut a stick and threw(BL) it there, and made the iron float. 7 “Lift it out,” he said. Then the man reached out his hand and took it.
Elisha Traps Blinded Arameans
8 Now the king of Aram was at war with Israel. After conferring with his officers, he said, “I will set up my camp in such and such a place.”
9 The man of God sent word to the king(BM) of Israel: “Beware of passing that place, because the Arameans are going down there.” 10 So the king of Israel checked on the place indicated by the man of God. Time and again Elisha warned(BN) the king, so that he was on his guard in such places.
11 This enraged the king of Aram. He summoned his officers and demanded of them, “Tell me! Which of us is on the side of the king of Israel?”
12 “None of us, my lord the king(BO),” said one of his officers, “but Elisha, the prophet who is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the very words you speak in your bedroom.”
13 “Go, find out where he is,” the king ordered, “so I can send men and capture him.” The report came back: “He is in Dothan.”(BP) 14 Then he sent(BQ) horses and chariots and a strong force there. They went by night and surrounded the city.
15 When the servant of the man of God got up and went out early the next morning, an army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city. “Oh no, my lord! What shall we do?” the servant asked.
16 “Don’t be afraid,”(BR) the prophet answered. “Those who are with us are more(BS) than those who are with them.”
17 And Elisha prayed, “Open his eyes, Lord, so that he may see.” Then the Lord opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots(BT) of fire all around Elisha.
18 As the enemy came down toward him, Elisha prayed to the Lord, “Strike this army with blindness.”(BU) So he struck them with blindness, as Elisha had asked.
19 Elisha told 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 After they entered the city, Elisha said, “Lord, open the eyes of these men so they can see.” Then the Lord opened their eyes and they looked, and there they were, inside Samaria.
21 When the king of Israel saw them, he asked Elisha, “Shall I kill them, my father?(BV) Shall I kill them?”
22 “Do not kill them,” he answered. “Would you kill those you have captured(BW) with your own sword or bow? Set food and water before them so that they may eat and drink and then go back to their master.” 23 So he prepared a great feast for them, and after they had finished eating and drinking, he sent them away, and they returned to their master. So the bands(BX) from Aram stopped raiding Israel’s territory.
Famine in Besieged Samaria
24 Some time later, Ben-Hadad(BY) king of Aram mobilized his entire army and marched up and laid siege(BZ) to Samaria. 25 There was a great famine(CA) in the city; the siege lasted so long that a donkey’s head sold for eighty shekels[e] of silver, and a quarter of a cab[f] of seed pods[g](CB) for five shekels.[h]
26 As the king of Israel was passing by on the wall, a woman cried to him, “Help me, my lord the king!”
27 The king replied, “If the Lord does not help you, where can I get help for you? From the threshing floor? From the winepress?” 28 Then he asked her, “What’s the matter?”
She answered, “This woman said to me, ‘Give up your son so we may eat him today, and tomorrow we’ll eat my son.’ 29 So we cooked my son and ate(CC) him. The next day I said to her, ‘Give up your son so we may eat him,’ but she had hidden him.”
30 When the king heard the woman’s words, he tore(CD) his robes. As he went along the wall, the people looked, and they saw that, under his robes, he had sackcloth(CE) on his body. 31 He said, “May God deal with me, be it ever so severely, if the head of Elisha son of Shaphat remains on his shoulders today!”
32 Now Elisha was sitting in his house, and the elders(CF) were sitting with him. The king sent a messenger ahead, but before he arrived, Elisha said to the elders, “Don’t you see how this murderer(CG) is sending someone to cut off my head?(CH) Look, when the messenger comes, shut the door and hold it shut against him. Is not the sound of his master’s footsteps behind him?” 33 While he was still talking to them, the messenger came down to him.
The king said, “This disaster is from the Lord. Why should I wait(CI) for the Lord any longer?”
Footnotes
- 2 Kings 5:1 The Hebrew for leprosy was used for various diseases affecting the skin; also in verses 3, 6, 7, 11 and 27.
- 2 Kings 5:5 That is, about 750 pounds or about 340 kilograms
- 2 Kings 5:5 That is, about 150 pounds or about 69 kilograms
- 2 Kings 5:22 That is, about 75 pounds or about 34 kilograms
- 2 Kings 6:25 That is, about 2 pounds or about 920 grams
- 2 Kings 6:25 That is, probably about 1/4 pound or about 100 grams
- 2 Kings 6:25 Or of doves’ dung
- 2 Kings 6:25 That is, about 2 ounces or about 58 grams
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