The Axe Head Floats

6 And ^(A)the sons of the prophets said to Elisha, “Behold now, the place before you where we are living is too limited for us. ² Please let us go to the Jordan and each of us take from there a beam, and let us make a place there for ourselves where we may live.” So he said, “Go.” ³ Then one said, “Please be willing to go with your servants.” And he ^[a]answered, “I shall go.” ⁴ So he went with them; and they came to the Jordan and cut down trees. ⁵ Now it happened that as one was felling a beam, ^[b]the axe head fell into the water; and he cried out and said, “Alas, my master! For it was borrowed.” ⁶ Then the man of God said, “Where did it fall?” And when he showed him the place, ^(B)he cut off a stick and threw it in there and made the iron float. ⁷ And he said, “Take it up for yourself.” So he sent forth his hand and took it.

Horses and Chariots of Fire Around Elisha

⁸ Now the king of Aram was warring against Israel; and he ^[c]counseled with his servants saying, “In such and such a place shall be my camp.” ^9 (C)And the man of God sent word to the king of Israel saying, “Beware that you do not pass this place, for the Arameans are coming down there.” ¹⁰ And the king of Israel sent to the place about which the man of God had told him; thus he warned him, so that he guarded himself there, ^[d]more than once or twice.

¹¹ Then the heart of the king of Aram was enraged over this thing; and he called his servants and said to them, “Will you not tell me which of us is for the king of Israel?” ¹² And one of his servants said, “No, my lord, O king; but Elisha, the prophet who is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the words that you speak in your bedroom.” ¹³ So he said, “Go and see where he is, that I may send and take him.” And it was told to him, saying, “Behold, he is in ^(D)Dothan.” ¹⁴ So he sent horses and chariots and a heavy military force there, and they came by night and surrounded the city.

¹⁵ Then the attendant of the man of God arose early and went out, and behold, a military force with horses and chariots was all around the city. And his young man said to him, “Alas, my master! ^[e]What shall we do?” ¹⁶ So he said, “^(E)Do not fear, for ^(F)those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” ¹⁷ Then Elisha prayed and said, “^(G)O Yahweh, I pray, open his eyes that he may see.” And Yahweh opened the eyes of the young man and he saw; and behold, the mountain was full of ^(H)horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. ¹⁸ And they came down to him, and Elisha prayed to Yahweh and said, “Strike this ^[f]people with blindness, I pray.” So He ^(I)struck them with blindness according to the word of Elisha. ¹⁹ Then Elisha said to them, “This is not the way, and this is not the city; walk after me and I will walk you over to the man whom you seek.” And he walked them over to Samaria.

²⁰ Now it happened that when they had come into Samaria, Elisha said, “O ^(J)Yahweh, open the eyes of these men, that they may see.” So Yahweh opened their eyes and they saw; and behold, they were in the midst of Samaria. ²¹ Then the king of Israel when he saw them, said to Elisha, “^(K)My father, shall I strike them down? Shall I strike them down?” ²² And he said, “You shall not strike them down. Would you ^(L)strike down those you have taken captive with your sword and with your bow? ^(M)Set bread and water before them, that they may eat and drink and walk back to their master.” ²³ So he prepared a great feast for them; and when they had eaten and drunk, he sent them away, and they went to their master. And ^(N)the marauding bands of Arameans did not come again into the land of Israel.

Aram’s Siege of Samaria

²⁴ Now it happened afterwards, that ^(O)Ben-hadad king of Aram gathered all his military camp and went up and besieged Samaria. ²⁵ Now there was a great ^(P)famine in Samaria. And behold, they besieged it, until a donkey’s head was sold for ^[g]eighty shekels of silver, and a fourth of a ^[h]kab 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, saying, “Save, my lord, O king!” ²⁷ He said, “^[i]If Yahweh does not save you, from where shall I save you? From the threshing floor, or from the wine press?” ²⁸ And the king said to her, “^(Q)What ^[j]is the matter with you?” And she said, “This woman said to me, ‘Give your son that we may eat him today, and we will eat my son tomorrow.’ ^29 (R)So we boiled my son and ate him; and I said to her on the next day, ‘Give your son, that we may eat him’; but she has hidden her son.” ³⁰ Now it happened that when the king heard the words of the woman, ^(S)he tore his clothes—now he was passing by on the wall—and the people looked, and behold, he had sackcloth ^[k]beneath on his ^[l]body. ³¹ Then he said, “May ^(T)God do so to me and more also, if the head of Elisha the son of Shaphat ^[m]remains on him today.”

Flour and Barley in Samaria

³² Now Elisha was sitting in his house, and ^(U)the elders were sitting with him. And the king sent a man from his presence; but before the messenger came to him, he said to the elders, “Do you ^(V)see how this son of a murderer has sent to take away my head? Look, when the messenger comes, shut the door and ^[n]hold the door shut against him. Is not the sound of his master’s feet behind him?” ³³ While he was still speaking with them, behold, the messenger came down to him and he said, “^(W)Behold, this evil is from Yahweh; why should I wait for Yahweh any longer?”