2 Kings 6
New American Standard Bible
The Axe Head Recovered
6 Now (A)the sons of the prophets said to Elisha, “Behold now, the place [a]before you where we are living is too cramped for us. 2 Please let us go to the Jordan, and let us each take from there a beam, and let us construct a place there for ourselves, to live there.” So he said, “Go.” 3 Then one of them said, “Please agree and go with your servants.” And he said, “I will go.” 4 So he went with them; and when they came to the Jordan, they cut down trees. 5 But it happened that as one of them was [b]cutting down a beam, [c]the axe head fell into the water; and he cried out and said, “Oh, my master! 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 Then he said, “Pick it up for yourself.” So he reached out his hand and took it.
The Arameans Plot to Capture Elisha
8 Now the king of Aram was making war against Israel; and he consulted with his servants, saying, “In such and such a place shall be my camp.” 9 But (C)the man of God sent word to the king of Israel, saying, “Be careful that you do not pass this place, because the Arameans are coming down there.” 10 And the king of Israel sent scouts to the place about which the man of God had told him; so he warned him, so that he was on his guard there, [d]more than once or twice.
11 Now the heart of the king of Aram was enraged over this matter; and he called his servants and said to them, “Will you not tell me which of us is for the king of Israel?” 12 One of his servants said, “No, my lord, the 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, so that I may send men 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 substantial army there, and they came by night and surrounded the city.
15 Now when the attendant of the man of God had risen early and gone out, behold, an army with horses and chariots was circling the city. And his servant said to him, “This is hopeless, my master! [e]What are we to do?” 16 And he said, “(E)Do not be afraid, for (F)those who are with us are [f]greater than those who are with them.” 17 Then Elisha prayed and said, “(G)Lord, please, open his eyes so that he may see.” And the Lord opened the servant’s eyes, and he saw; and behold, the mountain was full of (H)horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. 18 And when they came down to him, Elisha prayed to the Lord and said, “Please strike this [g]people with blindness.” So He (I)struck them with blindness in accordance with the word of Elisha. 19 Then Elisha said to them, “This is not the way, nor is this the city; follow me and I will bring you to the man whom you seek.” And he brought them to Samaria.
20 When they had come into Samaria, Elisha said, “(J)Lord, open the eyes of these men, so that they may see.” So the Lord 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 [h]kill them? Shall I [i]kill them?” 22 But he [j]answered, “You shall not [k]kill them. Would you [l](L)kill those whom you have taken captive with your sword and your bow? (M)Set bread and water before them, so that they may eat and drink, and go to their master.” 23 So he provided a large 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.
The Siege of Samaria—Cannibalism
24 Now it came about after this, that (O)Ben-hadad the king of Aram gathered all his army, and went up and besieged Samaria. 25 So there was a severe (P)famine in Samaria; and behold, they kept besieging it until a donkey’s head was sold for eighty shekels of silver, and a fourth of a [m]kab of dove’s dung for five shekels of silver. 26 And as the king of Israel was passing by on the wall, a woman cried out to him, saying, “Help, my lord the king!” 27 But he said, “[n]If the Lord does not help you, from where am I to help you? From the threshing floor, or from the wine press?” 28 Then the king said to her, “(Q)What [o]is on your mind?” And she said, “This woman said to me, ‘Give your son so that we may eat him today, and we will eat my son tomorrow.’ 29 (R)So we cooked my son and ate him; and I said to her on the next day, ‘Give your son, so that we may eat him’; but she has hidden her son.” 30 When the king heard the woman’s words, (S)he tore his clothes—and he was passing by on the wall—and the people looked, and behold, he had sackcloth [p]underneath on his [q]body. 31 Then he said, “May (T)God do so to me and more so, if the head of Elisha the son of Shaphat [r]remains on him today.”
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 a man to cut off my head? Look, when the messenger comes, shut the door and [s]hold the door shut against him. Is the sound of his master’s feet not behind him?” 33 While he was still talking with them, behold, the messenger came down to him and he said, “(W)Behold, this evil is from the Lord; why should I wait for the Lord any longer?”
Footnotes
- 2 Kings 6:1 Or where we sit in your presence
- 2 Kings 6:5 Or dropping; lit felling
- 2 Kings 6:5 Lit as for the iron, it fell
- 2 Kings 6:10 Lit not once or twice
- 2 Kings 6:15 Lit How
- 2 Kings 6:16 Or more
- 2 Kings 6:18 Lit nation
- 2 Kings 6:21 Lit strike
- 2 Kings 6:21 Lit strike
- 2 Kings 6:22 Lit said
- 2 Kings 6:22 Lit strike
- 2 Kings 6:22 Lit strike
- 2 Kings 6:25 One kab equals about 2 qt. or 1.9 liters
- 2 Kings 6:27 Or No! Let the Lord help you
- 2 Kings 6:28 Lit to you
- 2 Kings 6:30 Lit within
- 2 Kings 6:30 Lit flesh
- 2 Kings 6:31 Lit stands
- 2 Kings 6:32 Lit press him with the door
2 Kings 6
Common English Bible
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?[a] 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[b] 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[c] arrived and said, “Look, this disaster is the Lord’s doing. Why should I trust the Lord any longer?”
Footnotes
- 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
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