Horses and Chariots of Fire Around Elisha

⁸ Now the king of Aram was warring against Israel; and he ^[a]counseled with his servants saying, “In such and such a place shall be my camp.” ^9 (A)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, ^[b]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 ^(B)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! ^[c]What shall we do?” ¹⁶ So he said, “^(C)Do not fear, for ^(D)those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” ¹⁷ Then Elisha prayed and said, “^(E)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 ^(F)horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. ¹⁸ And they came down to him, and Elisha prayed to Yahweh and said, “Strike this ^[d]people with blindness, I pray.” So He ^(G)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 ^(H)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, “^(I)My father, shall I strike them down? Shall I strike them down?” ²² And he said, “You shall not strike them down. Would you ^(J)strike down those you have taken captive with your sword and with your bow? ^(K)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 ^(L)the marauding bands of Arameans did not come again into the land of Israel.