Beginning
An Axhead Floats
6 The group of the prophets said to Elisha, “The place where we meet with you is too small for us. 2 Let’s go to the Jordan River. There every man can get a pole. And let’s build a place there to live.”
Elisha said, “Go.”
3 One of them said, “Please go with us.”
Elisha said, “I will go.” 4 So he went with them. When they arrived at the Jordan, they cut down some trees. 5 As one man was cutting down a tree, the head of his ax fell into the water. He yelled, “Oh, my master! I borrowed that ax!”
6 Elisha asked, “Where did it fall?” The man showed Elisha the place. Then Elisha cut down a stick and threw it into the water. It made the iron head float. 7 Elisha said, “Pick up the axhead.” Then the man reached out and took it.
Elisha and the Blinded Arameans
8 The king of Aram was at war with Israel. He had a council meeting with his officers. He said, “I will set up my camp in this place.”
9 But Elisha sent a message to the king of Israel. It said, “Be careful! Don’t pass that place. The Arameans are going down there!”
10 The king of Israel checked the place about which Elisha had warned him. Elisha warned him several times. So the king added guards in those places.
11 The king of Aram was angry about this. He called his officers together. He said to them, “Tell me who of us is working for the king of Israel.”
12 One of the officers of the king of Aram said, “No, my master and king. It’s Elisha, the prophet from Israel. He can tell you what you speak in your bedroom.”
13 The king said, “Go and find him. Then I can send men and catch him.”
The servants came back and reported, “He is in Dothan.”
14 Then the king sent horses, chariots and a large army to Dothan. They arrived at night and surrounded the city.
15 The servant of Elisha got up early. When he went out, he saw an army with horses and chariots all around the city. The servant said to Elisha, “Oh, my master, what can we do?”
16 Elisha said, “Don’t be afraid. The army that fights for us is larger than the one against us.”
17 Then Elisha prayed, “Lord, open my servant’s eyes. Let him see.”
The Lord opened the eyes of the young man. And he saw that the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.
18 As the enemy came down toward Elisha, he prayed to the Lord. He said, “Make these people blind.” So the Lord made the Aramean army blind, as Elisha had asked.
19 Elisha said to them, “This is not the right road. This is not the right city. Follow me. I’ll take you to the man you are looking for.” Then Elisha led them to Samaria.
20 After they entered Samaria, Elisha said, “Lord, open these men’s eyes so they can see.” So the Lord opened their eyes. And the Aramean army saw that they were inside the city of Samaria!
21 The king of Israel saw the Aramean army. He said to Elisha, “My father, should I kill them? Should I kill them?”
22 Elisha answered, “Don’t kill them. You wouldn’t kill people whom you captured with your sword and bow. Give them food and water. And let them eat and drink. Then let them go home to their master.” 23 So he prepared a great feast for the Aramean army. They ate and drank. Then the king sent them away. They went home to their master. The soldiers of Aram did not come anymore into the land of Israel.
A Time of Hunger
24 Later, Ben-Hadad king of Aram gathered all his army. He went to surround and attack Samaria. 25 There was a time of terrible hunger in Samaria. It was so bad that a donkey’s head was sold for about two pounds of silver. Half of a pint of dove’s dung sold for about two ounces of silver.
26 The king of Israel was passing by on the wall. A woman yelled out to him, “Help me, my master and king!”
27 The king said, “If the Lord doesn’t help you, how can I? Can I get help from the threshing floor or from the winepress?” 28 Then the king said to her, “What is your trouble?”
She answered, “This woman said to me, ‘Give up your son so we can eat him today. Then we will eat my son tomorrow.’ 29 So we boiled my son and ate him. Then the next day I said to her, ‘Give up your son so we can eat him.’ But she had hidden him.”
30 When the king heard the woman’s words, he tore his clothes to show how upset he was. He walked along the wall. The people looked and saw he had on rough cloth under his clothes. This was to show his sadness. 31 He said, “The head of Elisha son of Shaphat will be taken from his body today! May God punish me terribly if this doesn’t happen!”
32 The king sent a messenger to Elisha. Elisha was sitting in his house. And the elders were sitting with him. But before the messenger arrived, Elisha spoke to them. He said, “See, this murderer is sending men to take off my head. When the messenger arrives, shut the door. Hold it and don’t let him in. The sound of his master’s feet is behind him.”
33 While Elisha was still talking with the leaders, the king came. He said, “This trouble has come from the Lord. Why should I wait for the Lord any longer?”
7 Elisha said, “Listen to the Lord’s word. This is what he says: ‘About this time tomorrow 7 quarts of fine flour will be sold for two-fifths of an ounce of silver. And 13 quarts of barley will be sold for two-fifths of an ounce of silver. This will happen at the gate of Samaria.’”
2 Then the officer who was close to the king answered Elisha. He said, “Even if the Lord opened windows in heaven, that couldn’t happen.”
Elisha said, “Because you have said that, you will see it with your eyes. But you will not eat any of it.”
3 There were four men with a harmful skin disease at the entrance to the city gate. They said to each other, “Why do we sit here until we die? 4 A time of hunger is in the city. So if we go into the city, we will die there. If we stay here, we will die. So let’s go to the Aramean camp. If they let us live, we will live. If they kill us, then we die.”
5 So they got up at twilight. And they went to the Aramean camp. But when they arrived, no one was there. 6 The Lord had caused the Aramean army to hear the sound of chariots, horses and a large army. They had said to each other, “The king of Israel has hired the Hittite and Egyptian kings to attack us!” 7 So they ran away in the twilight. They left their tents, horses and donkeys. They left the camp standing and ran for their lives.
8 The men with the skin disease came to the edge of the camp. Then they went into one of the tents. They ate and drank. They carried silver, gold and clothes out of the camp and hid them. Then they came back and entered another tent. They carried things from this tent and hid them, also. 9 Then they said to each other, “We’re doing wrong. Today we have good news, but we are silent. If we wait until the sun comes up, we’ll be punished. Let’s go now and tell the people in the king’s palace.”
10 So they went and called to the gatekeepers of the city. They said, “We went to the Aramean camp. But no one is there. We didn’t hear anyone. The horses and donkeys were still tied up, and the tents were still standing.” 11 Then the gatekeepers shouted out and told the people in the palace.
12 So the king got up in the night. He said to his officers, “I’ll tell you what the Arameans are doing to us. They know we are hungry. They have gone out of the camp to hide in the field. They’re saying, ‘When the Israelites come out of the city, we’ll capture them alive. Then we’ll enter the city.’”
13 One of his officers answered, “Let some men take five horses still left in the city. These men are like all the Israelites who are left. They are also about to die. Let’s send them to see what has happened.”
14 So the men took two chariots with horses. The king sent them after the Aramean army. He told them, “Go and see what has happened.” 15 The men followed the Aramean army as far as the Jordan River. The road was full of clothes and equipment. The Arameans had thrown these things away as they had hurried away. So the messengers came back and told the king. 16 Then the people went out and took valuable things from the Aramean camp. So 7 quarts of fine flour were sold for two-fifths of an ounce of silver. And 13 quarts of barley were sold for two-fifths of an ounce of silver. It happened just as the Lord had said.
17 The king chose the officer who was close to him to guard the gate. But the people ran over the officer so that he died. This happened just as the man of God had told the king. Elisha had said it when the king came to his house. 18 He had said, “Thirteen quarts of barley and 7 quarts of fine flour will each sell for two-fifths of an ounce of silver. It will happen about this time tomorrow at the gate of Samaria.”
19 But the officer had answered, “Even if the Lord opened windows in heaven, that couldn’t happen.” And Elisha had told him, “Because you have said that, you will see it with your eyes. But you won’t eat any of it.” 20 It happened to the officer just that way. The people ran over him in the gate, and he died.
The Shunammite Regains Her Land
8 Elisha talked to the woman whose son he had brought back to life. He said, “Get up and go with your family. Stay any place you can. This is because the Lord has called for a time of hunger. It will last seven years.” 2 So the woman got up and did as the man of God said. She left with her family. And they stayed in the land of the Philistines for seven years. 3 After seven years she came back from the land of the Philistines. She went to beg the king for her house and land back. 4 The king was talking with Gehazi. He was the servant of the man of God. The king had said to Gehazi, “Please tell me all the great things Elisha has done.” 5 Now Gehazi was telling the king how Elisha had brought a dead person back to life. Just then the woman whose son Elisha had brought back to life came and begged the king for her house and land.
Gehazi said, “My master and king, this is the woman. And this is the son Elisha brought back to life.”
6 The king asked the woman, and she told him about it. Then the king chose an officer to help her. The king said, “Give the woman everything that is hers. Give her all the money made from her land from the day she left until now.”
Ben-Hadad Is Killed
7 Elisha went to Damascus. Now Ben-Hadad king of Aram was sick. Someone told him, “The man of God has come here.”
8 Then the king said to Hazael, “Take a gift in your hand and go meet him. Ask the Lord through him if I will get well from my sickness.”
9 So Hazael went to meet Elisha. He took with him a gift. It was 40 camels loaded with every good thing in Damascus. He came and stood before Elisha. Hazael said, “Your son Ben-Hadad king of Aram sent me to you. He asks if he will get well from his sickness.”
10 Then Elisha said to Hazael, “Go and tell Ben-Hadad, ‘You will surely get well.’ But the Lord has told me he will really die.” 11 Elisha stared at Hazael until Hazael felt ashamed. Then Elisha cried.
12 Hazael asked, “Why are you crying, master?”
Elisha answered, “Because I know what evil you will do to the Israelites. You will burn their strong, walled cities with fire. You will kill their young men with swords. You will throw their babies to the ground. You will split open their pregnant women.”
13 Hazael said, “I, your servant, am only a dog. How could I do such things?”
Elisha answered, “The Lord has shown me that you will be king over Aram.”
14 Then Hazael left Elisha and came to his master. Ben-Hadad said to Hazael, “What did Elisha say to you?”
Hazael answered, “He told me that you will surely get well.” 15 But the next day Hazael took a blanket and dipped it in water. Then he put it over Ben-Hadad’s face, and he died. So Hazael became king in Ben-Hadad’s place.
Jehoram King of Judah
16 Jehoram son of Jehoshaphat became king of Judah. This was during Joram’s fifth year as king of Israel. Joram was the son of Ahab. 17 Jehoram was 32 years old when he began to rule. He ruled eight years in Jerusalem. 18 But Jehoram followed the ways of the kings of Israel. This was just as the family of Ahab had done. It was because Ahab’s daughter was Jehoram’s wife. Jehoram did what the Lord said was wrong. 19 But the Lord would not destroy Judah because of his servant David. The Lord had promised that David and his children would always have a kingdom.
20 In Jehoram’s time Edom broke away from Judah’s rule. The people of Edom chose their own king. 21 So Jehoram and all his chariots went to Zair. At night the Edomites came around him and his chariot commanders. Jehoram got up and attacked the Edomites. But his army ran away to their tents. 22 So the Edomites broke away from the rule of Judah. And they are still separate today. At the same time Libnah also broke away from Judah’s rule.
23 The other acts of Jehoram and all the things he did are written down. They are in the book of the history of the kings of Judah. 24 Jehoram died and was buried with his ancestors in Jerusalem. Jehoram’s son Ahaziah ruled in his place.
25 Ahaziah son of Jehoram became king of Judah. This was during Joram’s twelfth year as king of Israel. Joram was the son of Ahab. 26 Ahaziah was 22 years old when he became king. He ruled one year in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Athaliah. She was a granddaughter of Omri king of Israel. 27 Ahaziah followed the ways of Ahab’s family. He did what the Lord said was wrong, as Ahab’s family had done. He did this because he was a son-in-law in Ahab’s family.
28 Ahaziah went with Joram son of Ahab to Ramoth in Gilead. There they fought against Hazael king of Aram. The Arameans wounded Joram. 29 So King Joram returned to Jezreel to heal from the injuries. (He had been wounded by the Arameans at Ramoth. This was when he fought Hazael king of Aram.) And Ahaziah son of Jehoram king of Judah went down to see Joram. He went to see Joram son of Ahab at Jezreel because he had been wounded.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.