1 THE SONS of the prophets said to Elisha, Look now, the place where we live before you is too small for us. 2 Let us go to the Jordan, and each man get there a [house] beam; and let us make us a place there where we may dwell. And he answered, Go. 3 One said, Be pleased to go with your servants. He answered, I will go. 4 So he went with them. And when they came to the Jordan, they cut down trees. 5 But as one was felling his beam, the axhead fell into the water; and he cried, Alas, my master, for it was borrowed! 6 The man of God said, Where did it fall? When shown the place, Elisha cut off a stick and threw it in there, and the iron floated. 7 He said, Pick it up. And he put out his hand and took it.
8 When the king of Syria was warring against Israel, after counseling with his servants, he said, In such and such a place shall be my camp. 9 Then the man of God sent to the king of Israel, saying, Beware that you pass not such a place, for the Syrians are coming down there. 10 Then the king of Israel sent to the place of which [Elisha] told and warned him; and thus he protected and saved himself there repeatedly.
11 Therefore the mind of the king of Syria was greatly troubled by this thing. He called his servants and said, Will you show me who of us is for the king of Israel? 12 One of his servants said, None, my lord O king; but Elisha, the prophet who is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the words that you speak in your bedchamber. 13 He said, Go and see where he is, that I may send and seize him. And it was told him, He is in Dothan. 14 So [the Syrian king] sent there horses, chariots, and a great army. They came by night and surrounded the city.
15 When the servant of the man of God rose early and went out, behold, an army with horses and chariots was around the city. Elisha's servant said to him, Alas, my master! What shall we do? 16 [Elisha] answered, Fear not; for those with us are more than those with them. 17 Then Elisha prayed, Lord, I pray You, open his eyes that he may see. And the Lord opened the young man's eyes, and he saw, and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha. 18 And when the Syrians came down to him, Elisha prayed to the Lord, Smite this people with blindness, I pray You. And God smote them with blindness, as Elisha asked. 19 Elisha said to the Syrians, This is not the way or the city. Follow me, and I will bring you to the man whom you seek. And he led them to Samaria.
20 And when they had come into Samaria, Elisha said, Lord, open the eyes of these men that they may see. And the Lord opened their eyes, and they saw. Behold, they were in the midst of Samaria! 21 When the king of Israel saw them, he said to Elisha, My father, shall I slay them? Shall I slay them? 22 [Elisha] answered, You shall not slay them. Would you slay those you have taken captive with your sword and bow? Set bread and water before them, that they may eat and drink and return to their master. 23 So [the king] prepared great provision for them, and when they had eaten and drunk, he sent them away, and they went to their master. And the bands of Syria came no more into the land of Israel.
24 Afterward, Ben-hadad king of Syria gathered his whole army and went up and besieged Samaria, 25 And a great famine came to Samaria. They besieged it until a donkey's head was sold for eighty shekels of silver, and a fourth of a kab of dove's dung [a wild vegetable] for five shekels of silver. 26 As the king of Israel was passing by upon the wall, a woman cried to him, Help, my lord, O king! 27 He said, [For] if he does not help you [No, let the Lord help you!], from where can I get you help? Out of the threshing floor, or out of the winepress? 28 And the king said to her, What ails you? She answered, This woman said to me, Give me your son so we may eat him today, and we will eat my son tomorrow. 29 So we boiled my son and ate him. The next day I said to her, Give your son so we may eat him, but she had hidden her son. 30 When the king heard the woman's words, he rent his clothes. As he went on upon the wall, the people looked, and behold, he wore sackcloth inside on his flesh. 31 Then he said, May God do so to me, and more also, if the head of Elisha son of Shaphat shall stand on him this day!
32 Now Elisha sat in his house, and the elders sat with him. And the king sent a man from before him [to behead Elisha]. But before the messenger arrived, Elisha said to the elders, See how this son of [Jezebel] a murderer is sending to remove my head? Look, when the messenger comes, shut the door and hold it fast against him. Is not the sound of his master's feet [just] behind him? 33 And while Elisha was talking with them, behold, [the messenger] came to him [and then the king came also]. And [the relenting king] said, This evil is from the Lord! Why should I any longer wait [expecting Him to withdraw His punishment? What, Elisha, can be done now]?