²Let us go as far as the Jordan, and take out of the wood every man a piece of timber, that we may build us there a place to dwell in. And he said: Go.

³And one of them said: But come thou also with thy servants. He answered: I will come.

⁴So he went with them. And when they were come to the Jordan, they cut down wood.

⁵And it happened, as one was felling some timber, that the head of the ax fell into the water: and he cried out, and said: Alas, alas, alas, my lord, for this same was borrowed.

⁶And the man of God said: Where did it fall? and he shewed him the place: Then he cut off a piece of wood, and cast it in thither: and the iron swam.

⁷And he said: Take it up. And he put out his hand, and took it.

⁸And the king of Syria warred against Israel, and took counsel with his servants, saying: In such and such a place, let us lay an ambush.

⁹And the man of God sent to the king of Israel, saying: Beware that thou pass not to such a place: for the Syrians are there in ambush.

¹⁰And the king of Israel, sent to the place which the man of God had told him, and prevented him, and looked well to himself there not once nor twice.

¹¹And the heart of the king of Syria, was troubled for this thing. And calling together his servants, he said: Why do you not tell me who it is that betrays me to the king of Israel?

¹²And one of his servants said: No one, my lord, O king: but Eliseus, the prophet, that is in Israel, telleth the king of Israel all the words, that thou speakest in thy privy chamber.

¹³And he said to them: Go, and see where he is: that I may send and take him. And they told him: saying: Behold he is in Dothan.

¹⁴Therefore, he sent thither horses, and chariots, and the strength of an army: and they came by night, and beset the city.

¹⁵And the servant of the man of God, rising early went out, and saw an army round about the city, and horses and chariots: and he told him, saying: Alas, alas, alas, my lord, what shall we do?

¹⁶But he answered: Fear not: for there are more with us than with them.

¹⁷And Eliseus prayed, and said: Lord, open his eyes, that he may see. And the Lord opened the eyes of the servant, and he saw: and behold, the mountain was full of horses, and chariots of fire round about Eliseus.

¹⁸And the enemies came down to him: but Eliseus prayed to the Lord, saying: Strike, I beseech thee, this people with blindness: and the Lord struck them with blindness, according to the word of Eliseus.

¹⁹And Eliseus said to them: This is not the way, neither is this the city: follow me, and I will shew you the man whom you seek. So he led them into Samaria.

²⁰And when they were come into Samaria, Eliseus said: Lord, open the eyes of these men, that they may see. And the Lord opened their eyes, and they saw themselves to be in the midst of Samaria.

²¹And the king of Israel said to Eliseus, when he saw them: My father, shall I kill them?

²²And he said: Thou shalt not kill them: for thou didst not take them with thy sword, or thy bow, that thou mayst kill them: but set bread and water before them, that they may eat and drink, and go to their master.

²³And a great provision of meats was set before them, and they ate and drank; and he let them go: and they went away to their master: and the robbers of Syria came no more into the land of Israel.

²⁴And it came to pass, after these things, that Benadad, king of Syria, gathered together all his army, and went up and besieged Samaria.

²⁵And there was a great famine in Samaria: and so long did the siege continue, till the head of an ass was sold for fourscore pieces of silver, and the fourth part of a cabe of pigeons’ dung, for five pieces of silver.

²⁶And as the king of Israel was passing by the wall, a certain woman cried out to him, saying: Save me, my lord, O king.

²⁷And he said: If the Lord doth not save thee, how can I save thee? out of the barnfloor, or out of the winepress? And the king said to her: What aileth thee? And she answered:

²⁸This woman said to me: Give thy son, that we may eat him today, and we will eat my son tomorrow.

²⁹So we boiled my son, and ate him. And I said to her on the next day: Give thy son, that we may eat him. And she hath hid her son.

³⁰When the king heard this, he rent his garments, and passed by upon the wall. And all the people saw the haircloth which he wore within next to his flesh.

³¹And the king said: May God do so and so to me, and may he add more, if the head of Eliseus, the son of Saphat, shall stand on him this day.

³²But Eliseus sat in his house, and the ancients sat with him. So he sent a man before: and before that messenger came, he said to the ancients: Do you know that this son of a murderer hath sent to cut off my head? Look then when the messenger shall come, shut the door, and suffer him not to come in: for behold the sound of his master’s feet is behind him.

³³While he was yet speaking to them, the messenger appeared, who was coming to him. And he said: Behold, so great an evil is from the Lord: what shall I look for more from the Lord?

Chapter 7

And Eliseus said: Hear ye the word of the Lord: Thus saith the Lord: Tomorrow, about this time, a bushel of fine flour shall be sold for a stater, and two bushels of barley for a stater, in the gate of Samaria.

²Then one of the lords, upon whose hand the king leaned, answering the man of God, said: If the Lord should make flood-gates in heaven, can that possibly be which thou sayest? And he said: Thou shalt see it with thy eyes, but shalt not eat thereof.

³Now there were four lepers, at the entering in of the gate: and they said one to another: What mean we to stay here till we die?

⁴If we will enter into the city, we shall die with the famine: and if we will remain here, we must also die: come therefore, and let us run over to the camp of the Syrians. If they spare us, we shall live: but if they kill us, we shall but die.

⁵So they arose in the evening, to go to the Syrian camp. And when they were come to the first part of the camp of the Syrians, they found no man there.

⁶For the Lord had made them hear, in the camp of Syria, the noise of chariots, and of horses, and of a very great army: and they said one to another: Behold, the king of Israel hath hired against us the kings of the Hethites, and of the Egyptians; and they are come upon us.

⁷Wherefore they arose, and fled away in the dark, and left their tents, and their horses and asses in the camp, and fled, desiring to save their lives.

⁸So when these lepers were come to the beginning of the camp, they went into one tent, and ate and drank: and they took from thence silver, and gold, and raiment, and went, and hid it: and they came again, and went into another tent, and carried from thence in like manner, and hid it.

⁹Then they said one to another: We do not well: for this is a day of good tidings. If we hold our peace, and do not tell it till the morning, we shall be charged with a crime: come, let us go, and tell it in the king’s court.

¹⁰So they came to the gate of the city, and told them, saying: We went to the camp of the Syrians, and we found no man there, but horses, and asses tied, and the tents standing.

¹¹Then the guards of the gate went, and told it within in the king’s palace.

¹²And he arose in the night, and said to his servants: I tell you what the Syrians have done to us: They know that we suffer great famine, and therefore they are gone out of the camp, and lie hid in the fields, saying: When they come out of the city, we shall take them alive, and then we may get into the city.

¹³And one of his servants answered: Let us take the five horses that are remaining in the city (because there are no more in the whole multitude of Israel, for the rest are consumed), and let us send and see.

¹⁴They brought therefore two horses, and the king sent into the camp of the Syrians, saying: Go, and see.

¹⁵And they went after them, as far as the Jordan: and behold, all the way was full of garments, and vessels, which the Syrians had cast away, in their fright, and the messengers returned, and told the king.

¹⁶And the people going out, pillaged the camp of the Syrians: and a bushel of fine flour was sold for a stater, and two bushels of barley for a stater, according to the word of the Lord.

¹⁷And the king appointed that lord on whose hand he leaned, to stand at the gate: and the people trod upon him in the entrance of the gate; and he died, as the man of God had said, when the king came down to him.

¹⁸And it came to pass, according to the word of the man of God, which he spoke to the king, when he said: Two bushels of barley shall be for a stater, and a bushel of fine flour for a stater, at this very time tomorrow, in the gate of Samaria.

¹⁹When that lord answered the man of God, and said: Although the Lord should make flood-gates in heaven, could this come to pass which thou sayest. And he said to him: Thou shalt see it with thy eyes, and shalt not eat thereof.

²⁰And so it fell out to him, as it was foretold, and the people trod upon him in the gate, and he died.

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