2 Kings 6–7

The Floating Ax Head

6The sons of the prophets ^xsaid to Elisha, “Please notice that the place where we live under your supervision ^yis too small for us. ²Please let us go to the Jordan where we can each get a log and can build ourselves a place to live there.”

“Go,” he said.

³Then one said, “Please come with your servants.”

“I’ll come,” he answered.

⁴So he went with them, and when they came to the Jordan, they cut down trees. ⁵As one of them was cutting down a tree, the iron ax head fell into the water, and he cried out, “Oh, my master, it was borrowed!” ^z

⁶Then the man of God ^aasked, “Where did it fall?”

When he showed him the place, the man of God cut a stick, threw it there, and made the iron float. ^b7Then he said, “Pick it up.” So he reached out and took it.

The Aramean War

⁸When the king of Aram ^cwas waging war against Israel, he conferred with his servants, “My camp will be at such and such a place.”

⁹But the man of God ^dsent word to the king of Israel: “Be careful passing by this place, for the Arameans are going down there.” ¹⁰Consequently, the king of Israel sent word to the place the man of God had told him about. The man of God repeatedly ^ewarned the king, so the king would be on his guard.

¹¹The king of Aram was enraged because of this matter, and he called his servants and demanded of them, “Tell me, which one of us is for the king of Israel?”

¹²One of his servants said, “No one, my lord the king. Elisha, the prophet in Israel, tells the king of Israel even the words you speak in your bedroom.”

¹³So the king said, “Go and see where he is, so I can send men to capture him.”

When he was told, “Elisha is in Dothan,” ^f14he sent horses, chariots, and a massive army there. They went by night and surrounded the city.

¹⁵When the servant of the man of God got up early and went out, he discovered an army with horses and chariots surrounding the city. So he asked Elisha, “Oh, my master, what are we to do?”

¹⁶Elisha said, “Don’t be afraid, ^gfor those who are with us outnumber those who are with them.” ^h

¹⁷Then Elisha prayed, “Lord, please open his eyes and let him see.” So the Lord opened the servant’s eyes. He looked and saw that the mountain was covered with horses and chariots of fire ⁱall around Elisha.

¹⁸When the Arameans came against him, Elisha prayed to the Lord, “Please strike this nation with blindness.” So He struck them with blindness, ^jaccording to Elisha’s word. ¹⁹Then Elisha said to them, “This is not the way, and this is not the city. Follow me, and I will take you to the man you’re looking for.” And he led them to Samaria. ^k20When they entered Samaria, Elisha said, “Lord, open these men’s eyes and let them see.” So the Lord opened their eyes. They looked and discovered they were in Samaria.

²¹When the king of Israel saw them, he said to Elisha, “My father, ^lshould I kill them? I will kill them.”

²²Elisha replied, “Don’t kill them. Do you kill those you have captured with your sword or your bow? Set food and water in front of them so they can eat and drink and go to their master.” ^m

²³So he prepared a great feast for them. When they had eaten and drunk, he sent them away, and they went to their master. The Aramean raiders ⁿdid not come into Israel’s land again.

²⁴Some time later, King Ben-hadad ^oof Aram brought all his military units together and marched up to besiege Samaria. ²⁵So there was a great famine ^pin Samaria, and they continued the siege against it until a donkey’s head sold for 80 silver shekels, ^qand a cup ^rof dove’s dung ^ssold for five silver shekels. ^tu

²⁶As the king of Israel was passing by on the wall, a woman cried out to him, “My lord the king, help!”

²⁷He answered, “If the Lord doesn’t help you, where can I get help for you? From the threshing floor or the winepress?” ^v28Then the king asked her, “What’s the matter?” ^w

She said, “This woman said to me, ‘Give up your son, and we will eat him today. Then we will eat my son tomorrow.’ ²⁹So we boiled my son and ate him, and I said to her the next day, ‘Give up your son, and we will eat him,’ ^xbut she has hidden her son.”

³⁰When the king heard the woman’s words, he tore his clothes. ^yThen, as he was passing by on the wall, the people saw that there was sackcloth ^zunder his clothes next to his skin. ³¹He announced, “May God punish me and do so severely ^aif the head of Elisha son of Shaphat remains on his shoulders today.”

³²Elisha was sitting in his house, and the elders ^bwere sitting with him. The king sent a man ahead of him, but before the messenger got to him, Elisha said to the elders, “Do you see how this murderer ^chas sent someone to cut off my head? Look, when the messenger comes, shut the door to keep him out. Isn’t the sound of his master’s feet behind him?”

³³While Elisha was still speaking with them, the messenger ^dcame down to him. Then he said, “This disaster is from the Lord. Why should I wait for the Lord any longer?” ^e

Aram Defeated

7Elisha replied, “Hear the word of the Lord! This is what the Lord says: ‘About this time tomorrow at the gate of Samaria, six quarts ^fof fine meal will sell for a shekel ^gand 12 quarts ^hof barley will sell for a shekel.’ ” ^ij

²Then the captain, the king’s right-hand man, ^kresponded to the man of God, ^l“Look, even if the Lord were to make windows in heaven, could this really happen?” ^m

Elisha announced, “You will in fact see it with your own eyes, but you won’t eat any of it.” ⁿ

³Four men with a skin disease ^owere at the entrance to the gate. They said to each other, “Why just sit here until we die? ⁴If we say, ‘Let’s go into the city,’ we will die there because the famine is in the city, but if we sit here, we will also die. So now, come on. Let’s go to the Arameans’ camp. ^pIf they let us live, we will live; if they kill us, we will die.”

⁵So the diseased men got up at twilight to go to the Arameans’ camp. When they came to the camp’s edge, they discovered that there was not a single man there, ⁶for the Lord ^qhad caused the Aramean camp to hear the sound of chariots, horses, and a great army. ^rThe Arameans had said to each other, “The king of Israel must have hired the kings of the Hittites ^sand the kings of Egypt ^tto attack us.” ⁷So they had gotten up and fled ^uat twilight, abandoning their tents, horses, and donkeys. The camp was intact, and they had fled for their lives.

⁸When these men came to the edge of the camp, they went into a tent to eat and drink. Then they picked up the silver, gold, and clothing and went off and hid them. They came back and entered another tent, picked things up, and hid them. ^v9Then they said to each other, “We’re not doing what is right. Today is a day of good news. ^wIf we are silent and wait until morning light, our sin will catch up with us. Let’s go tell the king’s household.”

¹⁰The diseased men went and called to the city’s gatekeepers and told them, “We went to the Aramean camp and no one was there—no human sounds. There was nothing but tethered horses and donkeys, and the tents were intact.” ¹¹The gatekeepers called out, and the news was reported to the king’s household.

¹²So the king got up in the night and said to his servants, “Let me tell you what the Arameans have done to us. They know we are starving, ^xso they have left the camp to hide in the open country, thinking, ‘When they come out of the city, we will take them alive and go into the city.’ ” ^y

¹³But one of his servants responded, “Please, let messengers take five of the horses that are left in the city. Their fate is like the entire Israelite community who will die, ^zso let’s send them and see.”

¹⁴The messengers took two chariots with horses, and the king sent them after the Aramean army, saying, “Go and see.” ¹⁵So they followed them as far as the Jordan. They saw that the whole way was littered with clothes and equipment the Arameans had thrown off in their haste. The messengers returned and told the king. ¹⁶Then the people went out and plundered the Aramean camp. ^a

It was then that six quarts ^bof fine meal sold for a shekel ^cand 12 quarts ^dof barley sold for a shekel, ^eaccording to the word of the Lord. ^f17The king had appointed the captain, his right-hand man, ^gto be in charge of the gate, but the people trampled him in the gateway. He died, just as the man of God had predicted when the king came to him. ¹⁸When the man of God had said to the king, “About this time tomorrow 12 quarts ^hof barley will sell for a shekel ⁱand six quarts ^jof fine meal will sell for a shekel ^kat the gate of Samaria,” ¹⁹this captain had answered the man of God, “Look, even if the Lord were to make windows in heaven, could this really happen?” Elisha had said, “You will in fact see it with your own eyes, but you won’t eat any of it.” ^l20This is what happened to him: the people trampled him in the gateway, and he died.