Loading…

2 Kings 6:1–7

The Floating Ax Head

6 And athe sons of the prophets said to Elisha, “See now, the place where we dwell with you is too small for us. Please, let us go to the Jordan, and let every man take a beam from there, and let us make there a place where we may dwell.”

So he answered, “Go.”

Then one said, b“Please consent to go with your servants.”

And he answered, “I will go.” So he went with them. And when they came to the Jordan, they cut down trees. But as one was cutting down a tree, the iron ax head fell into the water; and he cried out and said, “Alas, master! For it was cborrowed.”

So the man of God said, “Where did it fall?” And he showed him the place. So dhe cut off a stick, and threw it in there; and he made the iron float. Therefore he said, “Pick it up for yourself.” So he reached out his hand and took it.

Read more Explain verse



2 Kings 6:1–7 — The New International Version (NIV)

The company of the prophets said to Elisha, “Look, the place where we meet with you is too small for us. Let us go to the Jordan, where each of us can get a pole; and let us build a place there for us to meet.”

And he said, “Go.”

Then one of them said, “Won’t you please come with your servants?”

“I will,” Elisha replied. And he went with them.

They went to the Jordan and began to cut down trees. As one of them was cutting down a tree, the iron axhead fell into the water. “Oh no, my lord!” he cried out. “It was borrowed!”

The man of God asked, “Where did it fall?” When he showed him the place, Elisha cut a stick and threw it there, and made the iron float. “Lift it out,” he said. Then the man reached out his hand and took it.

2 Kings 6:1–7 — English Standard Version (ESV)

Now the sons of the prophets said to Elisha, “See, the place where we dwell under your charge is too small for us. Let us go to the Jordan and each of us get there a log, and let us make a place for us to dwell there.” And he answered, “Go.” Then one of them said, “Be pleased to go with your servants.” And he answered, “I will go.” So he went with them. And when they came to the Jordan, they cut down trees. But as one was felling a log, his axe head fell into the water, and he cried out, “Alas, my master! It was borrowed.” Then the man of God said, “Where did it fall?” When he showed him the place, he cut off a stick and threw it in there and made the iron float. And he said, “Take it up.” So he reached out his hand and took it.

2 Kings 6:1–7 — King James Version (KJV 1900)

And the sons of the prophets said unto Elisha, Behold now, the place where we dwell with thee is too strait for us. Let us go, we pray thee, unto Jordan, and take thence every man a beam, and let us make us a place there, where we may dwell. And he answered, Go ye. And one said, Be content, I pray thee, and go with thy servants. And he answered, I will go. So he went with them. And when they came to Jordan, they cut down wood. But as one was felling a beam, the axe head fell into the water: and he cried, and said, Alas, master! for it was borrowed. And the man of God said, Where fell it? And he shewed him the place. And he cut down a stick, and cast it in thither; and the iron did swim. Therefore said he, Take it up to thee. And he put out his hand, and took it.

2 Kings 6:1–7 — New Living Translation (NLT)

One day the group of prophets came to Elisha and told him, “As you can see, this place where we meet with you is too small. Let’s go down to the Jordan River, where there are plenty of logs. There we can build a new place for us to meet.”

“All right,” he told them, “go ahead.”

“Please come with us,” someone suggested.

“I will,” he said. So he went with them.

When they arrived at the Jordan, they began cutting down trees. But as one of them was cutting a tree, his ax head fell into the river. “Oh, sir!” he cried. “It was a borrowed ax!”

“Where did it fall?” the man of God asked. When he showed him the place, Elisha cut a stick and threw it into the water at that spot. Then the ax head floated to the surface. “Grab it,” Elisha said. And the man reached out and grabbed it.

2 Kings 6:1–7 — New Century Version (NCV)

The groups of prophets said to Elisha, “The place where we meet with you is too small for us. Let’s go to the Jordan River. There everyone can get a log, and let’s build a place there to live.”

Elisha said, “Go.”

One of them said, “Please go with us.”

Elisha answered, “I will go,” so he went with them. When they arrived at the Jordan, they cut down some trees. 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!”

Elisha asked, “Where did it fall?” The man showed him the place. Then Elisha cut down a stick and threw it into the water, and it made the iron head float. Elisha said, “Pick up the axhead.” Then the man reached out and took it.

2 Kings 6:1–7 — American Standard Version (ASV)

And the sons of the prophets said unto Elisha, Behold now, the place where we dwell before thee is too strait for us. Let us go, we pray thee, unto the Jordan, and take thence every man a beam, and let us make us a place there, where we may dwell. And he answered, Go ye. And one said, Be pleased, I pray thee, to go with thy servants. And he answered, I will go. So he went with them. And when they came to the Jordan, they cut down wood. But as one was felling a beam, the axe-head fell into the water; and he cried, and said, Alas, my master! for it was borrowed. And the man of God said, Where fell it? And he showed him the place. And he cut down a stick, and cast it in thither, and made the iron to swim. And he said, Take it up to thee. So he put out his hand, and took it.

2 Kings 6:1–7 — 1890 Darby Bible (DARBY)

And the sons of the prophets said to Elisha, Behold now, the place where we dwell before thee is too strait for us. Let us go, we pray thee, to the Jordan, and take thence every man a beam, and let us make us a place there, where we may dwell. And he said, Go. And one said, Consent, I pray thee, to go with thy servants. And he said, I will go. And he went with them. And they came to the Jordan and cut down the trees. And it came to pass as one was felling a beam, that the iron fell into the water; and he cried and said, Alas, master, and it was borrowed! And the man of God said, Where did it fall? And he shewed him the place. And he cut down a stick, and cast it in thither, and made the iron to swim. And he said, Take it up to thee. And he put out his hand and took it.

2 Kings 6:1–7 — GOD’S WORD Translation (GW)

The disciples of the prophets said to Elisha, “The place where we’re staying is too small for us. Let’s go to the Jordan River. Each of us can get some logs and make a place for us to live there.” 

Elisha said, “Go ahead.” 

Then one of the disciples asked, “Won’t you please come with us?” 

Elisha answered, “I’ll go.” 

So he went with them. They came to the Jordan River and began to cut down trees. As one of them was cutting down a tree, the ax head fell into the water. He cried out, “Oh no, master! It was borrowed!” 

The man of God asked, “Where did it fall?” When he showed Elisha the place, Elisha cut off a piece of wood. He threw it into the water at that place and made the ax head float. Elisha said, “Pick it up.” The disciple reached for it and picked it up. 

2 Kings 6:1–7 — The Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)

The sons of the prophets said to Elisha, “Please notice that the place where we live under your supervision is too small for us. Please 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.

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

“I’ll come,” he answered.

So he went with them, and when they came to the Jordan, they cut down trees. As 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!”

Then the man of God asked, “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. Then he said, “Pick it up.” So he reached out and took it.

2 Kings 6:1–7 — The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

Now the company of prophets said to Elisha, “As you see, the place where we live under your charge is too small for us. Let us go to the Jordan, and let us collect logs there, one for each of us, and build a place there for us to live.” He answered, “Do so.” Then one of them said, “Please come with your servants.” And he answered, “I will.” So he went with them. When they came to the Jordan, they cut down trees. But as one was felling a log, his ax head fell into the water; he cried out, “Alas, master! It was borrowed.” Then the man of God said, “Where did it fall?” When he showed him the place, he cut off a stick, and threw it in there, and made the iron float. He said, “Pick it up.” So he reached out his hand and took it.

2 Kings 6:1–7 — The Lexham English Bible (LEB)

Then the sons of the prophets said to Elisha, “Please look; the place where we are living before you is too cramped for us. Let us please go to the Jordan and each bring from there one log that we might make a place there for us to live.” Then he said, “Do so.” Then a certain one said, “Please be prepared and go with your servants,” and he said, “I will go.” He went with them, and they went to the Jordan, and they cut down the trees. It happened as the one was felling the log, that the iron ax fell into the water. He called out and said, “Oh, no! My master, it was borrowed!” Then the man of God said, “Where did it fall?” So he showed him the place, and then he cut off a stick and threw it there and made the iron ax float. Then he said, “Pick it up for yourself,” so he stretched out his hand and took it.

2 Kings 6:1–7 — New International Reader’s Version (1998) (NIrV)

The company of the prophets spoke to Elisha. They said, “Look. The place where we meet with you is too small for us. We would like to go to the Jordan River. Each of us can get some wood there. We want to build a place there for us to live in.”

Elisha said, “Go.”

Then one of them said, “Won’t you please come with us?”

“I will,” Elisha replied. And he went with them.

They went to the Jordan. There they began to cut down trees. One of them was cutting a tree down. The iron blade of his ax fell into the water. “Master!” he cried out. “This ax was borrowed!”

The man of God asked, “Where did the blade fall?” He showed him the place. Then Elisha cut a stick and threw it there. That made the iron blade float. “Take it out of the water,” he said. So the man reached out and took it.

2 Kings 6:1–7 — New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update (NASB95)

Now the sons of the prophets said to Elisha, “Behold now, the place before you where we are living is too limited for us.

Please let us go to the Jordan and each of us take from there a beam, and let us make a place there for ourselves where we may live.” So he said, “Go.”

Then one said, “Please be willing to go with your servants.” And he answered, “I shall go.”

So he went with them; and when they came to the Jordan, they cut down trees.

But as one was felling a beam, the axe head fell into the water; and he cried out and said, “Alas, my master! For it was borrowed.”

Then the man of God said, “Where did it fall?” And when he showed him the place, he cut off a stick and threw it in there, and made the iron float.

He said, “Take it up for yourself.” So he put out his hand and took it.


A service of Logos Bible Software