The Second Book of Kings (WEB)
6:1 The sons of the prophets said to Elisha, See now, the place where we dwell before you is too
strait for us. 6:2Let us go, we pray you, to the Jordan, and take there every man a beam, and let us
make us a place there, where we may dwell. He answered, Go you. 6:3One said, Be pleased, I pray
you, to go with your servants. He answered, I will go. 6:4So he went with them. When they came to
the Jordan, they cut down wood. 6:5But as one was felling a beam, the ax-head fell into the water;
and he cried, and said, Alas, my master! for it was borrowed. 6:6The man of God said, Where fell
it? He shown him the place. He cut down a stick, and cast it in there, and made the iron to swim.
6:7He said, Take it up to you. So he put out his hand, and took it. 6:8Now the king of Syria was
warring against Israel; and he took counsel with his servants, saying, In such and such a place
shall be my camp. 6:9The man of God sent to the king of Israel, saying, Beware that you not pass
such a place; for there the Syrians are coming down. 6:10The king of Israel sent to the place which
the man of God told him and warned him of; and he saved himself there, not once nor twice.
6:11The heart of the king of Syria was sore troubled for this thing; and he called his servants, and
said to them, Won't you show me which of us is for the king of Israel? 6:12One of his servants said,
No, 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. 6:13He said, Go and see where he is, that I may send and get him. It
was told him, saying, Behold, he is in Dothan. 6:14Therefore sent he there horses, and chariots, and
a great host: and they came by night, and surrounded the city. 6:15When the servant of the man of
God was risen early, and gone forth, behold, a host with horses and chariots was round about the
city. His servant said to him, Alas, my master! how shall we do? 6:16He answered, Don't be afraid;
for those who are with us are more than those who are with them. 6:17Elisha prayed, and said,
Yahweh, Please open his eyes, that he may see. Yahweh opened the eyes of the young man; and
he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha.
6:18When they came down to him, Elisha prayed to Yahweh, and said, Please smite this people with
blindness. He struck them with blindness according to the word of Elisha. 6:19Elisha said to them,
This is not the way, neither is this the city: follow me, and I will bring you to the man whom you
seek. He led them to Samaria. 6:20It happened, when they were come into Samaria, that Elisha said,
Yahweh, open the eyes of these men, that they may see. Yahweh opened their eyes, and they saw;
and, behold, they were in the midst of Samaria. 6:21The king of Israel said to Elisha, when he saw
them, My father, shall I strike them? shall I strike them? 6:22He answered, You shall not strike
them: would you strike those whom you have taken captive with your sword and with your bow?
set bread and water before them, that they may eat and drink, and go to their master. 6:23He
prepared great provision for them; and when they had eaten and drunk, he sent them away, and
they went to their master. The bands of Syria came no more into the land of Israel. 6:24It happened
after this, that Benhadad king of Syria gathered all his host, and went up, and besieged Samaria.
6:25There was a great famine in Samaria: and, behold, they besieged it, until a donkey's head was
sold for eighty pieces of silver, and the fourth part of a kab of dove's dung for five pieces of silver.
6:26As the king of Israel was passing by on the wall, there cried a woman to him, saying, Help, my
lord, O king. 6:27He said, If Yahweh doesn't help you, whence shall I help you? out of the threshing
floor, or out of the winepress? 6:28The king said to her, What ails you? She answered, This woman
said to me, Give your son, that we may eat him today, and we will eat my son tomorrow. 6:29So we
boiled my son, and ate him: and I said to her on the next day, Give your son, that we may eat him;
and she has hid her son. 6:30It happened, when the king heard the words of the woman, that he tore
his clothes (now he was passing by on the wall); and the people looked, and, behold, he had
sackcloth within on his flesh. 6:31Then he said, God do so to me, and more also, if the head of
Elisha the son of Shaphat shall stand on him this day. 6:32But Elisha was sitting in his house, and
the elders were sitting with him; and the king sent a man from before him: but before the
messenger came to him, he said to the elders, See you how this son of a murderer has sent to take
away my head? behold, when the messenger comes, shut the door, and hold the door fast against
him: isn't the sound of his master's feet behind him? 6:33While he was yet talking with them,
behold, the messenger came down to him: and he said, Behold, this evil is of Yahweh; why should
I wait for Yahweh any longer?
World English Bible