The Axe Head Floats

1And the sons of the prophets said to Elisha, “Behold now, the place before you where we are living is too limited for us. 2Please 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.” 3Then one said, “Please be willing to go with your servants.” And he [†]answered, “I shall go.” 4So he went with them; and they came to the Jordan and cut down trees. 5Now it happened that 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.” 6Then 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. 7And he said, “Take it up for yourself.” So he sent forth his hand and took it.

Horses and Chariots of Fire Around Elisha

8Now the king of Aram was warring against Israel; and he [†]counseled with his servants saying, “In such and such a place shall be my camp.” 9And the man of God sent word to the king of Israel saying, “Beware that you do not pass this place, for the Arameans are coming down there.” 10And the king of Israel sent to the place about which the man of God had told him; thus he warned him, so that he guarded himself there, [†]more than once or twice.

11Then the heart of the king of Aram was enraged over this thing; and he called his servants and said to them, “Will you not tell me which of us is for the king of Israel?” 12And one 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 bedroom.” 13So he said, “Go and see where he is, that I may send and take him.” And it was told to him, saying, “Behold, he is in Dothan.” 14So he sent horses and chariots and a heavy military force there, and they came by night and surrounded the city.

15Then the attendant of the man of God arose early and went out, and behold, a military force with horses and chariots was all around the city. And his young man said to him, “Alas, my master! [†]What shall we do?” 16So he said, “Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” 17Then Elisha prayed and said, “O Yahweh, I pray, open his eyes that he may see.” And Yahweh opened the eyes of the young man and he saw; and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. 18And they came down to him, and Elisha prayed to Yahweh and said, “Strike this [†]people with blindness, I pray.” So He struck them with blindness according to the word of Elisha. 19Then Elisha said to them, “This is not the way, and this is not the city; walk after me and I will walk you over to the man whom you seek.” And he walked them over to Samaria.

20Now it happened that when they had come into Samaria, Elisha said, “O Yahweh, open the eyes of these men, that they may see.” So Yahweh opened their eyes and they saw; and behold, they were in the midst of Samaria. 21Then the king of Israel when he saw them, said to Elisha, “My father, shall I strike them down? Shall I strike them down?” 22And he said, “You shall not strike them down. Would you strike down those you have taken captive with your sword and with your bow? Set bread and water before them, that they may eat and drink and walk back to their master.” 23So he prepared a great feast for them; and when they had eaten and drunk, he sent them away, and they went to their master. And the marauding bands of Arameans did not come again into the land of Israel.

Aram’s Siege of Samaria

24Now it happened afterwards, that Ben-hadad king of Aram gathered all his military camp and went up and besieged Samaria. 25Now there was a great famine in Samaria. And behold, 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 for five shekels of silver. 26As the king of Israel was passing by on the wall, a woman cried out to him, saying, “Save, my lord, O king!” 27He said, “[†]If Yahweh does not save you, from where shall I save you? From the threshing floor, or from the wine press?” 28And the king said to her, “What [†]is the matter with you?” And she said, “This woman said to me, ‘Give your 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 your son, that we may eat him’; but she has hidden her son.” 30Now it happened that when the king heard the words of the woman, he tore his clothes—now he was passing by on the wall—and the people looked, and behold, he had sackcloth [†]beneath on his [†]body. 31Then he said, “May God do so to me and more also, if the head of Elisha the son of Shaphat [†]remains on him today.”

Flour and Barley in Samaria

32Now Elisha was sitting in his house, and the elders were sitting with him. And the king sent a man from his presence; but before the messenger came to him, he said to the elders, “Do you see how this son of a murderer has sent to take away my head? Look, when the messenger comes, shut the door and [†]hold the door shut against him. Is not the sound of his master’s feet behind him?” 33While he was still speaking with them, behold, the messenger came down to him and he said, “Behold, this evil is from Yahweh; why should I wait for Yahweh any longer?”