2 Kings 6 ISV NIV Parallel

◄ 2 Kings 6 ►

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1One day the Guild of Prophets told Elisha, "Notice how the place where we are living is too small for us.

1The company of the prophets said to Elisha, "Look, the place where we meet with you is too small for us.

2Let's go to the Jordan River, fashion some rafters, and build a place for us so we can live there." So he said, "Go!"

2Let 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."

3Someone asked, "Would you be willing to come with your servants?" "I'm willing," he replied.

3Then one of them said, "Won't you please come with your servants?" "I will," Elisha replied.

4So he accompanied them, and when they came to the Jordan River, they cut down some trees.

4And he went with them. They went to the Jordan and began to cut down trees.

5It happened that as one of them was felling a beam, his axe head fell into the water. He cried out, "Oh no! Master! The axe was on loan to me!"

5As 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!"

6The man of God asked, "Where did it fall?" When he was shown the place, he cut off a branch, tossed it there, and made the iron axe head float.

6The 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.

7Then Elisha said, "Pick it up!" So the young man reached out and picked it up.

7"Lift it out," he said. Then the man reached out his hand and took it.

8Eventually the king of Aram went to war against Israel, taking counsel with his advisors and concluding, "In such and such a place I'll build my encampment."

8Now the king of Aram was at war with Israel. After conferring with his officers, he said, "I will set up my camp in such and such a place."

9So the man of God sent a message to the king of Israel, warning him, "Keep an eye on that area, because the Arameans are going to be there!"

9The man of God sent word to the king of Israel: "Beware of passing that place, because the Arameans are going down there."

10The king of Israel confirmed the matter about which the man of God had warned him. Having been forewarned, he was able to protect himself there on more than one or two occasions.

10So the king of Israel checked on the place indicated by the man of God. Time and again Elisha warned the king, so that he was on his guard in such places.

11The king of Aram flew into a rage over this, so he called in his advisors and asked them, "Will you please tell me which of us has joined the king of Israel?"

11This enraged the king of Aram. He summoned his officers and demanded of them, "Tell me! Which of us is on the side of the king of Israel?"

12"No, your majesty," one of his servants said. "Elisha the prophet, who lives in Israel, tells the king of Israel what you talk about in your bedroom!"

12"None of us, my lord the king," said one of his officers, "but Elisha, the prophet who is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the very words you speak in your bedroom."

13So the king ordered, "Go and discover where he is, so I may send men to take him into custody." Later somebody told him, "Look! He's in Dothan!"

13"Go, find out where he is," the king ordered, "so I can send men and capture him." The report came back: "He is in Dothan."

14So the king of Aram sent out horses, chariots, and an elite force, and they arrived during the night and surrounded the city.

14Then he sent horses and chariots and a strong force there. They went by night and surrounded the city.

15Meanwhile, the attendant to the man of God got up early in the morning and went outside, and there were the elite forces, surrounding the city, accompanied by horses and chariots! So Elisha's attendant cried out to him, "Oh no! Master! What will we do!?"

15When the servant of the man of God got up and went out early the next morning, an army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city. "Oh no, my lord! What shall we do?" the servant asked.

16Elisha replied, "Stop being afraid, because there are more with us than with them!"

16"Don't be afraid," the prophet answered. "Those who are with us are more than those who are with them."

17Then Elisha prayed, asking the LORD, "Please make him able to really see!" And so when the LORD enabled the young man to see, he looked, and there was the mountain, filled with horses and fiery chariots surrounding Elisha!

17And Elisha prayed, "Open his eyes, LORD, so that he may see." Then the LORD opened the servant's eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.

18When the army approached him, Elisha spoke to the LORD, asking him, "LORD, I'm asking you please to afflict this group of people with blindness!" So he afflicted them with blindness, just as Elisha had asked.

18As the enemy came down toward him, Elisha prayed to the LORD, "Strike this army with blindness." So he struck them with blindness, as Elisha had asked.

19Then Elisha told the army, "This isn't the way, and this isn't the city! Follow me, and I'll bring you to the man you're seeking. Then he led them to Samaria.

19Elisha told them, "This is not the road and this is not the city. Follow me, and I will lead you to the man you are looking for." And he led them to Samaria.

20When they arrived in Samaria, Elisha asked the LORD, "Enable them to see again." So the LORD did so, and there they were—right in the middle of Samaria!

20After they entered the city, Elisha said, "LORD, open the eyes of these men so they can see." Then the LORD opened their eyes and they looked, and there they were, inside Samaria.

21When the king of Israel saw Elisha, he asked him, "Shall I execute them, my father?"

21When the king of Israel saw them, he asked Elisha, "Shall I kill them, my father? Shall I kill them?"

22But he replied, "No! You're not to kill them! Would you execute those whom you've taken captive at the point of a sword or with your bow? Give them food and water so they can eat and drink. Then send them back to their master!"

22"Do not kill them," he answered. "Would you kill those you have captured with your own sword or bow? Set food and water before them so that they may eat and drink and then go back to their master."

23So he prepared a large festival for them, and when they had finished eating and drinking, he sent them back to their master, and marauding gangs of Arameans never came into the territory of Israel again.

23So he prepared a great feast for them, and after they had finished eating and drinking, he sent them away, and they returned to their master. So the bands from Aram stopped raiding Israel's territory.

24Some time later, King Ben-hadad from Aram mustered his army, invaded the land, and attacked Samaria

24Some time later, Ben-Hadad king of Aram mobilized his entire army and marched up and laid siege to Samaria.

25until there was a great famine throughout Samaria. The siege lasted until a donkey's head cost 80 silver coins and one quarter of a unit of dove's dung cost five silver coins.

25There was a great famine in the city; the siege lasted so long that a donkey's head sold for eighty shekels of silver, and a quarter of a cab of seed pods for five shekels.

26While the king of Israel was walking along the city wall, a woman cried out to him. "Help me, your majesty!" she said.

26As the king of Israel was passing by on the wall, a woman cried to him, "Help me, my lord the king!"

27He replied, "No! Since the LORD won't give you victory, how will I be able to deliver you? From the threshing floor? From the wine press?"

27The king replied, "If the LORD does not help you, where can I get help for you? From the threshing floor? From the winepress?"

28Then the king asked her, "What's bothering you?" She said, "This woman told me, 'Give up your son, and we'll eat him today, and we'll eat your son tomorrow.'"

28Then he asked her, "What's the matter?" She answered, "This woman said to me, 'Give up your son so we may eat him today, and tomorrow we'll eat my son.'

29So we boiled my son and ate him. The next day, I told her, 'Give me your son so we can eat him!' But she has hidden her son!"

29So we cooked my son and ate him. The next day I said to her, 'Give up your son so we may eat him,' but she had hidden him."

30When the king heard what the woman said, he ripped his garments as he continued walking along the city wall. As the people watched, all of a sudden they noticed he was wearing sackcloth underneath his clothes, inside next to his flesh!

30When the king heard the woman's words, he tore his robes. As he went along the wall, the people looked, and they saw that, under his robes, he had sackcloth on his body.

31He said, "May God do to me—and more also!—if the head of Shaphat's son Elisha remains on his shoulders today!"

31He said, "May God deal with me, be it ever so severely, if the head of Elisha son of Shaphat remains on his shoulders today!"

32Meanwhile, Elisha was sitting in his house, along with the elders, when the king sent a man to kill him, but before the messenger arrived, Elisha told the elders, "Are you watching how this descendant of murderers has ordered my head be cut off? Look, when the messenger arrives, shut the door and hold it to shut them out! Don't you hear the sound of his master's feet right behind him?"

32Now Elisha was sitting in his house, and the elders were sitting with him. The king sent a messenger ahead, but before he arrived, Elisha said to the elders, "Don't you see how this murderer is sending someone to cut off my head? Look, when the messenger comes, shut the door and hold it shut against him. Is not the sound of his master's footsteps behind him?"

33While he was still talking with them, the messenger arrived to see him and delivered the king's message to Elisha, "Look! This evil has come from the LORD! Why should I wait for the LORD anymore?"

33While he was still talking to them, the messenger came down to him. The king said, "This disaster is from the LORD. Why should I wait for the LORD any longer?"

New International Version (NIV)

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