¹The children of the prophets said to Elisha, “Look, please, the place where we are dwelling, there before your face, is too cramped for us.”

²“Please let us go to the Jordan, and let us take from there each man one beam, and let us make a place there for ourselves, to dwell there.” And he said, “Go.”

³One said, “Please be willing, and go with your servants.” And he said, “I will go.”

⁴He went with them, and they came to the Jordan and cut down the trees.

⁵It happened that as one was felling the beam, the iron fell into the waters. He cried out and said, “Alas, my lord! It was borrowed!”

⁶The man of God said, “Where did it fall?” He showed him the place. Then he cut off a piece of wood and threw it there, and made the iron float.

⁷He said, “Raise it up for yourself.” He stretched out his hand and took it.

⁸The king of Aram was fighting against Israel, and he took counsel with his servants, saying, “My camp will be at such-and-such a place.”

⁹The man of God sent to the king of Israel, saying, “Take care not to pass by this place, for Aram is coming down there.”

¹⁰The king of Israel sent to the place of which the man of God had spoken to him and warned him, and was on guard there, not once or twice.

¹¹The heart of the king of Aram raged over this word, and he called to his servants and said to them, “Will you not tell me, which of us is for the king of Israel?”

¹²One of his servants said, “No, my lord the king, for Elisha the prophet who is in Israel tells the king of Israel the words that you speak in your bedchamber.”

¹³He said, “Go and see where he is, so that I may send and take him.” It was told to him, saying, “Look, he is in Dothan.”

¹⁴He sent horses and chariotry there, and a heavy army, and they came by night and surrounded the city.

¹⁵The attendant of the man of God rose early to get up and went out, and look, an army was circling the city, with horses and chariotry. His boy said to him, “Alas, my lord! How are we to act?”

¹⁶He said, “Do not be afraid, for those who are with us are more numerous than those who are with them.”

¹⁷Elisha prayed and said, “O Yahweh, please open his eyes, and let him see.” And Yahweh opened the eyes of the boy, and he saw: and look, the mountain was full of horses and chariotry of fire all around Elisha.

¹⁸They came down to him, and Elisha prayed to Yahweh and said, “Please strike this nation with blinding.” He struck them with blinding, according to the word of Elisha.

¹⁹Elisha said to them, “This is not the way, and this is not the city. Go after me, and I will lead you to the man whom you seek.” And he led them to Samaria.

²⁰When they came to Samaria, Elisha said, “O Yahweh, open the eyes of these men, that they may see.” And Yahweh opened their eyes, and they saw, and look, they were in the midst of Samaria.

²¹The king of Israel said to Elisha when he saw them, “Shall I strike them down, shall I strike them down, my father?”

²²He said, “You shall not strike them down. Would you strike down those whom you took captive with your sword and your bow? Set food and water before them, so that they may eat and drink and go to their lord.”

²³And he bought them a great feast, and they ate and drank; then he sent them away, and they went to their lord. And the marauding bands of Aram did not come again into the land of Israel.

²⁴It happened after this that Ben-hadad the king of Aram gathered all his army, went up, and laid siege to Samaria.

²⁵There was a great famine in Samaria, and look, they were besieging it, until the head of a donkey was worth eighty pieces of silver, and the fourth part of a kab of doves' dung worth five pieces of silver.

²⁶And the king of Israel was passing by on the wall, and a woman cried out to him, saying, "Save, my lord the king!"

²⁷And he said, "If Yahweh does not save you, from where can I save you? From the threshing-floor, or from the winepress?"

²⁸And the king said to her, "What is the matter with you?" And she said, "This woman said to me, 'Give your son, and we will eat him today, and tomorrow we will eat my son.'"

²⁹"So we cooked my son and ate him. And I said to her on another day, 'Give your son, so we may eat him,' but she hid her son."

³⁰And when the king heard the words of the woman, he tore his clothes, as he was passing by on the wall. And the people saw, and there was sackcloth on his flesh, on the inside

³¹And he said, "May God do so to me, and so may he add, if the head of Elisha son of Shaphat remains standing on him today."

³²And Elisha was dwelling in his house, and the elders were dwelling with him. And he sent a man from before him, but before the messenger came to him, he said to the elders, "Do you see that this son of a murderer has sent to remove my head? Look: when the messenger comes, shut the door and press him in the door. Is not the sound of his lord's feet behind him?"

³³While he was still speaking with them, look, the messenger was coming down to him, and he said, "Look, this evil is from Yahweh. Why should I wait for Yahweh any longer?"