2 Kings 1-6

Easy-to-Read Version

A Message for Ahaziah

1 After King Ahab died, Moab broke away from Israel’s rule.

² One day Ahaziah was on the roof of his house in Samaria. He fell down through the wooden bars on top of his house and was badly hurt. He called messengers and told them, “Go to the priests of Baal Zebub, the god of Ekron, and ask them if I will get well from my injuries.”

³ But the Lord’s angel said to Elijah the Tishbite, “King Ahaziah has sent some messengers from Samaria. Go meet those men and ask them, ‘There is a God in Israel, so why are you men going to ask questions of Baal Zebub, the god of Ekron? ⁴ Since you did this, the Lord says, You will not get up from your bed. You will die!’” Then Elijah left.

⁵ When messengers came back to Ahaziah, he asked them, “Why did you come back so soon?”

⁶ The messengers said to Ahaziah, “A man came up to meet us and told us to go back to the king who sent us and tell him what the Lord says: ‘There is a God in Israel, so why did you send messengers to ask questions of Baal Zebub, the god of Ekron? Since you did this, you will not get up from your bed. You will die!’”

⁷ Ahaziah said to the messengers, “What did the man look like who met you and told you this?”

⁸ They answered Ahaziah, “This man was wearing a hairy coat^[a] with a leather belt around his waist.”

Then Ahaziah said, “That was Elijah the Tishbite.”

Ahaziah Calls for Elijah

⁹ Ahaziah sent a captain and 50 men to Elijah. The captain went to Elijah, who was sitting on top of a hill. The captain said to Elijah, “Man of God, the king says, ‘Come down!’”

¹⁰ Elijah answered the captain of 50, “If I am a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and destroy you and your 50 men!”

So fire came down from heaven and destroyed the captain and his 50 men.

¹¹ Ahaziah sent another captain with 50 men to Elijah. He said to Elijah, “Man of God, the king says, ‘Come down quickly!’”

¹² Elijah told the captain and his 50 men, “If I am a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and destroy you and your 50 men!”

Then God’s fire came down from heaven and destroyed the captain and his 50 men.

¹³ Ahaziah sent a third captain with 50 men. The third captain came to Elijah. He fell down on his knees and begged Elijah, saying to him, “Man of God, I ask you, please let my life and the lives of your 50 servants be valuable to you. ¹⁴ Fire came down from heaven and destroyed the first two captains and their 50 men. But now, have mercy and let us live!”

¹⁵ The Lord’s angel said to Elijah, “Go with the captain. Don’t be afraid of him.”

So Elijah went with the captain to see King Ahaziah.

¹⁶ Elijah told Ahaziah, “This is what the Lord says: ‘There is a God in Israel, so why did you send messengers to ask questions of Baal Zebub, the god of Ekron? Since you did this, you will not get up from your bed. You will die!’”

Joram Takes Ahaziah’s Place

¹⁷ Ahaziah died, just as the Lord said through Elijah. Ahaziah did not have a son, so Joram became the new king after Ahaziah. He began to rule during the second year that Jehoram son of Jehoshaphat was the king of Judah.

¹⁸ The other things that Ahaziah did are written in the book, The History of the Kings of Israel.

The Lord Makes Plans to Take Elijah

2 It was near the time for the Lord to take Elijah by a whirlwind up into heaven. Elijah and Elisha started to leave Gilgal.

² Elijah said to Elisha, “Please stay here, because the Lord told me to go to Bethel.”

But Elisha said, “I promise, as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you.” So the two men went down to Bethel.

³ The group of prophets^[b] at Bethel came to Elisha and said to him, “Do you know that the Lord will take your master away from you today?”

Elisha said, “Yes, I know. Don’t talk about it.”

⁴ Elijah said to Elisha, “Please stay here, because the Lord told me to go to Jericho.”

But Elisha said, “I promise, as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you!” So the two men went to Jericho.

⁵ The group of prophets at Jericho came to Elisha and said to him, “Do you know that the Lord will take your master away from you today?”

Elisha answered, “Yes, I know. Don’t talk about it.”

⁶ Elijah said to Elisha, “Please stay here, because the Lord told me to go to the Jordan River.”

Elisha answered, “I promise, as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you!” So the two men went on.

⁷ There were 50 men from the group of prophets who followed them. Elijah and Elisha stopped at the Jordan River. The 50 men stood far away from Elijah and Elisha. ⁸ Elijah took off his coat, folded it, and hit the water with it. The water separated to the right and to the left. Then Elijah and Elisha crossed the river on dry ground.

⁹ After they crossed the river, Elijah said to Elisha, “What do you want me to do for you before God takes me away from you?”

Elisha said, “I ask you for a double share of your spirit on me.”

¹⁰ Elijah said, “You have asked a hard thing. If you see me when I am taken from you, it will happen. But if you don’t see me when I am taken from you, it will not happen.”

The Lord Takes Elijah Into Heaven

¹¹ Elijah and Elisha were walking and talking together. Suddenly, some horses and a chariot came and separated Elijah from Elisha. The horses and the chariot were like fire. Then Elijah was carried up into heaven in a whirlwind.

¹² Elisha saw it, and shouted, “My father! My father! The chariot of Israel and his horses!^[c]”

Elisha never saw Elijah again. Elisha grabbed his own clothes and tore them in two to show his sadness. ¹³ Elijah’s coat had fallen to the ground, so Elisha picked it up. He went back and stood at the edge of the Jordan River. ¹⁴ He hit the water and said, “Where is the Lord, the God of Elijah?” Just as Elisha hit the water, the water separated to the right and to the left! Then Elisha crossed the river.

The Prophets Ask for Elijah

¹⁵ When the group of prophets at Jericho saw Elisha, they said, “Elijah’s spirit is now on Elisha!” They came to meet Elisha. They bowed very low to the ground before him. ¹⁶ They said, “Look, we have 50 good men. Please let them go and look for your master. Maybe the Lord’s Spirit has taken Elijah up and dropped him on some mountain or in some valley.”

But Elisha answered, “No, don’t send men to look for Elijah!”

¹⁷ The group of prophets begged Elisha until he was embarrassed. Then Elisha said, “Send the men to look for Elijah.”

The group of prophets sent the 50 men to look for Elijah. They looked three days, but they could not find him. ¹⁸ So the men went to Jericho where Elisha was staying and told him. Elisha said to them, “I told you not to go.”

Elisha Makes the Water Good

¹⁹ The men of the city said to Elisha, “Sir, you can see this city is in a nice place, but the water is bad. That is why the land cannot grow crops.”

²⁰ Elisha said, “Bring me a new bowl and put salt in it.”

They brought the bowl to Elisha. ²¹ Then he went out to the place where the water began flowing from the ground. Elisha threw the salt into the water and said, “The Lord said, ‘I am making this water pure! From now on this water will not cause any more death or keep the land from growing crops.’”

²² The water became pure and is still good today. It happened just as Elisha had said.

Some Boys Make Fun of Elisha

²³ Elisha went from that city to Bethel. He was walking up the hill to the city, and some boys were coming down out of the city. They began making fun of him. They said, “Go away, you bald-headed man! Go away, you bald-headed man!”

²⁴ Elisha looked back and saw them. He asked the Lord to cause bad things to happen to them. Then two bears came out of the forest and attacked the boys. There were 42 boys ripped apart by the bears.

²⁵ Elisha left Bethel and went to Mount Carmel and from there he went back to Samaria.

Jehoram Becomes King of Israel

3 Joram son of Ahab became king over Israel at Samaria. He began to rule during Jehoshaphat’s 18th year as king of Judah. Joram ruled 12 years. ² He did what the Lord said was wrong. But he was not like his father and mother, because he removed the pillar that his father had made for worshiping Baal. ³ But he continued to do the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat who had caused the Israelites to sin. Joram did not stop committing the sins of Jeroboam.

Moab Breaks Away From Israel

⁴ Mesha was the king of Moab. He owned many sheep. He gave the wool of 100,000 lambs and 100,000 rams to the king of Israel. ⁵ But when Ahab died, the king of Moab broke away from the rule of the king of Israel.

⁶ Then King Joram went out of Samaria and gathered together all the men of Israel. ⁷ Joram sent messengers to Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah. Joram said, “The king of Moab has broken away from my rule. Will you go with me to fight against Moab?”

Jehoshaphat said, “Yes, I will go with you. We will join together as one army. My people will be like your people, and my horses will be like your horses.”

The Three Kings Ask Elisha for Advice

⁸ Jehoshaphat asked Joram, “Which way should we go?”

Joram answered, “We should go through the desert of Edom.”

⁹ So the king of Israel went with the king of Judah and the king of Edom. They traveled around for seven days. There was not enough water for the army or for their animals. ¹⁰ Finally, the king of Israel said, “Oh, I think the Lord really brought us three kings together only to let the Moabites defeat us!”

¹¹ But Jehoshaphat said, “Surely one of the Lord’s prophets is here. Let’s ask the prophet what the Lord says we should do.”

One of the servants of the king of Israel said, “Elisha son of Shaphat is here. Elisha was Elijah’s servant.^[d]”

¹² Jehoshaphat said, “The Lord’s word is with Elisha.”

So the king of Israel, Jehoshaphat, and the king of Edom went down to see Elisha.

¹³ Elisha said to the king of Israel, “What do you want from me? Go to the prophets of your father and mother.”

The king of Israel said to Elisha, “No, we have come to see you because the Lord called us three kings together to let the Moabites defeat us.”

¹⁴ Elisha said, “I respect King Jehoshaphat of Judah, and I serve the Lord All-Powerful. As surely as he lives, I came here only because of Jehoshaphat. I tell you the truth, if he were not here, I would not pay any attention to you. I would ignore you completely. ¹⁵ But now bring me someone who plays the harp.”

When the person played the harp, the Lord’s power^[e] came on Elisha. ¹⁶ Then Elisha said, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Dig holes in the valley.’ ¹⁷ Yes, this is what the Lord says: ‘You will not see wind or rain, but that valley will be filled with water. Then you and your cattle and other animals will have water to drink.’ ¹⁸ This is an easy thing for the Lord to do. He will also help you defeat the Moabites. ¹⁹ You will attack every strong city and every good city. You will cut down every good tree. You will stop up all the springs of water. You will ruin every good field with stones.”

²⁰ In the morning, at the time for the morning sacrifice, water began flowing from the direction of Edom and filled the valley.

²¹ The Moabites heard that the kings had come up to fight against them. So they gathered together all the men old enough to wear armor and waited at the border. ²² The Moabites got up early that morning. The rising sun was shining on the water in the valley, and it looked like blood to the Moabites. ²³ They said, “Look at the blood! The kings must have fought against each other. They must have destroyed each other. Let’s go take the valuable things from the dead bodies!”

²⁴ The Moabites came to the Israelite camp, but the Israelites came out and attacked the Moabite army. The Moabites ran away from the Israelites. The Israelites followed them into Moab to fight them. ²⁵ The Israelites destroyed the cities. They threw their stones^[f] at every good field in Moab. They stopped up all the springs of water and cut down all the good trees. The Israelites fought all the way to Kir Hareseth. The soldiers surrounded Kir Hareseth and attacked it too.

²⁶ The king of Moab saw that the battle was too strong for him, so he took 700 men with swords to break through to the king of Edom. But they were not able to do it. ²⁷ Then the king of Moab took his oldest son, who would become the next king after him. On the wall around the city, the king of Moab offered his son as a burnt offering. This upset the Israelites very much. So the Israelites left the king of Moab and went back to their own land.

A Prophet’s Widow Asks Elisha for Help

4 A man from the group of prophets^[g] had a wife. This man died, and his wife cried out to Elisha, “My husband was like a servant to you. Now he is dead! You know he honored the Lord. But he owed money to a man. Now that man is coming to take my two boys and make them his slaves!”

² Elisha answered, “How can I help you? Tell me, what do you have in your house?”

The woman said, “I don’t have anything in the house except a jar of olive oil.”

³ Then Elisha said, “Go and borrow bowls from all your neighbors. They must be empty. Borrow plenty of bowls. ⁴ Then go to your house and close the doors. Only you and your sons will be in the house. Then pour the oil into all the bowls. Fill them, and put them in a separate place.”

⁵ So the woman left Elisha, went into her house, and shut the door. Only she and her sons were in the house. Her sons brought the bowls to her and she poured oil. ⁶ She filled many bowls. Finally, she said to her son, “Bring me another bowl.”

But all the bowls were full. One of the sons said to her, “There aren’t any more bowls.” Then the oil in the jar was finished!

⁷ When she told the man of God what had happened, Elisha said to her, “Go, sell the oil and pay your debt. You and your sons can live on the money that is left.”

A Woman in Shunem Gives Elisha a Room

⁸ One day Elisha went to Shunem, where an important woman lived. She asked Elisha to stop and eat at her house. So every time Elisha went through that place, he stopped there to eat.

⁹ The woman said to her husband, “Look, I can see that Elisha is a holy man of God. He passes by our house all the time. ¹⁰ Please, let’s make a little room on the roof^[h] for him. Let’s put a bed in this room and a table, a chair, and a lampstand. Then when he comes to our house, he can have this room for himself.”

¹¹ One day Elisha came to the woman’s house. He went to this room and rested there. ¹² Elisha said to his servant Gehazi, “Call this Shunammite woman.”

The servant called the Shunammite woman, and she stood in front of Elisha. ¹³ Elisha told his servant, “Now say to her, ‘Look, you have done your best to take care of us. What can we do for you? Do you want us to speak to the king for you, or to the captain of the army?’”

She answered, “I am fine living here among my own people.”

¹⁴ Elisha said to Gehazi, “What can we do for her?”

He answered, “I know! She does not have a son, and her husband is old.”

¹⁵ Then Elisha said, “Call her.”

So Gehazi called the woman. She came and stood at his door. ¹⁶ Elisha said, “About this time next spring, you will be holding your own baby boy in your arms.”

The woman said, “No, sir! Man of God, don’t lie to me!”

The Woman in Shunem Has a Son

¹⁷ But the woman did become pregnant and gave birth to a son that next spring, just as Elisha had said.

¹⁸ The boy grew. One day the boy went out into the fields to see his father and the men cutting the grain. ¹⁹ The boy said to his father, “Oh, my head! My head hurts!”

The father said to his servant, “Carry him to his mother!”

²⁰ The servant took the boy to his mother. The boy sat on his mother’s lap until noon. Then he died.

The Woman Goes to See Elisha

²¹ The woman laid the boy on the bed of Elisha, the man of God. Then she shut the door to that room and went outside. ²² She called to her husband and said, “Please send me one of the servants and a donkey. Then I will go quickly to get the man of God and come back.”

²³ The woman’s husband said, “Why would you want to go to the man of God today? It isn’t the New Moon or Sabbath day.”

She said, “Goodbye!”^[i]

²⁴ Then she put a saddle on a donkey and said to her servant, “Let’s go, and hurry! Go slow only when I tell you.”

²⁵ The woman went to Mount Carmel to get the man of God.

The man of God saw the Shunammite woman coming from far away and said to his servant Gehazi, “Look, there’s the Shunammite woman! ²⁶ Please run now to meet her! Say to her, ‘Are you all right? Is your husband all right? Is the child all right?’”

She answered, “Everything is all right.”^[j]

²⁷ But the Shunammite woman went up the hill to the man of God. She bowed down and touched Elisha’s feet. Gehazi came near to pull her away. But the man of God said to Gehazi, “Leave her alone! She’s very upset, and the Lord didn’t tell me about it. He hid this news from me.”

²⁸ Then she said, “Sir, I never asked for a son. I told you, ‘Don’t trick me!’”

²⁹ Then Elisha said to Gehazi, “Get ready to go. Take my walking stick and go! If you meet anyone along the way, don’t even stop to say hello to him. If anyone says hello to you, don’t answer. Put my walking stick on the child’s face.”

³⁰ But the child’s mother said, “I promise, as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave without you!”

So Elisha got up and followed her.

³¹ Gehazi arrived at the house before Elisha and the Shunammite woman. Gehazi laid the walking stick on the child’s face, but the child did not talk or show any sign that he heard anything. Then Gehazi came back to meet Elisha and said, “The child will not wake up!”

The Woman’s Son Comes Back to Life

³² Elisha went into the house, and there was the child, lying dead on his bed. ³³ Elisha went into the room and shut the door. He and the child were alone in the room now. Then he prayed to the Lord. ³⁴ Elisha went to the bed and lay on the child. He put his eyes on the child’s eyes, his mouth on the child’s mouth, and his hands on the child’s hands. He lay there on top of the child until the child’s body became warm.

³⁵ Then Elisha turned away and walked around the room. He went back and lay on the child until the child sneezed seven times and opened his eyes.

³⁶ Elisha called Gehazi and said, “Call the Shunammite woman!”

Gehazi called her, and she came to Elisha. Elisha said, “Pick up your son.”

³⁷ Then the Shunammite woman went into the room and bowed down at Elisha’s feet. Then she picked up her son and went out.

Elisha and the Poisoned Soup

³⁸ Elisha went to Gilgal again. There was a famine in the land. The group of prophets was sitting in front of Elisha. Elisha said to his servant, “Put the large pot on the fire, and make some soup for the group of prophets.”

³⁹ One man went out into the field to gather herbs. He found a wild vine and picked the fruit from it. He put that fruit in his robe and brought it back. He cut up the wild fruit and put it into the pot. But the group of prophets did not know what kind of fruit it was.

⁴⁰ Then they poured some of the soup for the men to eat. But when they began to eat the soup, they shouted out, “Man of God! There’s poison in the pot!” The food tasted like poison, so they could not eat that food.

⁴¹ But Elisha said, “Bring some flour.” He threw the flour into the pot. Then he said, “Pour the soup for the people so that they can eat.”

And there was nothing wrong with the soup.

Elisha Feeds the Group of Prophets

⁴² A man from Baal Shalishah came and brought bread from the first harvest to the man of God. This man brought 20 loaves of barley bread and fresh grain in his sack. Then Elisha said, “Give this food to the people, so that they can eat.”

⁴³ Elisha’s servant said, “What? There are 100 men here. How can I give this food to all those men?”

But Elisha said, “Give the food to the people to eat. The Lord says, ‘They will eat and there will still be food left over.’”

⁴⁴ Then Elisha’s servant put the food in front of the group of prophets. The group of prophets had enough to eat, and they even had food left over. This happened just as the Lord had said.

Naaman’s Problem

5 Naaman was the captain of the army of the king of Aram. He was very important to his king^[k] because the Lord used him to lead Aram to victory. Naaman was a great and powerful man, but he was also sick with leprosy.

² The Aramean army sent many groups of soldiers to fight in Israel. One time they took a little girl from the land of Israel. This girl became a servant of Naaman’s wife. ³ She said to his wife, “I wish that my master would meet the prophet who lives in Samaria. He could heal Naaman of his leprosy.”

⁴ Naaman went to the king and told him what the Israelite girl said.

⁵ Then the king of Aram said, “Go now, and I will send a letter to the king of Israel.”

So Naaman went to Israel. He took 750 pounds^[l] of silver, 6000 pieces of gold and ten changes of clothes as gifts. ⁶ Naaman took the letter from the king of Aram to the king of Israel. The letter said: “Now this letter is to show that I am sending my servant Naaman to you. Cure his leprosy.”

⁷ When the king of Israel had read the letter, he tore his clothes to show he was sad and upset. He said, “Am I God? I don’t have the power over life and death. So why did the king of Aram send a man sick with leprosy for me to heal? Think about it, and you will see that it is a trick. The king of Aram is trying to start a fight.”

⁸ Elisha, the man of God, heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes. So Elisha sent this message to the king: “Why did you tear your clothes? Let Naaman come to me. Then he will know there is a prophet in Israel.”

⁹ So Naaman came with his horses and chariots to Elisha’s house and stood outside the door. ¹⁰ Elisha sent a messenger to Naaman who said, “Go and wash in the Jordan River seven times. Then your skin will be healed, and you will be pure and clean.”

¹¹ Naaman became angry and left. He said, “I thought Elisha would at least come out and stand in front of me and call on the name of the Lord his God. I thought he would wave his hand over my body and heal the leprosy. ¹² Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, are better than all the water in Israel. Why can’t I wash in those rivers in Damascus and become clean?” He was very angry and turned to leave.

¹³ But Naaman’s servants went to him and talked to him. They said, “Father,^[m] if the prophet told you to do some great thing, you would do it, isn’t that right? But he said, ‘Wash, and you will be pure and clean.’”

¹⁴ So Naaman did what the man of God said. He went down and dipped himself in the Jordan River seven times, and he became pure and clean. His skin became soft like the skin of a baby.

¹⁵ Naaman and his whole group came back to the man of God. He stood before Elisha and said, “Look, I now know there is no God in all the earth except in Israel. Now please accept a gift from me.”

¹⁶ But Elisha said, “The Lord is the one I serve, and as surely as he lives, I will not accept any gift.”

Naaman tried hard to make Elisha take the gift, but he refused. ¹⁷ Then Naaman said, “If you will not accept this gift, at least do this for me. Let me have enough dirt from Israel to fill the baskets on two of my mules.^[n] I ask this because I will never again offer any burnt offering or sacrifice to any other gods. I will offer sacrifices only to the Lord! ¹⁸ And I pray that the Lord will forgive me for this: When my master goes to the temple of Rimmon to worship that false god, he will want to lean on me for support. So I must bow down in the temple of Rimmon. I ask the Lord now to forgive me when that happens.”

¹⁹ Then Elisha said to Naaman, “Go in peace.”

So Naaman left Elisha and went a short way. ²⁰ But Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, said, “Look, my master has let Naaman the Aramean go without accepting the gift that he brought. As the Lord lives, I will run after Naaman and get something from him.” ²¹ So Gehazi ran to Naaman.

Naaman saw someone running after him. He stepped down from the chariot to meet Gehazi. Naaman said, “Is everything all right?”

²² Gehazi said, “Yes, everything is all right. My master has sent me. He said, ‘Look, two young men came to me from the group of prophets^[o] in the hill country of Ephraim. Please give them 75 pounds^[p] of silver and two changes of clothes.’”

²³ Naaman said, “Please, take 150 pounds.^[q]” He persuaded Gehazi to take the silver. Naaman put 150 pounds of silver in two bags and took two changes of clothes. Then he gave these things to two of his servants. The servants carried these things for Gehazi. ²⁴ When Gehazi came to the hill, he took these things from the servants. He sent the servants away, and they left. Then he hid those things in the house.

²⁵ Gehazi came in and stood before his master. Elisha said to Gehazi, “Where have you been Gehazi?”

Gehazi answered, “I didn’t go anywhere.”

²⁶ Elisha said to him, “That is not true! My heart was with you when the man turned from his chariot to meet you. This is not the time to take money, clothes, olives, grapes, sheep, cattle, or men and women servants. ²⁷ Now you and your children will catch Naaman’s disease. You will have leprosy forever!”

When Gehazi left Elisha, his skin was as white as snow! He was sick with leprosy.

Elisha and the Ax Head

6 The group of prophets said to Elisha, “We are staying in that place over there, but it is too small for us. ² Let’s go to the Jordan River and cut some wood. Each of us will get a log and we will build us a place to live there.”

Elisha answered, “Go and do it.”

³ One of them said, “Please go with us.”

Elisha said, “Yes, I will go with you.”

⁴ So Elisha went with the group of prophets. When they arrived at the Jordan River, they began to cut down some trees. ⁵ But when one man was cutting down a tree, the iron ax head slipped from the handle and fell into the water. He shouted, “Oh, master! I borrowed that ax!”

⁶ The man of God said, “Where did it fall?”

The man showed Elisha the place where the ax head fell. Then Elisha cut a stick and threw the stick into the water. The stick made the iron ax head float. ⁷ Elisha said, “So pick up the ax head.” Then the man reached out and took the ax head.

Aram Tries to Trap Israel

⁸ The king of Aram was making war against Israel. He had a council meeting with his army officers. He said, “Go to such and such a place and prepare to attack the Israelites when they come by.”

⁹ But the man of God sent a message to the king of Israel. Elisha said, “Be careful! Don’t go by that place, because the Aramean soldiers are hiding there!”

¹⁰ The king of Israel sent a message to his men at the place that the man of God warned him about. And the king of Israel saved quite a few men.^[r]

¹¹ The king of Aram was very upset about this. He called his army officers and said to them, “Tell me who is spying for the king of Israel.”

¹² One of the officers of the king of Aram said, “My lord and king, not one of us is a spy. Elisha, the prophet from Israel, can tell the king of Israel many secret things—even the words that you speak in your bedroom!”

¹³ The king of Aram said, “Find Elisha, and I will send men to catch him.”

The servants told the king of Aram, “Elisha is in Dothan.”

¹⁴ Then the king of Aram sent horses, chariots, and a large army to Dothan. They arrived at night and surrounded the city. ¹⁵ Elisha’s servant got up early that morning. When he went outside, he saw an army with horses and chariots all around the city.

The servant said to Elisha, “Oh, my master, what can we do?”

¹⁶ Elisha said, “Don’t be afraid. The army that fights for us is larger than the army that fights for Aram.”

¹⁷ Then Elisha prayed and said, “Lord, I ask you, open my servant’s eyes so that he can see.”

The Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and the servant saw the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire. They were all around Elisha.

¹⁸ These horses and chariots of fire came down to Elisha. He prayed to the Lord and said, “I pray that you will cause these people to become blind.”

So God did what Elisha asked. He caused the Aramean army to become blind. ¹⁹ Elisha said to the Aramean army, “This is not the right way. This is not the right city. Follow me. I will lead you to the man you are looking for.” Then Elisha led them to Samaria.^[s]

²⁰ When they arrived at Samaria, Elisha said, “Lord, open the eyes of these men so that they can see.”

Then the Lord opened their eyes, and the Aramean army saw they were in the city of Samaria! ²¹ The king of Israel saw the Aramean army and said to Elisha, “My father, should I kill them? Should I kill them?”

²² Elisha answered, “No, don’t kill them. They are not soldiers you captured in battle. Give them some bread and water. Let them eat and drink. Then let them go home to their leader.”

²³ So the king prepared a big meal for the Aramean army. After they ate and drank, he sent them back home to their leader. The Arameans did not send any more soldiers into the land of Israel to make raids.

A Time of Terrible Hunger Hits Samaria

²⁴ After this happened, King Ben-Hadad of Aram gathered all his army and went to surround and attack the city of Samaria. ²⁵ The soldiers would not let people bring food into the city, so there was a time of terrible hunger in Samaria. It was so bad in Samaria that a donkey’s head was sold for 80 pieces of silver and one pint^[t] of dove’s dung sold for five pieces of silver.

²⁶ The king of Israel was walking on the wall around the city. A woman shouted out to him. She said, “My lord and king, please help me!”

²⁷ The king of Israel said, “If the Lord does not help you, how can I help you? I cannot give you grain from the threshing floor or wine from the winepress.” ²⁸ Then he said to her, “What is your trouble?”

She answered, “This woman said to me, ‘Give me your son so that we can eat him today. Then we will eat my son tomorrow.’ ²⁹ So we boiled my son and ate him. Then the next day, I said to this woman, ‘Give me your son so that we can eat him.’ But she has hidden her son!”

³⁰ When the king heard the woman’s words, he tore his clothes to show he was upset. As he passed by on the wall, the people saw the king was wearing the rough cloth under his clothes to show he was sad and upset.

³¹ The king said, “May God punish me if the head of Elisha son of Shaphat is still on his body at the end of this day!”

³² The king sent a messenger to Elisha. Elisha was sitting in his house, and the elders were sitting with him. Before the messenger arrived, Elisha said to the elders, “Look, that son of a murderer is sending men to cut off my head. When the messenger arrives, shut the door. Hold the door and don’t let him in. I hear the sound of his master’s feet coming behind him.”

³³ While Elisha was still talking with the elders, the messenger^[u] came to him. This was the message: “This trouble has come from the Lord. Why should I wait for the Lord any longer?”