The Axe Head Floats 1 UEB The sons of the prophets said to Elisha, "The place where we live with you is too small for us all. BSB BSB: Now the sons of the prophets said to Elisha, “Please take note that the place where we meet with you is too small for us.
2 UEB Please let us go to the Jordan, and let every man cut down a tree there, and let us build us a place there where we may live." Elisha answered, "You may go ahead." BSB BSB: Please let us go to the Jordan, where each of us can get a log so we can build ourselves a place to live there.” “Go,” said Elisha.
3 UEB One of them said, "Please go with your servants." Elisha answered, "I will go." BSB BSB: Then one of them said, “Please come with your servants.” “I will come,” he replied.
4 UEB So he went with them, and when they came to the Jordan, they began to cut down trees. BSB BSB: So Elisha went with them, and when they came to the Jordan, they began to cut down some trees.
5 UEB But as one was chopping, the ax head fell into the water; he cried out and said, "Oh no, my master, it was borrowed!" BSB BSB: As one of them was cutting down a tree, the iron axe head fell into the water. “Oh, my master,” he cried out, “it was borrowed!”
6 UEB So the man of God said, "Where did it fall?" The man showed Elisha the place. He then cut off a stick, threw it in the water, and made the iron float. BSB BSB: “Where did it fall?” asked the man of God. And when he showed him the place, the man of God cut a stick, threw it there, and made the iron float.
7 UEB Elisha said, "Pick it up." So the man reached out his hand and grabbed it. BSB BSB: “Lift it out,” he said, and the man reached out his hand and took it.
Elisha Captures the Blinded Arameans 8 UEB Now the king of Aram was waging war against Israel. He consulted with his servants, saying, "My camp will be in such and such a place." BSB BSB: Now the king of Aram was at war against Israel. After consulting with his servants, he said, “My camp will be in such and such a place.”
9 UEB So the man of God sent to the king of Israel, saying, "Be careful not to pass that place, for the Arameans are going down there." BSB BSB: Then the man of God sent word to the king of Israel: “Be careful not to pass by this place, for the Arameans are going down there.”
10 UEB The king of Israel sent a message to the place about which the man of God had spoken and warned him. More than once or twice, when the king went there, he was on his guard. BSB BSB: So the king of Israel sent word to the place the man of God had pointed out. Time and again Elisha warned the king, so that he was on his guard in such places.
11 UEB The king of Aram was enraged about these warnings, and he called his servants and said to them, "Will you not tell me who among us is for the king of Israel?" BSB BSB: For this reason the king of Aram became enraged and called his servants to demand of them, “Tell me, which one of us is on the side of the king of Israel?”
12 UEB So one of his servants said, "No, my master, king, for Elisha the prophet in Israel tells the king of Israel the words that you speak in your own bedroom!" BSB BSB: But one of his servants replied, “No one, my lord the king. For Elisha, the prophet in Israel, tells the king of Israel the very words you speak in your bedroom.”
13 UEB The king replied, "Go and see where Elisha is so I may send men and capture him." It was told him, "See, he is in Dothan." BSB BSB: So the king said, “Go and see where he is, that I may send men to capture him.” On receiving the report, “Elisha is in Dothan,”
14 UEB So the king sent to Dothan horses, chariots, and a large army. They came by night and surrounded the city. BSB BSB: the king of Aram sent horses, chariots, and a great army. They went there by night and surrounded the city.
15 UEB When the servant of the man of God had risen early and gone outside, behold, a large army with horses and chariots surrounded the city. His servant said to him, "Oh, my master! What will we do?" BSB BSB: When the servant of the man of God got up and went out early in the morning, behold, an army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city. So he asked Elisha, “Oh, my master, what are we to do?”
16 UEB Elisha answered, "Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them." BSB BSB: “Do not be afraid,” Elisha answered, “for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.”
17 UEB Elisha prayed and said, "Yahweh, I beg that you will open his eyes that he may see." Then Yahweh opened the servant's eyes, and he saw. Behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire around Elisha! BSB BSB: Then Elisha prayed, “O LORD, please open his eyes that he may see.” And the LORD opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw that the hills were full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.
18 UEB When the Arameans came down to him, Elisha prayed to Yahweh and said, "Strike these people blind, I ask you." So Yahweh made them blind, just as Elisha had asked. BSB BSB: As the Arameans came down against him, Elisha prayed to the LORD, “Please strike these people with blindness.” So He struck them with blindness, according to the word of Elisha.
19 UEB Then Elisha told the Arameans, "This is not the way, neither is this the city. Follow me, and I will bring you to the man whom you are looking for." Then he led them to Samaria. BSB BSB: And Elisha told them, “This is not the way, and this is not the city. Follow me, and I will take you to the man you are seeking.” And he led them to Samaria.
20 UEB It came about that when they had come into Samaria, 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 middle of the city of Samaria. BSB BSB: When they had entered Samaria, Elisha said, “O LORD, open the eyes of these men that they may see.” Then the LORD opened their eyes, and they looked around and discovered that they were in Samaria.
21 UEB The king of Israel said to Elisha, when he saw them, "My father, should I kill them? Should I kill them?" BSB BSB: And when the king of Israel saw them, he asked Elisha, “My father, shall I kill them? Shall I kill them?”
22 UEB Elisha answered, "You must not kill them. Would you kill those whom you had taken captive with your sword and bow? Put bread and water before them, that they may eat and drink, and go to their master." BSB BSB: “Do not kill them,” he replied. “Would you kill those you have captured with your own sword or bow? Set food and water before them, that they may eat and drink and then return to their master.”
23 UEB So the king prepared much food for them, and when they had eaten and drunk, he sent them away, and they went back to their master. Those bands of Aramean soldiers did not return for a long time into the land of Israel. BSB BSB: So the king prepared a great feast for them, and after they had finished eating and drinking, he sent them away, and they returned to their master. And the Aramean raiders did not come into the land of Israel again.
The Siege and Famine of Samaria 24 UEB Later after this Ben Hadad king of Aram gathered all his army and attacked Samaria and besieged it. BSB BSB: Some time later, Ben-hadad king of Aram assembled his entire army and marched up to besiege Samaria.
25 UEB So there was a great famine in Samaria. 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. BSB BSB: So there was a great famine in Samaria. Indeed, they besieged the city so long that a donkey’s head sold for eighty shekels of silver, and a quarter cab of dove’s dung sold for five shekels of silver.
26 UEB As the king of Israel was passing by on the wall, a woman cried to him, saying, "Help, my master, king." BSB BSB: As the king of Israel was passing by on the wall, a woman cried out to him, “Help me, my lord the king!”
27 UEB He said, "If Yahweh does not help you, how can I help you? Is there anything coming from the threshing floor or winepress?" BSB BSB: He answered, “If the LORD does not help you, where can I find help for you? From the threshing floor or the winepress?”
28 UEB The king continued, "What is troubling you?" She answered, "This woman said to me, 'Give your son so that we may eat him today, and we will eat my son tomorrow.'" BSB BSB: Then the king asked her, “What is the matter?” And she answered, “This woman said to me, ‘Give up your son, that we may eat him, and tomorrow we will eat my son.’
29 UEB So 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." BSB BSB: So we boiled my son and ate him, and the next day I said to her, ‘Give up your son, that we may eat him.’ But she had hidden her son.”
30 UEB So 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 saw that he had sackcloth underneath, against his skin. BSB BSB: When the king heard the words of the woman, he tore his clothes. And as he passed by on the wall, the people saw the sackcloth under his clothes next to his skin.
31 UEB Then he said, "May God do so to me, and more also, if the head of Elisha son of Shaphat remains on him today." BSB BSB: He announced, “May God punish me, and ever so severely, if the head of Elisha son of Shaphat remains on his shoulders through this day!”
32 UEB But Elisha was sitting in his house, and the elders were sitting with him. The king sent a man from before him, but when the messenger came to Elisha, he said to the elders, "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?" BSB BSB: Now 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, “Do you see how this murderer has sent someone to cut off my head? Look, when the messenger comes, shut the door to keep him out. Is not the sound of his master’s footsteps behind him?”
33 UEB While he was still talking with them, behold, the messenger came down to him. The king had said, "Behold, this trouble comes from Yahweh. Why should I wait for Yahweh any longer?" BSB BSB: While Elisha was still speaking with them, the messenger came down to him. And the king said, “This calamity is from the LORD. Why should I wait for the LORD any longer?”
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