61 Now the sons of the prophets said to Elisha , "Behold now , the place before you where e we are living is too limited for us. 2 "Please 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 ." 3 Then one said , "Please be willing to go with your servants ." And he answered , "I shall go ." 4 So he went with them; and when they came to the Jordan , they cut down trees . 5 But 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 ." 6 Then 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 . 7 He said , "Take it up for yourself." So he put out his hand and took it.
8 Now 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 ." 9 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 ." 10 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 . 11 Now the heart of the king of Aram was enraged over this thing ; and he called his servants and said to them, "Will you tell me which of us is for the king of Israel ?" 12 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 e ."
13 So he said , "Go and see where he is, that I may send and take him." And it was told him, saying , "Behold , he is in Dothan ." 14 He sent horses and chariots and a great army there , and they came by night and surrounded the city . 15 Now when the attendant of the man of God had risen early and gone out, behold , an army with horses and chariots was circling the city . And his servant said to him, "Alas , my master ! What shall we do ?" 16 So he answered , " Do not fear , for those who are with us are more than those who are with them." 17 Then Elisha prayed and said , " O Lord , I pray , open his eyes that he may see ." And the Lord opened the servant's eyes and he saw ; and behold , the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha . 18 When they came down to him, Elisha prayed to the Lord and said , "Strike this people with blindness , I pray ." So He struck them with blindness according to the word of Elisha . 19 Then Elisha said to them, "This is not the way , nor is this the city ; follow e me and I will bring you to the man whom you seek ." And he brought them to Samaria . 20 When they had come into Samaria , Elisha said , "O Lord , open the eyes of these men, that they may see ." So the Lord opened their eyes and they saw ; and behold , they were in the midst of Samaria . 21 Then the king of Israel when he saw them, said to Elisha , " My father , shall I kill them? Shall I kill them?" 22 He answered , "You shall not kill them. Would you kill 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 go to their master ." 23 So 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 e into the land of Israel .
24 Now it came about after this , that Ben-hadad king of Aram gathered all his army and went up and besieged e Samaria . 25 There was a great famine in Samaria ; and behold , they besieged e 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 . 26 As the king of Israel was passing by on the wall a woman cried out to him, saying , "Help , my lord , O king !" 27 He said , "If the Lord does not help you, from where shall I help you? From the threshing floor , or from the wine press ?" 28 And the king said to her, " What is the matter with you?" And she answered , "This woman said to me, 'Give your son that we may eat him today , and we will eat my son tomorrow .' 29 " 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 ." 30 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 . 31 Then he said , "May God do so to me and more also , if the head of Elisha the son of Shaphat remains on him today ." 32 Now 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?" 33 While he was still talking with them, behold , the messenger came down to him and he said , " Behold , this evil is from the Lord ; why should I wait for the Lord any longer ?"
