2 Kings 6:24-33

Elisha and the Siege of Samaria

²⁴ And it cometh to pass afterwards, that Ben-Hadad king of Aram gathereth all his camp, and goeth up, and layeth siege to Samaria, ²⁵ and there is a great famine in Samaria, and lo, they are laying siege to it, till the head of an ass is at eighty silverlings, and a forth of the cab of dovesdung at five silverlings. ²⁶ And it cometh to pass, the king of Israel is passing by on the wall, and a woman hath cried unto him, saying, 'Save, my lord, O king.' ²⁷ And he saith, 'Jehovah doth not save thee—whence do I save thee? out of the threshing-floor, or out of the wine-vat?' ²⁸ And the king saith to her, 'What—to thee?' and she saith, 'This woman said unto me, Give thy son, and we eat him to-day, and my son we eat to-morrow; ²⁹ and we boil my son and eat him, and I say unto her on the next day, Give thy son, and we eat him; and she hideth her son.' ³⁰ And it cometh to pass, at the king's hearing the words of the woman, that he rendeth his garments, and he is passing by on the wall, and the people see, and lo, the sackcloth 'is' on his flesh within. ³¹ And he saith, 'Thus doth God do to me, and thus He doth add—if it remain—the head of Elisha son of Shaphat—upon him this day.' ³² And Elisha is sitting in his house, and the elders are sitting with him, and 'the king' sendeth a man from before him; before the messenger doth come unto him, even he himself said unto the elders, 'Have ye seen that this son of the murderer hath sent to turn aside my head? see, at the coming in of the messenger, shut the door, and ye have held him fast at the door, is not the sound of the feet of his lord behind him?' ³³ He is yet speaking with them, and lo, the messenger is coming down unto him, and he saith, 'Lo, this 'is' the evil from Jehovah: what—do I wait for Jehovah any more?'