The Axe Head Floats
And the sons of the prophets said to Elisha, “Look, please — the place where we are living before you is too cramped for us.
Let us go to the Jordan, please, and each take one beam from there, and let us make ourselves a place there to live in.” And he said, “Go.”
And one of them said, “Be willing, please, and go with your servants.” And he said, “I will go.”
And he went with them; and they came to the Jordan and cut down the trees.
And it was, as one was felling a beam, that the iron axe head fell into the water; and he cried out and said, “Alas, my lord — and it was borrowed!”
And the man of God said, “Where did it fall?” And he showed him the place. And he cut off a stick and threw it there — and the iron floated.
And he said, “Lift it out for yourself.” And he stretched out his hand and took it.
Elisha Captures the Blinded Arameans
Now the king of Aram was making war against Israel; and he took counsel with his servants, saying, “At such-and-such a place shall be my camp.”
And the man of God sent to the king of Israel, saying, “Take care not to pass this place — for Aram is going down there.”
And the king of Israel sent to the place of which the man of God had spoken to him and warned him, and he kept guard there — not once, and not twice.
And the heart of the king of Aram was storm-tossed over this matter; and he called his servants and said to them, “Will you not tell me who of ours is for the king of Israel?”
And one of his servants said: “No, my lord the king — but Elisha, the prophet who is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the words that you speak in your bedroom.”
And he said, “Go and see where he is, and I will send and take him.” And it was told to him, saying, “Look — in Dothan.”
And he sent horses there, and chariots, and a heavy force; and they came by night and encircled the city.
And the attendant of the man of God rose early and went out — and look, a force surrounding the city, with horse and chariot. And his boy said to him, “Alas, my lord — what shall we do?”
And he said, “Do not fear — for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.”
And Elisha prayed and said, “LORD, open his eyes, please, so that he may see.” And the LORD opened the eyes of the boy, and he saw — and look, the mountain full of horses and chariots of fire, all around Elisha.
And they came down toward him; and Elisha prayed to the LORD and said, “Strike this nation, please, with blindness.” And he struck them with blindness, according to the word of Elisha.
And Elisha said to them, “This is not the way, and this is not the city. Follow me, and I will lead you to the man you are seeking.” And he led them to Samaria.
And it was, when they came to Samaria, that Elisha said, “LORD, open the eyes of these, so that they may see.” And the LORD opened their eyes, and they saw — and look, they were in the middle of Samaria.
And the king of Israel said to Elisha, when he saw them, “Shall I strike them down? Shall I strike them down, my father?”
And he said: “You shall not strike them down. Would you strike down those you have taken captive with your own sword and with your own bow? Set bread and water before them, and let them eat and drink and go to their lord.”
And he prepared a great feast for them; and they ate and drank, and he sent them away, and they went to their lord. And the raiding bands of Aram did not come again into the land of Israel.
The Siege and Famine of Samaria
And it was afterward that Ben-hadad, king of Aram, gathered all his camp, and went up and besieged Samaria.
And there was a great famine in Samaria; and look — they besieged it until a donkey’s head went for eighty pieces of silver, and a quarter of a kab of dove’s dung for five pieces of silver.
And it was, as the king of Israel was passing along on the wall, that a woman cried out to him, saying, “Save, my lord the king!”
And he said, “If the LORD does not save you, from where shall I save you? From the threshing floor, or from the winepress?”
And the king said to her, “What troubles you?” And she said: “This woman said to me, ‘Give up your son, and let us eat him today; and my son we will eat tomorrow.’
So we boiled my son and ate him. And I said to her on the next day, ‘Give up your son, and let us eat him’ — and she has hidden her son.”
And it was, when the king heard the words of the woman, that he tore his garments — and he was passing along on the wall, and the people looked, and look — sackcloth on his flesh underneath.
And he said, “Thus may God do to me, and thus may he add, if the head of Elisha the son of Shaphat stays on him today.”
Now Elisha was sitting in his house, and the elders were sitting with him. And the king sent a man ahead of him; but before the messenger came to him, he himself said to the elders: “Do you see how this son of a murderer has sent to remove my head? Look — when the messenger comes, shut the door and press him back with the door. Is not the sound of his lord’s feet behind him?”
While he was still speaking with them — look, the messenger coming down to him. And he said, “Look — this evil is from the LORD. Why should I wait for the LORD any longer?”