The Floating Ax Head
4 Kingdoms 6, verse 1. Then the sons of the prophets said to Elisha, “See now, the strip of land where we dwell with you is too narrow for us. 4 Kingdoms 6, verse 2. Please let us go to the River Jordan, and let every man take a log and build there a dwelling place.” So he answered, “Go.” 4 Kingdoms 6, verse 3. And one of them humbly requested, “Come with your servants.” And he replied, “I will go.” 4 Kingdoms 6, verse 4. Then he went with them, and they came to the River Jordan and began to cut trees. 4 Kingdoms 6, verse 5. But as one man was cutting a log, the iron ax head fell into the water. He cried out and said, “Alas, master, it was borrowed.” 4 Kingdoms 6, verse 6. So the man of God said, “Where did it fall?” And he showed him the place. So he broke off a stick of wood and threw it in the water at the same place; and the iron ax head rose to the surface. 4 Kingdoms 6, verse 7. Then Elisha said, “Raise it up to yourself.” So he reached down into the water and lifted it out.
Defeat of Syria
4 Kingdoms 6, verse 8. Now the king of Syria was making war against Israel; and he consulted with his servants, saying, “I shall encamp in this specific place.” 4 Kingdoms 6, verse 9. Then Elisha sent word to the king of Israel, saying, “Be careful not to pass this place, for the Syrians are hidden there.” 4 Kingdoms 6, verse 10. In response, the king of Israel sent someone to this place which Elisha warned about, and thereby kept careful watch over the Syrians on more than two occasions. 4 Kingdoms 6, verse 11. As a result, the king of Syria became troubled as to what was happening. He called his officers and said to them, “Will you not tell me who gives advance warning of our movements to the king of Israel?” 4 Kingdoms 6, verse 12. And one of his officers said, “No one, O lord my king. It is Elisha the prophet in Israel that tells the words you speak in your bedroom to the king of Israel.” 4 Kingdoms 6, verse 13. So he said, “Go, see where this man is, and I will send and kidnap him.” They sent word to him, saying, “Behold, he is in Dothan.” 4 Kingdoms 6, verse 14. So he sent horses and chariots and a great army that arrived at night to surround the city. 4 Kingdoms 6, verse 15. When Elisha's servant arose early and went out, the army was there, surrounding the city with horses and chariots. And his servant said to him, “O master, what shall we do?” 4 Kingdoms 6, verse 16. So he answered, “Do not fear, for those who are with us are greater in number than those who are with them.” 4 Kingdoms 6, verse 17. Then Elisha prayed, and said, “Lord, open the eyes of the servant and let him see.” And the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he was now able to see, and he beheld the mountain full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha. 4 Kingdoms 6, verse 18. Then the Syrians marched toward him, and Elisha prayed to the Lord and said, “Strike these people with blindness.” And He struck them with blindness according to the word of Elisha. 4 Kingdoms 6, verse 19. So Elisha said to them, “This is not the city nor is this the way to it. Follow me, and I will bring you to the man you seek.” But he led them away to Samaria. 4 Kingdoms 6, verse 20. So it came to be when they arrived in Samaria, Elisha said, “Lord, open their eyes and let them see.” Thus the Lord completely restored their ability to see. And behold, they were in the midst of Samaria. 4 Kingdoms 6, verse 21. Now when the king of Israel saw them, he said to Elisha, “O father, shall I not strike to kill them?” 4 Kingdoms 6, verse 22. But he answered, “You shall not kill them. Would you kill those whom you took captive with your sword and your bow? Set food and water before them, that they may eat and drink and return to their lord.” 4 Kingdoms 6, verse 23. Then he prepared a great feast for them, and after they ate and drank, he dismissed them and they departed to their lord. So lightly armed raiding parties of Syrians no longer came into the land of Israel.
Syria Besieges Samaria
4 Kingdoms 6, verse 24. And it came to pass that after this, the son of Hadad king of Syria gathered all the troops of his army and went up and besieged Samaria. 4 Kingdoms 6, verse 25. There was a great famine in Samaria. Indeed they besieged it even to the point where the value placed on the head of a donkey was fifty shekels of silver, and two quarts of dove droppings cost five shekels of silver. 4 Kingdoms 6, verse 26. As the king of Israel was passing by on the wall, a woman cried out to him, saying, “Save me, my lord, O king!” 4 Kingdoms 6, verse 27. And he said, “If the Lord does not save you from the threshing floor or from the winepress, how can I save you?” 4 Kingdoms 6, verse 28. Then the king said to her, “What is troubling you?” And she answered, “This woman said to me, ‘Give us your son so that we may eat him today, and we will eat my son tomorrow.’ 4 Kingdoms 6, verse 29. So we boiled my son and ate him. And on the next day I told her, ‘Give me your son so that we may eat him,’ but she hid her son.” 4 Kingdoms 6, verse 30. Now when the king heard the woman's words, he tore his clothes, and as he passed by on the wall, the people saw that underneath his clothes he wore sackcloth on his body. 4 Kingdoms 6, verse 31. Then he said, “God do so to me and more also, if the head of Elisha remains on him today.” 4 Kingdoms 6, verse 32. Now Elisha was sitting in his house, and the elders were sitting with him, when the king sent a man ahead of him. But before the messenger came to him, he said to the elders, “Do you see that this son of a murderer was sent to take away my head? Look, when the messenger comes, shut the door, and keep him on the outside of the door. Is that not the sound of his master's feet behind him?” 4 Kingdoms 6, verse 33. While yet talking with them, behold the messenger came down towards him; and the king said, “Listen! This evil is of the Lord, so why should I remain patient in the Lord?”