2Kings 6 - Prayer Tents

The Floating Ax Head

6One day the group of prophets came to Elisha and told him, "As you can see, this place where we meet with you is too small.H1121H5030H559H6440H477H4725H3427H68622Let's go down to the Jordan River, where there are plenty of logs. There we can build a new place for us to meet." "All right," he told them, "go ahead."H3212H3383H3947H376H259H6982H6213H4725H3427H559H32123"Please come with us," someone suggested."I will," he said.H259H559H2974H3212H5650H559H32124So he went with them. When they arrived at the Jordan, they began cutting down trees.H3212H935H3383H1504H60865But as one of them was cutting a tree, his ax head fell into the river. "Oh, sir!" he cried. "It was a borrowed ax!"H259H5307H6982H1270H5307H4325H6817H559H162H113H75926"Where did it fall?" the man of God asked. When he showed him the place, Elisha cut a stick and threw it into the water at that spot. Then the ax head floated to the surface.H376H430H559H575H5307H7200H4725H7094H6086H7993H1270H66877"Grab it," Elisha said. And the man reached out and grabbed it.H559H7311H7971H3027H3947

Elisha Traps the Arameans

8When the king of Aram was at war with Israel, he would confer with his officers and say, "We will mobilize our forces at such and such a place."H4428H758H3898H3478H3289H5650H559H6423H492H4725H84669But immediately Elisha, the man of God, would warn the king of Israel, "Do not go near that place, for the Arameans are planning to mobilize their troops there."H376H430H7971H4428H3478H559H8104H5674H2088H4725H758H518510So the king of Israel would send word to the place indicated by the man of God. Time and again Elisha warned the king, so that he would be on the alert there.H4428H3478H7971H4725H376H430H559H2094H8104H259H814711The king of Aram became very upset over this. He called his officers together and demanded, "Which of you is the traitor? Who has been informing the king of Israel of my plans?"H3820H4428H758H5590H1697H7121H5650H559H5046H4428H347812"It's not us, my lord the king," one of the officers replied. "Elisha, the prophet in Israel, tells the king of Israel even the words you speak in the privacy of your bedroom!"H259H5650H559H113H4428H477H5030H3478H5046H4428H3478H1697H1696H2315H490413"Go and find out where he is," the king commanded, "so I can send troops to seize him." And the report came back: "Elisha is at Dothan."H559H3212H7200H351H7971H3947H5046H559H188614So one night the king of Aram sent a great army with many chariots and horses to surround the city.H7971H5483H7393H3515H2428H935H3915H5362H5892H536215When the servant of the man of God got up early the next morning and went outside, there were troops, horses, and chariots everywhere. "Oh, sir, what will we do now?" the young man cried to Elisha.H8334H376H430H6965H7925H3318H2428H5437H5892H5483H7393H5288H559H162H113H621316"Don't be afraid!" Elisha told him. "For there are more on our side than on theirs!"H559H3372H722717Then Elisha prayed, "O LORD, open his eyes and let him see!" The LORD opened the young man's eyes, and when he looked up, he saw that the hillside around Elisha was filled with horses and chariots of fire.H477H6419H559H3068H6491H5869H7200H3068H6491H5869H5288H7200H2022H4390H5483H7393H784H5439H47718As the Aramean army advanced toward him, Elisha prayed, "O LORD, please make them blind." So the LORD struck them with blindness as Elisha had asked.H3381H477H6419H3068H559H5221H1471H5575H5221H5575H1697H47719Then Elisha went out and told them, "You have come the wrong way! This isn't the right city! Follow me, and I will take you to the man you are looking for." And he led them to the city of Samaria.H477H559H1870H2090H5892H3212H310H3212H376H1245H3212H811120As soon as they had entered Samaria, Elisha prayed, "O LORD, now open their eyes and let them see." So the LORD opened their eyes, and they discovered that they were in the middle of Samaria.H935H8111H477H559H3068H6491H5869H7200H3068H6491H5869H7200H8432H811121When the king of Israel saw them, he shouted to Elisha, "My father, should I kill them? Should I kill them?"H4428H3478H559H477H7200H1H5221H522122"Of course not!" Elisha replied. "Do we kill prisoners of war? Give them food and drink and send them home again to their master."H559H5221H5221H7617H2719H7198H7760H3899H4325H6440H398H8354H3212H11323So the king made a great feast for them and then sent them home to their master. After that, the Aramean raiders stayed away from the land of Israel.H3739H1419H3740H398H8354H7971H3212H113H1416H758H935H3254H776H3478

Ben-Hadad Besieges Samaria

24Some time later, however, King Ben-hadad of Aram mustered his entire army and besieged Samaria.H310H1130H4428H758H6908H4264H5927H6696H811125As a result, there was a great famine in the city. The siege lasted so long that a donkey's head sold for eighty pieces of silver, and a cup of dove's dung sold for five pieces

of silver.H1419H7458H8111H6696H2543H7218H8084H3701H7255H6894H1686H3123H2755H2568H370126One day as the king of Israel was walking along the wall of the city, a woman called to him, "Please help me, my lord the king!"H4428H3478H5674H2346H6817H802H559H3467H113H442827He answered, "If the LORD doesn't help you, what can I do? I have neither food from the threshing floor nor wine from the press to give you."H559H3068H3467H370H3467H1637H334228But then the king asked, "What is the matter?" She replied, "This woman said to me: 'Come on, let's eat your son today, then we will eat my son tomorrow.'H4428H559H559H802H559H5414H1121H398H3117H398H1121H427929So we cooked my son and ate him. Then the next day I said to her, 'Kill your son so we can eat him,' but she has hidden her son."H1310H1121H398H559H312H3117H5414H1121H398H2244H112130When the king heard this, he tore his clothes in despair. And as the king walked along the wall, the people could see that he was wearing burlap under his robe next to his skin.H4428H8085H1697H802H7167H899H5674H2346H5971H7200H8242H1004H132031"May God strike me and even kill me if I don't separate Elisha's head from his shoulders this very day," the king vowed.H559H430H6213H3254H7218H477H1121H8202H5975H311732Elisha was sitting in his house with the elders of Israel when the king sent a messenger to summon him. But before the messenger arrived, Elisha said to the elders, "A murderer has sent a man to cut off my head. When he arrives, shut the door and keep him out. We will soon hear his master's steps following him."H477H3427H1004H2205H3427H7971H376H6440H4397H935H559H2205H7200H1121H7523H7971H5493H7218H7200H4397H935H5462H1817H3905H1817H6963H113H7272H31033While Elisha was still saying this, the messenger arrived. And the king

said, "All this misery is from the LORD! Why should I wait for the LORD any longer?"H1696H4397H3381H559H7451H3068H3176H3068