The Second Book of the Kings, Commonly Called the Fourth Book of the Kings 6

Text size

1 And the sons of the prophets said unto Elisha Behold now the place where we dwell with thee is too strait for us ⚑

2 Let us go we pray thee unto Jordan and take thence every man a beam and let us make us a place there where we may dwell And he answered Go ye ⚑

3 And one said Be content I pray thee and go with thy servants And he answered I will go ⚑

4 So he went with them And when they came to Jordan they cut down wood ⚑

5 But as one was felling a beam the axe head fell into the water and he cried and said Alas master for it was borrowed ⚑

6 And the man of God said Where fell it And he shewed him the place And he cut down a stick and cast it in thither and the iron did swim ⚑

7 Therefore said he Take it up to thee And he put out his hand and took it ⚑

8 Then the king of Syria warred against Israel and took counsel with his servants saying In such and such a place shall be my camp ⚑

9 And the man of God sent unto the king of Israel saying Beware that thou pass not such a place for thither the Syrians are come down ⚑

10 And the king of Israel sent to the place which the man of God told him and warned him of and saved himself there not once nor twice ⚑

11 Therefore the heart of the king of Syria was sore troubled for this thing and he called his servants and said unto them Will ye not shew me which of us is for the king of Israel ⚑

12 And one of his servants said None my lord O king but Elisha the prophet that is in Israel telleth the king of Israel the words that thou speakest in thy bedchamber ⚑

13 And he said Go and spy where he is that I may send and fetch him And it was told him saying Behold he is in Dothan ⚑

14 Therefore sent he thither horses and chariots and a great host and they came by night and compassed the city about ⚑

15 And when the servant of the man of God was risen early and gone forth behold an host compassed the city both with horses and chariots And his servant said unto him Alas my master how shall we do ⚑

16 And he answered Fear not for they that be with us are more than they that be with them ⚑

17 And Elisha prayed and said LORD I pray thee open his eyes that he may see And the LORD opened the eyes of the young man and he saw and behold the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha ⚑

18 And when they came down to him Elisha prayed unto the LORD and said Smite this people I pray thee with blindness And he smote them with blindness according to the word of Elisha ⚑

19 And Elisha said unto them This is not the way neither is this the city follow me and I will bring you to the man whom ye seek But he led them to Samaria ⚑

20 And it came to pass when they were come into Samaria that Elisha said LORD open the eyes of these men that they may see And the LORD opened their eyes and they saw and behold they were in the midst of Samaria ⚑

21 And the king of Israel said unto Elisha when he saw them My father shall I smite them shall I smite them ⚑

22 And he answered Thou shalt not smite them wouldest thou smite those whom thou hast taken captive with thy sword and with thy bow set bread and water before them that they may eat and drink and go to their master ⚑

23 And he prepared great provision for them and when they had eaten and drunk he sent them away and they went to their master So the bands of Syria came no more into the land of Israel ⚑

24 And it came to pass after this that Ben-hadad king of Syria gathered all his host and went up and besieged Samaria ⚑

25 And there was a great famine in Samaria and behold they besieged it until an ass’s head was sold for fourscore pieces of silver and the fourth part of a cab of dove’s dung for five pieces of silver ⚑

26 And as the king of Israel was passing by upon the wall there cried a woman unto him saying Help my lord O king ⚑

27 And he said If the LORD do not help thee whence shall I help thee out of the barnfloor or out of the winepress ⚑

28 And the king said unto her What aileth thee And she answered This woman said unto me Give thy son that we may eat him to day and we will eat my son to morrow ⚑

29 So we boiled my son and did eat him and I said unto her on the next day Give thy son that we may eat him and she hath hid her son ⚑

30 And it came to pass when the king heard the words of the woman that he rent his clothes and he passed by upon the wall and the people looked and behold he had sackcloth within upon his flesh ⚑

31 Then he said God do so and more also to me if the head of Elisha the son of Shaphat shall stand on him this day ⚑

32 But Elisha sat in his house and the elders sat with him and the king sent a man from before him but ere the messenger came to him he said to the elders See ye how this son of a murderer hath sent to take away mine head look when the messenger cometh shut the door and hold him fast at the door is not the sound of his aster’s feet behind him ⚑

33 And while he yet talked with them behold the messenger came down unto him and he said Behold this evil is of the LORD what should I wait for the LORD any longer ⚑

King James Version (1769) with Apocrypha · Crosswire Bible Society / eBible.org (standard text of 1769) · Public Domain

Cross-references: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge · public domain