2 Kings 6 ISV NLT Parallel

◄ 2 Kings 6 ►

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1One day the Guild of Prophets told Elisha, "Notice how the place where we are living is too small for us.

1One 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.

2Let's go to the Jordan River, fashion some rafters, and build a place for us so we can live there." So he said, "Go!"

2Let’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.”

3Someone asked, "Would you be willing to come with your servants?" "I'm willing," he replied.

3“Please come with us,” someone suggested. “I will,” he said.

4So he accompanied them, and when they came to the Jordan River, they cut down some trees.

4So he went with them. When they arrived at the Jordan, they began cutting down trees.

5It happened that as one of them was felling a beam, his axe head fell into the water. He cried out, "Oh no! Master! The axe was on loan to me!"

5But as one of them was cutting a tree, his ax head fell into the river. “Oh, sir!” he cried. “It was a borrowed ax!”

6The man of God asked, "Where did it fall?" When he was shown the place, he cut off a branch, tossed it there, and made the iron axe head float.

6“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.

7Then Elisha said, "Pick it up!" So the young man reached out and picked it up.

7“Grab it,” Elisha said. And the man reached out and grabbed it. Elisha Traps the Arameans

8Eventually the king of Aram went to war against Israel, taking counsel with his advisors and concluding, "In such and such a place I'll build my encampment."

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.”

9So the man of God sent a message to the king of Israel, warning him, "Keep an eye on that area, because the Arameans are going to be there!"

9But 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.”

10The king of Israel confirmed the matter about which the man of God had warned him. Having been forewarned, he was able to protect himself there on more than one or two occasions.

10So 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.

11The king of Aram flew into a rage over this, so he called in his advisors and asked them, "Will you please tell me which of us has joined the king of Israel?"

11The 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?”

12"No, your majesty," one of his servants said. "Elisha the prophet, who lives in Israel, tells the king of Israel what you talk about in your bedroom!"

12“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!”

13So the king ordered, "Go and discover where he is, so I may send men to take him into custody." Later somebody told him, "Look! He's in Dothan!"

13“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.”

14So the king of Aram sent out horses, chariots, and an elite force, and they arrived during the night and surrounded the city.

14So one night the king of Aram sent a great army with many chariots and horses to surround the city.

15Meanwhile, the attendant to the man of God got up early in the morning and went outside, and there were the elite forces, surrounding the city, accompanied by horses and chariots! So Elisha's attendant cried out to him, "Oh no! Master! What will we do!?"

15When 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.

16Elisha replied, "Stop being afraid, because there are more with us than with them!"

16“Don’t be afraid!” Elisha told him. “For there are more on our side than on theirs!”

17Then Elisha prayed, asking the LORD, "Please make him able to really see!" And so when the LORD enabled the young man to see, he looked, and there was the mountain, filled with horses and fiery chariots surrounding Elisha!

17Then 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.

18When the army approached him, Elisha spoke to the LORD, asking him, "LORD, I'm asking you please to afflict this group of people with blindness!" So he afflicted them with blindness, just as Elisha had asked.

18As 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.

19Then Elisha told the army, "This isn't the way, and this isn't the city! Follow me, and I'll bring you to the man you're seeking. Then he led them to Samaria.

19Then 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.

20When they arrived in Samaria, Elisha asked the LORD, "Enable them to see again." So the LORD did so, and there they were—right in the middle of Samaria!

20As 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.

21When the king of Israel saw Elisha, he asked him, "Shall I execute them, my father?"

21When the king of Israel saw them, he shouted to Elisha, “My father, should I kill them? Should I kill them?”

22But he replied, "No! You're not to kill them! Would you execute those whom you've taken captive at the point of a sword or with your bow? Give them food and water so they can eat and drink. Then send them back to their master!"

22“Of course not!” Elisha replied. “Do we kill prisoners of war? Give them food and drink and send them home again to their master.”

23So he prepared a large festival for them, and when they had finished eating and drinking, he sent them back to their master, and marauding gangs of Arameans never came into the territory of Israel again.

23So 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. Ben-Hadad Besieges Samaria

24Some time later, King Ben-hadad from Aram mustered his army, invaded the land, and attacked Samaria

24Some time later, however, King Ben-hadad of Aram mustered his entire army and besieged Samaria.

25until there was a great famine throughout Samaria. The siege lasted until a donkey's head cost 80 silver coins and one quarter of a unit of dove's dung cost five silver coins.

25As 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.

26While the king of Israel was walking along the city wall, a woman cried out to him. "Help me, your majesty!" she said.

26One 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!”

27He replied, "No! Since the LORD won't give you victory, how will I be able to deliver you? From the threshing floor? From the wine press?"

27He 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.”

28Then the king asked her, "What's bothering you?" She said, "This woman told me, 'Give up your son, and we'll eat him today, and we'll eat your son tomorrow.'"

28But 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.’

29So we boiled my son and ate him. The next day, I told her, 'Give me your son so we can eat him!' But she has hidden her son!"

29So 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.”

30When the king heard what the woman said, he ripped his garments as he continued walking along the city wall. As the people watched, all of a sudden they noticed he was wearing sackcloth underneath his clothes, inside next to his flesh!

30When 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.

31He said, "May God do to me—and more also!—if the head of Shaphat's son Elisha remains on his shoulders today!"

31“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.

32Meanwhile, Elisha was sitting in his house, along with the elders, when the king sent a man to kill him, but before the messenger arrived, Elisha told the elders, "Are you watching how this descendant of murderers has ordered my head be cut off? Look, when the messenger arrives, shut the door and hold it to shut them out! Don't you hear the sound of his master's feet right behind him?"

32Elisha 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.”

33While he was still talking with them, the messenger arrived to see him and delivered the king's message to Elisha, "Look! This evil has come from the LORD! Why should I wait for the LORD anymore?"

33While 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?”

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