on his guard.



The king of Aram was very much troubled by this, and he called his

officers and said to them, "Can you not tell me who has betrayed us to

the ruler of Israel?" One of his officers replied, "No one, my lord, O

king, for Elisha, the prophet in Israel, tells the ruler of Israel the

words that you speak in your bedchamber." The king said, "Go and see

where he is, that I may send and seize him." And they told the king,

"Elisha is now in Dothan."



So the king sent horses and chariots there and a great army. And they

arrived at night and surrounded the city. When the man of God rose early

the next morning and went out, an army with horses and chariots was

about the city; so that his servant said to him, "Alas, my master! What

shall we do?" He answered, "Fear not, for they who are with us are more

than they who are with them." And Elisha prayed and said, "Jehovah open

his eyes, that he may see." Then Jehovah opened the eyes of the young

man, and he saw that the highlands around about Elisha were full of

horses and chariots of fire.



When the Arameans came toward him, Elisha prayed to Jehovah, and said,

"Make this people blind." So Jehovah made them blind, as Elisha asked.

Then Elisha said to them, "This is not the way nor the city. Follow me,

and I will bring you to the man whom you seek!" So he led them to

Samaria.



But as soon as they came to Samaria, Elisha said, "O Jehovah, open the

eyes of these men, that they may see." And Jehovah opened their eyes, so

that they could see, and there they were in Samaria. When the ruler of

Israel saw them, he said to Elisha, "My father, shall I cut them down?"

Elisha answered, "You shall not cut them down; would you cut down those

whom you have not taken captive with your sword nor with your bow? Set

bread and water before them, that they may eat and drink and go to their

master." So he prepared a great feast for them; and when they had had

food and drink, he sent them back to their master. So the robber bands

of Arameans no longer invaded the land of Israel.



Later, Benhadad, king of Aram, gathered all his army and besieged

Samaria. The famine was so severe in Samaria while they were besieging

it, that an ass's head was sold for eighty pieces of silver.



Once as the ruler of Israel was passing by on the wall, a woman cried

out to him, "Help, my lord." He answered, "If Jehovah does not help you,

from where can I bring help to you? From the threshing-floor or from the

wine-press?" However, the ruler of Israel said to her, "What is the

trouble with you?" She answered, "This woman said to me, 'Give your son,

that we may eat him to-day, and we will eat my son to-morrow!' So we

cooked my son and ate him, and I said to her on the next day, 'Give your

son that we may eat him'; but she has hidden her son."



When the ruler of Israel heard the words of the woman, he tore his

clothes; and as he was passing by on the wall, the people looked and saw

that he wore sackcloth next to his skin.



Now Elisha was sitting in his house with the elders beside him; and

while he was still talking with them, the ruler of Israel came down to

him and said, "See, this is the evil that comes from Jehovah! Why should

I put my hope in Jehovah any longer?" But Elisha said, "Hear the word of

Jehovah, for he says, 'To-morrow about this time a peck of fine meal

shall be sold for a piece of silver and two pecks of barley for a piece

of silver in the gate of Samaria.'" Then the charioteer on whose arm the

ruler of Israel leaned answered the man of God, "If Jehovah himself

should make windows in heaven, could this be possible?" He said, "You

shall see it with your own eyes."



Now there were four lepers just outside the gate; and they said one to

another, "Why do we sit here until we die? If we say, 'We will enter the

city,' then, since there is famine in the city, we shall die there; but

if we sit here, we shall die too. Now, come, let us go over to the army

of the Arameans. If they spare our lives, we shall live; and if they

kill us, we shall but die."



So they set out in the evening to go over to the camp of the Arameans.

But when they came to the edge of the camp of the Arameans, no one was

there, for the Lord had made the army of the Arameans hear a noise of

chariots and of horses and of a great army, and they said to one

another, "Surely the ruler of Israel has hired the kings of the Hittites

and the kings of the Egyptians to attack us." So they rose and fled in

the twilight; and they left their tents, their horses and their asses,

even the camp as it was, and fled for their lives. When these lepers

came to the edge of the camp, they went into one tent and ate and drank

and carried away silver and gold and clothing and hid them. Then they

came back and entered another tent and carried away what was in it and

went and hid that.



Then they said to one another, "We are not doing right; this day is a

day of good news. If we keep still and wait until morning punishment

will overtake us. Now, come, let us go and tell those in the palace." So

they called the watchmen at the city gate and said to them, "We went to

the camp of the Arameans, but there was no one there and no sound of

men's voices. The horses and asses were tied and the tents were just as

they had been."



The watchmen at the city gate shouted this news to those in the palace.

And the ruler of Israel rose in the night and said to his servants, "I

will now tell you what the Arameans have done: they know that we are

hungry; so they have gone out of the camp to hide themselves in the

field, thinking, 'When they come out of the city, we will take them

alive and get into the city.'"



But one of his servants spoke up and said, "Let some men take a pair of

the horses which are left here. If they die, they will be like most of

the Israelites who are dying! Let us send and find out." So they took

two men on horseback, and the ruler of Israel sent them after the army

of the Arameans with the command, "Go and see." They followed them to

the Jordan; and all the way was filled with clothes and weapons which

the Arameans had thrown away in their haste. So the messengers returned

and told the ruler of Israel.



Then the people went and carried things away from the camp of the

Arameans. So a peck of fine meal was sold for a piece of silver, and two

pecks of barley for a piece of silver, just as Jehovah had said.