CHAPTER 6
1 Forsooth the sons of prophets said to Elisha, Lo! the place in which we dwell before thee, is strait to us; (And the sons of the prophets said to Elisha, Behold! the place in which we live before thee, is too narrow, (or too small), for us;)
2 go we therefore to Jordan, and each man take a portion of wood for himself, that we build to us there a place to dwell therein(or so that we can build a place there for all of us to live in). And Elisha said, Go ye.
3 And one of them said, Therefore and thou come with thy servants. (And) He answered, I shall come.
4 And he went with them. And when they came to Jordan, they hewed trees (or they cut down some wood).
5 And it befelled, that when a man of them had cut down [a] matter, or (a piece of) wood, the iron of the ax felled into the water; and he cried [out], and said, Alas! alas! alas! my lord, and I had taken this same thing by borrowing (or for I have borrowed this thing from someone!).
6 Soothly the man of God said, Where felled it? And he showed to him the place. Therefore he cutted down a tree, and sent it thither where the iron was; and the iron floated, (or And so he cut off a stick, and sent it down to where the piece of iron was; and the iron floated up).
7 And Elisha said, Take thou (it). Which held forth the hand, and took it, (or And he put forth his hand, and took it).
8 Forsooth the king of Syria fought against Israel; and he took counsel with his servants, and said, Set we ambushments in this place, and in that.
9 And therefore the man of God sent to the king of Israel, and said, Beware, lest thou pass to that place, for (the) men of Syria be there in ambushments.
10 Therefore the king of Israel sent to the place, which the man of God had said to him, and before-occupied it, and kept himself there, not once, neither twice. (And so the king of Israel sent word to the place about which the man of God had warned him, and took precautions whenever he was there, and not just once, or twice.)
11 And the heart of the king of Syria was troubled for this thing; and when his servants were called together, he said, Why show ye not to me, who is my traitor with the king of Israel?
12 And one of his servants said, Nay, my lord the king, but Elisha, the prophet, that is in Israel (or who is in Israel), showeth to the king of Israel all things, whatever things thou speakest in thy closet.
13 And the king said to them, Go ye, and see, where he is, that I send, and take him. And they told to him, and said, Lo! he dwelleth in Dothan.
14 And the king sent thither horses, and chariots, and the strength of his host; which, when they had come by night, compassed the city. (And the king sent there horses, and chariots, and the strong force of his army; which, when they had come by night, encompassed, or surrounded, the city.)
15 Soothly the minister of the man of God rose early, and went out, and he saw an host in the compass of the city, and horses, and chariots, (or And the servant of the man of God rose up early, and went out, and he saw an army all around the city, with horses, and chariots). And he told to the man of God, and said, Alas! alas! alas! my lord, what shall we do?
16 And he answered, Do not thou dread (or Do not thou fear); for more be with us than with them.
17 And when Elisha had prayed, he said, Lord, open thou the eyes of this young man, (so) that he (may) see. And the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw. And, lo! the hill (was) full of horses, and of chariots of fire, in the compass of Elisha (or all around Elisha).
18 And the enemies came down to him; but Elisha prayed to the Lord, and said, I beseech thee, smite this folk with blindness, (or I beseech thee, strike these people with blindness). And the Lord smote them, (so) that they saw not, by the word of Elisha.
19 Forsooth Elisha said to them, This is not the way, neither this is the city; follow ye me, and I shall show you the man, whom ye seek. And he led them into Samaria.
20 And when they had entered into Samaria, Elisha said, Lord, open the eyes of these men, (so) that they (can) see now. And the Lord opened their eyes, and they saw, that they were in the midst of Samaria.
21 And the king of Israel, when he had seen them, said to Elisha, My father, whether I shall smite them? (or My father, shall I strike them down?)
22 And he said, Thou shalt not smite them, for thou hast not taken them by thy sword and bow, that thou smite them; but set thou bread and water before them, that they eat and drink, and go to their lord again. (And he said, Thou shalt not strike them down, for thou hast not taken them with thy sword and bow, so that thou may strike them down; but put thou bread and water before them, so that they can eat and drink, and then let them go back to their lord again.)
23 And much preparing of meats was set forth to them; and they ate, and drank. And the king let go them, and they went to their lord; and [the] thieves of Syria came no more into the land of Israel, (or And then the king let them go, and they went back to their lord; and after that, the thieves of Syria no longer came into the land of Israel).
24 Forsooth it was done after these things, Benhadad, king of Syria, gathered all his host (or called up all his army), and went up, and besieged Samaria.
25 And great hunger was made in Samaria; and so long it was besieged (or and it was besieged for so long), till [that] the head of an ass were sold for fourscore pieces of silver, and the fourth part of a measure called [a] cab, (out) of the craw of culvers*, was sold for five pieces of silver.
26 And when the king of Israel passed by the wall of the city, a woman cried to him, and said, My lord the king, save thou me.
27 Which said, Nay, the Lord save thee; whereof may I save thee? (out) of [the] cornfloor, either (out) of [the] presser? (Who said, No, the Lord save thee! from where can I save thee? out of the threshing floor, or out of the winepress?)
28 And the king said to her, What wilt thou that I do to thee? (or What wilt thou that I do for thee?) And she answered, This woman said to me, Give thy son, that we eat him today, and we shall eat my son tomorrow.
29 Therefore we seethed my son, and ate him. And I said to her in the tother day, Give thy son, that we eat him; and she hid her son. (And so we boiled up my son, and ate him. And I said to her the next day, Give thy son to us now, so that we can eat him; but she hid her son.)
30 And when the king had heard this, he rent his clothes, and passed by the wall; and all the people saw the hair-shirt, with which the king was clothed at the flesh within; (And when the king had heard this, he tore his clothes, and passed forth by the wall; and all the people saw the hair-shirt, or the sackcloth, with which the king was clothed upon his flesh;)
31 And the king said, God do to me these things, and add these things too, if the head of Elisha, the son of Shaphat, shall stand on him today (or shall remain on him this day).
32 Soothly Elisha sat in his house, and (the) eld men sat with him; then the king before-sent a man to Elisha, and before that that messenger came, Elisha said to the eld men, Whether ye know, that the son of (a) man-queller [hath] sent hither, that mine head be girded off? Therefore see ye, when the messenger cometh, shut ye the door, and suffer ye not him to enter; for lo! the sound of the feet of his lord is behind him. (And Elisha sat in his house, and the old men, (or the elders), sat with him; then the king sent out a man from before himself to Elisha, but before that the messenger came, Elisha said to the old men, (or the elders), Do ye not know, that this son of a man-killer hath sent a man here, to gird off my head? And so see ye, when the messenger cometh, that ye shut the door, and do not allow him to enter; for behold! the sound of the feet of his lord is behind him.)
33 And yet while he spake to them, the messenger that came to him appeared; and (then also)the king(who) said, Lo! so great evil is of the Lord; soothly what more shall I abide of the Lord? (And yet while he spoke to them, the messenger who came to him appeared; and then also (the king), who said, Behold! this great evil is from the Lord; how more longer shall I have to wait for the Lord?)
* CHAPTER 6:25 In Latin it is said, ‘of the drit of culvers’; but ‘drit’ is not taken here properly, but unproperly, for ‘the throat’, where corns, eaten of culvers, be gathered, and cooks of rich men sold these corns to the people, for (the) hunger (or because of the famine).