Therefore the heart of the king of Syria was soretroubled for thisthing; and he called his servants, and saiduntothem, Will ye not shew me which of us is for the king of Israel?
And one of his servantssaid, None, my lord, O king: but Elisha, the prophetthat is in Israel, telleth the king of Israel the wordsthatthouspeakest in thy bedchamber.
And when the servant of the man of God was risenearly, and goneforth, behold, an hostcompassed the citybothwithhorses and chariots. And his servantsaidunto him, Alas, my master! how shall we do?
And Elishaprayed, and said, LORD, I praythee, open his eyes, that he may see. And the LORDopened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fireroundaboutElisha.
And whentheycamedown to him, Elishaprayedunto the LORD, and said, Smitethispeople, I praythee, withblindness. And he smotethemwithblindnessaccording to the word of Elisha.
And Elishasaiduntothem, This is not the way, neither is this the city: follow me, and I willbring you to the man whom ye seek. But he led them to Samaria.
And it came to pass, whentheywerecomeintoSamaria, thatElishasaid, LORD, open the eyes of these men, thatthey may see. And the LORDopenedtheireyes, and they saw; and, behold, theywere in the midst of Samaria.
And he answered, Thoushalt not smitethem: wouldestthousmitethosewhomthouhasttakencaptivewith thy sword and with thy bow? set bread and waterbeforethem, thatthey may eat and drink, and go to theirmaster.
And he preparedgreatprovision for them: and whenthey had eaten and drunk, he sentthemaway, and theywent to theirmaster. So the bands of Syriacame no moreinto the land of Israel.
And there was a greatfamine in Samaria: and, behold, theybesieged it, until an ass’shead was sold for fourscorepieces of silver, and the fourthpart of a cab of dove’sdung for fivepieces of silver.
And the kingsaidunto her, Whataileththee? And she answered, Thiswomansaidunto me, Give thy son, that we may eat him to day, and we will eat my son to morrow.
And it came to pass, when the kingheard the words of the woman, that he rent his clothes; and he passed by upon the wall, and the peoplelooked, and, behold, he had sackclothwithinupon his flesh.
But Elisha sat in his house, and the elders sat with him; and the kingsent a man frombefore him: but ere the messengercame to him, he said to the elders, See ye how this son of a murdererhathsent to takeawayminehead? look, when the messengercometh, shut the door, and hold him fast at the door: is not the sound of his master’sfeetbehind him?
And while he yet talkedwiththem, behold, the messengercamedownunto him: and he said, Behold, thisevil is of the LORD; whatshould I wait for the LORD any longer?