2 Kings 6

NEW JERUSALEM	DOUAI-RHEIMS
1 The brotherhood of prophets said to Elisha, 'Look, the place where we are living with you is too smal forus.	1 And the sons of the prophets said to Eliseus: Behold the place where we dwell with thee is too strait for us.
2 Let us go to the Jordan, then, and each of us cut a beam there, and we will make our living quartersthere.' He replied, 'Go.'	2 Let us go as far as the Jordan and take out of the wood every man a piece of timber, that we may build us there a place to dwell in. And he said: Go.
3 'Be good enough to go with your servants,' one of them said. 'I wil go,' he replied,	3 And one of them said: But come thou also with thy servants. He answered: I will come.
4 and went with them. On reaching the Jordan they began cutting down timber.	4 So he went with them. And when they were come to the Jordan they cut down wood.
5 But, as one of them was felling his beam, the iron axehead fel into the water. 'Alas, my lord,' heexclaimed, 'and it was a borrowed one too!'	5 And it happened, as one was felling some timber, that the head of the axe fell into the water: and he cried out, and said: Alas, alas, alas, my lord, for this same was borrowed.
6 'Where did it fal ?' the man of God asked; and he showed him the spot. Then, cutting a stick, Elisha threw it in at that point and made the iron axehead float.	6 And the man of God said: Where did it fall? and he shewed him the place. Then he cut off a piece of wood, and cast it in thither: and the iron swam.
7 'Lift it out,' he said; and the man stretched out his hand and took it.	7 And he said: Take it up. And he put out his hand and took it.
8 The king of Aram was at war with Israel. He conferred with his officers and said, 'You must attack atsuch and such a place.'	8 And the king of Syria warred against Israel, and took counsel with his servants, saying: In such and such a place let us lay ambushes.
9 Elisha, however, sent word to the king of Israel, 'Be on your guard about such and such a place,because the Aramaeans are going to attack it.'	9 And the man of God sent to the king of Israel, saying: Beware that thou pass not to such a place: for the Syrians are there in ambush.
10 The king of Israel accordingly sent men to the place which Elisha had named. And he kept warning theking, and the king stayed on the alert; and this happened more than once or twice.	10 And the king of Israel sent to the place which the man of God had told him, and prevented him, and looked well to himself there not once nor twice.
11 The king of Aram grew very much disturbed over this. He summoned his officers, and said, 'Tel mewhich of you is betraying us to the king of Israel.'	11 And the heart of the king of Syria was troubled for this thing. And calling together his servants, he said: Why do you not tell me who it is that betrays me to the king of Israel?
12 'No one, my lord king,' one of his officers replied. 'It is Elisha, the prophet in Israel. The words you utterin your bedchamber, he reveals to the king of Israel.'	12 And one of his servants said: No one, my lord O king: but Eliseus the prophet, that is in Israel, telleth the king of Israel all the words, that thou speakest in thy privy chamber.
13 'Go and find out where he is,' the king said, 'so that I can send people to capture him.' Word wasbrought to him, 'He is now in Dothan.'	13 And he said to them: Go, and see where he is: that I may send, and take him. And they told him, saying: Behold he is in Dothan.
14 So he sent horses and chariots there, and a large force; and these, arriving during the night,surrounded the town.	14 Therefore he sent thither horses and chariots, and the strength of an army: and they came by night, and beset the city.
15 Next day, Elisha got up early and went out; and there surrounding the town was an armed force withhorses and chariots. 'Oh, my lord,' his servant said, 'what are we to do?'	15 And the servant of the man of God rising early, went out, and saw an army round about the city, and horses and chariots: and he told him, saying: Alas, alas, alas, my lord, what shall we do?
16 'Do not be afraid,' he replied, 'for there are more on our side than on theirs.'	16 But he answered: Fear not: for there are more with us than with them.
17 And Elisha prayed. 'Yahweh,' he said, 'open his eyes and make him see.' Yahweh opened theservant's eyes, and he saw the mountain covered in fiery horses and chariots surrounding Elisha.	17 And Eliseus prayed, and said: Lord, open his eyes, that he may see. And the Lord opened the eyes of the servant, and he saw: and behold the mountain was full of horses, and chariots of fire round about Eliseus.
18 As the Aramaeans came down towards him, Elisha prayed to Yahweh, 'I beg you to strike these peoplesun-blind.' And, at Elisha's word, he struck them sun-blind.	18 And the enemies came down to him, but Eliseus prayed to the Lord, saying: Strike, I beseech thee, this people with blindness. And the Lord struck them with blindness, according to the word of Eliseus.
19 Then Elisha said to them, 'This is not the road, nor is this the town. Follow me; I shal lead you to theman you are looking for.' But he led them to Samaria.	19 And Eliseus said to them: This is not the way, neither is this the city: follow me, and I will shew you the man whom you seek. So he led them into Samaria.
20 As they entered Samaria, Elisha said, 'Yahweh, open these people's eyes, and let them see.' Yahwehopened their eyes and they saw; they were inside Samaria.	20 And when they were come into Samaria, Eliseus said: Lord, open the eyes of these men, that they may see. And the Lord opened their eyes, and they saw themselves to be in the midst of Samaria.
21 When the king of Israel saw them, he said to Elisha, 'Shal I kil them, father?'	21 And the king of Israel said to Eliseus, when he saw them: My father, shall I kill them?
22 'Do not kil them,' he replied. 'Do you kil your own prisoners with sword and bow? Offer them food andwater, so that they can eat and drink, and then let them go back to their master.'	22 And he said: Thou shalt not kill them: for thou didst not take them with thy sword, or thy bow, that thou mayst kill them: but set bread and water before them, that they may eat and drink, and go to their master.
23 So the king provided a great feast for them; and when they had eaten and drunk, he sent them off andthey went back to their master. Aramaean raiding parties never invaded the territory of Israel again.	23 And a great provision of meats was set before them, and they ate and drank, and he let them go, and they went away to their master, and the robbers of Syria came no more into the land of Israel.
24 It happened after this that Ben-Hadad king of Aram, mustering his whole army, marched on and laidsiege to Samaria.	24 And tit came to pass after these things, that Benadad king of Syria gathered together all his army, and went up, and besieged Samaria.
25 In Samaria there was great famine, and so strict was the siege that the head of a donkey sold foreighty shekels of silver, and one quarter-kab of wild onions for five shekels of silver.	25 And there was a great famine in Samaria: and so long did the siege continue, till the head of an ass was sold for fourscore pieces of silver, and the fourth part of a cabe of pigeon's dung, for five pieces of silver.
26 Now as the king was passing along the city wal , a woman shouted, 'Help, my lord king!'	26 And as the king of Israel was passing by the wall, a certain woman cried out to him, saying: Save me, my lord O king.
27 'If Yahweh does not help you,' he retorted, 'where can I find help for you? From the threshing-floor?From the winepress?'	27 And he said: If the Lord doth not save thee, how can I save thee? out of the barnfloor, or out of the winepress? And the king said to her: What aileth thee? And she answered:
28 Then the king asked, 'What is the matter?' 'This woman here', she answered, 'said to me, "Give upyour son; we will eat him today, and eat my son tomorrow."	28 This woman said to me: Give thy son, that we may eat him to day, and we will eat my son to morrow.
29 So we cooked my son and ate him. Next day, I said to her, "Give up your son for us to eat." But shehas hidden her son.'	29 So we boiled my son, and ate him. And I said to her on the next day: Give thy son that we may eat him. And she hath hid her son.
30 On hearing the woman's words, the king tore his clothes; the king was walking on the wal , and thepeople saw that underneath he was wearing sackcloth next his body.	30 When the king heard this, he rent his garments, and passed by upon the wall. And all the people saw the haircloth which he wore within next to his flesh.
31 'May God bring unnameable ills on me, and worse il s, too,' he said, 'if the head of Elisha son ofShaphat remains on his shoulders today!'	31 And the king said: May God do so and so to me, and may he add more, if the head of Eliseus the son of Saphat shall stand on him this day.
32 Elisha was sitting in his house, and the elders were sitting with him. The king sent a messenger aheadbut, before the man arrived, Elisha had said to the elders, 'Do you see how this son of a murderer has givenorders to cut off my head? Look, when the messenger comes, shut the door; hold the door against him. Isn't thatthe sound of his master's step behind him?'	32 But Eliseus sat in his house, and the ancients sat with him. So he sent a man before: and before that messenger came, he said to the ancients: Do you know that this son of a murderer hath sent to cut off my head? Look then, when the messenger shall come, shut the door, and suffer him not to come in: for behold the sound of his master's feet is behind him.
33 He was stil actually speaking, when the king arrived and said, 'This misery plainly comes fromYahweh. Why should I stil trust in Yahweh?'	33 While he was yet speaking to them, the messenger appeared who was coming to him. And he said: Behold, so great an evil is from the Lord: what shall I look for more from the Lord?