2 Kings 6

NEW AMERICAN BIBLE	DOUAI-RHEIMS
1 The guild prophets once said to Elisha: "There is not enough room for us to continue to live here with you.	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, where by getting one beam apiece we can build ourselves a place to live." "Go," Elisha said.	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 "Please agree to accompany your servants," one of them requested. "Yes, I will come," he replied.	3 And one of them said: But come thou also with thy servants. He answered: I will come.
4 So he went with them, and when they arrived at the Jordan they began to fell trees.	4 So he went with them. And when they were come to the Jordan they cut down wood.
5 While one of them was felling a tree trunk, the iron axhead slipped into the water. "O master," he cried out, "it was borrowed!"	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 fall?" asked the man of God. When he pointed out the spot, Elisha cut off a stick, threw it into the water, and brought the iron to the surface.	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 "Pick it up," he said. And the man reached down and grasped it.	7 And he said: Take it up. And he put out his hand and took it.
8 When the king of Aram was waging war on Israel, he would make plans with his servants to attack a particular 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 But the man of God would send word to the king of Israel, "Be careful! Do not pass by this place, for Aram will attack there."	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 So the king of Israel would send word to the place which the man of God had indicated, and alert it; then they would be on guard. This happened several times.	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 Greatly disturbed over this, the king of Aram called together his officers. "Will you not tell me," he asked them, "who among us is for 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," answered one of the officers. "The Israelite prophet Elisha can tell the king of Israel the very words you speak in your bedroom."	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, find out where he is," he said, "so that I may take him captive." Informed that Elisha was 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 he sent there a strong force with horses and chariots. They arrived by night and surrounded the city.	14 Therefore he sent thither horses and chariots, and the strength of an army: and they came by night, and beset the city.
15 Early the next morning, when the attendant of the man of God arose and went out, he saw the force with its horses and chariots surrounding the city. "Alas!" he said to Elisha. "What shall we do, my lord?"	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," Elisha answered. "Our side outnumbers theirs."	16 But he answered: Fear not: for there are more with us than with them.
17 Then he prayed, "O LORD, open his eyes, that he may see." And the LORD opened the eyes of the servant, so that he saw the mountainside filled with horses and fiery chariots around 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 When the Arameans came down to get him, Elisha prayed to the LORD, "Strike this people blind, I pray you." And in answer to the prophet's prayer the LORD struck them 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 the wrong road, and this is the wrong city. Follow me! I will take you to the man you want." And 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 When they entered Samaria, Elisha prayed, "O LORD, open their eyes that they may see." The LORD opened their eyes, and they saw that 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 asked, "Shall I kill them, my father?"	21 And the king of Israel said to Eliseus, when he saw them: My father, shall I kill them?
22 "You must not kill them," replied Elisha. "Do you slay those whom you have taken captive with your sword or bow? Serve them bread and water. Let them eat and drink, and then 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 The king spread a great feast for them. When they had eaten and drunk he sent them away, and they went back to their master. No more Aramean raiders came into the land of Israel.	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 After this, Ben-hadad, king of Aram, mustered his whole army and laid siege 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 Because of the siege the famine in Samaria was so severe that an ass's head sold for eighty pieces of silver, and a fourth of a kab of wild onion for five pieces 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 One day, as the king of Israel was walking on the city wall, a woman cried out to him, "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 "No," he replied, "the LORD help you! Where could I find help for you: from the threshing floor or 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 her, "What is your trouble?" She replied: "This woman said to me, 'Give up your son that we may eat him today; then tomorrow we will eat my son.'	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 boiled my son and ate him. The next day I said to her, 'Now give up your son that we may eat him.' But she hid 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 When the king heard the woman's words, he tore his garments. And as he was walking on the wall, the people saw that he was wearing sackcloth underneath, next to his skin.	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 do thus and so to me," the king exclaimed, "if the head of Elisha, son of Shaphat, stays on him 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 Meanwhile, Elisha was sitting in his house in conference with the elders. The king had sent a man ahead before he himself should come to him. Elisha had said to the elders: "Do you know that this son of a murderer is sending someone to cut off my head? When the messenger comes, see that you close the door and hold it fast against him. His master's footsteps are echoing 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 While Elisha was still speaking, the king came down to him and said, "This evil is from the LORD. Why should I trust in the LORD any longer?"	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?