2Kings:6-7
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And the sons of the prophets said unto Elisha ,
Behold now ,
the place where we dwell with thee is too strait for us .
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Let us go ,
we pray thee ,
unto Jordan ,
and take thence every man a beam ,
and let us make us a place there ,
where we may dwell .
And he answered ,
Go ye .
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And one said ,
Be content ,
I pray thee ,
and go with thy servants .
And he answered ,
I will go .
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So he went with them .
And when they came to Jordan ,
they cut down wood .
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But as one was felling a beam ,
the axe head fell into the water :
and he cried ,
and said ,
Alas ,
master !
for it was borrowed .
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And the man of God said ,
Where fell it ?
And he shewed him the place .
And he cut down a stick ,
and cast it in thither ;
and the iron did swim .
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Therefore said he ,
Take it up to thee .
And he put out his hand ,
and took it .
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Then the king of Syria warred against Israel ,
and took counsel with his servants ,
saying ,
In such and such a place shall be my camp .
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And the man of God sent unto the king of Israel ,
saying ,
Beware that thou pass not such a place ;
for thither the Syrians are come down .
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And the king of Israel sent to the place which the man of God told him and warned him of ,
and saved himself there ,
not once nor twice .
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Therefore the heart of the king of Syria was sore troubled for this thing ;
and he called his servants ,
and said unto them ,
Will ye not shew me which of us is for the king of Israel ?
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And one of his servants said ,
None ,
my lord ,
O king :
but Elisha ,
the prophet that is in Israel ,
telleth the king of Israel the words that thou speakest in thy bedchamber .
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And he said ,
Go and spy where he is ,
that I may send and fetch him .
And it was told him ,
saying ,
Behold ,
he is in Dothan .
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Therefore sent he thither horses ,
and chariots ,
and a great host :
and they came by night ,
and compassed the city about .
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And when the servant of the man of God was risen early ,
and gone forth ,
behold ,
an host compassed the city both with horses and chariots .
And his servant said unto him ,
Alas ,
my master !
how shall we do ?
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And he answered ,
Fear not :
for they that be with us are more than they that be with them .
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And Elisha prayed ,
and said ,
LORD ,
I pray thee ,
open his eyes ,
that he may see .
And the LORD opened the eyes of the young man ;
and he saw :
and ,
behold ,
the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha .
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And when they came down to him ,
Elisha prayed unto the LORD ,
and said ,
Smite this people ,
I pray thee ,
with blindness .
And he smote them with blindness according to the word of Elisha .
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And Elisha said unto them ,
This is not the way ,
neither is this the city :
follow me ,
and I will bring you to the man whom ye seek .
But he led them to Samaria .
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And it came to pass ,
when they were come into Samaria ,
that Elisha said ,
LORD ,
open the eyes of these men ,
that they may see .
And the LORD opened their eyes ,
and they saw ;
and ,
behold ,
they were in the midst of Samaria .
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And the king of Israel said unto Elisha ,
when he saw them ,
My father ,
shall I smite them ?
shall I smite them ?
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And he answered ,
Thou shalt not smite them :
wouldest thou smite those whom thou hast taken captive with thy sword and with thy bow ?
set bread and water before them ,
that they may eat and drink ,
and go to their master .
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And he prepared great provision for them :
and when they had eaten and drunk ,
he sent them away ,
and they went to their master .
So the bands of Syria came no more into the land of Israel .
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And it came to pass after this ,
that Benhadad king of Syria gathered all his host ,
and went up ,
and besieged Samaria .
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And there was a great famine in Samaria :
and ,
behold ,
they besieged it ,
until an ass '
s head was sold for fourscore pieces of silver ,
and the fourth part of a cab of dove '
s dung for five pieces of silver .
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And as the king of Israel was passing by upon the wall ,
there cried a woman unto him ,
saying ,
Help ,
my lord ,
O king .
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And he said ,
If the LORD do not help thee ,
whence shall I help thee ?
out of the barnfloor ,
or out of the winepress ?
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And the king said unto her ,
What aileth thee ?
And she answered ,
This woman said unto me ,
Give thy son ,
that we may eat him to day ,
and we will eat my son to morrow .
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So we boiled my son ,
and did eat him :
and I said unto her on the next day ,
Give thy son ,
that we may eat him :
and she hath hid her son .
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And it came to pass ,
when the king heard the words of the woman ,
that he rent his clothes ;
and he passed by upon the wall ,
and the people looked ,
and ,
behold ,
he had sackcloth within upon his flesh .
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Then he said ,
God do so and more also to me ,
if the head of Elisha the son of Shaphat shall stand on him this day .
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But Elisha sat in his house ,
and the elders sat with him ;
and the king sent a man from before him :
but ere the messenger came to him ,
he said to the elders ,
See ye how this son of a murderer hath sent to take away mine head ?
look ,
when the messenger cometh ,
shut the door ,
and hold him fast at the door :
is not the sound of his master '
s feet behind him ?
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And while he yet talked with them ,
behold ,
the messenger came down unto him :
and he said ,
Behold ,
this evil is of the LORD ;
what should I wait for the LORD any longer ?
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Then Elisha said ,
Hear ye the word of the LORD ;
Thus saith the LORD ,
To morrow about this time shall a measure of fine flour be sold for a shekel ,
and two measures of barley for a shekel ,
in the gate of Samaria .
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Then a lord on whose hand the king leaned answered the man of God ,
and said ,
Behold ,
if the LORD would make windows in heaven ,
might this thing be ?
And he said ,
Behold ,
thou shalt see it with thine eyes ,
but shalt not eat thereof .
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And there were four leprous men at the entering in of the gate :
and they said one to another ,
Why sit we here until we die ?
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If we say ,
We will enter into the city ,
then the famine is in the city ,
and we shall die there :
and if we sit still here ,
we die also .
Now therefore come ,
and let us fall unto the host of the Syrians :
if they save us alive ,
we shall live ;
and if they kill us ,
we shall but die .
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And they rose up in the twilight ,
to go unto the camp of the Syrians :
and when they were come to the uttermost part of the camp of Syria ,
behold ,
there was no man there .
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For the Lord had made the host of the Syrians to hear a noise of chariots ,
and a noise of horses ,
even the noise of a great host :
and they said one to another ,
Lo ,
the king of Israel hath hired against us the kings of the Hittites ,
and the kings of the Egyptians ,
to come upon us .
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Wherefore they arose and fled in the twilight ,
and left their tents ,
and their horses ,
and their asses ,
even the camp as it was ,
and fled for their life .
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And when these lepers came to the uttermost part of the camp ,
they went into one tent ,
and did eat and drink ,
and carried thence silver ,
and gold ,
and raiment ,
and went and hid it ;
and came again ,
and entered into another tent ,
and carried thence also ,
and went and hid it .
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Then they said one to another ,
We do not well :
this day is a day of good tidings ,
and we hold our peace :
if we tarry till the morning light ,
some mischief will come upon us :
now therefore come ,
that we may go and tell the king '
s household .
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So they came and called unto the porter of the city :
and they told them ,
saying ,
We came to the camp of the Syrians ,
and ,
behold ,
there was no man there ,
neither voice of man ,
but horses tied ,
and asses tied ,
and the tents as they were .
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And he called the porters ;
and they told it to the king '
s house within .
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And the king arose in the night ,
and said unto his servants ,
I will now shew you what the Syrians have done to us .
They know that we be hungry ;
therefore are they gone out of the camp to hide themselves in the field ,
saying ,
When they come out of the city ,
we shall catch them alive ,
and get into the city .
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And one of his servants answered and said ,
Let some take ,
I pray thee ,
five of the horses that remain ,
which are left in the city , (
behold ,
they are as all the multitude of Israel that are left in it :
behold ,
I say ,
they are even as all the multitude of the Israelites that are consumed :)
and let us send and see .
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They took therefore two chariot horses ;
and the king sent after the host of the Syrians ,
saying ,
Go and see .
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And they went after them unto Jordan :
and ,
lo ,
all the way was full of garments and vessels ,
which the Syrians had cast away in their haste .
And the messengers returned ,
and told the king .
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And the people went out ,
and spoiled the tents of the Syrians .
So a measure of fine flour was sold for a shekel ,
and two measures of barley for a shekel ,
according to the word of the LORD .
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And the king appointed the lord on whose hand he leaned to have the charge of the gate :
and the people trode upon him in the gate ,
and he died ,
as the man of God had said ,
who spake when the king came down to him .
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And it came to pass as the man of God had spoken to the king ,
saying ,
Two measures of barley for a shekel ,
and a measure of fine flour for a shekel ,
shall be to morrow about this time in the gate of Samaria :
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And that lord answered the man of God ,
and said ,
Now ,
behold ,
if the LORD should make windows in heaven ,
might such a thing be ?
And he said ,
Behold ,
thou shalt see it with thine eyes ,
but shalt not eat thereof .
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And so it fell out unto him :
for the people trode upon him in the gate ,
and he died .
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Then spake Elisha unto the woman ,
whose son he had restored to life ,
saying ,
Arise ,
and go thou and thine household ,
and sojourn wheresoever thou canst sojourn :
for the LORD hath called for a famine ;
and it shall also come upon the land seven years .