Day 160 of 730

¹The sons of the prophets said to Elisha, "See now, the place where we dwell before you is too small for us.

²Please let us go to the Jordan, and every man take a beam from there, and let us make us a place there, where we may dwell." He answered, "Go!"

³One said, "Please be pleased to go with your servants." He answered, "I will go."

⁴So he went with them. When they came to the Jordan, they cut down wood.

⁵But as one was felling a beam, the axe head fell into the water. Then he cried, and said, "Alas, my master! For it was borrowed."

⁶The man of God asked, "Where did it fall?" He showed him the place. He cut down a stick, threw it in there, and made the iron float.

⁷He said, "Take it." So he put out his hand and took it.

⁸Now the king of Syria was warring against Israel; and he took counsel with his servants, saying, "My camp will be in such and such a place."

⁹The man of God sent to the king of Israel, saying, "Beware that you not pass such a place; for the Syrians are coming down there."

¹⁰The king of Israel sent to the place which the man of God told him and warned him of; and he saved himself there, not once nor twice.

¹¹The heart of the king of Syria was very troubled about this. He called his servants, and said to them, "Won't you show me which of us is for the king of Israel?"

¹²One of his servants said, "No, my lord, O king; but Elisha, the prophet who is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the words that you speak in your bedroom."

¹³He said, "Go and see where he is, that I may send and get him." It was told him, saying, "Behold, he is in Dothan."

¹⁴Therefore he sent horses, chariots, and a great army there. They came by night, and surrounded the city.

¹⁵When the servant of the man of God had risen early, and gone out, behold, an army with horses and chariots was around the city. His servant said to him, "Alas, my master! What shall we do?"

¹⁶He answered, "Do not be afraid; for those who are with us are more than those who are with them."

¹⁷Elisha prayed, and said, "Lord, please open his eyes, that he may see." The Lord opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire around Elisha.

¹⁸When they came down to him, Elisha prayed to the Lord, and said, "Please strike this people with blindness." He struck them with blindness according to the word of Elisha.

¹⁹Elisha said to them, "This is not the way, neither is this the city. Follow me, and I will bring you to the man whom you seek." He led them to Samaria.

²⁰It happened, when they had come into Samaria, that Elisha said, "Lord, open the eyes of these men, that they may see." The Lord opened their eyes, and they saw; and behold, they were in the midst of Samaria.

²¹The king of Israel said to Elisha, when he saw them, "My father, shall I strike them? Shall I strike them?"

²²He answered, "You shall not strike them. Would you strike those whom you have taken captive with your sword and with your bow? Set bread and water before them, that they may eat and drink, and go to their master."

²³He prepared great feast for them. When they had eaten and drunk, he sent them away, and they went to their master. The bands of Syria stopped raiding the land of Israel.

²⁴It happened after this, that Benhadad king of Syria gathered all his army, and went up and besieged Samaria.

²⁵There was a great famine in Samaria. Behold, they besieged it, until a donkey's head was sold for eighty pieces of silver, and the fourth part of a kab of dove's dung for five pieces of silver.

²⁶As the king of Israel was passing by on the wall, a woman cried to him, saying, "Help, my lord, O king!"

²⁷He said, "If the Lord doesn't help you, from where could I help you? From of the threshing floor, or from the winepress?"

²⁸The king said to her, "What ails you?" She answered, "This woman said to me, 'Give your son, that we may eat him today, and we will eat my son tomorrow.'

²⁹So we boiled my son, and ate him: and I said to her on the next day, 'Give your son, that we may eat him;' and she has hidden her son."

³⁰It happened, when the king heard the words of the woman, that he tore his clothes (now he was passing by on the wall); and the people looked, and behold, he had sackcloth underneath on his flesh.

³¹Then he said, "God do so to me, and more also, if the head of Elisha the son of Shaphat shall stay on him this day."

³²But Elisha was sitting in his house, and the elders were sitting with him. Then the king sent a man from before him; but before the messenger came to him, he said to the elders, "Do you see how this son of a murderer has sent to take away my head? Behold, when the messenger comes, shut the door, and hold the door shut against him. Isn't the sound of his master's feet behind him?"

³³While he was still talking with them, behold, the messenger came down to him. Then he said, "Behold, this disaster is from the Lord. Why should I wait for the Lord any longer?"

¹Elisha said, "Hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord, 'Tomorrow about this time a measure of fine flour will be sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, in the gate of Samaria.'"

²Then the captain on whose hand the king leaned answered the man of God, and said, "Behold, if the Lord made windows in heaven, could this thing be?" He said, "Behold, you shall see it with your eyes, but shall not eat of it."

³Now there were four leprous men at the entrance of the gate. They said one to another, "Why do we sit here until we die?

⁴If we say, 'We will enter into the city,' then the famine is in the city, and we shall die there. If we sit still here, we also die. Now therefore come, and let us surrender to the army of the Syrians. If they save us alive, we will live; and if they kill us, we will only die."

⁵They rose up in the twilight, to go to the camp of the Syrians. When they had come to the outermost part of the camp of the Syrians, behold, there was no man there.

⁶For the Lord had made the army of the Syrians to hear a noise of chariots, and a noise of horses, even the noise of a great army: and they said one to another, Behold, the king of Israel has hired against us the kings of the Hittites, and the kings of the Egyptians, to come on us.

⁷Therefore they arose and fled in the twilight, and left their tents, and their horses, and their donkeys, even the camp as it was, and fled for their life.

⁸When these lepers came to the outermost part of the camp, they went into one tent, and ate and drink, and carried there silver, and gold, and clothing, and went and hid it. Then they came back, and entered into another tent, and carried there also, and went and hid it.

⁹Then they said one to another, "We aren't doing right. This day is a day of good news, and we keep silent. If we wait until the morning light, punishment will overtake us. Now therefore come, let us go and tell the king's household."

¹⁰So they came and called to 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 the horses tied, and the donkeys tied, and the tents as they were."

¹¹He called the porters; and they told it to the king's household within.

¹²The king arose in the night, and said to his servants, "I will now show you what the Syrians have done to us. They know that we are 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 take them alive, and get into the city.'"

¹³One of his servants answered, "Please let some take five of the horses that remain, which are left in the city. Behold, they are like all the multitude of Israel who are left in it. Behold, they are like all the multitude of Israel who are consumed. Let us send and see."

¹⁴They took therefore two chariots with horses; and the king sent after the army of the Syrians, saying, "Go and see."

¹⁵They went after them to the Jordan; and behold, all the way was full of garments and vessels, which the Syrians had cast away in their haste. The messengers returned, and told the king.

¹⁶The people went out, and plundered the camp 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.

¹⁷The king appointed the captain on whose hand he leaned to be in charge of the gate: and the people trod on him in the gate, and he died as the man of God had said, who spoke when the king came down to him.

¹⁸It happened, 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 tomorrow about this time in the gate of Samaria";

¹⁹and that captain 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, you shall see it with your eyes, but shall not eat of it."

²⁰It happened like that to him; for the people trod on him in the gate, and he died.

¹Why do you stand far off, Lord? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?

²In arrogance, the wicked hunt down the weak. They are caught in the schemes that they devise.

³For the wicked boasts of his heart's cravings. He blesses the greedy, and condemns the Lord.

⁴The wicked, in the pride of his face, has no room in his thoughts for God.

⁵His ways are prosperous at all times. Your judgments are far from his sight. As for all his adversaries, he sneers at them.

⁶He says in his heart, "I shall not be shaken. For generations I shall have no trouble."

⁷His mouth is full of cursing, deceit, and oppression. Under his tongue is mischief and iniquity.

⁸He lies in wait near the villages. From ambushes, he murders the innocent. His eyes are secretly set against the helpless.

⁹He lurks in secret as a lion in his ambush. He lies in wait to catch the helpless. He catches the helpless, when he draws him in his net.

¹⁰The helpless are crushed. They collapse. They fall under his strength.

¹¹He says in his heart, "God has forgotten. He hides his face. He will never see it."

¹²Arise, Lord! God, lift up your hand! Do not forget the helpless.

¹³Why does the wicked person condemn God, and say in his heart, "God won't call me into account?"

¹⁴But you do see trouble and grief. You consider it to take it into your hand. You help the victim and the fatherless.

¹⁵Break the arm of the wicked. As for the evil man, seek out his wickedness until you find none.

¹⁶The Lord is King forever and ever! The nations will perish out of his land.

¹⁷Lord, you have heard the desire of the humble. You will prepare their heart. You will cause your ear to hear,

¹⁸to judge the fatherless and the oppressed, that man who is of the earth may terrify no more.

¹My son, pay attention to my wisdom. Turn your ear to my understanding:

²that you may maintain discretion, that your lips may preserve knowledge.

³For the lips of an adulteress drip honey. Her mouth is smoother than oil,

⁴But in the end she is as bitter as wormwood, and as sharp as a two-edged sword.

⁵Her feet go down to death. Her steps lead straight to Sheol.

⁶She gives no thought to the way of life. Her ways are crooked, and she doesn't know it.

⁷Now therefore, my sons, listen to me. Do not depart from the words of my mouth.

⁸Remove your way far from her. Do not come near the door of her house,

⁹lest you give your honor to others, and your years to the cruel one;

¹⁰lest strangers feast on your wealth, and your labors enrich another man's house.

¹¹You will groan at your latter end, when your flesh and your body are consumed,

¹²and say, "How I have hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof;

¹³neither have I obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor turned my ear to those who instructed me!

¹⁴I have come to the brink of utter ruin, in the midst of the gathered assembly."

¹⁵Drink water out of your own cistern, running water out of your own well.

¹⁶Should your springs overflow in the streets, streams of water in the public squares?

¹⁷Let them be for yourself alone, not for strangers with you.

¹⁸Let your spring be blessed. Rejoice in the wife of your youth.

¹⁹A loving doe and a graceful deer- let her breasts satisfy you at all times. Be captivated always with her love.

²⁰For why should you, my son, be captivated with an adulteress? Why embrace the bosom of another?

²¹For the ways of man are before the eyes of the Lord. He examines all his paths.

²²The evil deeds of the wicked ensnare him. The cords of his sin hold him firmly.

²³He will die for lack of instruction. In the greatness of his folly, he will go astray.