⁴ And ^[a]the other was named ^[b](A)Eliezer, for he said, “^(B)The God of my father was my help, and saved me from the sword of Pharaoh.”

¹¹ Then ^(A)Saul hurled the spear, for he thought, “I will ^[a]pin David to the wall.” But David ^[b]escaped from his presence, twice.

^10 (A)And Saul tried to ^[a]pin David to the wall with the spear, but he escaped from Saul’s presence, so that he stuck the spear into the wall. And David fled and escaped that night.

Elijah Flees from Jezebel

19 Now Ahab told Jezebel everything that Elijah had done, and ^[a](A)how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. ² Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “^(B)So may the gods do to me and more so, if by about this time tomorrow I do not make your ^[b]life like the ^[c]life of one of them.” ³ And he ^[d]was afraid, and got up and ran for his ^[e]life and came to ^(C)Beersheba, which belongs to Judah; and he left his servant there. ⁴ But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a broom tree; and ^(D)he asked for himself to die, and said, “Enough! Now, Lord, take my ^[f]life, for I am no better than my fathers.” ⁵ Then he lay down and fell asleep under a broom tree; but behold, there was ^(E)an angel touching him, and he said to him, “Arise, eat!” ⁶ And he looked, and behold, there was at his head a round loaf of bread baked on hot coals, and a pitcher of water. So he ate and drank, and lay down again. ⁷ But the angel of the Lord came back a second time and touched him, and said, “Arise, eat; because the journey is too long for you.” ⁸ So he arose and ate and drank, and he journeyed in the strength of that food for ^(F)forty days and forty nights to ^(G)Horeb, the mountain of God.

Elijah at Horeb

⁹ Then he came there to a cave and spent the night there; and behold, ^(H)the word of the Lord came to him, and He said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” ¹⁰ And he said, “^(I)I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of armies; for the sons of Israel have abandoned Your covenant, ^(J)torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. And ^(K)I alone am left; and they have sought to take my life.”

¹¹ So He said, “^(L)Go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord was passing by! And ^(M)a great and powerful wind was tearing out the mountains and breaking the rocks in pieces before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. ¹² And after the earthquake, a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire, ^(N)a sound of a gentle blowing. ¹³ When Elijah heard it, ^(O)he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave. And behold, ^(P)a voice came to him and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” ¹⁴ Then he said, “^(Q)I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of armies; for the sons of Israel have abandoned Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. And I alone am left; and they have sought to take my life.”

¹⁵ The Lord said to him, “Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus; and when you have arrived, ^(R)you shall anoint Hazael king over Aram. ¹⁶ You shall also anoint ^(S)Jehu the son of Nimshi king over Israel; and you shall anoint ^(T)Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah as prophet in your place. ¹⁷ And it shall come about that the ^(U)one who escapes from the sword of Hazael, Jehu ^(V)shall put to death, and the one who escapes from the sword of Jehu, Elisha shall put to death. ^18 (W)Yet I will leave seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal and every mouth that has not ^(X)kissed him.”

¹⁹ So he departed from there and found Elisha the son of Shaphat while he was plowing, with twelve yoke of oxen in front of him, and he with the twelfth. And Elijah came over to him and threw ^(Y)his cloak on him. ²⁰ Then he left the oxen behind and ran after Elijah, and said, “Please ^(Z)let me kiss my father and my mother, then I will follow you.” And he said to him, “Go back, for ^[g]what have I done to you?” ²¹ So he returned from following him, and took the pair of oxen and sacrificed them, and ^(AA)cooked their meat with the implements of the oxen, and gave it to the people and they ate. Then he got up and followed Elijah and served him.

The Axe Head Recovered

6 Now ^(A)the sons of the prophets said to Elisha, “Behold now, the place ^[a]before you where we are living is too cramped for us. ² Please let us go to the Jordan, and let us each take from there a beam, and let us construct a place there for ourselves, to live there.” So he said, “Go.” ³ Then one of them said, “Please agree and go with your servants.” And he said, “I will go.” ⁴ So he went with them; and when they came to the Jordan, they cut down trees. ⁵ But it happened that as one of them was ^[b]cutting down a beam, ^[c]the axe head fell into the water; and he cried out and said, “Oh, my master! It was borrowed!” ⁶ Then the man of God said, “Where did it fall?” And when he showed him the place, ^(B)he cut off a stick and threw it in there, and made the iron float. ⁷ Then he said, “Pick it up for yourself.” So he reached out his hand and took it.

The Arameans Plot to Capture Elisha

⁸ Now the king of Aram was making war against Israel; and he consulted with his servants, saying, “In such and such a place shall be my camp.” ⁹ But ^(C)the man of God sent word to the king of Israel, saying, “Be careful that you do not pass this place, because the Arameans are coming down there.” ¹⁰ And the king of Israel sent scouts to the place about which the man of God had told him; so he warned him, so that he was on his guard there, ^[d]more than once or twice.

¹¹ Now the heart of the king of Aram was enraged over this matter; and he called his servants and said to them, “Will you not tell me which of us is for the king of Israel?” ¹² One of his servants said, “No, my lord, the king; but Elisha, the prophet who is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the words that you speak in your bedroom.” ¹³ So he said, “Go and see where he is, so that I may send men and take him.” And it was told to him, saying, “Behold, he is in ^(D)Dothan.” ¹⁴ So he sent horses and chariots and a substantial army there, and they came by night and surrounded the city.

¹⁵ Now when the attendant of the man of God had risen early and gone out, behold, an army with horses and chariots was circling the city. And his servant said to him, “This is hopeless, my master! ^[e]What are we to do?” ¹⁶ And he said, “^(E)Do not be afraid, for ^(F)those who are with us are ^[f]greater than those who are with them.” ¹⁷ Then Elisha prayed and said, “^(G)Lord, please, open his eyes so that he may see.” And the Lord opened the servant’s eyes, and he saw; and behold, the mountain was full of ^(H)horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. ¹⁸ And when they came down to him, Elisha prayed to the Lord and said, “Please strike this ^[g]people with blindness.” So He ^(I)struck them with blindness in accordance with the word of Elisha. ¹⁹ Then Elisha said to them, “This is not the way, nor is this the city; follow me and I will bring you to the man whom you seek.” And he brought them to Samaria.

²⁰ When they had come into Samaria, Elisha said, “^(J)Lord, open the eyes of these men, so that they may see.” So the Lord opened their eyes, and they saw; and behold, they were in the midst of Samaria. ²¹ Then the king of Israel when he saw them, said to Elisha, “^(K)My father, shall I ^[h]kill them? Shall I ^[i]kill them?” ²² But he ^[j]answered, “You shall not ^[k]kill them. Would you ^[l](L)kill those whom you have taken captive with your sword and your bow? ^(M)Set bread and water before them, so that they may eat and drink, and go to their master.” ²³ So he provided a large feast for them; and when they had eaten and drunk, he sent them away, and they went to their master. And ^(N)the marauding bands of Arameans did not come again into the land of Israel.

The Siege of Samaria—Cannibalism

²⁴ Now it came about after this, that ^(O)Ben-hadad the king of Aram gathered all his army, and went up and besieged Samaria. ²⁵ So there was a severe ^(P)famine in Samaria; and behold, they kept besieging it until a donkey’s head was sold for eighty shekels of silver, and a fourth of a ^[m]kab of dove’s dung for five shekels of silver. ²⁶ And as the king of Israel was passing by on the wall, a woman cried out to him, saying, “Help, my lord the king!” ²⁷ But he said, “^[n]If the Lord does not help you, from where am I to help you? From the threshing floor, or from the wine press?” ²⁸ Then the king said to her, “^(Q)What ^[o]is on your mind?” And she said, “This woman said to me, ‘Give your son so that we may eat him today, and we will eat my son tomorrow.’ ^29 (R)So we cooked my son and ate him; and I said to her on the next day, ‘Give your son, so that we may eat him’; but she has hidden her son.” ³⁰ When the king heard the woman’s words, ^(S)he tore his clothes—and he was passing by on the wall—and the people looked, and behold, he had sackcloth ^[p]underneath on his ^[q]body. ³¹ Then he said, “May ^(T)God do so to me and more so, if the head of Elisha the son of Shaphat ^[r]remains on him today.”

³² Now Elisha was sitting in his house, and ^(U)the elders were sitting with him. And the king sent a man from his presence; but before the messenger came to him, he said to the elders, “Do you ^(V)see how this son of a murderer has sent a man to cut off my head? Look, when the messenger comes, shut the door and ^[s]hold the door shut against him. Is the sound of his master’s feet not behind him?” ³³ While he was still talking with them, behold, the messenger came down to him and he said, “^(W)Behold, this evil is from the Lord; why should I wait for the Lord any longer?”