2 Kings 6:24-33
Expanded Bible
A Great Famine
24 Later, Ben-Hadad king of Aram gathered his whole army and ·surrounded and attacked [besieged] Samaria. 25 There was a ·shortage of food [great famine] in Samaria. ·It was so bad [or The siege lasted so long] that a donkey’s head sold for ·about two pounds [L eighty shekels/or pieces] of silver, and ·half of a pint [L a fourth of a kab] of dove’s dung sold for ·about two ounces [L five shekels/or pieces] of silver. 26 As the king of Israel was passing by on the wall, a woman yelled out to him, “Help me, my ·master [lord] and king!”
27 The king said, “If the Lord doesn’t help you, how can I? Can I get help from the threshing floor or from the winepress [C he has neither food nor drink to offer]?” 28 Then the king said to her, “What is your ·trouble [complaint]?”
She answered, “This woman said to me, ‘Give up your son so we can eat him today. Then we will eat my son tomorrow.’ 29 So we ·boiled [cooked] my son and ate him. Then the next day I said to her, ‘Give up your son so we can eat him.’ But she has hidden him.”
30 When the king heard the woman’s words, he tore his clothes [C a sign of mourning or distress]. As he walked along the wall, the people looked and saw he had on ·rough cloth [sackcloth; burlap] under his clothes [C also a sign of mourning]. 31 He said, “May God ·punish me terribly [deal severely with me, and worse; L do to me, and even more] if the head of Elisha son of Shaphat ·isn’t cut off from his body [L remains on his shoulders] today [C the king blames Elisha for the situation]!”
32 The king sent a messenger to Elisha, who was sitting in his house with the elders [C an indication that Elisha is more powerful than the king]. But before the messenger arrived, Elisha said to them, “See, this murderer is sending men to ·cut off [L take away] my head. When the messenger arrives, shut the door and hold it; don’t let him in. ·The [L Is not the…?] sound of his ·master’s [lord’s] feet is behind him.”
33 Elisha was still talking with the leaders when the messenger arrived. The king said, “This ·trouble [misery; L evil] has come from the Lord. Why should I wait for the Lord any longer?”
Read full chapterThe Expanded Bible, Copyright © 2011 Thomas Nelson Inc. All rights reserved.
