17. Then Elisha prayed, "Lord, please open his eyes that he may see." Then the Lord opened the servant’s eyes, and he saw that the mountain was full of horses and fiery chariots surrounding Elisha.
18. The Arameans came toward him, so Elisha prayed to the Lord, "Strike this nation with blindness." And the Lord struck them blind, just as Elisha asked.
19. Elisha said to them, "This isn’t the right road or the right city. Follow me, and I’ll lead you to the man you are looking for." But he took them to Samaria!
20. When they arrived in Samaria, Elisha said, "Lord, open the eyes of these men so they can see." The Lord opened their eyes, and they saw that they were right in the middle of Samaria!
21. When he saw them, Israel’s king said to Elisha, "Should I kill them, my father? Should I?"
22. He said, "No, don’t kill them. Did you capture them with your own sword or bow? Do you have the right to kill them? Put food and water in front of them so they can eat and drink and return to their master."
23. So the king gave them a great feast, and they ate and drank. Then the king let them go, and they returned to their master. After that, Aramean raiding parties didn’t come into Israel anymore.
24. Now it happened later that Aram’s King Ben-hadad gathered all his forces and went up to attack Samaria.
25. The siege lasted so long that there was a great famine in Samaria. A donkey’s head sold for eighty shekels of silver and a quarter kab of doves’ dung for five shekels.
26. Israel’s king was passing by on the city wall when a woman appealed to him, "Help me, Your Majesty!"
27. The king said, "No! May the Lord help you! Where can I find help for you? From the threshing floor or the winepress?"
28. But then the king asked her, "What’s troubling you?"She answered, "A woman said to me, ‘Give up your son so we can eat him today; we’ll eat my son tomorrow.’
29. So we cooked and ate my son. The next day I said to her, ‘Hand over your son so we can eat him.’ But she had hidden her son."
30. When the king heard the woman’s story, he ripped his clothes. And as he passed by along the wall, the people could see that he was wearing mourning clothes underneath.
31. He said, "So may God do to me, and more, if the head of Elisha, Shaphat’s son, remains on his shoulders today!"
32. Elisha was sitting in his house, and the elders were sitting with him. The king sent a messenger on ahead, but before the man arrived, Elisha said to the elders, "Do you see that this murderer has sent someone to cut off my head? Watch for when the messenger comes, then close the door and hold it shut against him. The sound of his master’s feet is right behind him, isn’t it?"
33. While Elisha was still speaking with them, the messenger arrived and said, "Look, this disaster is the Lord’s doing. Why should I trust the Lord any longer?"