Catholic Public Domain Version

2 Kings 6:22-29 Catholic Public Domain Version (CPDV)

22. And he said: "You should not strike them. For you did not capture them with your sword or bow, so that you might strike them. Instead, set bread and water before them, so that they may eat and drink, and then go to their lord."

23. And a great preparation of foods was placed before them. And they ate and drank. And he dismissed them. And they went away to their lord. And the robbers of Syria no longer came into the land of Israel.

24. Now it happened that, after these things, Benhadad, the king of Syria, gathered together his entire army, and he ascended and was besieging Samaria.

25. And a great famine occurred in Samaria. And it was blockaded for a long time, until the head of a donkey was sold for eighty pieces of silver, and one fourth part of a pint of pigeons' dung sold for five silver coins.

26. And as the king of Israel was passing by the wall, a certain woman cried out to him, saying, "Save me, my lord the king!"

27. And he said: "If the Lord does not save you, how am I able to save you? From the grain floor, or from the wine press?" And the king said to her, "What is the matter with you?" And she responded:

28. "This woman said to me: 'Give your son, so that we may eat him today, and we will eat my son tomorrow.'

29. Therefore, we cooked my son, and we ate him. And I said to her on the next day, 'Give your son, so that we may eat him.' But she concealed her son."