1-2. One day the guild of prophets came to Elisha and said, “You can see that this place where we’re living under your leadership is getting cramped—we have no elbow room. Give us permission to go down to the Jordan where each of us will get a log. We’ll build a roomier place.”Elisha said, “Go ahead.”
3. One of them then said, “Please! Come along with us!”He said, “Certainly.”
4-5. He went with them. They came to the Jordan and started chopping down trees. As one of them was felling a timber, his axhead flew off and sank in the river.“Oh no, master!” he cried out. “And it was borrowed!”
6. The Holy Man said, “Where did it sink?”The man showed him the place.He cut off a branch and tossed it at the spot. The axhead floated up.
7. “Grab it,” he said. The man reached out and took it.
8. One time when the king of Aram was at war with Israel, after consulting with his officers, he said, “At such and such a place I want an ambush set.”
9. The Holy Man sent a message to the king of Israel: “Watch out when you’re passing this place, because Aram has set an ambush there.”
10. So the king of Israel sent word concerning the place of which the Holy Man had warned him.This kind of thing happened all the time.
11. The king of Aram was furious over all this. He called his officers together and said, “Tell me, who is leaking information to the king of Israel? Who is the spy in our ranks?”
12. But one of his men said, “No, my master, dear king. It’s not any of us. It’s Elisha the prophet in Israel. He tells the king of Israel everything you say, even what you whisper in your bedroom.”
13. The king said, “Go and find out where he is. I’ll send someone and capture him.”The report came back, “He’s in Dothan.”
14. Then he dispatched horses and chariots, an impressive fighting force. They came by night and surrounded the city.
15. Early in the morning a servant of the Holy Man got up and went out. Surprise! Horses and chariots surrounding the city! The young man exclaimed, “Oh, master! What shall we do?”
16. He said, “Don’t worry about it—there are more on our side than on their side.”