2 Kings 6:8–23

⁸Now the king of Aram was at war against Israel. After consulting with his servants, he said, “My camp will be in such and such a place.”

⁹Then the man of God sent word to the king of Israel: “Be careful not to pass by this place, for the Arameans are going down there.”

¹⁰So the king of Israel sent word to the place the man of God had pointed out. Time and again^a Elisha warned the king, so that he was on his guard in such places. ¹¹For this reason the king of Aram became enraged and called his servants to demand of them, “Tell me, which one of us is on the side of the king of Israel?”

¹²But one of his servants replied, “No one, my lord the king. For Elisha, the prophet in Israel, tells the king of Israel the very words you speak in your bedroom.”

¹³So the king said, “Go and see where he is, that I may send men to capture him.”

On receiving the report, “Elisha is in Dothan,” ¹⁴the king of Aram sent horses, chariots, and a great army. They went there by night and surrounded the city.

¹⁵When the servant of the man of God got up and went out early in the morning, behold, an army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city. So he asked Elisha, “Oh, my master, what are we to do?”

¹⁶“Do not be afraid,” Elisha answered, “for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.”

¹⁷Then Elisha prayed, “O LORD, please open his eyes that he may see.”

And the LORD opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw that the hills were full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.

¹⁸As the Arameans came down against him, Elisha prayed to the LORD, “Please strike these people with blindness.” So He struck them with blindness, according to the word of Elisha.

¹⁹And Elisha told them, “This is not the way, and this is not the city. Follow me, and I will take you to the man you are seeking.” And he led them to Samaria.

²⁰When they had entered Samaria, Elisha said, “O LORD, open the eyes of these men that they may see.”

Then the LORD opened their eyes, and they looked around and discovered that they were in Samaria.

²¹And when the king of Israel saw them, he asked Elisha, “My father, shall I kill them? Shall I kill them?”

²²“Do not kill them,” he replied. “Would you kill those you have captured with your own sword or bow? Set food and water before them, that they may eat and drink and then return to their master.”

²³So the king prepared a great feast for them, and after they had finished eating and drinking, he sent them away, and they returned to their master. And the Aramean raiders did not come into the land of Israel again.