¹ And I turned, and lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and, behold, there came four chariots out from between two mountains; and the mountains were mountains of brass.

² In the first chariot were red horses; and in the second chariot black horses;

³ And in the third chariot white horses; and in the fourth chariot grisled and bay horses.

⁴ Then I answered and said unto the angel that talked with me, What are these, my lord?

⁵ And the angel answered and said unto me, These are the four spirits of the heavens, which go forth from standing before the Lord of all the earth.

⁶ The black horses which are therein go forth into the north country; and the white go forth after them; and the grisled go forth toward the south country.

⁷ And the bay went forth, and sought to go that they might walk to and fro through the earth: and he said, Get you hence, walk to and fro through the earth. So they walked to and fro through the earth.

⁸ Then cried he upon me, and spake unto me, saying, Behold, these that go toward the north country have quieted my spirit in the north country.

⁹ And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

¹⁰ Take of them of the captivity, even of Heldai, of Tobijah, and of Jedaiah, which are come from Babylon, and come thou the same day, and go into the house of Josiah the son of Zephaniah;

¹¹ Then take silver and gold, and make crowns, and set them upon the head of Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest;

¹² And speak unto him, saying, Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, Behold the man whose name is The BRANCH; and he shall grow up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of the LORD:

¹³ Even he shall build the temple of the LORD; and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne; and he shall be a priest upon his throne: and the counsel of peace shall be between them both.

¹⁴ And the crowns shall be to Helem, and to Tobijah, and to Jedaiah, and to Hen the son of Zephaniah, for a memorial in the temple of the LORD.

¹⁵ And they that are far off shall come and build in the temple of the LORD, and ye shall know that the LORD of hosts hath sent me unto you. And this shall come to pass, if ye will diligently obey the voice of the LORD your God.

¹ The sons of the prophets said to Elisha, "See now, the place where we dwell before you is too small for us.

² Please let us go to the Jordan, and every man take a beam from there, and let us make us a place there, where we may dwell." He answered, "go!"

³ One said, "Please be pleased to go with your servants." He answered, "I will go."

⁴ So he went with them. When they came to the Jordan, they cut down wood.

⁵ But as one was felling a beam, the axe head fell into the water. Then he cried, and said, "Alas, my master! For it was borrowed."

⁶ The man of God asked, "Where did it fall?" He showed him the place. He cut down a stick, threw it in there, and made the iron float.

⁷ He said, "Take it." So he put out his hand and took it.

⁸ Now the king of Syria was warring against Israel; and he took counsel with his servants, saying, "My camp will be in such and such a place."

⁹ The man of God sent to the king of Israel, saying, "Beware that you not pass such a place; for the Syrians are coming down there."

¹⁰ The king of Israel sent to the place which the man of God told him and warned him of; and he saved himself there, not once nor twice.

¹¹ The heart of the king of Syria was very troubled about this. He called his servants, and said to them, "Won't you show me which of us is for the king of Israel?"

¹² One of his servants said, "No, my lord, O king; but Elisha, the prophet who is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the words that you speak in your bedroom."

¹³ He said, "Go and see where he is, that I may send and get him." It was told him, saying, "Behold, he is in Dothan."

¹⁴ Therefore he sent horses, chariots, and a great army there. They came by night, and surrounded the city.

¹⁵ When the servant of the man of God had risen early, and gone out, behold, an army with horses and chariots was around the city. His servant said to him, "Alas, my master! What shall we do?"

¹⁶ He answered, "Don't be afraid; for those who are with us are more than those who are with them."

¹⁷ Elisha prayed, and said, "Yahweh, please open his eyes, that he may see." Yahweh opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire around Elisha.

¹⁸ When they came down to him, Elisha prayed to Yahweh, and said, "Please strike this people with blindness." He struck them with blindness according to the word of Elisha.

¹⁹ Elisha said to them, "This is not the way, neither is this the city. Follow me, and I will bring you to the man whom you seek." He led them to Samaria.

²⁰ It happened, when they were come into Samaria, that Elisha said, "Yahweh, open the eyes of these men, that they may see." Yahweh opened their eyes, and they saw; and behold, they were in the midst of Samaria.

²¹ The king of Israel said to Elisha, when he saw them, "My father, shall I strike them? Shall I strike them?"

²² He answered, "You shall not strike them. Would you strike those whom you have taken captive with your sword and with your bow? Set bread and water before them, that they may eat and drink, and go to their master."

²³ He prepared great feast for them. When they had eaten and drunk, he sent them away, and they went to their master. The bands of Syria stopped raiding the land of Israel.

²⁴ It happened after this, that Benhadad king of Syria gathered all his army, and went up and besieged Samaria.

²⁵ There was a great famine in Samaria. Behold, they besieged it, until a donkey's head was sold for eighty pieces of silver, and the fourth part of a kab of dove's dung for five pieces of silver.

²⁶ As the king of Israel was passing by on the wall, a woman cried to him, saying, "Help, my lord, O king!"

²⁷ He said, "If Yahweh doesn't help you, from where could I help you? From of the threshing floor, or from the winepress?"

²⁸ The king said to her, "What ails you?" She answered, "This woman said to me, 'Give your son, that we may eat him today, and we will eat my son tomorrow.'

²⁹ So we boiled my son, and ate him: and I said to her on the next day, 'Give your son, that we may eat him;' and she has hidden her son."

³⁰ It happened, when the king heard the words of the woman, that he tore his clothes (now he was passing by on the wall); and the people looked, and behold, he had sackcloth underneath on his flesh.

³¹ Then he said, "God do so to me, and more also, if the head of Elisha the son of Shaphat shall stay on him this day."

³² But Elisha was sitting in his house, and the elders were sitting with him. Then the king sent a man from before him; but before the messenger came to him, he said to the elders, "Do you see how this son of a murderer has sent to take away my head? Behold, when the messenger comes, shut the door, and hold the door shut against him. Isn't the sound of his master's feet behind him?"

³³ While he was still talking with them, behold, the messenger came down to him. Then he said, "Behold, this evil is from Yahweh. Why should I wait for Yahweh any longer?"