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2 Kings Chapter 6

Eliseus makes iron to swim upon the water: he leads the Syrians that were sent to apprehend him into Samaria, where there eyes being opened, they are courteously entertained. The Syrians besiege Samaria: the famine there causes a woman to eat her own child. Upon this the king commands Eliseus to be put to death.

English (Douay-Rheims)

1 And the sons of the prophets said to Eliseus: Behold, the place where we dwell with thee is too strait for us. 2 Let us go as far as the Jordan, and take out of the wood every man a piece of timber, that we may build us there a place to dwell in. And he said: Go. 3 And one of them said: But come thou also with thy servants. He answered: I will come. 4 So he went with them. And when they were come to the Jordan, they cut down wood. 5 And it happened, as one was felling some timber, that the head of the ax fell into the water: and he cried out, and said: Alas, alas, alas, my lord, for this same was borrowed. 6 And the man of God said: Where did it fall? and he showed him the place: Then he cut off a piece of wood, and cast it in thither: and the iron swam. 7 And he said: Take it up. And he put out his hand, and took it.

8 And the king of Syria warred against Israel, and took counsel with his servants, saying: In such and such a place, let us lay an ambush. 9 And the man of God sent to the king of Israel, saying: Beware that thou pass not to such a place: for the Syrians are there in ambush. 10 And the king of Israel, sent to the place which the man of God had told him, and prevented him, and looked well to himself there not once nor twice. 11 And the heart of the king of Syria, was troubled for this thing. And calling together his servants, he said: Why do you not tell me who it is that betrays me to the king of Israel? 12 And one of his servants said: No one, my lord, O king: but Eliseus, the prophet, that is in Israel, telleth the king of Israel all the words, that thou speakest in thy privy chamber. 13 And he said to them: Go, and see where he is: that I may send and take him. And they told him: saying: Behold he is in Dothan. 14 Therefore, he sent thither horses, and chariots, and the strength of an army: and they came by night, and beset the city. 15 And the servant of the man of God, rising early went out, and saw an army round about the city, and horses and chariots: and he told him, saying: Alas, alas, alas, my lord, what shall we do? 16 But he answered: Fear not: for there are more with us than with them. 17 And Eliseus prayed, and said: Lord, open his eyes, that he may see. And the Lord opened the eyes of the servant, and he saw: and behold, the mountain was full of horses, and chariots of fire round about Eliseus. 18 And the enemies came down to him: but Eliseus prayed to the Lord, saying: Strike, I beseech thee, this people with blindness: and the Lord struck them with blindness, according to the word of Eliseus. Blindness... The blindness here spoken of was of a particular kind, which hindered them from seeing the objects that were really before them; and represented other different objects to their imagination: so that they no longer perceived the city of Dothan, nor were able to know the person of Eliseus; but were easily led by him, whom they took to be another man, to Samaria. So that he truly told them, this is not the way, neither is this the city, etc., because he spoke with relation to the way and to the city, which was represented to them. 19 And Eliseus said to them: This is not the way, neither is this the city: follow me, and I will show you the man whom you seek. So he led them into Samaria. 20 And when they were come into Samaria, Eliseus said: Lord, open the eyes of these men, that they may see. And the Lord opened their eyes, and they saw themselves to be in the midst of Samaria. 21 And the king of Israel said to Eliseus, when he saw them: My father, shall I kill them? 22 And he said: Thou shalt not kill them: for thou didst not take them with thy sword, or thy bow, that thou mayst kill them: but set bread and water before them, that they may eat and drink, and go to their master. 23 And a great provision of meats was set before them, and they ate and drank; and he let them go: and they went away to their master: and the robbers of Syria came no more into the land of Israel.

24 And it came to pass, after these things, that Benadad, king of Syria, gathered together all his army, and went up and besieged Samaria. 25 And there was a great famine in Samaria: and so long did the siege continue, till the head of an ass was sold for fourscore pieces of silver, and the fourth part of a cabe of pigeons' dung, for five pieces of silver. 26 And as the king of Israel was passing by the wall, a certain woman cried out to him, saying: Save me, my lord, O king. 27 And he said: If the Lord doth not save thee, how can I save thee? out of the barnfloor, or out of the winepress? And the king said to her: What aileth thee? And she answered: 28 This woman said to me: Give thy 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 thy son, that we may eat him. And she hath hid her son. 30 When the king heard this, he rent his garments, and passed by upon the wall. And all the people saw the haircloth which he wore within next to his flesh. 31 And the king said: May God do so and so to me, and may he add more, if the head of Eliseus, the son of Saphat, shall stand on him this day. 32 But Eliseus sat in his house, and the ancients sat with him. So he sent a man before: and before that messenger came, he said to the ancients: Do you know that this son of a murderer hath sent to cut off my head? Look then when the messenger shall come, shut the door, and suffer him not to come in: for behold the sound of his master's feet is behind him. 33 While he was yet speaking to them, the messenger appeared, who was coming to him. And he said: Behold, so great an evil is from the Lord: what shall I look for more from the Lord?

Old Testament first published 1609 by the English College at Douay
New Testament first published 1582 by the English College at Rheims
Revised and Annotated 1749 by Bishop Richard Challoner
Imprimatur. +James Cardinal Gibbons, Archbishop of Baltimore, September 1, 1899

Latin (Clementine Vulgate)

1 Dixerunt autem filii prophetarum ad Eliseum: Ecce locus in quo habitamus coram te, angustus est nobis. 2 Eamus usque ad Jordanem, et tollant singuli de silva materias singulas, ut ædificemus nobis ibi locum ad habitandum. Qui dixit: Ite. 3 Et ait unus ex illis: Veni ergo et tu cum servis tuis. Respondit: Ego veniam. 4 Et abiit cum eis. Cumque venissent ad Jordanem, cædebant ligna. 5 Accidit autem ut cum unus materiam succidisset, caderet ferrum securis in aquam: exclamavitque ille, et ait: Heu! heu! heu! domine mi: et hoc ipsum mutuo acceperam. 6 Dixit autem homo Dei: Ubi cecidit? At ille monstravit ei locum. Præcidit ergo lignum, et misit illuc: natavitque ferrum, 7 et ait: Tolle. Qui extendit manum, et tulit illud.

8 Rex autem Syriæ pugnabat contra Israël, consiliumque iniit cum servis suis, dicens: In loco illo et illo ponamus insidias. 9 Misit itaque vir Dei ad regem Israël, dicens: Cave ne transeas in locum illum: quia ibi Syri in insidiis sunt. 10 Misit itaque rex Israël ad locum quem dixerat ei vir Dei, et præoccupavit eum, et observavit se ibi non semel neque bis. 11 Conturbatumque est cor regis Syriæ pro hac re: et convocatis servis suis, ait: Quare non indicatis mihi quis proditor mei sit apud regem Israël? 12 Dixitque unus servorum ejus: Nequaquam, domine mi rex, sed Eliseus propheta qui est in Israël, indicat regi Israël omnia verba quæcumque locutus fueris in conclavi tuo. 13 Dixitque eis: Ite, et videte ubi sit, ut mittam, et capiam eum. Annuntiaveruntque ei, dicentes: Ecce in Dothan. 14 Misit ergo illuc equos et currus, et robur exercitus: qui cum venissent nocte, circumdederunt civitatem. 15 Consurgens autem diluculo minister viri Dei, egressus vidit exercitum in circuitu civitatis, et equos et currus: nuntiavitque ei, dicens: Heu! heu! heu! domine mi: quid faciemus? 16 At ille respondit: Noli timere: plures enim nobiscum sunt, quam cum illis. 17 Cumque orasset Eliseus, ait: Domine, aperi oculos hujus, ut videat. Et aperuit Dominus oculos pueri, et vidit: et ecce mons plenus equorum et curruum igneorum in circuitu Elisei. 18 Hostes vero descenderunt ad eum: porro Eliseus oravit ad Dominum, dicens: Percute, obsecro, gentem hanc cæcitate. Percussitque eos Dominus ne viderent, juxta verbum Elisei. 19 Dixit autem ad eos Eliseus: Non est hæc via, neque ista est civitas: sequimini me, et ostendam vobis virum quem quæritis. Duxit ergo eos in Samariam: 20 cumque ingressi fuissent in Samariam, dixit Eliseus: Domine, aperi oculos istorum, ut videant. Aperuitque Dominus oculos eorum, et viderunt se esse in medio Samariæ. 21 Dixitque rex Israël ad Eliseum, cum vidisset eos: Numquid percutiam eos, pater mi? 22 At ille ait: Non percuties: neque enim cepisti eos gladio et arcu tuo, ut percutias: sed pone panem et aquam coram eis, ut comedant et bibant, et vadant ad dominum suum. 23 Appositaque est eis ciborum magna præparatio, et comederunt et biberunt, et dimisit eos, abieruntque ad dominum suum, et ultra non venerunt latrones Syriæ in terram Israël.

24 Factum est autem post hæc, congregavit Benadad rex Syriæ universum exercitum suum, et ascendit, et obsidebat Samariam. 25 Factaque est fames magna in Samaria: et tamdiu obsessa est, donec venundaretur caput asini octoginta argenteis, et quarta pars cabi stercoris columbarum quinque argenteis. 26 Cumque rex Israël transiret per murum, mulier quædam exclamavit ad eum, dicens: Salva me, domine mi rex. 27 Qui ait: Non te salvat Dominus: unde te possum salvare? de area, vel de torculari? Dixitque ad eam rex: Quid tibi vis? Quæ respondit: 28 Mulier ista dixit mihi: Da filium tuum, ut comedamus eum hodie, et filium meum comedemus cras. 29 Coximus ergo filium meum, et comedimus. Dixique ei die altera: Da filium tuum, ut comedamus eum. Quæ abscondit filium suum. 30 Quod cum audisset rex, scidit vestimenta sua, et transibat per murum. Viditque omnis populus cilicium quo vestitus erat ad carnem intrinsecus. 31 Et ait rex: Hæc mihi faciat Deus, et hæc addat, si steterit caput Elisei filii Saphat super ipsum hodie. 32 Eliseus autem sedebat in domo sua, et senes sedebant cum eo. Præmisit itaque virum: et antequam veniret nuntius ille, dixit ad senes: Numquid scitis quod miserit filius homicidæ hic, ut præcidatur caput meum? videte ergo: cum venerit nuntius, claudite ostium, et non sinatis eum introire: ecce enim sonitus pedum domini ejus post eum est. 33 Adhuc illo loquente eis, apparuit nuntius qui veniebat ad eum. Et ait: Ecce, tantum malum a Domino est: quid amplius expectabo a Domino?

Transcribed as part of the Clementine Vulgate Project
Please notify the original transcriber (little.mouth@soon.com) of any errors in this Latin edition