2 Kings 6:24-33
Aram’s Siege of Samaria
24Now it happened afterwards, that aBen-hadad king of Aram gathered all his military camp and went up and besieged Samaria. 25Now there was a great afamine in Samaria. And behold, they besieged it, until a donkey’s head was sold for 1eighty shekels of silver, and a fourth of a 2kab of dove’s dung for five shekels of silver. 26As the king of Israel was passing by on the wall, a woman cried out to him, saying, “Save, my lord, O king!” 27He said, “1If Yahweh does not save you, from where shall I save you? From the threshing floor, or from the wine press?” 28And the king said to her, “aWhat 1is the matter with you?” And she said, “This woman said to me, ‘Give your son that we may eat him today, and we will eat my son tomorrow.’ 29“aSo we boiled my son and ate him; and I said to her on the next day, ‘Give your son, that we may eat him’; but she has hidden her son.” 30Now it happened that when the king heard the words of the woman, ahe tore his clothes—now he was passing by on the wall—and the people looked, and behold, he had sackcloth 1beneath on his 2body. 31Then he said, “May aGod do so to me and more also, if the head of Elisha the son of Shaphat 1remains on him today.”
Flour and Barley in Samaria
32Now Elisha was sitting in his house, and athe elders were sitting with him. And the king sent a man from his presence; but before the messenger came to him, he said to the elders, “Do you bsee how this son of a murderer has sent to take away my head? Look, when the messenger comes, shut the door and 1hold the door shut against him. Is not the sound of his master’s feet behind him?” 33While he was still speaking with them, behold, the messenger came down to him and he said, “aBehold, this evil is from Yahweh; why should I wait for Yahweh any longer?”