20
After they entered Samaria, Elisha said, "Lord, open these men's eyes so they can see." So the Lord opened their eyes, and the Aramean army saw that they were inside the city of Samaria!
21
When the king of Israel saw the Aramean army, he said to Elisha, "My father, should I kill them? Should I kill them?"
22
Elisha answered, "Don't kill them. You wouldn't kill people whom you captured with your sword and bow. Give them food and water, and let them eat and drink and then go home to their master."
23
So he prepared a great feast for the Aramean army. After they ate and drank, the king sent them away, and they went home to their master. The soldiers of Aram did not come anymore into the land of Israel.
24
Later, Ben-Hadad king of Aram gathered his whole army and surrounded and attacked Samaria.
25
There was a shortage of food in Samaria. It was so bad that a donkey's head sold for about two pounds of silver, and half of a pint of dove's dung sold for about two ounces of silver.
26
As the king of Israel was passing by on the wall, a woman yelled out to him, "Help me, my master and king!"
27
The king said, "If the Lord doesn't help you, how can I? Can I get help from the threshing floor or from the winepress?"
28
Then the king said to her, "What is your trouble?" She answered, "This woman said to me, 'Give up your son so we can eat him today. Then we will eat my son tomorrow.'
29
So we boiled my son and ate him. Then the next day I said to her, 'Give up your son so we can eat him.' But she had hidden him."
30
When the king heard the woman's words, he tore his clothes in grief. As he walked along the wall, the people looked and saw he had on rough cloth under his clothes to show his sadness.