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31 He said, “I pray that God will punish me terribly, if Elisha's head is still on his shoulders by this time tomorrow.” 32 Then he sent a messenger to Elisha.

Elisha was home at the time, and the important leaders of Israel were meeting with him. Even before the king's messenger arrived, Elisha told the leaders, “That murderer[a] is sending someone to cut off my head. When you see him coming, shut the door and don't let him in. I'm sure the king himself will be right behind him.”

33 Before Elisha finished talking, the messenger[b] came up and said, “The Lord has made all these terrible things happen to us. Why should I think he will help us now?”

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Footnotes

  1. 6.32 That murderer: Hebrew “That murderer's son.”
  2. 6.33 messenger: Or “king” (see 7.2,18); the two Hebrew words are very similar.

31 He said, “May God deal with me, be it ever so severely, if the head of Elisha son of Shaphat remains on his shoulders today!”

32 Now Elisha was sitting in his house, and the elders(A) were sitting with him. The king sent a messenger ahead, but before he arrived, Elisha said to the elders, “Don’t you see how this murderer(B) is sending someone to cut off my head?(C) Look, when the messenger comes, shut the door and hold it shut against him. Is not the sound of his master’s footsteps behind him?” 33 While he was still talking to them, the messenger came down to him.

The king said, “This disaster is from the Lord. Why should I wait(D) for the Lord any longer?”

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