Let us go, we pray thee, unto Jordan, and take thence every man a beam, and let us make us a place there, where we may dwell. And he answered, Go ye.
Parallel translations
- WEB Please let us go to the Jordan, and each man take a beam from there, and let us make us a place there, where we may live.” He answered, “Go!”
- BSB Please let us go to the Jordan, where each of us can get a log so we can build ourselves a place to live there.” “Go,” said Elisha.
- NKJV Please, let us go to the Jordan, and let every man take a beam from there, and let us make there a place where we may dwell.” So he answered, “Go.”
- NASB Please let us go to the Jordan, and let us each take from there a beam, and let us construct a place there for ourselves, to live there.” So he said, “Go.”
- NLT Let’s go down to the Jordan River, where there are plenty of logs. There we can build a new place for us to meet.” “All right,” he told them, “go ahead.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The prophets propose going to the Jordan to cut timber for a new dwelling, and Elisha agrees. It shows honest, communal labor undertaken with the prophet's blessing.
Overview
The men plan a simple building project, each gathering a beam by the wooded banks of the Jordan. Elisha's brief 'Go!' grants permission and signals his pastoral involvement in their welfare. The detail sets up the lost ax-head miracle, grounding a wonder in the texture of ordinary work. It models initiative joined to submission, seeking the counsel and presence of God's servant.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- 2 Th 3:8Neither did we eat any man’s bread for nought; but wrought with labour and travail night and day, that we might not be chargeable to any of you:
- 1 Cor 9:6Or I only and Barnabas, have not we power to forbear working?
- 1 Tim 6:6But godliness with contentment is great gain.
- John 21:3Simon Peter saith unto them, I go a fishing. They say unto him, We also go with thee. They went forth, and entered into a ship immediately; and that night they caught nothing.
- 1 Th 2:9For ye remember, brethren, our labour and travail: for labouring night and day, because we would not be chargeable unto any of you, we preached unto you the gospel of God.
- Acts 20:34–35Yea, ye yourselves know, that these hands have ministered unto my necessities, and to them that were with me.
- Acts 18:3And because he was of the same craft, he abode with them, and wrought: for by their occupation they were tentmakers.
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Christ at the center
Amid the long decline toward exile, the promise to David's house refuses to die; the flickering lamp kept burning anticipates the coming King who will not fail or be cut off.
How 2 Kings 6:2 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.