The King Restores the Shunammite’s Land
1 Now Elisha had said to the [Shunammite] woman whose son he had restored to life, “Prepare and go, you and your household, and (a)stay temporarily wherever you can; for the Lord has called for a famine, and moreover, it will come on the land [and continue] for seven years.”
2 So the woman set out and did everything in accordance with the word of the man of God. She and her household went and (b)stayed temporarily as foreigners in the land of the Philistines for seven years.
3 At the end of the seven years the woman returned from the land of the Philistines; and she went to appeal to the king [of Israel] for her house and for her land.
4 Now the king was talking with (c)Gehazi, the servant of the man of God, saying, “Tell me all the great things that Elisha has done.”
5 And [just] as Gehazi was telling the king how Elisha had restored the dead to life, behold, the woman whose son he had restored to life appealed to the king for her house and for her land. And Gehazi said, “My lord, O king, this is the woman and this is her son, whom Elisha restored to life.”
6 When the king asked the woman, she told him [everything]. So the king appointed for her a certain high official, saying, “Restore everything that was hers, including all the produce of the field since the day that she left the land until now.”
Elisha Predicts Evil from Hazael
7 Now Elisha came to Damascus, and Ben-hadad king of Aram (Syria) was sick; and he was told, “The man of God has come here.”
8 And the king said to Hazael, “Take a gift with you and go to meet the man of God, and inquire of the Lord by him, saying, ‘Will I recover from this illness?’”
9 So Hazael went to meet Elisha and took a gift with him of every good thing of Damascus, forty camels’ loads; and he came and stood before him and said, “Your son Ben-hadad king of Aram has sent me to you, asking, ‘Will I recover from this illness?’”
10 And Elisha said to him, “Go, say to him, ‘You will certainly recover,’ but the Lord has shown me that he will certainly die.”
11 Elisha stared steadily at Hazael until he was embarrassed, and then the man of God wept.
12 Hazael said, “Why are you weeping, my lord?” He answered, “Because I know the evil that you will do to the sons (descendants) of Israel. You will set their strongholds on fire, kill their young men with the sword, smash their children to pieces, and rip up their pregnant women.”
13 Then Hazael said, “Surely not! For what is your servant, who is nothing more than a dog, that he would do this monstrous thing?” And Elisha answered, “The Lord has shown me that you will be king over Aram.”
14 Then Hazael departed from Elisha and came to his master, who said to him, “What did Elisha say to you?” And he answered, “He told me you would certainly recover.”
15 But the next day Hazael took the bedspread and dipped it in water and covered the king’s face, so that he died. And Hazael became king in his place.
16 Now in the fifth year of (d)Joram (Jehoram) the son of Ahab king of Israel, when Jehoshaphat was king of Judah, Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat king of Judah became king.
Another Jehoram Reigns in Judah
17 He was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned for eight years in Jerusalem.
Another Jehoram Reigns in Judah
18 He walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, just as the house of Ahab had done, for [Athaliah] the daughter of Ahab became his wife. He did (e)evil in the sight of the Lord.
19 Yet for the sake of His servant David the Lord was not willing to destroy Judah, since He had promised to give him a lamp (enthroned descendant) through his sons always.
20 In his days Edom revolted from the rule of Judah, and set up a king over themselves.
21 So Jehoram [king of Judah] went over to Zair [in Edom] with all his chariots. He set out by night and struck down the Edomites who had surrounded him and the captains of his chariots; but the people [of his army] fled to their tents.
22 So Edom revolted (f)against Judah to this day. Then Libnah revolted at the same time.
23 The rest of the acts of Jehoram and everything that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah?
Ahaziah Succeeds Jehoram in Judah
24 Jehoram slept with his fathers [in death] and was buried with them in the City of David. Ahaziah his son became king in his place.
25 In the twelfth year of Joram (Jehoram) the son of Ahab king of Israel, Ahaziah the son of Jehoram king of Judah began to reign.
26 Ahaziah was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Athaliah, the granddaughter of Omri king of Israel.
27 He walked in the ways of the house of Ahab and did evil in the sight of the Lord, as did the house of Ahab, for he was a son-in-law of the house of Ahab.
28 Ahaziah went with Joram the son of Ahab to battle against Hazael king of Aram (Syria) in Ramoth-gilead; and the Arameans wounded Joram.
29 King Joram returned to Jezreel to be healed of the wounds which the Arameans had inflicted on him at Ramah when he fought against Hazael king of Aram. And Ahaziah the son of Jehoram king of Judah went down to see Joram the son of Ahab in Jezreel, because he was sick.
Footnotes:
a.
2 Kings 8:1: Lit sojourn.
b.
2 Kings 8:2: Lit sojourned.
c.
2 Kings 8:4: This discussion occurred before Gehazi was afflicted with leprosy (5:27).
d.
2 Kings 8:16: Jehoram, king of Israel is sometimes referred to as Joram in the Hebrew.
e.
2 Kings 8:18: King Jehoram of Judah introduced and encouraged the worship of Baal in Judah.
f.
2 Kings 8:22: Lit from under the hand of.