The LORD replied to him, "Go! Return to Damascus, and when you get there, anoint Hazael as king over Aram,

Whoever escapes from Hazael's sword Jehu will execute, and whoever escapes from Jehu's sword Elisha will put to death.

So the king told Hazael, "Take a gift with you and go meet the man of God. Inquire of the LORD through him and ask, "Will I recover from this sickness?'"

So Hazael went out to meet with him and took a gift with him 40 camel loads filled with samples of everything good in Damascus. He approached the man of God and said, "Your son King Ben-hadad from Aram has sent me to you to ask you, "Will I recover from this sickness?'"

Then Elisha looked steadily at Hazael until Hazael grew ashamed, and then the man of God began to cry.

"Why are you crying, sir?" Hazael asked. "Because I know the evil that you're about to bring on the Israelis," he replied. "You'll burn down their fortified cities, execute their young men with swords, dash to pieces their little ones, and you'll tear open their pregnant women!"

But Hazael responded, "What? Who am I, your servant, that I should do such a horrible thing?" But Elisha answered, "The LORD has shown me that you will be king over Aram."

But the very next day, Hazael grabbed a thick covering, soaked it in water, and spread it over the king's face, and he suffocated. Then Hazael succeeded Ben-hadad as king.

He joined Ahab's son Joram in an attack on King Hazael of Aram at Ramoth-gilead, and that's where the Arameans wounded Joram.

Then King Joram retreated to Jezreel to recover from the wounds that the Arameans had inflicted on him at Ramah during the battle against King Hazael of Aram. Jehoram's son Ahaziah, king of Judah, went to visit Ahab's son Joram in Jezreel because Joram was sick.

Meanwhile, Jehoshaphat's son Jehu, the grandson of Nimshi, had been conspiring against Joram while Joram and all the army of Israel had been defending Ramoth-gilead against King Hazael from Aram.

King Jehoram had returned to Jezreel to recover from wounds he had sustained from the Arameans when he had fought against King Hazael from Aram. So Jehu concluded, "Since this is what you've decided, then let no one get away, leave the city, and go report to Jezreel!"

In those days, the LORD began to reduce Israel in size: Hazael defeated them throughout the territory of Israel,

Later, King Hazael of Aram invaded and attacked Gath, captured it, and then set out to approach Jerusalem.

So King Jehoash of Judah took all of the sacred things that his ancestors Jehoshaphat, Jehoram, and Ahaziah, kings of Judah, had dedicated, along with his own dedicated things, and all the gold that could be located within the treasure vaults of the LORD's Temple and in the king's palace, and paid off King Hazael of Aram. Then Hazael left Jerusalem.

As a result, the LORD's wrath flared up against Israel, so he handed them over to domination by King Hazael of Aram and later into constant domination by Hazael's son Ben-hadad.

Meanwhile, King Hazael of Aram had been oppressing Israel throughout the reign of Jehoahaz,

After King Hazael of Aram died, his son Ben-hadad replaced him as king.

At that time, Jehoahaz's son Jehoash recaptured from Hazael's son Ben-hadad the cities that Hazael had captured through warfare from the control of Jehoahaz, Jehoash's father. Joash defeated and recovered cities of Israel from Ben-hadad three times.

He followed their counsel and accompanied Ahab's son Joram, king of Israel, to wage war against King Hazael of Aram at Ramoth-gilead. But the Arameans wounded Joram,

so he returned to Jezreel to recover from the wounds that he had received at Ramah in the battle against King Hazael of Aram. King Ahaziah of Judah, Jehoram's son, went to visit Ahab's son Joram, because he was wounded.

So I will send down fire upon the house of Hazael, and it will devour the palaces of Ben-hadad.