2 Kings 8

Elisha had said to the woman whose son he had restored to life, “Get up and go, you and your household, and stay wherever you can. For the LORD has called for a famine, and it will come on the land for seven years.” So the woman got up and did as the man of God had said. She and her household went and stayed in the land of the Philistines for seven years. At the end of the seven years, the woman returned from the land of the Philistines and went to appeal to the king for her house and her field. Now the king was speaking with Gehazi, the servant of the man of God, saying, “Please tell me all the great things Elisha has done.” While he was telling the king how Elisha had restored the dead to life, the woman whose son he had restored to life came to appeal to the king for her house and her field. Gehazi said, “My lord the king, this is the woman, and this is her son whom Elisha restored to life.” The king questioned the woman, and she told him. Then the king assigned an official to her, saying, “Restore everything that belongs to her, and all the produce of the field from the day she left the land until now.” Elisha came to Damascus while Ben-hadad king of Aram was sick. The king was told, “The man of God has come here.” The king said to Hazael, “Take a gift with you and go to meet the man of God. Inquire of the LORD through him, asking, ‘Will I recover from this illness?’” So Hazael went to meet him, taking a gift of every good thing of Damascus, as much as forty camels could carry. He came and stood before him and said, “Your son Ben-hadad king of Aram has sent me to ask you, ‘Will I recover from this illness?’” Elisha said to him, “Go and tell him, ‘You will surely recover.’ But the LORD has shown me that he will surely die.” He fixed his gaze on him until he was embarrassed. Then the man of God wept. Hazael said, “Why is my lord weeping?” He said, “Because I know the evil you will do to the people of Israel. You will set their fortresses on fire, kill their young men with the sword, dash their little ones to pieces, and rip open their pregnant women.” Hazael said, “What is your servant, a mere dog, that he could do such a great thing?” Elisha said, “The LORD has shown me that you will be king over Aram.” Then he left Elisha and came to his master, who asked him, “What did Elisha say to you?” He said, “He told me that you will surely recover.” The next day Hazael took a thick cloth, dipped it in water, and spread it over the king’s face, and he died. Hazael reigned in his place. In the fifth year of Joram son of Ahab king of Israel, while Jehoshaphat was king of Judah, Jehoram son of Jehoshaphat king of Judah became king. He was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. He walked in the way of the kings of Israel, as the house of Ahab had done, for Ahab’s daughter was his wife. He did evil in the sight of the LORD. Yet the LORD was not willing to destroy Judah for the sake of his servant David, as he had promised to give him a lamp for his sons forever. In his days Edom rebelled against Judah’s rule and set up a king over themselves. Joram crossed over to Zair with all his chariots. He rose at night and struck the Edomites who had surrounded him, as well as the chariot commanders. But the troops fled to their tents. So Edom has remained in rebellion against Judah’s rule to this day. Libnah also rebelled at that time. As for the rest of the acts of Joram and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? Joram rested with his ancestors and was buried with his ancestors in the City of David. His son Ahaziah reigned in his place. In the twelfth year of Joram son of Ahab king of Israel, Ahaziah son of Jehoram king of Judah became king. Ahaziah was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Athaliah, daughter of Omri king of Israel. He walked in the way of the house of Ahab and did evil in the sight of the LORD, as the house of Ahab had done, for he was a son-in-law of Ahab’s house. He went with Joram son of Ahab to war against Hazael king of Aram at Ramoth-gilead, and the Arameans wounded Joram. King Joram returned to Jezreel to recover from the wounds the Arameans had inflicted on him at Ramah when he fought against Hazael king of Aram. Ahaziah son of Jehoram king of Judah went down to visit Joram son of Ahab in Jezreel, because he was sick.

Rights and attribution