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2 Kings 8:1-9:13
Contemporary English Version
2 Kings 8:1-9:13
Contemporary English Version
The Woman from Shunem Is Given Back Her Land
8 (A) Elisha told the woman whose son he had brought back to life,[a] “The Lord has warned that there will be no food here for seven years. Take your family and go live somewhere else for a while.” 2 The woman did exactly what Elisha had said and went to live in Philistine territory.
She and her family lived there seven years. 3 Then she returned to Israel and immediately begged the king to give back her house and property.
4 Meanwhile, the king was asking Gehazi the servant of Elisha about the amazing things Elisha had been doing. 5 While Gehazi was telling him that Elisha had brought a dead boy back to life, the woman and her son arrived.
“Here's the boy, Your Majesty,” Gehazi said. “And this is his mother.”
6 The king asked the woman to tell her story, and she told him everything that had happened. He then said to one of his officials, “I want you to make sure that this woman gets back everything that belonged to her, including the money her crops have made since the day she left Israel.”
Hazael Kills Benhadad
7 Some time later Elisha went to the capital city of Damascus to visit King Benhadad of Syria, who was sick. And when Benhadad was told he was there, 8 he said to Hazael,[b] “Go meet with Elisha the man of God and get him to ask the Lord if I will get well. And take along a gift for him.”
9 Hazael left with forty camel loads of the best things made in Damascus as a gift for Elisha. He found the prophet and said, “Your servant, King Benhadad, wants to know if he will get well.”
10 “Tell him he will,” Elisha said to Hazael. “But the Lord has already told me that Benhadad will definitely die.” 11 Elisha stared at him until Hazael was embarrassed, then Elisha began crying.[c]
12 “Sir, why are you crying?” Hazael asked.
Elisha answered, “Because I know the terrible things you will do to the people of Israel. You will burn down their walled cities and slaughter their young men. You will even crush the heads of their babies and rip open their pregnant women.”
13 (B) “How could I ever do anything like that?” Hazael replied. “I'm only a servant and don't have that kind of power.”
“Hazael, the Lord has told me that you will be the next king of Syria.”
14 Hazael went back to Benhadad and told him, “Elisha said that you will get well.” 15 But the very next day, Hazael got a thick blanket; he soaked it in water and held it over Benhadad's face until he died. Hazael then became king.
King Jehoram of Judah
(2 Chronicles 21.2-20)
16 Jehoram son of Jehoshaphat became king of Judah in Joram's fifth year as king of Israel, while Jehoshaphat was still king of Judah.[d] 17 Jehoram was 32 years old when he became king, and he ruled 8 years from Jerusalem.
18 Jehoram disobeyed the Lord by doing wrong. He married Ahab's daughter and was as sinful as Ahab's family and the kings of Israel. 19 (C) But the Lord refused to destroy Judah, because he had promised his servant David that someone from his family would always rule in Judah.
20 (D) While Jehoram was king, the people of Edom rebelled and chose their own king. 21 So Jehoram[e] and his cavalry marched to Zair, where the Edomite army surrounded him and his commanders. During the night he attacked the Edomites, but he was defeated, and his troops escaped to their homes.[f] 22 Judah was never able to regain control of Edom. Even the town of Libnah[g] rebelled at that time.
23 Everything else Jehoram did while he was king is written in The History of the Kings of Judah. 24 Jehoram died and was buried beside his ancestors in Jerusalem.[h] His son Ahaziah then became king.
King Ahaziah of Judah
(2 Chronicles 22.1-6)
25 Ahaziah son of Jehoram became king of Judah in the twelfth year of Joram's rule in Israel. 26 Ahaziah was 22 years old when he became king, and he ruled from Jerusalem for only one year. His mother was Athaliah, a granddaughter of King Omri of Israel. 27 Since Ahaziah was related to Ahab's family,[i] he acted just like them and disobeyed the Lord by doing wrong.
28 Ahaziah went with King Joram of Israel to attack King Hazael and the Syrian troops at Ramoth in Gilead. Joram was wounded in that battle, 29 so he went to the town of Jezreel to recover. Ahaziah went there to visit him.
Jehu Becomes King of Israel
9 One day, Elisha called for one of the other prophets and said:
Take this bottle of olive oil and get ready to go to the town of Ramoth in Gilead. 2 When you get there, find Jehu son of Jehoshaphat and grandson of Nimshi. Take him to a place where the two of you can be alone, 3 then pour olive oil on his head to show that he is the new king. Say to him, “The Lord has chosen you to be king of Israel.” Then leave quickly—don't wait around for anything!
4 The young prophet left for Ramoth. 5 When he arrived, the army officers were meeting together. “Sir, I have a message for you,” he said.
“For which one of us?” Jehu asked.
“You, sir,” the prophet answered. 6 (E) So Jehu got up and went inside.[j] The prophet poured olive oil on Jehu's head and told him:
The Lord God of Israel has this message for you: “I am the Lord, and I have chosen you to be king of my people Israel. 7 I want you to wipe out the family of Ahab, so Jezebel will be punished for killing the prophets and my other servants. 8 Every man and boy in Ahab's family must die, whether slave or free. 9 His whole family must be destroyed, just like the families of Jeroboam son of Nebat and Baasha son of Ahijah. 10 (F) As for Jezebel, her body will be eaten by dogs in the town of Jezreel. There won't be enough left of her to bury.”
Then the young prophet opened the door and ran out.
11 Jehu went back to his officers, and one of them asked, “What did that crazy prophet want? Is everything all right?”
“You know him and how he talks,” Jehu answered.
12 “No, we don't. What did he say?” they asked.
“He had a message from the Lord,” Jehu replied. “He said that the Lord has chosen me to be the next king of Israel.”
13 They quickly grabbed their coats and spread them out on the steps where Jehu was standing. Someone blew a trumpet, and everyone shouted, “Jehu is king!”
Footnotes
- 8.1 Elisha … life: See 4.8-37.
- 8.8 Hazael: Probably one of Benhadad's officials.
- 8.11 Elisha stared … crying: Or “Hazael stared at him until Elisha was embarrassed and began to cry.”
- 8.16 while Jehoshaphat … Judah: In biblical times, a father and son would sometimes rule as kings at the same time. That way, when the father died, his son would already have control of the kingdom.
- 8.21 Jehoram: The Hebrew text has “Joram,” another spelling of the name.
- 8.21 he attacked … homes: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
- 8.22 Even the town of Libnah: This was a town on the border between Philistia and Judah, which means that Jehoram was facing rebellion on two sides of his kingdom.
- 8.24 Jerusalem: Hebrew “the city of David.”
- 8.27 Since … family: Ahaziah's mother was Ahab's daughter (see verse 18).
- 9.6 went inside: The officers were probably meeting outside in an open courtyard of some building.
2 Kings 8:1-9:13
New International Version
2 Kings 8:1-9:13
New International Version
The Shunammite’s Land Restored
8 Now Elisha had said to the woman(A) whose son he had restored to life, “Go away with your family and stay for a while wherever you can, because the Lord has decreed a famine(B) in the land that will last seven years.”(C) 2 The woman proceeded to do as the man of God said. She and her family went away and stayed in the land of the Philistines seven years.
3 At the end of the seven years she came back from the land of the Philistines and went to appeal to the king for her house and land. 4 The king was talking to Gehazi, the servant of the man of God, and had said, “Tell me about all the great things Elisha has done.” 5 Just as Gehazi was telling the king how Elisha had restored(D) the dead to life, the woman whose son Elisha had brought back to life came to appeal to the king for her house and land.
Gehazi said, “This is the woman, my lord the king, and this is her son whom Elisha restored to life.” 6 The king asked the woman about it, and she told him.
Then he assigned an official to her case and said to him, “Give back everything that belonged to her, including all the income from her land from the day she left the country until now.”
Hazael Murders Ben-Hadad
7 Elisha went to Damascus,(E) and Ben-Hadad(F) king of Aram was ill. When the king was told, “The man of God has come all the way up here,” 8 he said to Hazael,(G) “Take a gift(H) with you and go to meet the man of God. Consult(I) the Lord through him; ask him, ‘Will I recover from this illness?’”
9 Hazael went to meet Elisha, taking with him as a gift forty camel-loads of all the finest wares of Damascus. He went in and stood before him, and said, “Your son Ben-Hadad king of Aram has sent me to ask, ‘Will I recover from this illness?’”
10 Elisha answered, “Go and say to him, ‘You will certainly recover.’(J) Nevertheless,[a] the Lord has revealed to me that he will in fact die.” 11 He stared at him with a fixed gaze until Hazael was embarrassed.(K) Then the man of God began to weep.(L)
12 “Why is my lord weeping?” asked Hazael.
“Because I know the harm(M) you will do to the Israelites,” he answered. “You will set fire to their fortified places, kill their young men with the sword, dash(N) their little children(O) to the ground, and rip open(P) their pregnant women.”
13 Hazael said, “How could your servant, a mere dog,(Q) accomplish such a feat?”
“The Lord has shown me that you will become king(R) of Aram,” answered Elisha.
14 Then Hazael left Elisha and returned to his master. When Ben-Hadad asked, “What did Elisha say to you?” Hazael replied, “He told me that you would certainly recover.” 15 But the next day he took a thick cloth, soaked it in water and spread it over the king’s face, so that he died.(S) Then Hazael succeeded him as king.
Jehoram King of Judah(T)
16 In the fifth year of Joram(U) son of Ahab king of Israel, when Jehoshaphat was king of Judah, Jehoram(V) son of Jehoshaphat began his reign as king of Judah. 17 He was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eight years. 18 He followed the ways of the kings of Israel, as the house of Ahab had done, for he married a daughter(W) of Ahab. He did evil in the eyes of the Lord. 19 Nevertheless, for the sake of his servant David, the Lord was not willing to destroy(X) Judah. He had promised to maintain a lamp(Y) for David and his descendants forever.
20 In the time of Jehoram, Edom rebelled against Judah and set up its own king.(Z) 21 So Jehoram[b] went to Zair with all his chariots. The Edomites surrounded him and his chariot commanders, but he rose up and broke through by night; his army, however, fled back home. 22 To this day Edom has been in rebellion(AA) against Judah. Libnah(AB) revolted at the same time.
23 As for the other events of Jehoram’s reign, and all he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah? 24 Jehoram rested with his ancestors and was buried with them in the City of David. And Ahaziah his son succeeded him as king.
Ahaziah King of Judah(AC)
25 In the twelfth(AD) year of Joram son of Ahab king of Israel, Ahaziah son of Jehoram king of Judah began to reign. 26 Ahaziah was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem one year. His mother’s name was Athaliah,(AE) a granddaughter of Omri(AF) king of Israel. 27 He followed the ways of the house of Ahab(AG) and did evil(AH) in the eyes of the Lord, as the house of Ahab had done, for he was related by marriage to Ahab’s family.
28 Ahaziah went with Joram son of Ahab to war against Hazael king of Aram at Ramoth Gilead.(AI) The Arameans wounded Joram; 29 so King Joram returned to Jezreel(AJ) to recover from the wounds the Arameans had inflicted on him at Ramoth[c] in his battle with Hazael(AK) king of Aram.
Then Ahaziah(AL) son of Jehoram king of Judah went down to Jezreel to see Joram son of Ahab, because he had been wounded.
Jehu Anointed King of Israel
9 The prophet Elisha summoned a man from the company(AM) of the prophets and said to him, “Tuck your cloak into your belt,(AN) take this flask of olive oil(AO) with you and go to Ramoth Gilead.(AP) 2 When you get there, look for Jehu son of Jehoshaphat, the son of Nimshi. Go to him, get him away from his companions and take him into an inner room. 3 Then take the flask and pour the oil(AQ) on his head and declare, ‘This is what the Lord says: I anoint you king over Israel.’ Then open the door and run; don’t delay!”
4 So the young prophet went to Ramoth Gilead. 5 When he arrived, he found the army officers sitting together. “I have a message for you, commander,” he said.
“For which of us?” asked Jehu.
“For you, commander,” he replied.
6 Jehu got up and went into the house. Then the prophet poured the oil(AR) on Jehu’s head and declared, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘I anoint you king over the Lord’s people Israel. 7 You are to destroy the house of Ahab your master, and I will avenge(AS) the blood of my servants(AT) the prophets and the blood of all the Lord’s servants shed by Jezebel.(AU) 8 The whole house(AV) of Ahab will perish. I will cut off from Ahab every last male(AW) in Israel—slave or free.[d] 9 I will make the house of Ahab like the house of Jeroboam(AX) son of Nebat and like the house of Baasha(AY) son of Ahijah. 10 As for Jezebel, dogs(AZ) will devour her on the plot of ground at Jezreel, and no one will bury her.’” Then he opened the door and ran.
11 When Jehu went out to his fellow officers, one of them asked him, “Is everything all right? Why did this maniac(BA) come to you?”
“You know the man and the sort of things he says,” Jehu replied.
12 “That’s not true!” they said. “Tell us.”
Jehu said, “Here is what he told me: ‘This is what the Lord says: I anoint you king over Israel.’”
13 They quickly took their cloaks and spread(BB) them under him on the bare steps. Then they blew the trumpet(BC) and shouted, “Jehu is king!”
Footnotes
- 2 Kings 8:10 The Hebrew may also be read Go and say, ‘You will certainly not recover,’ for.
- 2 Kings 8:21 Hebrew Joram, a variant of Jehoram; also in verses 23 and 24
- 2 Kings 8:29 Hebrew Ramah, a variant of Ramoth
- 2 Kings 9:8 Or Israel—every ruler or leader
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