Jehoram Restores the Shunammite’s Land

Now (A)Elisha spoke to the woman whose son he had restored to life, saying, “Arise and go [a]with your household, and live wherever you can live; for the (B)Lord has called for a famine, and (C)it will indeed come on the land for seven years.” So the woman arose and acted in accordance with the word of the man of God: she went with her household and resided in the land of the Philistines for seven years. Then at the end of seven years, the woman returned from the land of the Philistines; and she went to [b]appeal to the king for her house and for her field. Now the king was speaking with (D)Gehazi, the servant of the man of God, saying, “Please report to me all the great things that Elisha has done.” And as he was reporting to the king (E)how he had restored to life the one who was dead, behold, the woman whose son he had restored to life [c]appealed to the king for her house and for her field. And Gehazi said, “My lord the king, this is the woman and this is her son, whom Elisha restored to life.” When the king asked the woman, she told everything to him. So the king appointed an officer for her, saying, “Restore all that was hers and all the produce of the field from the day that she left the land even until now.”

Elisha Predicts Evil from Hazael

Then Elisha came to (F)Damascus. Now (G)Ben-hadad, the king of Aram, was sick, and it was told to him, saying, “(H)The man of God has come here.” And the king said to (I)Hazael, “(J)Take a gift in your hand and go to meet the man of God, and (K)inquire of the Lord by him, saying, ‘Will I recover from this sickness?’” So Hazael went to meet him and took a gift in his hand, even every kind of good thing of Damascus, forty camels’ loads; and he came and stood before him and said, “(L)Your son Ben-hadad king of Aram has sent me to you, saying, ‘Will I recover from this sickness?’” 10 Then Elisha said to him, “(M)Go, say to him, ‘You will certainly recover’; but the (N)Lord has shown me that he will certainly die.” 11 And he [d]stared steadily at him (O)until Hazael was embarrassed, and then (P)the man of God wept. 12 And Hazael said, “Why is my lord weeping?” And he [e]answered, “Because (Q)I know the evil that you will do to the sons of Israel: you will set their fortified cities on fire, you will kill their young men with the sword, their little ones you (R)will smash to pieces, and you will rip up their pregnant women.” 13 Then Hazael said, “But what is your servant—(S)a lowly dog—that he could do this great thing?” And Elisha [f]answered, “(T)The Lord has shown me that you will be king over Aram.” 14 So he left Elisha and came to his master, who said to him, “What did Elisha say to you?” And he [g]answered, “He told me that (U)you would certainly recover.” 15 But on the following day, he took the [h]cover and dipped it in water, and spread it over his face, (V)so that he died. And Hazael became king in his place.

Another Jehoram Reigns in Judah

16 Now in the fifth year of (W)Joram the son of Ahab king of Israel, when Jehoshaphat was the king of Judah, Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat king of Judah became king. 17 He was (X)thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned for eight years in Jerusalem. 18 He walked in the way of the kings of Israel, just as the house of Ahab had done, for (Y)Ahab’s daughter was his wife; and he did evil in the sight of the Lord. 19 However, the Lord did not want to destroy Judah, for the sake of David His servant, (Z)since He had [i]promised him to give him a [j]lamp through his sons always.

20 In his days (AA)Edom broke away from the [k]rule of Judah, and appointed a king over themselves. 21 Then Joram crossed over to Zair, and all his chariots with him. And he got up at night and struck the Edomites who had surrounded him and the captains of the chariots; (AB)but [l]his army fled to their tents. 22 (AC)So Edom has broken away from [m]Judah to this day. Then (AD)Libnah broke away at the same time. 23 Now the rest of the acts of Joram 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 So Joram [n]lay down with his fathers and (AE)was buried with his fathers in the city of David; and his son (AF)Ahaziah became king in his place.

25 (AG)In the twelfth year of Joram the son of Ahab king of Israel, Ahaziah the son of Jehoram king of Judah began to reign. 26 (AH)Ahaziah was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned for one year in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Athaliah the granddaughter of Omri king of Israel. 27 (AI)He walked in the way of the house of Ahab and did evil in the sight of the Lord, like the house of Ahab, because he was a son-in-law of the house of Ahab.

28 Then he went with Joram the son of Ahab to war against (AJ)Hazael king of Aram at (AK)Ramoth-gilead, and the Arameans [o]wounded Joram. 29 So (AL)King Joram returned to have himself healed in Jezreel of the wounds which the Arameans had [p]inflicted on him at (AM)Ramah when he fought against Hazael king of Aram. Then (AN)Ahaziah the son of Jehoram king of Judah went down to see Joram the son of Ahab in Jezreel because he was sick.

Footnotes

  1. 2 Kings 8:1 Lit you and your
  2. 2 Kings 8:3 Lit cry out
  3. 2 Kings 8:5 Lit cried out
  4. 2 Kings 8:11 Lit made his face stand fast and he set
  5. 2 Kings 8:12 Lit said
  6. 2 Kings 8:13 Lit said
  7. 2 Kings 8:14 Lit said
  8. 2 Kings 8:15 I.e., item of woven material
  9. 2 Kings 8:19 Lit said to him
  10. 2 Kings 8:19 I.e., descendant on the throne
  11. 2 Kings 8:20 Lit hand
  12. 2 Kings 8:21 Lit the people
  13. 2 Kings 8:22 Lit under the hand of
  14. 2 Kings 8:24 I.e., died
  15. 2 Kings 8:28 Lit struck
  16. 2 Kings 8:29 Lit struck

The Shunammite’s Land Restored

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) 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.

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. 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.” 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.” 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

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,” 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?’”

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.

Footnotes

  1. 2 Kings 8:10 The Hebrew may also be read Go and say, ‘You will certainly not recover,’ for.
  2. 2 Kings 8:21 Hebrew Joram, a variant of Jehoram; also in verses 23 and 24
  3. 2 Kings 8:29 Hebrew Ramah, a variant of Ramoth