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Then spoke Elishah unto the isha, whose ben he had restored to life, saying, Arise, and go thou and thine bais, and sojourn wheresoever thou canst sojourn; for Hashem hath called for a ra’av (famine); and it shall also come upon ha’aretz sheva shanim.

And the isha arose, and did according to the davar Ish HaElohim; she went away and her bais, sojourned in the Eretz Pelishtim sheva shanim.

And it came to pass at the end of the sheva shanim, that the isha returned from Eretz Pelishtim; and she went forth to make appeal unto HaMelech for her bais and for her sadeh.

And HaMelech talked with Geichazi na’ar Ish HaElohim, saying, Tell me, now, all the gedolot (great things) that Elishah hath done.

And it came to pass, as he was telling HaMelech how he had restored to life hamet (the dead), that, hinei, the isha, whose ben he had restored to life, cried out her appeal to HaMelech for her bais and for her sadeh. And Geichazi said, Adoni, HaMelech, this is the isha, and this is her ben, whom Elishah restored to life.

And when HaMelech asked the isha, she told him. So HaMelech appointed unto her a certain saris (official), saying, Restore all that was hers, and all the tevu’ot (increase) of the sadeh since the yom that she left ha’aretz, even until now.

And Elishah came to Damascus; and Ben-Hadad Melech Aram choleh (was ill), when it was told him, saying, Ish HaElohim has come here.

And HaMelech said unto Chazael, Take a minchah (a present) in thine yad, and go, meet the Ish HaElohim, and inquire of Hashem through him, saying, Shall I recover of this illness?

So Chazael went to meet him, and took a minchah (a present) with him, even of every good thing of Damascus, massa (burden, load) of arba’im gamal, and came and stood before him, and said, Binecha Ben-Hadad Melech Aram (Syria) hath sent me to thee, saying, Shall I recover of this illness?

10 And Elishah said unto him, Go, say unto him, Thou shalt certainly recover; howbeit Hashem hath showed me that he shall surely die.

11 And he fixed his gaze steadfastly, and stared at him until he was ashamed; then the Ish HaElohim wept.

12 And Chazael said, Why weepeth, adoni? And he answered, Because I know the ra’ah (evil, harm) that thou wilt do unto the Bnei Yisroel; their strongholds wilt thou with eish set ablaze, and their bochurim wilt thou slay with the cherev, and wilt dash their olelim, and their women with child thou wilt rip open.

13 And Chazael said, But what, is thy eved a kelev (dog), that he should do this davar hagadol (great thing)? And Elishah answered, Hashem hath showed me that thou shalt be Melech over Aram (Syria).

14 So he departed from Elishah, and came to adonav (his master); who said to him, What said Elishah to thee? And he answered, He told me that thou shouldest surely recover.

15 And it came to pass on the next day, that he took hamakhber (the bedcover), and soaked it in mayim, and spread it on his face, so that he died; and Chazael reigned as Melech in his place.

16 And in the fifth year of Yoram Ben Ach’av Melech Yisroel, Yehoshaphat being then Melech Yehudah, Yehoram Ben Yehoshafat Melech Yehudah began to reign as Melech.

17 Thirty and two years old was he when he began to reign as Melech; and he reigned as Melech shmoneh shanah in Yerushalayim.

18 And he walked in the derech malkhei Yisroel, as did the Bais Ach’av; for the Bat Ach’av was his isha; and he did rah (evil) before the eyes of Hashem.

19 Yet Hashem would not destroy Yehudah for the sake of Dovid His eved, in accordance with His promise to him to give a Ner (Lamp) for him and his banim kol hayamim.

20 In his yamim Edom pasha (rebelled) from under the yad Yehudah, and set a melech over themselves.

21 So Yoram went over to Tzair, and all the merkavot with him; and he rose by lailah, and attacked Edom who had him surrounded, and the commanders of the merkavot; and the army fled to their ohalim (tents, homes).

22 Yet Edom revolted from under the yad Yehudah unto this day. Then Livnah revolted at the same time.

23 And the rest of the acts of Yoram, and all that he did, are they not written in the Sefer Divrei HaYamim L’Malkhei Yehudah?

24 And Yoram slept with his avot, and was buried with his avot in Ir Dovid; and Achazyahu bno reigned as Melech in his place.

25 In the twelfth year of Yoram Ben Ach’av Melech Yisroel did Achazyahu Ben Yehoram Melech Yehudah begin to reign as Melech.

26 Achazyahu was 22 years old when he began to reign as Melech; and he reigned one year in Yerushalayim. And the shem immo was Atalyah Bat Omri Melech Yisroel.

27 And he walked in the derech of the Bais Ach’av, and did rah in the eyes of Hashem, as did the Bais Ach’av: for he was choson (son-in-law) of the Bais Ach’av.

28 And he went with Yoram Ben Ach’av to the milchamah (war) against Chazael Melech Aram in Ramot Gil‘ad; and the Aramim wounded Yoram.

29 And Yoram HaMelech returned to recover in Yizre’el of the makkim (wounds) which the Aramim (Syrians) had inflicted on him at Ramah, when he fought against Chazael Melech Aram. And Achazyahu Ben Yehoram Melech Yehudah went down to see Yoram Ben Ach’av in Yizre’el, because he was choleh (ill with his wounds).

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