1Elisha had brought a woman’s son back to life. He had said to her, ‘Go away with your family. Stay for a while anywhere you can. The LORD has decided that there won’t be enough food in the land. That will be true for seven years.’2The woman did just as the man of God told her to. She and her family went away. They stayed in the land of the Philistines for seven years.3The seven years passed. Then she came back from the land of the Philistines. She went to the king of Israel. She wanted to ask him to get her house and land back.4The king was talking to Gehazi. Gehazi was the servant of the man of God. The king had said, ‘Tell me about all the great things Elisha has done.’5Gehazi was telling the king how Elisha had brought a dead boy back to life. Just then the woman came to ask the king to get her house and land back. She was the woman whose son Elisha had brought back to life. Gehazi said, ‘King Joram, this is the woman I’ve been telling you about. And this is her son. He’s the one Elisha brought back to life.’6The king asked the woman about her house and land. And she told him. Then he appointed an official to look into her case. The king told him, ‘Give her back everything that belonged to her. That includes all the money that was earned from her land. It was earned from the day she left the country until now.’
Hazael murders Ben-Hadad
7Elisha went to Damascus. Ben-Hadad was ill. He was king of Aram. The king was told, ‘The man of God has come all the way up here.’8Then the king said to Hazael, ‘Take a gift with you. Go and see the man of God. Ask him for the LORD’s advice. Ask him whether I will get well again.’9Hazael went to see Elisha. Hazael took 40 camels with him as a gift. The camels were loaded with all the finest goods of Damascus. Hazael went into Elisha’s house and stood in front of him. Hazael said, ‘Ben-Hadad has sent me. He is the king of Aram. He asks, “Will I get well again?” ’10Elisha answered, ‘Go and tell him, “Yes. You will get well again.” But the LORD has shown me that he will in fact die.’11Elisha stared at him without looking away. He did it until Hazael felt uncomfortable. Then the man of God began to weep.12‘Why are you weeping?’ asked Hazael. ‘Because I know how much harm you will do to the people of Israel,’ Elisha answered. ‘You will set fire to their cities that have high walls around them. You will kill their young men with your swords. You will smash their little children on the ground. You will rip open their pregnant women.’13Hazael said, ‘How could I possibly do a thing like that? I’m nothing but a dog. I don’t have that kind of power.’ ‘You will become king of Aram,’ Elisha answered. ‘That’s what the LORD has shown me.’14Then Hazael left Elisha and returned to his master. Ben-Hadad asked, ‘What did Elisha say to you?’ Hazael replied, ‘He told me you would get well again.’15But the next day Hazael got a thick cloth. He soaked it in water. He spread it over the king’s face. He held it there until the king died. Then Hazael became the next king after him.
Jehoram king of Judah
16Jehoram began to rule as king over Judah. It was in the fifth year that Joram was king of Israel. Joram was the son of Ahab. Jehoram was the son of Jehoshaphat.17Jehoram was 32 years old when he became king. He ruled in Jerusalem for eight years.18He followed the ways of the kings of Israel, just as the royal family of Ahab had done. In fact, he married a daughter of Ahab. Jehoram did what was evil in the sight of the LORD.19But the LORD didn’t want to destroy Judah. That’s because the LORD had made a covenant with his servant David. The LORD had promised to keep the lamp of David’s kingdom burning brightly. The LORD had promised that for him and his children after him for ever.20When Jehoram was king over Judah, Edom refused to remain under Judah’s control. Edom set up their own king.21So Jehoram went to Zair. He took all his chariots with him. The men of Edom surrounded him and his chariot commanders. He got up at night and fought his way out. But his army ran back home.22To this day Edom has refused to remain under Judah’s control. When Jehoram was Judah’s king, Libnah also refused to remain under the control of Judah.23The other events of Jehoram’s rule are written down. Everything he did is written in the official records of the kings of Judah.24Jehoram joined the members of his family who had already died. He was buried in the family tomb in the City of David. Jehoram’s son Ahaziah became the next king after him.
Ahaziah king of Judah
25Ahaziah began to rule as king over Judah. It was in the 12th year that Joram was king of Israel. Joram was the son of Ahab. Ahaziah was the son of Jehoram.26Ahaziah was 22 years old when he became king. He ruled in Jerusalem for one year. His mother’s name was Athaliah. She was a granddaughter of Omri. Omri had been the king of Israel.27Ahaziah followed the ways of the royal family of Ahab. Ahaziah did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, just as the family of Ahab had done. That’s because he had married into Ahab’s family.28Ahaziah joined forces with Joram. They went to war against Hazael at Ramoth Gilead. Joram was the son of Ahab. Hazael was king of Aram. The soldiers of Aram wounded King Joram.29So he returned to Jezreel to give his wounds time to heal. The soldiers of Aram had wounded him at Ramoth in his battle against Hazael, the king of Aram. Ahaziah, the son of Jehoram, went down to Jezreel. He went there to see Joram. That’s because Joram had been wounded. Ahaziah was king of Judah. Joram was the son of Ahab.
2 Kings 8
English Standard Version
The Shunammite’s Land Restored
1Now Elisha had said to the woman whose son he had restored to life, “Arise, and depart with your household, and sojourn wherever you can, for the Lord has called for a famine, and it will come upon the land for seven years.” (Ge 41:27; 2Ki 4:35; Ps 105:16; Hag 1:11)2So the woman arose and did according to the word of the man of God. She went with her household and sojourned in the land of the Philistines seven years.3And at the end of the seven years, when the woman returned from the land of the Philistines, she went to appeal to the king for her house and her land.4Now the king was talking with Gehazi the servant of the man of God, saying, “Tell me all the great things that Elisha has done.” (2Ki 4:12)5And while he was telling the king how Elisha had restored the dead to life, behold, the woman whose son he had restored to life appealed to the king for her house and her land. And Gehazi said, “My lord, O king, here is the woman, and here is her son whom Elisha restored to life.” (2Ki 8:1)6And when the king asked the woman, she told him. So the king appointed an official for her, saying, “Restore all that was hers, together with all the produce of the fields from the day that she left the land until now.”
Hazael Murders Ben-hadad
7Now Elisha came to Damascus. Ben-hadad the king of Syria was sick. And when it was told him, “The man of God has come here,” (1Ki 11:24; 1Ki 20:1; 2Ki 6:24)8the king said to Hazael, “Take a present with you and go to meet the man of God, and inquire of the Lord through him, saying, ‘Shall I recover from this sickness?’” (1Sa 9:7; 1Ki 19:15; 1Ki 19:17; 2Ki 1:2)9So Hazael went to meet him, and took a present with him, all kinds of goods of Damascus, forty camels’ loads. When he came and stood before him, he said, “Your son Ben-hadad king of Syria has sent me to you, saying, ‘Shall I recover from this sickness?’” (2Ki 5:13)10And Elisha said to him, “Go, say to him, ‘You shall certainly recover,’ but[1] the Lord has shown me that he shall certainly die.” (2Ki 8:14; 2Ki 8:15)11And he fixed his gaze and stared at him, until he was embarrassed. And the man of God wept. (2Ki 2:17)12And Hazael said, “Why does my lord weep?” He answered, “Because I know the evil that you will do to the people of Israel. You will set on fire their fortresses, and you will kill their young men with the sword and dash in pieces their little ones and rip open their pregnant women.” (2Ki 10:32; 2Ki 12:17; 2Ki 13:3; 2Ki 13:7; 2Ki 13:22; Ps 137:9; Isa 13:16; Ho 10:14; Ho 13:16; Am 1:3; Na 3:10)13And Hazael said, “What is your servant, who is but a dog, that he should do this great thing?” Elisha answered, “The Lord has shown me that you are to be king over Syria.” (1Sa 17:43; 1Ki 19:15)14Then he departed from Elisha and came to his master, who said to him, “What did Elisha say to you?” And he answered, “He told me that you would certainly recover.” (2Ki 8:10)15But the next day he took the bed cloth[2] and dipped it in water and spread it over his face, till he died. And Hazael became king in his place.
Jehoram Reigns in Judah
16In the fifth year of Joram the son of Ahab, king of Israel, when Jehoshaphat was king of Judah,[3] Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, began to reign. (2Ki 1:17; 2Ki 3:1)17He was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. (2Ch 21:5)18And he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, as the house of Ahab had done, for the daughter of Ahab was his wife. And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. (2Ki 8:26)19Yet the Lord was not willing to destroy Judah, for the sake of David his servant, since he promised to give a lamp to him and to his sons forever. (2Sa 7:12; 2Sa 21:17; 1Ki 11:36; 1Ki 15:4; Ps 132:11)20In his days Edom revolted from the rule of Judah and set up a king of their own. (1Ki 22:47; 2Ki 3:9)21Then Joram[4] passed over to Zair with all his chariots and rose by night, and he and his chariot commanders struck the Edomites who had surrounded him, but his army fled home. (2Sa 18:17)22So Edom revolted from the rule of Judah to this day. Then Libnah revolted at the same time. (Ge 27:40; Jos 10:29)23Now 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?24So Joram slept with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of David, and Ahaziah his son reigned in his place. (2Ch 21:17; 2Ch 21:20; 2Ch 22:6; 2Ch 25:23)
Ahaziah Reigns in Judah
25In the twelfth year of Joram the son of Ahab, king of Israel, Ahaziah the son of Jehoram, king of Judah, began to reign. (2Ki 9:29; 2Ch 22:1)26Ahaziah was twenty-two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Athaliah; she was a granddaughter of Omri king of Israel. (1Ki 15:10; 2Ch 22:2)27He also walked in the way of the house of Ahab and did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, as the house of Ahab had done, for he was son-in-law to the house of Ahab.28He went with Joram the son of Ahab to make war against Hazael king of Syria at Ramoth-gilead, and the Syrians wounded Joram. (1Ki 22:3; 2Ki 8:15)29And King Joram returned to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds that the Syrians had given him at Ramah, when he fought against Hazael king of Syria. And Ahaziah the son of Jehoram king of Judah went down to see Joram the son of Ahab in Jezreel, because he was sick. (2Ki 8:28; 2Ki 9:15; 2Ki 9:16; 2Ch 22:5; 2Ch 22:6)