2 Kings 7:1–8:29
1 Then Elisha said, “Listen to the word of the Lord; thus says the Lord, ‘aTomorrow about this time a 1measure of fine flour will be sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, in the gate of Samaria.’ ”
2 aThe royal officer on whose hand the king was leaning answered the man of God and said, “Behold, bif the Lord should make windows in heaven, could this thing be?” Then he said, “Behold, you will see it with your own eyes, but you will not eat 1of it.”
Four Lepers Relate Arameans’ Flight
3 Now there were four aleprous men at the entrance of the gate; and they said to one another, “Why do we sit here until we die?
4 “If we say, ‘We will enter the city,’ then the famine is in the city and we will die there; and if we sit here, we die also. Now therefore come, and let us 1go over to athe camp of the Arameans. If they spare us, we will live; and if they kill us, we will but die.”
5 They arose at twilight to go to the camp of the Arameans; when they came to the outskirts of the camp of the Arameans, behold, there was no one there.
6 For athe Lord had caused the army of the Arameans to hear a sound of chariots and a sound of horses, even the sound of a great army, so that they said to one another, “Behold, the king of Israel has hired against us bthe kings of the Hittites and cthe kings of the Egyptians, to come upon us.”
7 Therefore they aarose and fled in the twilight, and left their tents and their horses and their donkeys, even the camp just as it was, and fled for their life.
8 When these lepers came to the outskirts of the camp, they entered one tent and ate and drank, and acarried from there silver and gold and clothes, and went and hid them; and they returned and entered another tent and carried from there also, and went and hid them.
9 Then they said to one another, “We are not doing right. This day is a day of good news, but we are keeping silent; if we wait until morning light, punishment will 1overtake us. Now therefore come, let us go and tell the king’s household.”
10 So they came and called to the gatekeepers of the city, and they told them, saying, “We came to the camp of the Arameans, and behold, there was no one there, nor the voice of man, only the horses tied and the donkeys tied, and the tents just as they were.”
11 The gatekeepers called and told it within the king’s household.
12 Then the king arose in the night and said to his servants, “I will now tell you what the Arameans have done to us. They know that awe are hungry; therefore they have gone from the camp bto hide themselves in the field, saying, ‘When they come out of the city, we will capture them alive and get into the city.’ ”
13 One of his servants said, “Please, let some men take five of the horses which remain, which are left 1in the city. Behold, they will be in any case like all the multitude of Israel who are left in it; behold, they will be in any case like all the multitude of Israel who have already perished, so let us send and see.”
14 They took therefore two chariots with horses, and the king sent after the army of the Arameans, saying, “Go and see.”
15 They went after them to the Jordan, and behold, all the way was full of clothes and equipment which the Arameans had thrown away in their haste. Then the messengers returned and told the king.
16 So the people went out and plundered the camp of the Arameans. Then a 1measure of fine flour was sold for a shekel and two 1measures of barley for a shekel, aaccording to the word of the Lord.
17 Now the king appointed athe royal officer on whose hand he leaned 1to have charge of the gate; but the people trampled on him at the gate, and he died just as the man of God had said, bwho spoke when the king came down to him.
18 It happened just as the man of God had spoken to the king, saying, “aTwo 1measures of barley for a shekel and a 1measure of fine flour for a shekel, will be sold tomorrow about this time at the gate of Samaria.”
19 Then the royal officer answered the man of God and said, “Now behold, aif the Lord should make windows in heaven, could such a thing be?” And he said, “Behold, you will see it with your own eyes, but you will not eat 1of it.”
20 And so it happened to him, for the people trampled on him at the gate and he died.
Jehoram Restores the Shunammite’s Land
1 Now aElisha spoke to the woman whose son he had restored to life, saying, “Arise and go 1with your household, and sojourn wherever you can sojourn; for the bLord has called for a famine, and cit will even come on the land for seven years.”
2 So the woman arose and did according to the word of the man of God, and she went with her household and sojourned in the land of the Philistines seven years.
3 At the end of seven years, the woman returned from the land of the Philistines; and she went out to 1appeal to the king for her house and for her field.
4 Now the king was talking with aGehazi, the servant of the man of God, saying, “Please relate to me all the great things that Elisha has done.”
5 As he was relating to the king ahow he had restored to life the one who was dead, behold, the woman whose son he had restored to life 1appealed to the king for her house and for her field. And Gehazi said, “My lord, O king, this is the woman and this is her son, whom Elisha restored to life.”
6 When the king asked the woman, she related it to him. So the king appointed for her a certain officer, 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
7 Then Elisha came to aDamascus. Now bBen-hadad king of Aram was sick, and it was told him, saying, “cThe man of God has come here.”
8 The king said to aHazael, “bTake a gift in your hand and go to meet the man of God, and cinquire of the Lord by him, saying, ‘Will I recover from this sickness?’ ”
9 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, “aYour son Ben-hadad king of Aram has sent me to you, saying, ‘Will I recover from this sickness?’ ”
10 Then Elisha said to him, “aGo, say to him, ‘You will surely recover,’ but the bLord has shown me that he will certainly die.”
11 He 1fixed his gaze steadily on him auntil he was ashamed, and bthe man of God wept.
12 Hazael said, “Why does my lord weep?” Then he 1answered, “Because aI know the evil that you will do to the sons of Israel: their strongholds you will set on fire, and their young men you will kill with the sword, and their little ones you bwill dash in pieces, and their women with child you will rip up.”
13 Then Hazael said, “But what is your servant, awho is but a dog, that he should do this great thing?” And Elisha 1answered, “bThe Lord has shown me that you will be king over Aram.”
14 So he departed from Elisha and returned to his master, who said to him, “What did Elisha say to you?” And he 1answered, “He told me that ayou would surely recover.”
15 On the following day, he took the cover and dipped it in water and spread it on his face, aso that he died. And Hazael became king in his place.
Another Jehoram Reigns in Judah
16 Now in the fifth year of aJoram the son of Ahab king of Israel, Jehoshaphat being then the king of Judah, Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat king of Judah became king.
17 He was athirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem.
18 He walked in the way of the kings of Israel, just as the house of Ahab had done, for athe daughter of Ahab became his wife; and he did evil in the sight of the Lord.
19 However, the Lord was not willing to destroy Judah, for the sake of David His servant, asince He had 1promised him to give a 2lamp to him through his sons always.
20 In his days aEdom revolted from under the hand of Judah, and made a king over themselves.
21 Then Joram crossed over to Zair, and all his chariots with him. And he arose by night and struck the Edomites who had surrounded him and the captains of the chariots; abut his 1army fled to their tents.
22 aSo Edom revolted 1against Judah to this day. Then bLibnah revolted at the same time.
23 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?
Ahaziah Succeeds Jehoram in Judah
24 So Joram slept with his fathers and awas buried with his fathers in the city of David; and bAhaziah his son became king in his place.
25 aIn the twelfth year of Joram the son of Ahab king of Israel, Ahaziah the son of Jehoram king of Judah began to reign.
26 aAhaziah was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Athaliah the granddaughter of Omri king of Israel.
27 aHe walked in the way of the house of Ahab and did evil in the sight of the Lord, like the house of Ahab had done, 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 aHazael king of Aram at bRamoth-gilead, and the Arameans 1wounded Joram.
29 So aKing Joram returned to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds which the Arameans had 1inflicted on him at bRamah when he fought against Hazael king of Aram. Then cAhaziah the son of Jehoram king of Judah went down to see Joram the son of Ahab in Jezreel because he was sick.