2 Kings 5–8

Chapter 5

¹And Naaman, captain of the host of the king of Syria, was a great man before his master, and honourable, for by him Jehovah had given deliverance to Syria; and he was a mighty man of valour, but a leper. ²And the Syrians had gone out in bands, and had brought away captive out of the land of Israel a little maid; and she waited on Naaman’s wife. ³And she said to her mistress, Oh, would that my lord were before the prophet that is in Samaria! then he would cure him of his leprosy. ⁴And he went and told his lord saying, Thus and thus said the maid that is of the land of Israel. ⁵And the king of Syria said, Well! go, and I will send a letter to the king of Israel. And he departed, and took with him ten talents of silver, and six thousand shekels of gold, and ten changes of raiment. ⁶And he brought the letter to the king of Israel, saying, And now, when this letter comes to thee, behold, I have sent Naaman my servant to thee, that thou mayest cure him of his leprosy. ⁷And it came to pass when the king of Israel had read the letter, that he rent his garments, and said, Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man sends to me to cure a man of his leprosy? Wherefore consider, I pray you, and see how he seeks an occasion against me. ⁸And it was so, when Elisha the man of God had heard that the king of Israel had rent his garments, that he sent to the king, saying, Why hast thou rent thy garments? let him come now to me, and he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel.

⁹And Naaman came with his horses and with his chariot, and stood at the doorway of the house of Elisha. ¹⁰And Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and thy flesh shall come again to thee, and thou shalt be clean. ¹¹And Naaman was wroth, and went away and said, Behold, I thought, He will certainly come out to me, and stand, and call on the name of Jehovah his God, and wave his hand over the place, and cure the leper. ¹²Are not the Abanah and the Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? may I not wash in them and be clean? And he turned and went away in a rage. ¹³And his servants drew near, and spoke to him and said, My father, if the prophet had bidden thee do some great thing, wouldest thou not have done it? how much rather then, when he says to thee, Wash and be clean? ¹⁴Then he went down, and plunged himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God. And his flesh became again like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.

¹⁵And he returned to the man of God, he and all his company, and came and stood before him; and he said, Behold, I know that there is no God in all the earth but in Israel; and now, I pray thee, take a present of thy servant. ¹⁶But he said, As Jehovah liveth, before whom I stand, I will receive none! And he urged him to take it; but he refused. ¹⁷And Naaman said, If not, then let there, I pray thee, be given to thy servant two mules’ burden of this earth; for thy servant will no more offer burnt-offering and sacrifice to other gods, but to Jehovah. ¹⁸In this thing Jehovah pardon thy servant: when my master goes into the house of Rimmon to bow down there, and he leans on my hand, and I bow down myself in the house of Rimmon—when I bow down myself in the house of Rimmon, Jehovah pardon thy servant, I pray thee, in this thing. ¹⁹And he said to him, Go in peace. And he departed from him a little way.

²⁰And Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, said, Behold, my master has spared Naaman, this Syrian, in not receiving at his hands that which he brought; but as Jehovah liveth, I will run after him and take somewhat of him. ²¹And Gehazi followed after Naaman. And when Naaman saw him running after him, he sprang down from the chariot to meet him, and said, Is all well? ²²And he said, All is well. My master has sent me saying, Behold, even now there are come to me from mount Ephraim two young men of the sons of the prophets; give them, I pray thee, a talent of silver, and two changes of raiment. ²³And Naaman said, Consent to take two talents. And he urged him, and bound two talents of silver in two bags, with two changes of raiment, and laid them upon two of his young men; and they bore them before him. ²⁴And when he came to the hill, he took them from their hand, and stowed them in the house; and he let the men go, and they departed. ²⁵And he entered in and stood before his master. And Elisha said to him, Whence comest thou, Gehazi? And he said, Thy servant went no whither. ²⁶And he said to him, Did not my heart go, when the man turned again from his chariot to meet thee? Is it a time to receive money, and to receive garments, and oliveyards, and vineyards, and sheep, and oxen, and bondmen, and bondwomen? ²⁷But the leprosy of Naaman shall fasten upon thee, and upon thy seed for ever. And he went out from his presence leprous, as snow.

Chapter 6

¹And the sons of the prophets said to Elisha, Behold now, the place where we dwell before thee is too strait for us. ²Let us go, we pray thee, to the Jordan, and take thence every man a beam, and let us make us a place there, where we may dwell. And he said, Go. ³And one said, Consent, I pray thee, to go with thy servants. And he said, I will go. ⁴And he went with them. And they came to the Jordan and cut down the trees. ⁵And it came to pass as one was felling a beam, that the iron fell into the water; and he cried and said, Alas, master, and it was borrowed! ⁶And the man of God said, Where did it fall? And he shewed him the place. And he cut down a stick, and cast it in thither, and made the iron to swim. ⁷And he said, Take it up to thee. And he put out his hand and took it.

⁸And the king of Syria warred against Israel; and he took counsel with his servants, saying, In such and such a place shall be my camp. ⁹And the man of God sent to the king of Israel, saying, Beware that thou pass not such a place, for thither the Syrians are come down. ¹⁰And the king of Israel sent to the place which the man of God told him and warned him of, and he was on his guard there. That took place not once, nor twice. ¹¹And the heart of the king of Syria was troubled because of this thing; and he called his servants, and said to them, Will ye not shew me which of us is for the king of Israel? ¹²And one of his servants said, None, my lord, O king; but Elisha, the prophet that is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the words that thou speakest in thy bedchamber.

¹³And he said, Go and see where he is, and I will send and fetch him. And it was told him saying, Behold, he is in Dothan. ¹⁴And he sent thither horses and chariots, and a great host, and they came by night and surrounded the city. ¹⁵And when the attendant of the man of God rose early and went forth, behold, an army surrounded the city, with horses and chariots. And his servant said to him, Alas, my master! how shall we do? ¹⁶And he said, Fear not, for they that are with us are more than they that are with them. ¹⁷And Elisha prayed and said, Jehovah, I pray thee, open his eyes that he may see. And Jehovah opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw; and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha. ¹⁸And they came down to him; and Elisha prayed to Jehovah and said, Smite this nation, I pray thee, with blindness. And he smote them with blindness according to the word of Elisha. ¹⁹And Elisha said to them, This is not the way, neither is this the city: follow me, and I will bring you to the man whom ye seek. And he led them to Samaria. ²⁰And it came to pass when they entered into Samaria, that Elisha said, Jehovah, open the eyes of these men that they may see. And Jehovah opened their eyes, and they saw, and behold, they were in the midst of Samaria. ²¹And the king of Israel said to Elisha, when he saw them, My father, shall I smite? shall I smite them? ²²And he said, Thou shalt not smite them: wouldest thou smite those whom thou hast taken captive with thy sword and with thy bow? Set bread and water before them, that they may eat and drink, and go to their master. ²³And he prepared a great repast for them, and they ate and drank; and he sent them away, and they went to their master. And the bands of Syria came no more into the land of Israel.

²⁴And it came to pass after this that Ben-Hadad king of Syria gathered all his army, and went up and besieged Samaria. ²⁵And there was a great famine in Samaria; and behold, they besieged it, until an ass’s head was worth eighty silver-pieces, and the fourth part of a cab of dove’s dung five silver-pieces. ²⁶And it came to pass as the king of Israel was passing by upon the wall, there cried a woman to him saying, Help, my lord O king! ²⁷And he said, If Jehovah do not help thee, whence should I help thee? Out of the threshing-floor, or out of the winepress? ²⁸And the king said to her, What aileth thee? And she said, This woman said to me, Give thy son, that we may eat him to-day, and we will eat my son to-morrow. ²⁹And we boiled my son, and ate him: and I said to her on the next day, Give thy son, that we may eat him; and she has hidden her son. ³⁰And it came to pass when the king heard the words of the woman, that he rent his garments; and he was passing by upon the wall, and the people looked, and behold, he had sackcloth within upon his flesh. ³¹And he said, God do so, and more also to me, if the head of Elisha the son of Shaphat shall remain on him this day! ³²And Elisha sat in his house, and the elders sat with him. And the king sent a man before him. Before the messenger came to him, he himself said to the elders, Do ye see how this son of a murderer has sent to take away my head? See, when the messenger comes; shut the door, and keep him off with the door: is not the sound of his master’s feet behind him? ³³And while he yet talked with them, behold, the messenger came down to him. And the king said,…