2 Kings 7–9

Chapter 7

And Eliseus said: Hear ye the word of the Lord: Thus saith the Lord: Tomorrow, about this time, a bushel of fine flour shall be sold for a stater, and two bushels of barley for a stater, in the gate of Samaria.

²Then one of the lords, upon whose hand the king leaned, answering the man of God, said: If the Lord should make flood-gates in heaven, can that possibly be which thou sayest? And he said: Thou shalt see it with thy eyes, but shalt not eat thereof.

³Now there were four lepers, at the entering in of the gate: and they said one to another: What mean we to stay here till we die?

⁴If we will enter into the city, we shall die with the famine: and if we will remain here, we must also die: come therefore, and let us run over to the camp of the Syrians. If they spare us, we shall live: but if they kill us, we shall but die.

⁵So they arose in the evening, to go to the Syrian camp. And when they were come to the first part of the camp of the Syrians, they found no man there.

⁶For the Lord had made them hear, in the camp of Syria, the noise of chariots, and of horses, and of a very great army: and they said one to another: Behold, the king of Israel hath hired against us the kings of the Hethites, and of the Egyptians; and they are come upon us.

⁷Wherefore they arose, and fled away in the dark, and left their tents, and their horses and asses in the camp, and fled, desiring to save their lives.

⁸So when these lepers were come to the beginning of the camp, they went into one tent, and ate and drank: and they took from thence silver, and gold, and raiment, and went, and hid it: and they came again, and went into another tent, and carried from thence in like manner, and hid it.

⁹Then they said one to another: We do not well: for this is a day of good tidings. If we hold our peace, and do not tell it till the morning, we shall be charged with a crime: come, let us go, and tell it in the king’s court.

¹⁰So they came to the gate of the city, and told them, saying: We went to the camp of the Syrians, and we found no man there, but horses, and asses tied, and the tents standing.

¹¹Then the guards of the gate went, and told it within in the king’s palace.

¹²And he arose in the night, and said to his servants: I tell you what the Syrians have done to us: They know that we suffer great famine, and therefore they are gone out of the camp, and lie hid in the fields, saying: When they come out of the city, we shall take them alive, and then we may get into the city.

¹³And one of his servants answered: Let us take the five horses that are remaining in the city (because there are no more in the whole multitude of Israel, for the rest are consumed), and let us send and see.

¹⁴They brought therefore two horses, and the king sent into the camp of the Syrians, saying: Go, and see.

¹⁵And they went after them, as far as the Jordan: and behold, all the way was full of garments, and vessels, which the Syrians had cast away, in their fright, and the messengers returned, and told the king.

¹⁶And the people going out, pillaged the camp of the Syrians: and a bushel of fine flour was sold for a stater, and two bushels of barley for a stater, according to the word of the Lord.

¹⁷And the king appointed that lord on whose hand he leaned, to stand at the gate: and the people trod upon him in the entrance of the gate; and he died, as the man of God had said, when the king came down to him.

¹⁸And it came to pass, according to the word of the man of God, which he spoke to the king, when he said: Two bushels of barley shall be for a stater, and a bushel of fine flour for a stater, at this very time tomorrow, in the gate of Samaria.

¹⁹When that lord answered the man of God, and said: Although the Lord should make flood-gates in heaven, could this come to pass which thou sayest. And he said to him: Thou shalt see it with thy eyes, and shalt not eat thereof.

²⁰And so it fell out to him, as it was foretold, and the people trod upon him in the gate, and he died.

Chapter 8

Eliseus spoke to the woman, whose son he had restored to life, saying: Arise, and go thou, and thy household, and sojourn wheresoever thou canst find: for the Lord hath called a famine, and it shall come upon the land seven years.

²And she arose, and did according to the word of the man of God: and going with her household, she sojourned in the land of the Philistines many days.

³And when the seven years were ended, the woman returned out of the land of the Philistines, and she went forth to speak to the king for her house and for her lands.

⁴And the king talked with Giezi, the servant of the man of God, saying: Tell me all the great things that Eliseus hath done.

⁵And when he was telling the king how he had raised one dead to life, the woman appeared, whose son he had restored to life, crying to the king for her house, and her lands. And Giezi said: My lord, O king, this is the woman, and this is her son, whom Eliseus raised to life.

⁶And the king asked the woman: and she told him. And the king appointed her an eunuch, saying: Restore her all that is hers, and all the revenues of the lands, from the day that she left the land to this present.

⁷Eliseus also came to Damascus, and Benadad, king of Syria was sick; and they told him, saying: The man of God is come hither.

⁸And the king said to Hazael: Take with thee presents, and go to meet the man of God, and consult the Lord by him, saying: Can I recover of this my illness?

⁹And Hazael went to meet him, taking with him presents, and all the good things of Damascus, the burdens of forty camels. And when he stood before him, he said: Thy son, Benadad, the king of Syria, hath sent me to thee, saying: Can I recover of this my illness?

¹⁰And Eliseus said to him: Go tell him: Thou shalt recover: but the Lord hath shewed me that he shall surely die.

¹¹And he stood with him, and was troubled so far as to blush: and the man of God wept.

¹²And Hazael said to him: Why doth my lord weep? And he said: Because I know the evil that thou wilt do to the children of Israel. Their strong cities thou wilt burn with fire, and their young men thou wilt kill with the sword, and thou wilt dash their children, and rip up their pregnant women.

¹³And Hazael said: But what am I, thy servant, a dog, that I should do this great thing? And Eliseus said: The Lord hath shewed me that thou shalt be king of Syria.

¹⁴And when he was departed from Eliseus he came to his master, who said to him: What said Eliseus to thee? And he answered: He told me: Thou shalt recover.

¹⁵And on the next day, he took a blanket, and poured water on it, and spread it upon his face: and he died, and Hazael reigned in his stead.

¹⁶In the fifth year of Joram, son of Achab, king of Israel, and of Josaphat, king of Juda, reigned Joram, son of Josaphat, king of Juda.

¹⁷He was two and thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem.

¹⁸And he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, as the house of Achab had walked: for the daughter of Achab was his wife: and he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord.

¹⁹But the Lord would not destroy Juda, for David his servant’s sake, as he had promised him, to give him a light, and to his children always.

²⁰In his days Edom revolted from being under Juda, and made themselves a king.

²¹And Joram came to Seira, and all the chariots with him: and he arose in the night, and defeated the Edomites that had surrounded him, and the captains of the chariots, but the people fled into their tents.

²²So Edom revolted from being under Juda, unto this day. Then Lobna also revolted at the same time.

²³But the rest of the acts of Joram, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Juda?

²⁴And Joram slept with his fathers, and was buried with them in the city of David, and Ochozias, his son, reigned in his stead.

²⁵In the twelfth year of Joram, the son of Achab, king of Israel, reigned Ochozias, son of Joram, king of Juda.

²⁶Ochozias was two and twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned one year in Jerusalem: the name of his mother was Athalia the daughter of Amri king of Israel.

²⁷And he walked in the ways of the house of Achab: and he did evil before the Lord, as did the house of Achab: for he was the son in law of the house of Achab.

²⁸He went also with Joram, son of Achab, to fight against Hazael, king of Syria, in Ramoth Galaad, and the Syrians wounded Joram:

²⁹And he went back to be healed, in Jezrahel: because the Syrians had wounded him in Ramoth, when he fought against Hazael, king of Syria And Ochozias, the son of Joram, king of Juda, went down to visit Joram, the son of Achab, in Jezrahel, because he was sick there.

Chapter 9

And Eliseus the prophet, called one of the sons of the prophets, and said to him: Gird up thy loins, and take this little bottle of oil in thy hand, and go to Ramoth Galaad.

²And when thou art come thither, thou shalt see Jehu the son of Josaphat the son of Namsi: and going in, thou shalt make him rise up from amongst his brethren, and carry him into an inner chamber.

³Then taking the little bottle of oil, thou shalt pour it on his head, and shalt say: Thus saith the Lord: I have anointed thee king over Israel. And thou shalt open the door and flee, and shalt not stay there.

⁴So the young man, the servant of the prophet, went away to Ramoth Galaad,

⁵And went in thither: and behold, the captains of the army were sitting, and he said: I have a word to thee, O prince. And Jehu said: Unto whom of us all? And he said: To thee, O prince.

⁶And he arose, and went into the chamber: and he poured the oil upon his head, and said: Thus saith the Lord God of Israel: I have anointed thee king over Israel, the people of the Lord.

⁷And thou shalt cut off the house of Achab, thy master, and I will revenge the blood of my servants, the prophets, and the blood of all the servants of the Lord, at the hand…