2 Kings 8:7–13

Hazael Murders Ben-hadad

⁷Now Elisha came to ^uDamascus. ^vBen-hadad the king of Syria was sick. And when it was told him, “The man of God has come here,” ⁸the king said to ^wHazael, ^x“Take a present with you and go to meet the man of God, ^yand inquire of the Lord through him, saying, ‘Shall I recover from this sickness?’ ” 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, ^z“Your son Ben-hadad king of Syria has sent me to you, saying, ‘Shall I recover from this sickness?’ ” ¹⁰And Elisha said to him, ^a“Go, say to him, ‘You shall certainly recover,’ but¹ the Lord has shown me that ^bhe shall certainly die.” ¹¹And he fixed his gaze and stared at him, ^cuntil he was embarrassed. And the man of God wept. ¹²And Hazael said, “Why does my lord weep?” He answered, “Because I know ^dthe 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 ^eand dash in pieces their little ones and rip open their pregnant women.” ¹³And Hazael said, “What is your servant, ^fwho is but a dog, that he should do this great thing?” Elisha answered, ^g“The Lord has shown me that you are to be king over Syria.”