2 Kings 5–8

5^*Now Naaman, ^acaptain of the host of the king of Syria, was a great man ^†with his master, and ^||honourable, because by him the Lord had given ^||deliverance unto Syria: he was also a mighty man in valour, but he was a leper. ²And the Syrians had gone out by ^bcompanies, and had brought away captive out of the land of Israel a little maid; and she ^†waited on Naaman’s wife. ³And she said unto her mistress, Would God my lord were ^†with the prophet that is in Samaria! for he would ^†recover him of his leprosy. ⁴And one went in, and told his lord, saying, Thus and thus said the maid that is of the land of Israel. ⁵And the king of Syria said, Go to, go, and I will send a letter unto the king of Israel. And he departed, and ^ctook ^†with him ten talents of silver, and six thousand pieces of gold, and ten ^dchanges of raiment. ⁶And he brought the letter to ^ethe king of Israel, saying, Now when this letter is come unto thee, behold, I have therewith sent Naaman my servant to thee, that thou mayest recover him of his leprosy. ⁷And it came to pass, when ^ethe king of Israel had read the letter, that ^fhe rent his clothes, and said, ^gAm I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man doth send unto me to recover a man of his leprosy? wherefore ^hconsider, I pray you, and see how he seeketh a quarrel against me. ⁸And it was so, when Elisha the man of God had heard that ^ethe king of Israel had rent his clothes, that he sent to the king, saying, Wherefore hast thou rent thy clothes? let him come now to me, and he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel. ⁹So Naaman came with his horses and with his chariot, and stood at the door of the house of Elisha. ¹⁰And Elisha sent a messenger unto him, saying, Go and ⁱwash in Jordan seven times, and thy flesh shall come again to thee, and thou shalt be clean. ¹¹But Naaman was wroth, and went away, and said, Behold, ^†||I thought, He will surely come out to me, and stand, and call on the name of the Lord his God, and ^†strike his hand over the place, and recover the leper. ¹²Are not ^||Abana and Pharpar, rivers of ^kDamascus, better than all the waters of Israel? may I not wash in them, and be clean? So he turned and went away in a rage. ¹³And his servants came near, and spake unto him, and said, ^lMy father, if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldest thou not have done it? how much rather then, when he saith to thee, Wash, and be clean? ¹⁴Then went he down, and dipped himself seven times in Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God: and ^mhis flesh came again like unto the flesh of a little child, and ⁿhe 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, now I know that there is ^ono God in all the earth, but in Israel: now therefore, I pray thee, take ^pa blessing of thy servant. ¹⁶But he said, ^qAs the Lord liveth, before whom I stand, ^rI will receive none. And he urged him to take it; but he refused. ¹⁷And Naaman said, Shall there not then, I pray thee, be given to thy servant two mules’ burden of earth? for thy servant will henceforth offer neither burnt offering nor sacrifice unto other gods, but unto the Lord. ¹⁸In this thing the Lord pardon thy servant, that when my master goeth into the house of ^sRimmon to worship there, and ^the leaneth on my hand, and I bow myself in the house of Rimmon: when I bow down myself in the house of Rimmon, the Lord pardon thy servant in this thing. ¹⁹And he said unto him, ^uGo in peace. So he departed from him ^†a little way.

²⁰But ^xGehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, said, Behold, my master hath spared Naaman this Syrian, in not receiving at his hands that which he brought: but, ^yas the Lord liveth, I will run after him, and take somewhat of him. ²¹So Gehazi followed after Naaman. And when Naaman saw him running after him, he ^zlighted down from the chariot to meet him, and said, ^†Is all well? ²²And he said, All is well. My master hath sent me, saying, Behold, even now there be come to me from ^amount Ephraim two young men of ^bthe sons of the prophets: give them, I pray thee, a talent of silver, and two changes of garments. ²³And Naaman said, ^cBe content, take two talents. And he urged him, and ^dbound two talents of silver in two ^ebags, with two changes of garments, and laid them upon two of his servants; and they bare them before him. ²⁴And when he came to the ^||tower, he took them from their hand, and bestowed them in the house: and he let the men go, and they departed. ²⁵But he went in, and stood before his master. And Elisha said unto him, Whence comest thou, Gehazi? And he said, Thy servant went ^†no whither. ²⁶And he said unto him, Went not mine heart with thee, 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 menservants, and maidservants? ²⁷The leprosy therefore of Naaman shall cleave unto thee, and unto thy seed for ever. And he went out from his presence ^fa leper as white as snow.

6^*And ^athe sons of the prophets said unto Elisha, Behold now, the place where we dwell with thee is too strait for us. ²Let us go, we pray thee, unto Jordan, and take thence every man a beam, and let us make us a place there, where we may dwell. And he answered, Go ye. ³And one said, Be content, I pray thee, and go with thy servants. And he answered, I will go. ⁴So he went with them. And when they came to Jordan, they cut down wood. ⁵But as one was felling a beam, the ^†axe head fell into the water: and he cried, and said, Alas, master! for it was ^bborrowed. ⁶And the man of God said, Where fell it? And he shewed him the place. And ^che cut down a stick, and cast it in thither; and the iron did swim. ⁷Therefore said he, Take it up to thee. And he put out his hand, and took it.

⁸Then the king of Syria warred against Israel, and took counsel with his servants, saying, In such and such a place shall be my ^||camp. ⁹And the man of God sent unto ^dthe 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 ^ewarned him of, and saved himself there, not once nor twice. ¹¹Therefore the heart of the king of Syria was sore troubled for this thing; and he called his servants, and said unto 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, telleth the king of Israel the words that thou speakest in thy bedchamber. ¹³And he said, Go and spy where he is, that I may send and fetch him. And it was told him, saying, Behold, he is in ^fDothan. ¹⁴Therefore sent he thither horses, and chariots, and a ^†great host: and they came by night, and compassed the city about. ¹⁵And when the ^||servant of the man of God was risen early, and gone forth, behold, an host compassed the city both with horses and chariots. And his servant said unto him, Alas, my master! how shall we do? ¹⁶And he answered, Fear not: for ^gthey that be with us are more than they that be with them. ¹⁷And Elisha prayed, and said, Lord, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And the Lord opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of ^hhorses and chariots of fire round about Elisha. ¹⁸And when they came down to him, Elisha prayed unto the Lord, and said, Smite this people, I pray thee, with ⁱblindness. And he smote them with blindness according to the word of Elisha. ¹⁹And Elisha said unto them, This is not the way, neither is this the city: ^†follow me, and I will bring you to the man whom ye seek. But he led them to Samaria. ²⁰And it came to pass, when they were come into Samaria, that Elisha said, ^jLord, open the eyes of these men, that they may see. And the Lord opened their eyes, and they saw; and, behold, they were in the midst of Samaria. ²¹And the king of Israel said unto Elisha, when he saw them, ^kMy father, shall I smite them? shall I smite them? ²²And he answered, Thou shalt not smite them: wouldest thou smite those whom thou hast taken captive ^lwith thy sword and with thy bow? ^mset bread and water before them, that they may eat and drink, and go to their master. ²³And he prepared great provision for them: and when they had eaten and drunk, he sent them away, and they went to their master. So ⁿthe bands of Syria came no more into the land of Israel.

^24*And it came to pass after this, that ^oBen-hadad king of Syria gathered all his host, 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 sold for fourscore pieces of silver, and the fourth part of a cab of dove’s dung for five pieces of silver. ²⁶And as the king of Israel was passing by upon the wall, there cried a woman unto him, saying, Help, my lord, O king. ²⁷And he said, ^||If the Lord do not help thee, whence shall I help thee? out of the ^pbarnfloor, or out of the winepress? ²⁸And the king said unto her, What aileth thee? And she answered, This woman said unto me, Give thy son, that we may eat him to day, and we will eat my son to morrow. ²⁹So ^qwe boiled my son, and did eat him: and I said unto her on the ^†next day, Give thy son, that we may eat him: and she hath hid her son. ³⁰And it came to pass, when the king heard the words of the woman, that he ^rrent his clothes; and he passed by upon the wall, and the people looked, and, behold, he had ^rsackcloth within upon his flesh. ³¹Then he said, ^sGod do so and more also to me, if the head of Elisha the son of Shaphat shall stand on him this day.

³²But Elisha sat in his house, and ^tthe elders sat with him; and the king sent a man from before him: but ere the messenger came to him, he said to the elders, See ye how this son of ^ua murderer hath sent to take away mine head? look, when the messenger cometh, shut…