2 Kings 5–8

The Healing of Naaman the Syrian

5Now Naaman was the commander of the army of the king of Aram. He was a great man before his master and highly regarded,^a for by him Yahweh had given victory to Aram. Now the man was a mighty warrior, but he was afflicted with a skin disease. ²When the Arameans went on a raid, they brought back a young girl from the land of Israel, and she came into the service of^b the wife of Naaman. ³She said to her mistress, “If only my lord would come before the prophet who is in Samaria; then he would cure his skin disease.”^{c 4}He came and told his master, saying, “Thus and so the girl who is from the land of Israel said.” ⁵So the king of Aram said, “Go, I will send a letter to the king of Israel.” He went and took with him^d ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold, and ten sets of clothing.

⁶So he brought the letter to the king to Israel, saying, “Now, when this letter comes to you, I have just sent Naaman my servant to you that you may cure him from his skin disease.” ⁷It happened that when the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes and said, “Am I God to cause death or to give life? This man is sending a man to me to cure his disease. Indeed! But know and see that he seeks an opportunity against me.”

⁸It happened that as soon as Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, he sent to the king, saying, “Why did you tear your clothes? Please may he come to me, that he might know that there is a prophet in Israel.” ⁹Then Naaman came with his horses and his chariots, and he stopped at the doorway of the house of Elisha. ¹⁰Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, “Go, you must wash seven times in the Jordan, then your flesh shall return to you, and you shall be clean.” ¹¹But Naaman became angry and he went and said, “Look, I said to myself, ‘Surely he will come out, stand, call upon the name of Yahweh his God, and wave his hands over the spot; then he would take away the skin disease.’ ¹²Are not the Abana and the Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all of the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them that I may be clean?” Then he turned and left in anger. ¹³But his servants came near and spoke to him and said, “My father, if the prophet had spoken a difficult thing to you to do, would you not have done it? Why not even when he says to you, ‘Wash and you shall be clean’?” ¹⁴So he went down and plunged into the Jordan seven times, according to the word of the man of God, and his flesh returned as the flesh of a small boy, and he was clean.

Elisha’s Greedy Servant Gehazi

¹⁵When he returned to the man of God, he and all of his army, he came and stood before him and said, “Please now, I know that there is no God in all of the world except in Israel. So then, please take a gift from your servant.” ¹⁶And he said, “As Yahweh lives,^e before whom I stand, I surely will not take it.” Still he urged him to take it, but he refused. ¹⁷Then Naaman said, “If not, then please let a load of soil on a pair of mules be given to your servants, for your servant will never again bring a burnt offering and sacrifice to other gods, but only to Yahweh. ¹⁸As far as this matter, may Yahweh pardon your servant when my master goes into the house of Rimmon to worship there, and he is leaning himself on my arm, that I also bow down in the house of Rimmon: when I bow down in the house of Rimmon, may Yahweh please pardon your servant in this matter.” ¹⁹He said to him, “Go in peace,” so he went from him a short distance.^f

²⁰But Gehazi the servant of Elisha, the man of God, thought, “Look, my master has refrained from taking what this Aramean Naaman brought from his hand. As Yahweh lives,^g I will certainly run after him, and I will accept something from him.” ²¹So Gehazi pursued after Naaman. When Naaman saw someone running after him, he jumped off his chariot to meet him and asked him, “Is it peace?” ²²He said, “Peace. My master has sent me saying, ‘Look, just now^h two servants from the hill country of Ephraim came to me, from the sons of the prophets. Please give them a talent of silver and two sets of clothing.’ ” ²³Then Naaman said, “Be prepared to accept two talents.” So he urged him and tied up two talents of silver in two bags, with two sets of clothing and gave it to two of his servants and they carried it before him. ²⁴When he came to the citadel, he took them from their hand and put them in the house, then sent away the men so that they went. ²⁵When he went and stood by his master, Elisha asked him, “From where have you come, Gehazi?” And he said, “Your servant has not gone anywhere.”ⁱ

²⁶Then he said to him, “Did not my heart go with you as the man turned from on his chariot to meet you? Is it time to take silver, clothes, olive orchards, vineyards, sheep, oxen, male slaves, and female slaves? ²⁷The skin disease of Naaman shall cling to you and to your offspring forever.” Then he went out from before him having a skin disease like the snow.

Elisha Recovers a Lost Axe Head

6Then the sons of the prophets said to Elisha, “Please look; the place where we are living before you is too cramped for us. ²Let us please go to the Jordan and each bring from there one log that we might make a place there for us to live.” Then he said, “Do so.” ³Then a certain one said, “Please be prepared and go with your servants,” and he said, “I will go.” ⁴He went with them, and they went to the Jordan, and they cut down the trees. ⁵It happened as the one was felling the log, that the iron ax fell into the water. He called out and said, “Oh, no! My master, it was borrowed!” ⁶Then the man of God said, “Where did it fall?” So he showed him the place, and then he cut off a stick and threw it there and made the iron ax float. ⁷Then he said, “Pick it up for yourself,” so he stretched out his hand and took it.

Arameans Plot to Take Elisha

⁸The king of Aram was fighting with Israel, so he consulted with his officers, saying, “My camp is at such and such a place.”^{a 9}Then the man of God sent to the king of Israel, saying, “Take care while crossing over to this place, because the Arameans are descending there.” ¹⁰So the king of Israel sent to the place which the man of God said to him and warned him, so he was on guard there continually.^b

¹¹Then the heart of the king of Aram was stormy because of this matter, so he called his servants and said to them, “Can you not tell me who among us sides with the king of Israel?”^{c 12}Then one of his servants said, “No, my lord the king, but Elisha the prophet who is in Israel tells the king of Israel things that you speak in your own bedchamber.”^{d 13}Then he said, “Go and see where he is so that I can send and capture him.” Then he was told to him, “Look, he is in Dothan.” ¹⁴So he sent horses, chariots, and an oppressing army there. They arrived at night and surrounded the town. ¹⁵The attendant of the man of God arose early and went out, and look, the army was surrounding the city with horses and chariots. His servant said to him, “Oh no, my master! What shall we do?” ¹⁶And he said, “Don’t be afraid, for more are with us than are with them.” ¹⁷Then Elisha prayed and said, “O Yahweh, please open his eyes that he may see,” and Yahweh opened the eyes of the servant, and he saw, and look, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. ¹⁸They came down to him, and Elisha prayed to Yahweh and said, “Please strike this people with blindness,” so he struck them with blindness as Elisha had spoken.^{e 19}Then Elisha said to them, “This is not the way and this is not the city. Come after me, and I will bring you to the man whom you seek.” Then he brought them to Samaria.

²⁰It happened at the moment they came to Samaria, Elisha said, “O Yahweh, open the eyes of these that they may see,” so Yahweh opened their eyes, and they saw, and look, the middle of Samaria! ²¹Then the king of Israel said to Elisha when he saw them, “Shall I kill them? Shall I kill, my father?” ²²And he said, “You shall not kill. Would you kill those whom you took captive with the sword or with the bow? Put food and water before them that they may eat and drink and then go to their master.” ²³So he made a great feast for them, and they ate and drank; then he sent them, and they went to their master. And the bands of the Arameans did not come again into the land of Israel.

Besieged Samaria Resorts to Cannibalism

²⁴It happened after this that Ben-Hadad king of Aram assembled all of his army and marched up and laid siege against Samaria. ²⁵There was a great famine in Samaria, and behold, a siege was against it, until the head of a donkey went for eighty shekels of silver, and one fourth of the measure of the dung of doves went for five shekels of silver. ²⁶It happened that the king of Israel was crossing over on the wall, and a woman called out to him, saying, “Help, my lord the king!” ²⁷He said, “No, let Yahweh help you. How^f can I save you? From the threshing floor or from the wine press?” ²⁸The king said to her, “What is the problem?”^g Then the woman said, “This woman said to me, ‘Give me your son, and let us eat him today, then tomorrow we will eat my son.’ ²⁹So we cooked my son and ate him, and I said to her the next day, ‘Give your son that we may eat him.’ But she had hidden her son.” ³⁰It happened that when the king heard the words of the woman, he tore his clothes. Now he had been walking on the wall, and the people saw, and behold, sackcloth was over his flesh underneath. ³¹Then he said, “May God do to me and thus may he add, if the head of Elisha the son of Shaphat remains on him today!” ³²Now Elisha was sitting in his house and the elders were sitting with him, and the king dispatched a man from before him, but before the messenger came to him, he said to the elders, “Did you see that this son of a murderer has sent to remove my head? Look, when the messenger comes, close the door; and you must hold the door closed…