2 Kings 8:9–29

⁹So Hazael went to meet him and took a gift in his hand, even every kind of good thing of Damascus, forty camels’ loads; and he came and stood before him and said, “^aYour son Ben-hadad king of Aram has sent me to you, saying, ‘Will I recover from this sickness?’ ”

¹⁰Then Elisha said to him, “^aGo, say to him, ‘You will surely recover,’ but the ^bLord has shown me that he will certainly die.”

¹¹He ¹fixed his gaze steadily on him ^auntil he was ashamed, and ^bthe man of God wept.

¹²Hazael said, “Why does my lord weep?” Then he ¹answered, “Because ^aI know the evil that you will do to the sons of Israel: their strongholds you will set on fire, and their young men you will kill with the sword, and their little ones you ^bwill dash in pieces, and their women with child you will rip up.”

¹³Then Hazael said, “But what is your servant, ^awho is but a dog, that he should do this great thing?” And Elisha ¹answered, “^bThe Lord has shown me that you will be king over Aram.”

¹⁴So he departed from Elisha and returned to his master, who said to him, “What did Elisha say to you?” And he ¹answered, “He told me that ^ayou would surely recover.”

¹⁵On the following day, he took the cover and dipped it in water and spread it on his face, ^aso that he died. And Hazael became king in his place.

Another Jehoram Reigns in Judah

¹⁶Now in the fifth year of ^aJoram the son of Ahab king of Israel, Jehoshaphat being then the king of Judah, Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat king of Judah became king.

¹⁷He was ^athirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem.

¹⁸He walked in the way of the kings of Israel, just as the house of Ahab had done, for ^athe daughter of Ahab became his wife; and he did evil in the sight of the Lord.

¹⁹However, the Lord was not willing to destroy Judah, for the sake of David His servant, ^asince He had ¹promised him to give a ²lamp to him through his sons always.

²⁰In his days ^aEdom revolted from under the hand of Judah, and made a king over themselves.

²¹Then Joram crossed over to Zair, and all his chariots with him. And he arose by night and struck the Edomites who had surrounded him and the captains of the chariots; ^abut his ¹army fled to their tents.

^22aSo Edom revolted ¹against Judah to this day. Then ^bLibnah revolted at the same time.

²³The rest of the acts of Joram and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah?

Ahaziah Succeeds Jehoram in Judah

²⁴So Joram slept with his fathers and ^awas buried with his fathers in the city of David; and ^bAhaziah his son became king in his place.

^25aIn the twelfth year of Joram the son of Ahab king of Israel, Ahaziah the son of Jehoram king of Judah began to reign.

^26aAhaziah was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Athaliah the granddaughter of Omri king of Israel.

^27aHe walked in the way of the house of Ahab and did evil in the sight of the Lord, like the house of Ahab had done, because he was a son-in-law of the house of Ahab.

²⁸Then he went with Joram the son of Ahab to war against ^aHazael king of Aram at ^bRamoth-gilead, and the Arameans ¹wounded Joram.

²⁹So ^aKing Joram returned to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds which the Arameans had ¹inflicted on him at ^bRamah when he fought against Hazael king of Aram. Then ^cAhaziah the son of Jehoram king of Judah went down to see Joram the son of Ahab in Jezreel because he was sick.