2 Kings 5–8

Naaman Is Healed

5Naaman was commander of the army of the king of Aram. He was honored by his master, and he had much respect because the Lord used him to give victory to Aram. He was a mighty and brave man, but he had a skin disease.

²The Arameans had gone out to raid the Israelites and had taken a little girl as a captive. This little girl served Naaman’s wife. ³She said to her mistress, “I wish my master would meet the prophet who lives in Samaria. He would cure him of his disease.”

⁴Naaman went to the king and told him what the girl from Israel had said. ⁵The king of Aram said, “Go ahead, and I will send a letter to the king of Israel.” So Naaman left and took with him about seven hundred fifty pounds of silver, as well as one hundred fifty pounds of gold and ten changes of clothes. ⁶He brought the letter to the king of Israel, which read, “I am sending my servant Naaman to you so you can heal him of his skin disease.”

⁷When the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes to show how upset he was. He said, “I’m not God! I can’t kill and make alive again! Why does this man send someone with a skin disease for me to heal? You can see that the king of Aram is trying to start trouble with me.”

⁸When Elisha, the man of God, heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, he sent the king this message: “Why have you torn your clothes? Let Naaman come to me. Then he will know there is a prophet in Israel.” ⁹So Naaman went with his horses and chariots to Elisha’s house and stood outside the door.

¹⁰Elisha sent Naaman a messenger who said, “Go and wash in the Jordan River seven times. Then your skin will be healed, and you will be clean.”

¹¹Naaman became angry and left. He said, “I thought Elisha would surely come out and stand before me and call on the name of the Lord his God. I thought he would wave his hand over the place and heal the disease. ¹²The Abana and the Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, are better than all the waters of Israel. Why can’t I wash in them and become clean?” So Naaman went away very angry.

¹³Naaman’s servants came near and said to him, “My father, if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, wouldn’t you have done it? Doesn’t it make more sense just to do it? After all, he only told you, ‘Wash, and you will be clean.’ ” ¹⁴So Naaman went down and dipped in the Jordan seven times, just as Elisha had said. Then his skin became new again, like the skin of a child. And he was clean.

¹⁵Naaman and all his group returned to Elisha. He stood before Elisha and said, “Look, I now know there is no God in all the earth except in Israel. Now please accept a gift from me.”

¹⁶But Elisha said, “As surely as the Lord lives whom I serve, I won’t accept anything.” Naaman urged him to take the gift, but he refused.

¹⁷Then Naaman said, “If you won’t take the gift, then please give me some soil—as much as two of my mules can carry. From now on I’ll not offer any burnt offering or sacrifice to any other gods but the Lord. ¹⁸But let the Lord pardon me for this: When my master goes into the temple of Rimmon ⁿ to worship, he leans on my arm. Then I must bow in that temple. May the Lord pardon me when I do that.”

¹⁹Elisha said to him, “Go in peace.”

Naaman left Elisha and went a short way. ²⁰Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, thought, “My master has not accepted what Naaman the Aramean brought. As surely as the Lord lives, I’ll run after him and get something from him.” ²¹So Gehazi went after Naaman.

When Naaman saw someone running after him, he got off the chariot to meet Gehazi. He asked, “Is everything all right?”

²²Gehazi said, “Everything is all right. My master has sent me. He said, ‘Two young men from the groups of prophets in the mountains of Ephraim just came to me. Please give them seventy-five pounds of silver and two changes of clothes.’ ”

²³Naaman said, “Please take one hundred fifty pounds,” and he urged Gehazi to take it. He tied one hundred fifty pounds of silver in two bags with two changes of clothes. Then he gave them to two of his servants to carry for Gehazi. ²⁴When they came to the hill, Gehazi took these things from Naaman’s servants and put them in the house. Then he let Naaman’s servants go, and they left.

²⁵When he came in and stood before his master, Elisha said to him, “Where have you been, Gehazi?”

“I didn’t go anywhere,” he answered.

²⁶But Elisha said to him, “My spirit was with you. I knew when the man turned from his chariot to meet you. This isn’t a time to take money, clothes, olives, grapes, sheep, oxen, male servants, or female servants. ²⁷So Naaman’s skin disease will come on you and your children forever.” When Gehazi left Elisha, he had the disease and was as white as snow.

An Axhead Floats

6The groups of prophets said to Elisha, “The place where we meet with you is too small for us. ²Let’s go to the Jordan River. There everyone can get a log, and let’s build a place there to live.”

Elisha said, “Go.”

³One of them said, “Please go with us.”

Elisha answered, “I will go,” ⁴so he went with them. When they arrived at the Jordan, they cut down some trees. ⁵As one man was cutting down a tree, the head of his ax fell into the water. He yelled, “Oh, my master! I borrowed that ax!”

⁶Elisha asked, “Where did it fall?” The man showed him the place. Then Elisha cut down a stick and threw it into the water, and it made the iron head float. ⁷Elisha said, “Pick up the axhead.” Then the man reached out and took it.

Elisha and the Blinded Arameans

⁸The king of Aram was at war with Israel. He had a council meeting with his officers and said, “I will set up my camp in this place.”

⁹Elisha, the man of God, sent a message to the king of Israel, saying, “Be careful! Don’t pass that place, because the Arameans are going down there!”

¹⁰The king of Israel checked the place about which Elisha had warned him. Elisha warned him several times, so the king protected himself there.

¹¹The king of Aram was angry about this. He called his officers together and demanded, “Tell me who of us is working for the king of Israel.”

¹²One of the officers said, “None, my master and king. It’s Elisha, the prophet from Israel. He can tell you what you speak in your bedroom.”

¹³The king said, “Go and find him so I can send men and catch him.”

The servants came back and reported, “He is in Dothan.”

¹⁴Then the king sent horses, chariots, and many troops to Dothan. They arrived at night and surrounded the city.

¹⁵Elisha’s servant got up early, and when he went out, he saw an army with horses and chariots all around the city. The servant said to Elisha, “Oh, my master, what can we do?”

¹⁶Elisha said, “Don’t be afraid. The army that fights for us is larger than the one against us.”

¹⁷Then Elisha prayed, “Lord, open my servant’s eyes, and let him see.”

The Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw that the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.

¹⁸As the enemy came down toward Elisha, he prayed to the Lord, “Make these people blind.” So he made the Aramean army blind, as Elisha had asked.

¹⁹Elisha said to them, “This is not the right road or the right city. Follow me and I’ll take you to the man you are looking for.” Then Elisha led them to Samaria.

²⁰After they entered Samaria, Elisha said, “Lord, open these men’s eyes so they can see.” So the Lord opened their eyes, and the Aramean army saw that they were inside the city of Samaria!

²¹When the king of Israel saw the Aramean army, he said to Elisha, “My father, should I kill them? Should I kill them?”

²²Elisha answered, “Don’t kill them. You wouldn’t kill people whom you captured with your sword and bow. Give them food and water, and let them eat and drink and then go home to their master.” ²³So he prepared a great feast for the Aramean army. After they ate and drank, the king sent them away, and they went home to their master. The soldiers of Aram did not come anymore into the land of Israel.

A Shortage of Food

²⁴Later, Ben-Hadad king of Aram gathered his whole army and surrounded and attacked Samaria. ²⁵There was a shortage of food in Samaria. It was so bad that a donkey’s head sold for about two pounds of silver, and half of a pint of dove’s dung sold for about two ounces of silver.

²⁶As the king of Israel was passing by on the wall, a woman yelled out to him, “Help me, my master and king!”

²⁷The king said, “If the Lord doesn’t help you, how can I? Can I get help from the threshing floor or from the winepress?” ²⁸Then the king said to her, “What is your trouble?”

She answered, “This woman said to me, ‘Give up your son so we can eat him today. Then we will eat my son tomorrow.’ ²⁹So we boiled my son and ate him. Then the next day I said to her, ‘Give up your son so we can eat him.’ But she had hidden him.”

³⁰When the king heard the woman’s words, he tore his clothes in grief. As he walked along the wall, the people looked and saw he had on rough cloth under his clothes to show his sadness. ³¹He said, “May God punish me terribly if the head of Elisha son of Shaphat isn’t cut off from his body today!”

³²The king sent a messenger to Elisha, who was sitting in his house with the elders. But before the messenger arrived, Elisha said to them, “See, this murderer is sending men to cut off my head. When the messenger arrives, shut the door and hold it; don’t let him in. The sound of his master’s feet is behind him.”

³³Elisha was still talking with the leaders when the messenger arrived. The king said, “This trouble has come from the Lord. Why should I wait for the Lord any longer?”

7Elisha said, “Listen to the Lord’s word. This is what the Lord says: ‘About this time tomorrow seven quarts of fine flour will be sold for two-fifths of an ounce of silver, and thirteen quarts of barley will be sold for two-fifths of an ounce of silver. This will happen at the gate of Samaria.’ ”

²Then the officer who was close to the king answered Elisha, “Even if the Lord opened windows in the sky, that couldn’t happen.”

Elisha…