⁹So Hazael went to meet Elisha, taking with him a gift of forty camels loaded with every good thing in Damascus. He came and stood before Elisha and said, “Your son Ben-Hadad king of Aram sent me to you. He asks if he will recover from his sickness.”

¹⁰Elisha said to Hazael, “Go and tell Ben-Hadad, ‘You will surely recover,’ but the Lord has told me he will really die.” ¹¹Hazael stared at Elisha until he felt ashamed. Then Elisha cried.

¹²Hazael asked, “Why are you crying, master?”

Elisha answered, “Because I know what evil you will do to the Israelites. You will burn their strong, walled cities with fire and kill their young men with swords. You will throw their babies to the ground and split open their pregnant women.”

¹³Hazael said, “Am I a dog? How could I do such things?”

Elisha answered, “The Lord has shown me that you will be king over Aram.”

¹⁴Then Hazael left Elisha and came to his master. Ben-Hadad said to him, “What did Elisha say to you?”

Hazael answered, “He told me that you will surely recover.” ¹⁵But the next day Hazael took a blanket and dipped it in water. Then he put it over Ben-Hadad’s face, and he died. So Hazael became king in Ben-Hadad’s place.

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