5Now Naaman was commander of the army of the king of Aram.^e He was a great man in the sight of his master and highly regarded, because through him the Lord had given victory to Aram. He was a valiant soldier, but he had leprosy.^a^f

²Now bands of raiders^g from Aram had gone out and had taken captive a young girl from Israel, and she served Naaman’s wife. ³She said to her mistress, “If only my master would see the prophet^h who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy.”

⁴Naaman went to his master and told him what the girl from Israel had said. ⁵“By all means, go,” the king of Aram replied. “I will send a letter to the king of Israel.” So Naaman left, taking with him ten talents^b of silver, six thousand shekels^c of gold and ten sets of clothing.ⁱ ⁶The letter that he took to the king of Israel read: “With this letter I am sending my servant Naaman to you so that you may cure him of his leprosy.”

⁷As soon as the king of Israel read the letter,^j he tore his robes and said, “Am I God?^k Can I kill and bring back to life?^l Why does this fellow send someone to me to be cured of his leprosy? See how he is trying to pick a quarrel^m with me!”

⁸When Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his robes, he sent him this message: “Why have you torn your robes? Have the man come to me and he will know that there is a prophetⁿ in Israel.” ⁹So Naaman went with his horses and chariots and stopped at the door of Elisha’s house. ¹⁰Elisha sent a messenger to say to him, “Go, wash^o yourself seven times^p in the Jordan, and your flesh will be restored and you will be cleansed.”

¹¹But Naaman went away angry and said, “I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, wave his hand^q over the spot and cure me of my leprosy. ¹²Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters^r of Israel? Couldn’t I wash in them and be cleansed?” So he turned and went off in a rage.^s

¹³Naaman’s servants went to him and said, “My father,^t if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more, then, when he tells you, ‘Wash and be cleansed’!” ¹⁴So he went down and dipped himself in the Jordan seven times,^u as the man of God had told him, and his flesh was restored^v and became clean like that of a young boy.^w

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Footnotes

aThe Hebrew for leprosy was used for various diseases affecting the skin; also in verses 3, 6, 7, 11 and 27.
bThat is, about 750 pounds or about 340 kilograms
cThat is, about 150 pounds or about 69 kilograms

Cross references

eSee Ge 10:22; See 2 Sa 10:19
fSee Ex 4:6; See Nu 12:10; Lk 4:27
g 2 Ki 6:23; 13:20; 24:2
hSee Ge 20:7
iver 22; See Ge 24:53; Jdg 14:12; See 1 Sa 9:7
j 2 Ki 19:14
kSee Ge 30:2
lSee Dt 32:39
m 1 Ki 20:7
nSee 1 Ki 22:7
o Jn 9:7
pSee Ge 33:3; See Lev 14:7
qSee Ex 7:19
r Isa 8:6
s Pr 14:17, 29; 19:11; 29:11
t 2 Ki 6:21; 13:14
uSee Ge 33:3; See Lev 14:7; See Jos 6:15
vSee Ex 4:7
w Job 33:25