⁷Elisha went to Damascus,^e and Ben-Hadad^f king of Aram was ill. When the king was told, “The man of God has come all the way up here,” ⁸he said to Hazael,^g “Take a gift^h with you and go to meet the man of God. Consultⁱ the Lord through him; ask him, ‘Will I recover from this illness?’ ”

⁹Hazael went to meet Elisha, taking with him as a gift forty camel-loads of all the finest wares of Damascus. He went in and stood before him, and said, “Your son Ben-Hadad king of Aram has sent me to ask, ‘Will I recover from this illness?’ ”

¹⁰Elisha answered, “Go and say to him, ‘You will certainly recover.’^j Nevertheless,^a the Lord has revealed to me that he will in fact die.” ¹¹He stared at him with a fixed gaze until Hazael was embarrassed.^k Then the man of God began to weep.^l

¹²“Why is my lord weeping?” asked Hazael.

“Because I know the harm^m you will do to the Israelites,” he answered. “You will set fire to their fortified places, kill their young men with the sword, dashⁿ their little children^o to the ground, and rip open^p their pregnant women.”

¹³Hazael said, “How could your servant, a mere dog,^q accomplish such a feat?”

“The Lord has shown me that you will become king^r of Aram,” answered Elisha.

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Footnotes

aThe Hebrew may also be read Go and say, ‘You will certainly not recover,’ for.

Cross references

eSee 2 Sa 8:5
fSee 2 Ki 6:24
g 1 Ki 19:15
hSee Ge 32:20; See 1 Sa 9:7
iSee Jdg 18:5
j Isa 38:1
kSee Jdg 3:25
l Lk 19:41
mSee 1 Ki 19:17
n Ps 137:9; Isa 13:16; Hos 13:16; Na 3:10; Lk 19:44
oSee Ge 34:29
p 2 Ki 15:16; Am 1:13
qSee 1 Sa 17:43; See 2 Sa 3:8
r 1 Ki 19:15