2 Kings 7–9

¹And Elisha saith, ‘Hear ye a word of Jehovah: thus said Jehovah, About this time to-morrow, a measure of fine flour is at a shekel, and two measures of barley at a shekel, in the gate of Samaria.’ ²And the captain whom the king hath, by whose hand he hath been supported, answereth the man of God and saith, ‘Lo, Jehovah is making windows in the heavens—shall this thing be?’ and he saith, ‘Lo, thou art seeing it with thine eyes, and thereof thou dost not eat.’

³And four men have been leprous, at the opening of the gate, and they say one unto another, ‘What—we are sitting here till we have died; ⁴if we have said, We go in to the city, then the famine is in the city, and we have died there; and if we have sat here, then we have died; and now, come and we fall unto the camp of Aram; if they keep us alive, we live, and if they put us to death—we have died.’ ⁵And they rise in the twilight, to go in unto the camp of Aram, and they come in unto the extremity of the camp of Aram, and lo, there is not a man there, ⁶seeing Jehovah hath caused the camp of Aram to hear a noise of chariot and a noise of horse—a noise of great force, and they say one unto another, ‘Lo, the king of Israel hath hired against us the kings of the Hittites, and the kings of Egypt, to come against us.’ ⁷And they rise and flee in the twilight, and forsake their tents, and their horses, and their asses—the camp as it is—and flee for their life. ⁸And these lepers come in unto the extremity of the camp, and come in unto one tent, and eat, and drink, and lift up thence silver, and gold, and garments, and go and hide; and they turn back and go in unto another tent, and lift up thence, and go and hide. ⁹And they say one unto another, ‘We are not doing right this day; a day of tidings it is, and we are keeping silent; and—we have waited till the light of the morning, then hath punishment found us; and now, come and we go in and declare to the house of the king.’ ¹⁰And they come in, and call unto the gatekeeper of the city, and declare for themselves, saying, ‘We have come in unto the camp of Aram, and lo, there is not there a man, or sound of man, but the bound horse, and the bound ass, and tents as they are.’ ¹¹and he calleth the gatekeepers, and they declare to the house of the king within.

¹²And the king riseth by night, and saith unto his servants, ‘Let me declare, I pray you, to you that which the Aramaeans have done to us; they have known that we are famished, and they are gone out from the camp to be hidden in the field, saying, When they come out from the city, then we catch them alive, and unto the city we enter.’ ¹³And one of his servants answereth and saith, ‘Then let them take, I pray thee, five of the horses that are left, that have been left in it—lo, they are as all the multitude of Israel who have been left in it; lo, they are as all the multitude of Israel who have been consumed—and we send and see.’ ¹⁴And they take two chariot-horses, and the king sendeth after the camp of Aram, saying, ‘Go, and see.’ ¹⁵And they go after them unto the Jordan, and lo, all the way is full of garments and vessels that the Aramaeans have cast away in their haste, and the messengers turn back and declare to the king. ¹⁶And the people go out and spoil the camp of Aram, and there is a measure of fine flour at a shekel, and two measures of barley at a shekel, according to the word of Jehovah. ¹⁷And the king hath appointed the captain, by whose hand he is supported, over the gate, and the people tread him down in the gate, and he dieth, as the man of God spake, which he spake in the coming down of the king unto him, ¹⁸yea, it cometh to pass, according to the speaking of the man of God unto the king, saying, ‘Two measures of barley at a shekel, and a measure of fine flour at a shekel are, at this time to-morrow, in the gate of Samaria;’ ¹⁹and the captain answereth the man of God, and saith, ‘And lo, Jehovah is making windows in the heavens—it is according to this word?’ and he saith, ‘Lo, thou art seeing with thine eyes, and thereof thou dost not eat;’ ²⁰and it cometh to him so, and the people tread him down in the gate, and he dieth.

Chapter 8

¹And Elisha spake unto the woman whose son he had revived, saying, ‘Rise and go, thou and thy household, and sojourn where thou dost sojourn, for Jehovah hath called for a famine, and also, it is coming unto the land seven years.’ ²And the woman riseth, and doth according to the word of the man of God, and goeth, she and her household, and sojourneth in the land of the Philistines seven years. ³And it cometh to pass, at the end of seven years, that the woman turneth back from the land of the Philistines, and goeth out to cry unto the king, for her house, and for her field. ⁴And the king is speaking unto Gehazi, servant of the man of God, saying, ‘Recount, I pray thee, to me, the whole of the great things that Elisha hath done.’ ⁵And it cometh to pass, he is recounting to the king how he had revived the dead, and lo, the woman whose son he had revived is crying unto the king, for her house and for her field, and Gehazi saith, ‘My lord, O king, this is the woman, and this her son, whom Elisha revived.’ ⁶And the king asketh at the woman, and she recounteth to him, and the king appointeth to her a certain eunuch, saying, ‘Give back all that she hath, and all the increase of the field from the day of her leaving the land even till now.’

⁷And Elisha cometh in to Damascus, and Ben-Hadad king of Aram is sick, and it is declared to him, saying, ‘The man of God hath come hither.’ ⁸And the king saith unto Hazael, ‘Take in thy hand a present, and go to meet the man of God, and thou hast sought Jehovah by him, saying, Do I revive from this sickness?’ ⁹And Hazael goeth to meet him, and taketh a present in his hand, even of every good thing of Damascus, a burden of forty camels, and he cometh in and standeth before him, and saith, ‘Thy son Ben-Hadad, king of Aram, hath sent me unto thee, saying, Do I revive from this sickness?’ ¹⁰And Elisha saith unto him, ‘Go, say, Thou dost certainly not revive, seeing Jehovah hath shewed me that he doth surely die.’ ¹¹And he setteth his face, yea, he setteth it till he is ashamed, and the man of God weepeth. ¹²And Hazael saith, ‘Wherefore is my lord weeping?’ and he saith, ‘Because I have known the evil that thou dost to the sons of Israel—their fenced places thou dost send into fire, and their young men with sword thou dost slay, and their sucklings thou dost dash to pieces, and their pregnant women thou dost rip up.’ ¹³And Hazael saith, ‘But what, is thy servant the dog, that he doth this great thing?’ And Elisha saith, ‘Jehovah hath shewed me thee—king of Aram.’ ¹⁴And he goeth from Elisha, and cometh in unto his lord, and he saith unto him, ‘What said Elisha to thee?’ and he saith, ‘He said to me, Thou dost certainly recover.’ ¹⁵And it cometh to pass on the morrow, that he taketh the coarse cloth, and dippeth in water, and spreadeth on his face, and he dieth, and Hazael reigneth in his stead.

¹⁶And in the fifth year of Joram son of Ahab king of Israel—and Jehoshaphat is king of Judah—hath Jehoram son of Jehoshaphat king of Judah reigned; ¹⁷a son of thirty and two years was he in his reigning, and eight years he hath reigned in Jerusalem. ¹⁸And he walketh in the way of the kings of Israel, as did the house of Ahab, for a daughter of Ahab was to him for a wife, and he doth the evil thing in the eyes of Jehovah, ¹⁹and Jehovah was not willing to destroy Judah, for the sake of David his servant, as He said to him, to give to him a lamp—to his sons all the days. ²⁰In his days hath Edom revolted from under the hand of Judah, and they cause a king to reign over them, ²¹and Joram passeth over to Zair, and all the chariots with him, and he himself hath risen by night, and smiteth Edom, that is coming round about unto him, and the heads of the chariots, and the people fleeth to its tents; ²²and Edom revolteth from under the hand of Judah till this day; then doth Libnah revolt at that time. ²³And the rest of the matters of Joram, and all that he did, are they not written on the book of the Chronicles of the kings of Judah? ²⁴And Joram lieth with his fathers, and is buried with his fathers in the city of David, and reign doth Ahaziah his son in his stead.

²⁵In the twelfth year of Joram son of Ahab king of Israel reigned hath Ahaziah son of Jehoram king of Judah; ²⁶a son of twenty and two years is Ahaziah in his reigning, and one year he hath reigned in Jerusalem, and the name of his mother is Athaliah daughter of Omri king of Israel, ²⁷and he walketh in the way of the house of Ahab, and doth the evil thing in the eyes of Jehovah, like the house of Ahab, for he is son-in-law of the house of Ahab. ²⁸And he goeth with Joram son of Ahab to battle with Hazael king of Aram in Ramoth-Gilead, and the Aramaeans smite Joram, ²⁹and Joram the king turneth back to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds with which the Arameans smite him in Ramah, in his fighting with Hazael king of Aram, and Ahaziah son of Jehoram king of Judah hath gone down to see Joram son of Ahab in Jezreel, for he is sick.

Chapter 9

¹And Elisha the prophet hath called to one of the sons of the prophets, and saith to him, ‘Gird up thy loins, and take this vial of oil in thy hand, and go to Ramoth-Gilead, ²and thou hast gone in there, and see thou there Jehu son of Jehoshaphat, son of Nimshi, and thou hast gone in, and caused him to rise out of the midst of his brethren, and brought him in to the inner part of an inner-chamber, ³and taken the vial of oil, and poured on his head, and said, Thus said Jehovah, I have anointed thee for king unto Israel; and thou hast opened the door, and fled, and dost not wait.’ ⁴And the young man goeth—the young man the prophet—to Ramoth-Gilead, ⁵and cometh in, and lo, chiefs of the force are sitting, and he saith, ‘I have a word unto thee, O chief!’ and Jehu saith, ‘Unto which of all of us?’ and he saith, ‘Unto thee, O chief.’ ⁶And he…