⁴² Now a man came from Baal-shalishah, and brought the man of God bread of the first fruits, twenty loaves of barley and fresh grain in his sack. And Elisha said, “^(A)Give them to the people that they may eat.” ⁴³ But his attendant said, “How ^(B)am I to serve this to a hundred men?” Nevertheless he said, “Give them to the people that they may eat, for this is what the Lord says: ‘They shall eat and have some left over.’” ⁴⁴ So he served it to them, and they ate and ^(C)had some left over, in accordance with the word of the Lord.

Naaman Is Healed

5 Now ^(D)Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Aram, was a great man ^[a]in the view of his master, and eminent, because by him the Lord had given victory to Aram. The man was also a valiant warrior, but afflicted with leprosy. ² Now the Arameans had gone out ^(E)in bands and had taken captive a little girl from the land of Israel; and she ^[b]waited on Naaman’s wife. ³ And she said to her mistress, “If only my master were ^[c]with the prophet who is in Samaria! Then he would cure him of his leprosy.” ⁴ And ^[d]Naaman went in and told his master, saying, “The girl who is from the land of Israel spoke such and such.” ⁵ Then the king of Aram said, “Go ^[e]now, and I will send a letter to the king of Israel.” So he departed and ^(F)took with him ten ^[f]talents of silver, six thousand ^[g]shekels of gold, and ten ^(G)changes of clothes.

⁶ And he brought the letter to the king of Israel, ^[h]which said, “And now as this letter comes to you, behold, I have sent Naaman my servant to you, so that you may cure him of his leprosy.” ⁷ But when the king of Israel read the letter, ^(H)he tore his clothes and said, “^(I)Am I God, to kill and to keep alive, that this man is sending word to me to cure a man of his leprosy? But ^(J)consider now, and see how he is seeking ^[i]a quarrel against me.”

⁸ Now it happened, when Elisha ^(K)the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, that he sent word to the king, saying, “Why did you tear your clothes? Just have him come to me, and he shall learn that there is a prophet in Israel.” ⁹ So Naaman came with his horses and his chariots, and stood at the doorway of Elisha’s house. ¹⁰ And Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, “^(L)Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh will be restored to you and you will be clean.” ¹¹ But Naaman was furious and went away, and he said, “Behold, I ^[j]thought, ‘He will certainly come out to me, and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, and wave his hand over the site and cure the ^[k]leprosy.’ ¹² Are ^[l]Abanah and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, not better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them and be clean?” So he turned and ^(M)went away in a rage. ^13 (N)Then his servants approached and spoke to him, ^[m]saying, “^(O)My father, had the prophet told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more then, when he says to you, ‘Wash, and be clean’?” ¹⁴ So he went down and dipped himself in the Jordan seven times, in accordance with the word of the man of God; and ^(P)his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child, and ^(Q)he was clean.

Gehazi’s Greed

¹⁵ Then he returned to the man of God ^[n]with all his company, and came and stood before him. And he said, “Behold now, ^(R)I know that there is no God in all the earth, except in Israel; so please ^(S)accept a ^[o]gift from your servant now.” ¹⁶ But he said, “^(T)As surely as the Lord lives, before whom I stand, ^(U)I will accept nothing.” And he urged him to accept it, but he refused. ¹⁷ Then Naaman said, “If not, please let your servant be given two mules’ load of ^(V)earth; for your servant will no longer offer a burnt offering nor a sacrifice to other gods, but to the Lord. ¹⁸ Regarding this matter may the Lord forgive your servant: when my master goes into the house of Rimmon to worship there, and ^(W)he leans on my hand and I bow down in the house of Rimmon, when I bow down in the house of Rimmon, may the Lord please forgive your servant in this matter.” ¹⁹ He said to him, “^(X)Go in peace.” So he went some distance from him.

Four Men with Leprosy Report Arameans’ Flight

³ Now there were four ^(A)leprous men at the entrance of the gate; and they said to one another, “Why are we sitting here until we die? ⁴ If we say, ‘We will enter the city,’ then the famine is in the city and we will die there; but if we sit here, we will also die. Now then come, and let’s go over to ^(B)the camp of the Arameans. If they spare us, we will live; and if they kill us, then we will die.” ⁵ So they got up at twilight to go to the camp of the Arameans; when they came to the outskirts of the camp of the Arameans, behold, there was no one there. ⁶ For ^(C)the Lord had made the army of the Arameans hear a sound of chariots, a sound of horses, that is, the sound of a great army; and they said to one another, “Behold, the king of Israel has hired ^(D)the kings of the Hittites and ^(E)the kings of the Egyptians against us, to ^[a]attack us!” ⁷ So they ^(F)got up and fled at twilight, and abandoned their tents, their horses, and their donkeys—indeed the camp itself, just as it was; and they fled for their lives. ⁸ When these men with leprosy came to the outskirts of the camp, they entered one tent and ate and drank, and ^(G)carried from there silver, gold, and clothes, and they went and hid them; then they returned and entered another tent, and carried valuables from there also, and went and hid them.

⁹ Then they said to one another, “We are not doing the right thing. This day is a day of good news, but we are keeping silent about it; if we wait until the morning light, punishment will ^[b]overtake us. Now then come, let’s go and inform the king’s household.” ¹⁰ So they came and called to the gatekeepers of the city, and told them, saying, “We came to the camp of the Arameans, and behold, there was no one there, nor a human voice; only the horses tied and the donkeys tied, and the tents just as they were.” ¹¹ And the gatekeepers called and announced it inside the king’s house. ¹² Then the king got up in the night and said to his servants, “I will now tell you what the Arameans have done to us. They know that ^(H)we are hungry; so they have left the camp ^(I)to hide themselves in the field, saying, ‘When they come out of the city, we will capture them alive and get into the city.’” ¹³ One of his servants responded and said, “Please, have some men take five of the horses that remain, which are left ^[c]in the city. Behold, they will be in any case like all the multitude of Israel who are left in it; behold, they will be like all the multitude of Israel who have already perished, so let us send them and see.” ¹⁴ Therefore they took two chariots with horses, and the king sent them after the army of the Arameans, saying, “Go and see.”

The Promise Fulfilled

¹⁵ They went after them to the Jordan, and behold, all the way was full of clothes and equipment which the Arameans had thrown away when they fled in a hurry. Then the messengers returned and informed the king.

¹⁶ So the people went out and plundered the camp of the Arameans. Then a ^[d]measure of fine flour was sold for a shekel, and two ^[e]measures of barley for a shekel, ^(J)in accordance with the word of the Lord. ¹⁷ Now the king appointed ^(K)the royal officer on whose hand he leaned ^[f]to be in charge of the gate; but the people trampled on him at the gate, and he died, just as the man of God had said, ^(L)who spoke when the king came down to him. ¹⁸ So it happened just as the man of God had spoken to the king, saying, “^(M)Two ^[g]measures of barley for a shekel and a ^[h]measure of fine flour for a shekel, will be sold about this time tomorrow at the gate of Samaria.” ¹⁹ At that time the royal officer had responded to the man of God and said, “Now even if ^(N)the Lord were to make windows in heaven, could such a thing as this happen?” And he had said, “Behold, you are going to see it with your own eyes, but you will not eat ^[i]any of it.” ²⁰ And this is what happened to him, for the people trampled on him at the gate and he died.