2 Kings 7-8

New International Reader's Version

7 Elisha replied, “Listen to a message from the Lord. He says, ‘About this time tomorrow, flour won’t cost very much. Even 12 pounds of the finest flour will cost less than half of an ounce of silver. You will also be able to buy 20 pounds of barley for the same price. That’s all you will have to pay for those things at the gate of Samaria.’ ”

² The king was leaning on an officer’s arm. The officer spoke to the man of God. The officer said, “Suppose the Lord opens the sky and pours down food on us. Even if he does, could what you are saying really happen?”

“You will see it with your own eyes,” answered Elisha. “But you won’t eat any of it!”

The Attack on Samaria Ends

³ There were four men who had a skin disease. They were at the entrance of the gate of Samaria. They said to one another, “Why should we stay here until we die? ⁴ Suppose we say, ‘We’ll go into the city.’ There isn’t any food there, and we’ll die. But if we stay here, we’ll die anyway. So let’s go over to Aram’s army camp. Let’s give ourselves up. If they spare us, we’ll live. If they kill us, we’ll die.”

⁵ At sunset they got up and went to Aram’s army camp. They arrived at the edge of it. But no one was there. ⁶ The Lord had caused the soldiers of Aram to hear a noise. It sounded like chariots and horses and a huge army. So the soldiers said to one another, “Listen! The king of Israel has hired the Hittite and Egyptian kings. He has paid them to attack us!” ⁷ So the soldiers of Aram had run away at sunset. They had left their tents and horses and donkeys behind. They had left the camp just as it was. And they had run for their lives.

⁸ The men who had a skin disease arrived at the edge of the camp. They entered one of the tents. They ate and drank. Then they took silver, gold and clothes. They went off and hid them. They returned and entered another tent. They took some things from it and hid them also.

⁹ But then they said to one another, “What we’re doing isn’t right. This is a day of good news. And we’re keeping it to ourselves. If we wait until sunrise, we’ll be punished. Let’s go at once. Let’s report this to the royal palace.”

¹⁰ So they went. They called out to the people who were guarding the city gates. They told them, “We went into Aram’s army camp. No one was there. We didn’t hear anyone. The horses and donkeys were still tied up. The tents were left just as they were.” ¹¹ The people who guarded the gates shouted the news. It was reported inside the palace.

¹² The king of Israel got up in the night. He spoke to his officers. He said, “I’ll tell you what the men of Aram have done to us. They know we are very hungry. So they have left the camp to hide in the countryside. They are thinking, ‘We are sure they’ll come out. Then we’ll take them alive. And we’ll get into the city.’ ”

¹³ One of the king’s officers said, “A few horses are still left in the city. Have some men get five of them. Those men won’t be any worse off than all the other Israelites who are left here. In fact, all of us will soon be dead anyway. So let’s send the men to find out what happened.”

¹⁴ The men chose two chariots and their horses. The king sent them out to look for Aram’s army. He commanded the drivers, “Go and find out what has happened.” ¹⁵ They followed the trail of Aram’s soldiers all the way to the Jordan River. They found clothes and supplies all along the road. The soldiers had thrown them down when they ran away. So the men who were sent out returned. They reported to the king what they had seen. ¹⁶ Then the people went out of the city. They took everything of value from Aram’s army camp. So 12 pounds of the finest flour sold for less than half of an ounce of silver. And 20 pounds of barley sold for the same price. That’s exactly what the Lord had said would happen.

¹⁷ The king had put an officer in charge of the city gate. He was the officer on whose arm the king leaned. On their way out of the city, the people knocked the officer down. In the entrance of the gate he was crushed as they walked on top of him. And so he died. That’s exactly what the man of God had said would happen. He had said it when the king came down to his house. ¹⁸ What Elisha, the man of God, had told the king came true. Elisha had said, “About this time tomorrow, flour won’t cost very much. Even 12 pounds of the finest flour will cost less than half of an ounce of silver. You will also be able to buy 20 pounds of barley for the same price. That’s all you will have to pay for those things at the gate of Samaria.”

¹⁹ The officer had spoken to the man of God. The officer had said, “Suppose the Lord opens the sky and pours down food on us. Even if he does, could what you are saying really happen?” The man of God had replied, “You will see it with your own eyes. But you won’t eat any of it!” ²⁰ And that’s exactly what happened to the officer. On their way out of the city, the people knocked him down. In the entrance of the gate he was crushed as they walked on top of him. And so he died.

The Woman From Shunem Gets Her Land Back

8 Elisha had brought a woman’s son back to life. He had said to her, “Go away with your family. Stay for a while anywhere you can. The Lord has decided that there won’t be enough food in the land. That will be true for seven years.” ² The woman did just as the man of God told her to. She and her family went away. They stayed in the land of the Philistines for seven years.

³ The seven years passed. Then she came back from the land of the Philistines. She went to the king of Israel. She wanted to ask him to get her house and land back. ⁴ The king was talking to Gehazi. Gehazi was the servant of the man of God. The king had said, “Tell me about all the great things Elisha has done.” ⁵ Gehazi was telling the king how Elisha had brought a dead boy back to life. Just then the woman came to ask the king to get her house and land back. She was the woman whose son Elisha had brought back to life.

Gehazi said, “King Joram, this is the woman I’ve been telling you about. And this is her son. He’s the one Elisha brought back to life.” ⁶ The king asked the woman about her house and land. And she told him.

Then he appointed an official to look into her case. The king told him, “Give her back everything that belonged to her. That includes all the money that was earned from her land. It was earned from the day she left the country until now.”

Hazael Murders Ben-Hadad

⁷ Elisha went to Damascus. Ben-Hadad was sick. He was king of Aram. The king was told, “The man of God has come all the way up here.” ⁸ Then the king said to Hazael, “Take a gift with you. Go and see the man of God. Ask him for the Lord’s advice. Ask him whether I will get well again.”

⁹ Hazael went to see Elisha. Hazael took 40 camels with him as a gift. The camels were loaded with all the finest goods of Damascus. Hazael went into Elisha’s house and stood in front of him. Hazael said, “Ben-Hadad has sent me. He is the king of Aram. He asks, ‘Will I get well again?’ ”

¹⁰ Elisha answered, “Go and tell him, ‘Yes. You will get well again.’ But the Lord has shown me that he will in fact die.” ¹¹ Elisha stared at him without looking away. He did it until Hazael felt uncomfortable. Then the man of God began to weep.

¹² “Why are you weeping?” asked Hazael.

“Because I know how much harm you will do to the people of Israel,” Elisha answered. “You will set fire to their cities that have high walls around them. You will kill their young men with your swords. You will smash their little children on the ground. You will rip open their pregnant women.”

¹³ Hazael said, “How could I possibly do a thing like that? I’m nothing but a dog. I don’t have that kind of power.”

“You will become king of Aram,” Elisha answered. “That’s what the Lord has shown me.”

¹⁴ Then Hazael left Elisha and returned to his master. Ben-Hadad asked, “What did Elisha say to you?” Hazael replied, “He told me you would get well again.” ¹⁵ But the next day Hazael got a thick cloth. He soaked it in water. He spread it over the king’s face. He held it there until the king died. Then Hazael became the next king after him.

Jehoram King of Judah

¹⁶ Jehoram began to rule as king over Judah. It was in the fifth year that Joram was king of Israel. Joram was the son of Ahab. Jehoram was the son of Jehoshaphat. ¹⁷ Jehoram was 32 years old when he became king. He ruled in Jerusalem for eight years. ¹⁸ He followed the ways of the kings of Israel, just as the royal family of Ahab had done. In fact, he married a daughter of Ahab. Jehoram did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. ¹⁹ But the Lord didn’t want to destroy Judah. That’s because the Lord had made a covenant with his servant David. The Lord had promised to keep the lamp of David’s kingdom burning brightly. The Lord had promised that for him and his children after him forever.

²⁰ When Jehoram was king over Judah, Edom refused to remain under Judah’s control. Edom set up their own king. ²¹ So Jehoram went to Zair. He took all his chariots with him. The men of Edom surrounded him and his chariot commanders. He got up at night and fought his way out. But his army ran back home. ²² To this day Edom has refused to remain under Judah’s control. When Jehoram was Judah’s king, Libnah also refused to remain under the control of Judah.

²³ The other events of Jehoram’s rule are written down. Everything he did is written in the official records of the kings of Judah. ²⁴ Jehoram joined the members of his family who had already died. He was buried in the family tomb in the City of David. Jehoram’s son Ahaziah became the next king after him.

Ahaziah King of Judah

²⁵ Ahaziah began to rule as king over Judah. It was in the 12th year that Joram was king of Israel. Joram was the son of Ahab. Ahaziah was the son of Jehoram. ²⁶ Ahaziah was 22 years old when he became king. He ruled in Jerusalem for one year. His mother’s name was Athaliah. She was a granddaughter of Omri. Omri had been the king of Israel. ²⁷ Ahaziah followed the ways of the royal family of Ahab. Ahaziah did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, just as the family of Ahab had done. That’s because he had married into Ahab’s family.

²⁸ Ahaziah joined forces with Joram. They went to war against Hazael at Ramoth Gilead. Joram was the son of Ahab. Hazael was king of Aram. The soldiers of Aram wounded King Joram. ²⁹ So he returned to Jezreel to give his wounds time to heal. The soldiers of Aram had wounded him at Ramoth in his battle against Hazael, the king of Aram.

Ahaziah, the son of Jehoram, went down to Jezreel. He went there to see Joram. That’s because Joram had been wounded. Ahaziah was king of Judah. Joram was the son of Ahab.