The King Restores the Shunammite’s Land

8 Then Elisha spoke to the woman ^(A)whose son he had restored to life, saying, “Arise and go, you and your household, and stay wherever you can; for the Lord ^(B)has called for a ^(C)famine, and furthermore, it will come upon the land for seven years.” ² So the woman arose and did according to the saying of the man of God, and she went with her household and dwelt in the land of the Philistines seven years.

³ It came to pass, at the end of seven years, that the woman returned from the land of the Philistines; and she went to make an appeal to the king for her house and for her land. ⁴ Then the king talked with ^(D)Gehazi, the servant of the man of God, saying, “Tell me, please, all the great things Elisha has done.” ⁵ Now it happened, as he was telling the king how he had restored the dead to life, that there was the woman whose son he had ^(E)restored to life, appealing to the king for her house and for her land. And Gehazi said, “My lord, O king, this is the woman, and this is her son whom Elisha restored to life.” ⁶ And when the king asked the woman, she told him.

So the king appointed a certain officer for her, saying, “Restore all that was hers, and all the proceeds of the field from the day that she left the land until now.”

Death of Ben-Hadad

⁷ Then Elisha went to Damascus, and ^(F)Ben-Hadad king of Syria was sick; and it was told him, saying, “The man of God has come here.” ⁸ And the king said to ^(G)Hazael, ^(H)“Take a present in your hand, and go to meet the man of God, and ^(I)inquire of the Lord by him, saying, ‘Shall I recover from this disease?’ ” ⁹ So ^(J)Hazael went to meet him and took a present with him, of every good thing of Damascus, forty camel-loads; and he came and stood before him, and said, “Your son Ben-Hadad king of Syria has sent me to you, saying, ‘Shall I recover from this disease?’ ”

¹⁰ And Elisha said to him, “Go, say to him, ‘You shall certainly recover.’ However the Lord has shown me that ^(K)he will really die.” ¹¹ Then he ^[a]set his countenance in a stare until he was ashamed; and the man of God ^(L)wept. ¹² And Hazael said, “Why is my lord weeping?”

He answered, “Because I know ^(M)the evil that you will do to the children of Israel: Their strongholds you will set on fire, and their young men you will kill with the sword; and you ^(N)will dash their children, and rip open their women with child.”

¹³ So Hazael said, “But what ^(O)is your servant—a dog, that he should do this gross thing?”

And Elisha answered, ^(P)“The Lord has shown me that you will become king over Syria.”

¹⁴ Then he departed from Elisha, and came to his master, who said to him, “What did Elisha say to you?” And he answered, “He told me you would surely recover.” ¹⁵ But it happened on the next day that he took a thick cloth and dipped it in water, and spread it over his face so that he died; and Hazael reigned in his place.

Jehoram Reigns in Judah^(Q)

¹⁶ Now ^(R)in the fifth year of Joram the son of Ahab, king of Israel, Jehoshaphat having been king of Judah, ^(S)Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat began to reign as ^[b]king of Judah. ¹⁷ He was ^(T)thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. ¹⁸ And he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, just as the house of Ahab had done, for ^(U)the daughter of Ahab was his wife; and he did evil in the sight of the Lord. ¹⁹ Yet the Lord would not destroy Judah, for the sake of His servant David, ^(V)as He promised him to give a lamp to him and his sons forever.

²⁰ In his days ^(W)Edom revolted against Judah’s authority, ^(X)and made a king over themselves. ²¹ So ^[c]Joram went to Zair, and all his chariots with him. Then he rose by night and attacked the Edomites who had surrounded him and the captains of the chariots; and the troops fled to their tents. ²² Thus Edom has been in revolt against Judah’s authority to this day. ^(Y)And Libnah revolted at that time.

²³ Now the rest of the acts of Joram, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? ²⁴ So Joram ^[d]rested with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the City of David. Then ^(Z)Ahaziah^[e] his son reigned in his place.

Ahaziah Reigns in Judah^(AA)

²⁵ In the twelfth year of Joram the son of Ahab, king of Israel, Ahaziah the son of Jehoram, king of Judah, began to reign. ²⁶ Ahaziah was ^(AB)twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Athaliah the granddaughter of Omri, king of Israel. ^27 (AC)And he walked in the way of the house of Ahab, and did evil in the sight of the Lord, like the house of Ahab, for he was the son-in-law of the house of Ahab.

²⁸ Now he went ^(AD)with Joram the son of Ahab to war against Hazael king of Syria at ^(AE)Ramoth Gilead; and the Syrians wounded Joram. ²⁹ Then ^(AF)King Joram went back to Jezreel to recover from the wounds which the Syrians had inflicted on him at ^[f]Ramah, when he fought against Hazael king of Syria. ^(AG)And Ahaziah the son of Jehoram, king of Judah, went down to see Joram the son of Ahab in Jezreel, because he was sick.

Jehu Anointed King of Israel

9 And Elisha the prophet called one of ^(AH)the sons of the prophets, and said to him, ^(AI)“Get^[g] yourself ready, take this flask of oil in your hand, ^(AJ)and go to Ramoth Gilead. ² Now when you arrive at that place, look there for Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat, the son of Nimshi, and go in and make him rise up from among ^(AK)his associates, and take him to an inner room. ³ Then ^(AL)take the flask of oil, and pour it on his head, and say, ‘Thus says the Lord: “I have anointed you king over Israel.” ’ Then open the door and flee, and do not delay.”

⁴ So the young man, the servant of the prophet, went to Ramoth Gilead. ⁵ And when he arrived, there were the captains of the army sitting; and he said, “I have a message for you, Commander.”

Jehu said, “For which one of us?”

And he said, “For you, Commander.” ⁶ Then he arose and went into the house. And he poured the oil on his head, and said to him, ^(AM)“Thus says the Lord God of Israel: ‘I have anointed you king over the people of the Lord, over Israel. ⁷ You shall strike down the house of Ahab your master, that I may ^(AN)avenge the blood of My servants the prophets, and the blood of all the servants of the Lord, ^(AO)at the hand of Jezebel. ⁸ For the whole house of Ahab shall perish; and ^(AP)I will cut off from Ahab all ^(AQ)the males in Israel, both ^(AR)bond and free. ⁹ So I will make the house of Ahab like the house of ^(AS)Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of ^(AT)Baasha the son of Ahijah. ^10 (AU)The dogs shall eat Jezebel on the plot of ground at Jezreel, and there shall be none to bury her.’ ” And he opened the door and fled.

¹¹ Then Jehu came out to the servants of his master, and one said to him, “Is all well? Why did ^(AV)this madman come to you?”

And he said to them, “You know the man and his babble.”

¹² And they said, “A lie! Tell us now.”

So he said, “Thus and thus he spoke to me, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord: “I have anointed you king over Israel.” ’ ”

¹³ Then each man hastened ^(AW)to take his garment and put it ^[h]under him on the top of the steps; and they blew trumpets, saying, “Jehu is king!”

Joram of Israel Killed

¹⁴ So Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat, the son of Nimshi, conspired against ^(AX)Joram. (Now Joram had been defending Ramoth Gilead, he and all Israel, against Hazael king of Syria. ¹⁵ But ^(AY)King ^[i]Joram had returned to Jezreel to recover from the wounds which the Syrians had inflicted on him when he fought with Hazael king of Syria.) And Jehu said, “If you are so minded, let no one leave or escape from the city to go and tell it in Jezreel.”