The Healing of Naaman

5 Naaman, the commander of the army of the king of Aram,^[a] was a great man in the opinion^[b] of his master. He was highly favored, because by him the Lord had given victory to Aram. Though he was a mighty and valiant man, he was suffering from leprosy. ² On one of their raids to the territory of Israel, Aram had taken captive a young girl when she was an infant,^[c] who had eventually become an attendant to^[d] Naaman’s wife. ³ She mentioned to her mistress, “If only my master were to visit the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy.”

⁴ Later, Naaman^[e] went to inform his master and told him something like this: “Thus and so spoke the young woman from the territory of Israel.”

⁵ The king of Aram replied, “Go now, and I’ll send a letter to the king of Israel.” So he left and took with him ten talents^[f] of silver and 6,000 units^[g] of gold, along with ten sets^[h] of clothing. ⁶ He also brought the letter to the king of Israel, which read as follows: “…and now as this letter finds its way to you, look! I’ve sent my servant Naaman to you so you may heal him of his leprosy.”

⁷ When the king of Israel read the letter, he ripped his clothes and cried out, “Am I God? Can I kill and give life? Is this man sending me a request^[i] to heal a man’s leprosy? Let’s think about this—he’s looking for a reason to start a fight^[j] with me!”

⁸ When Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, he sent a message^[k] to the king and asked, “Why did you tear your clothes? Please, let the man come visit me and he will learn that there is a prophet in Israel!”

⁹ So Naaman arrived with his horses and chariots and stood in front of the door to Elisha’s house. ¹⁰ Elisha sent a messenger out to him, who told him, “Go bathe in the Jordan River^[l] seven times. Your flesh will be restored for you. Now stay clean!”

¹¹ But Naaman flew into a rage and left, telling himself, “Look! I thought ‘He’s surely going to come out to me, stand still, call out in the name of the Lord his God, wave his hand over the infection,^[m] and cure the leprosy!’ ¹² Aren’t the Abana and Pharpar rivers in Damascus better than all of the water in Israel? Couldn’t I just bathe in them and become clean?” So he turned away and left, filled with anger.

¹³ But then his servants approached him and spoke with him. They said, “My father, had the prophet only asked of you something great, you would have done it, wouldn’t you? Yet he told you, ‘Bathe, and be clean…!’” ¹⁴ So he went down and plunged himself into the Jordan River^[n] seven times, just as the man of God had said, and his flesh rejuvenated like the flesh of a newborn child. And he was clean.

Gehazi’s Greed is Punished

¹⁵ Naaman^[o] went back to the man of God, along with his entire entourage, and stood before him. “Please look!” he said. “I know that there is no God in all the earth, except in Israel! So please, take a present from your servant.”

¹⁶ But Elisha^[p] replied, “As the Lord lives, before whom I stand, I will not receive anything from you.” Though Naaman^[q] urged him to take it, Elisha^[r] declined.

¹⁷ So Naaman asked, “No? Then please let your servant load two mules with dirt from Israel,^[s] because your servant will no longer offer any burnt offering or sacrifice to any other god but the Lord. ¹⁸ In this one area may the Lord pardon your servant: Whenever my master enters the temple of Rimmon to worship there, he will lean on my hand while I bow down in the temple of Rimmon. So may the Lord pardon your servant in this one area.”

¹⁹ “Go in peace,” he said. So Naaman^[t] left.

After Naaman had gone only a short distance, ²⁰ Gehazi, the attendant to Elisha, the man of God, told himself, “Look how my master has spared this Aramean, Naaman! He declined to take from him what he brought. As the Lord lives, I’m going to run after him and get something from him.” ²¹ So Gehazi ran after Naaman.

When Naaman noticed someone running after him, he came down from his chariot, greeted him and asked, “Is everything all right?”^[u]

²² Gehazi said, “Everything’s all right. My master sent me to tell you, ‘Just now two men from the Guild of Prophets have arrived from the hill country of Ephraim. Please give them each a talent^[v] of silver bullion and two sets^[w] of clothes.’”

²³ But Naaman said, “Please accept my invitation to take two talents^[x] of silver.” He urged him, binding two talents^[y] of silver in two bags, along with two sets of clothes. He placed them in the care of two of his young men, and they went on ahead of Gehazi.^{[z] 24} When he arrived at the stronghold, Gehazi^[aa] took the bags from their custody and hid them away in the house. Then he sent the men away and they left.

²⁵ Later he went to address^[ab] his master. Elisha asked him, “Where did you go, Gehazi?”

“Your servant went nowhere in particular,” he said.

²⁶ But Elisha^[ac] responded, “Didn’t my heart break^[ad] as the man was turning from his chariot to greet you? Is now the time to receive money? To receive clothes? And olive groves, vineyards, sheep, oxen, servants, or female attendants? ²⁷ Naaman’s leprosy will plague you and your descendants forever!” As he left Elisha’s presence, he was infected with leprosy that looked like white snow.