2 Kings 8
New American Standard Bible
Jehoram Restores the Shunammite’s Land
8 Now (A)Elisha spoke to the woman whose son he had restored to life, saying, “Arise and go [a]with your household, and live wherever you can live; for the (B)Lord has called for a famine, and (C)it will indeed come on the land for seven years.” 2 So the woman arose and acted in accordance with the word of the man of God: she went with her household and resided in the land of the Philistines for seven years. 3 Then at the end of seven years, the woman returned from the land of the Philistines; and she went to [b]appeal to the king for her house and for her field. 4 Now the king was speaking with (D)Gehazi, the servant of the man of God, saying, “Please report to me all the great things that Elisha has done.” 5 And as he was reporting to the king (E)how he had restored to life the one who was dead, behold, the woman whose son he had restored to life [c]appealed to the king for her house and for her field. And Gehazi said, “My lord the king, this is the woman and this is her son, whom Elisha restored to life.” 6 When the king asked the woman, she told everything to him. So the king appointed an officer for her, saying, “Restore all that was hers and all the produce of the field from the day that she left the land even until now.”
Elisha Predicts Evil from Hazael
7 Then Elisha came to (F)Damascus. Now (G)Ben-hadad, the king of Aram, was sick, and it was told to him, saying, “(H)The man of God has come here.” 8 And the king said to (I)Hazael, “(J)Take a gift in your hand and go to meet the man of God, and (K)inquire of the Lord by him, saying, ‘Will I recover from this sickness?’” 9 So Hazael went to meet him and took a gift in his hand, even every kind of good thing of Damascus, forty camels’ loads; and he came and stood before him and said, “(L)Your son Ben-hadad king of Aram has sent me to you, saying, ‘Will I recover from this sickness?’” 10 Then Elisha said to him, “(M)Go, say to him, ‘You will certainly recover’; but the (N)Lord has shown me that he will certainly die.” 11 And he [d]stared steadily at him (O)until Hazael was embarrassed, and then (P)the man of God wept. 12 And Hazael said, “Why is my lord weeping?” And he [e]answered, “Because (Q)I know the evil that you will do to the sons of Israel: you will set their fortified cities on fire, you will kill their young men with the sword, their little ones you (R)will smash to pieces, and you will rip up their pregnant women.” 13 Then Hazael said, “But what is your servant—(S)a lowly dog—that he could do this great thing?” And Elisha [f]answered, “(T)The Lord has shown me that you will be king over Aram.” 14 So he left Elisha and came to his master, who said to him, “What did Elisha say to you?” And he [g]answered, “He told me that (U)you would certainly recover.” 15 But on the following day, he took the [h]cover and dipped it in water, and spread it over his face, (V)so that he died. And Hazael became king in his place.
Another Jehoram Reigns in Judah
16 Now in the fifth year of (W)Joram the son of Ahab king of Israel, when Jehoshaphat was the king of Judah, Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat king of Judah became king. 17 He was (X)thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned for eight years in Jerusalem. 18 He walked in the way of the kings of Israel, just as the house of Ahab had done, for (Y)Ahab’s daughter was his wife; and he did evil in the sight of the Lord. 19 However, the Lord did not want to destroy Judah, for the sake of David His servant, (Z)since He had [i]promised him to give him a [j]lamp through his sons always.
20 In his days (AA)Edom broke away from the [k]rule of Judah, and appointed a king over themselves. 21 Then Joram crossed over to Zair, and all his chariots with him. And he got up at night and struck the Edomites who had surrounded him and the captains of the chariots; (AB)but [l]his army fled to their tents. 22 (AC)So Edom has broken away from [m]Judah to this day. Then (AD)Libnah broke away at the same time. 23 Now the rest of the acts of Joram and everything that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah?
Ahaziah Succeeds Jehoram in Judah
24 So Joram [n]lay down with his fathers and (AE)was buried with his fathers in the city of David; and his son (AF)Ahaziah became king in his place.
25 (AG)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 (AH)Ahaziah was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned for one year in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Athaliah the granddaughter of Omri king of Israel. 27 (AI)He walked in the way of the house of Ahab and did evil in the sight of the Lord, like the house of Ahab, because he was a son-in-law of the house of Ahab.
28 Then he went with Joram the son of Ahab to war against (AJ)Hazael king of Aram at (AK)Ramoth-gilead, and the Arameans [o]wounded Joram. 29 So (AL)King Joram returned to have himself healed in Jezreel of the wounds which the Arameans had [p]inflicted on him at (AM)Ramah when he fought against Hazael king of Aram. Then (AN)Ahaziah the son of Jehoram king of Judah went down to see Joram the son of Ahab in Jezreel because he was sick.
Footnotes
- 2 Kings 8:1 Lit you and your
- 2 Kings 8:3 Lit cry out
- 2 Kings 8:5 Lit cried out
- 2 Kings 8:11 Lit made his face stand fast and he set
- 2 Kings 8:12 Lit said
- 2 Kings 8:13 Lit said
- 2 Kings 8:14 Lit said
- 2 Kings 8:15 I.e., item of woven material
- 2 Kings 8:19 Lit said to him
- 2 Kings 8:19 I.e., descendant on the throne
- 2 Kings 8:20 Lit hand
- 2 Kings 8:21 Lit the people
- 2 Kings 8:22 Lit under the hand of
- 2 Kings 8:24 I.e., died
- 2 Kings 8:28 Lit struck
- 2 Kings 8:29 Lit struck
2 Kings 8
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
The Shunammite Woman’s Land Restored
8 Now Elisha had said to the woman whose son he had restored to life, “Get up and go with your household and settle wherever you can, for the Lord has called for a famine, and it will come on the land for seven years.”(A) 2 So the woman got up and did according to the word of the man of God; she went with her household and settled in the land of the Philistines seven years. 3 At the end of the seven years, when the woman returned from the land of the Philistines, she set out to appeal to the king for her house and her land. 4 Now the king was talking with Gehazi the servant of the man of God, saying, “Tell me all the great things that Elisha has done.”(B) 5 While he was telling the king how Elisha had restored a dead person to life, the woman whose son he had restored to life appealed to the king for her house and her land. Gehazi said, “My lord king, here is the woman, and here is her son whom Elisha restored to life.”(C) 6 When the king questioned the woman, she told him. So the king appointed an official for her, saying, “Restore all that was hers, together with all the revenue of the fields from the day that she left the land until now.”
Death of Ben-hadad
7 Elisha went to Damascus while King Ben-hadad of Aram was ill. When it was told him, “The man of God has come here,”(D) 8 the king said to Hazael, “Take a present with you and go to meet the man of God. Inquire of the Lord through him, whether I shall recover from this illness.”(E) 9 So Hazael went to meet him, taking a present with him, all kinds of goods of Damascus, forty camel loads. When he entered and stood before him, he said, “Your son King Ben-hadad of Aram has sent me to you, saying, ‘Shall I recover from this illness?’ ” 10 Elisha said to him, “Go, say to him, ‘You shall certainly recover,’ but the Lord has shown me that he shall certainly die.”(F) 11 He fixed his gaze and stared at him to the point of embarrassment. Then the man of God wept. 12 Hazael asked, “Why does my lord weep?” He answered, “Because I know the evil that you will do to the people of Israel; you will set their fortresses on fire; you will kill their young men with the sword, dash in pieces their little ones, and rip up their pregnant women.”(G) 13 Hazael said, “What is your servant, who is a mere dog, that he should do this great thing?” Elisha answered, “The Lord has shown me that you are to be king over Aram.”(H) 14 Then he left Elisha and went to his master Ben-hadad,[a] who said to him, “What did Elisha say to you?” And he answered, “He told me that you would certainly recover.” 15 But the next day he took the bedcover and dipped it in water and spread it over the king’s face, until he died. And Hazael succeeded him.(I)
Jehoram Reigns over Judah
16 In the fifth year of King Joram son of Ahab of Israel,[b] Jehoram son of King Jehoshaphat of Judah began to reign.(J) 17 He was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem.(K) 18 He walked in the way of the kings of Israel, as the house of Ahab had done, for the daughter of Ahab was his wife. He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord.(L) 19 Yet the Lord would not destroy Judah, for the sake of his servant David, since he had promised to give a lamp to him and to his descendants forever.(M)
20 In his days Edom revolted against the rule of Judah and set up a king of their own.(N) 21 Then Joram crossed over to Zair with all his chariots. He set out by night and attacked the Edomites and their chariot commanders who had surrounded him,[c] but his army fled home.(O) 22 So Edom has been in revolt against the rule of Judah to this day. Libnah also revolted at the same time.(P) 23 Now the rest of the acts of Joram and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Annals of the Kings of Judah? 24 So Joram slept with his ancestors and was buried with them in the city of David; his son Ahaziah succeeded him.(Q)
Ahaziah Reigns over Judah
25 In the twelfth year of King Joram son of Ahab of Israel, Ahaziah son of King Jehoram of Judah began to reign.(R) 26 Ahaziah was twenty-two years old when he began to reign; he reigned one year in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Athaliah, a granddaughter of King Omri of Israel. 27 He also walked in the way of the house of Ahab, doing what was evil in the sight of the Lord, as the house of Ahab had done, for he was son-in-law to the house of Ahab.
28 He went with Joram son of Ahab to wage war against King Hazael of Aram at Ramoth-gilead, where the Arameans wounded Joram.(S) 29 King Joram returned to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds that the Arameans had inflicted on him at Ramah, when he fought against King Hazael of Aram. King Ahaziah son of Jehoram of Judah went down to see Joram son of Ahab in Jezreel because he was wounded.(T)
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New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.