2 Kings 8
1599 Geneva Bible
8 1 Elisha prophesieth unto the Shunammite the dearth of seven years. 12 He prophesieth to Hazael, that he shall be king of Syria. 15 He reigneth after Ben-Hadad. 16 Jehoram reigneth over Judah. 20 Edom falleth from Judah. 25 Ahaziah succeedeth Jehoram.
1 Then spake Elisha unto the woman, (A)whose son he had restored to life, saying, Up, and go, thou, and thine house, and sojourn where thou [a]canst sojourn: for the Lord hath called for a famine, and it cometh also upon the land seven years.
2 And the woman arose, and did after the saying of the man of God, and went both she and her household, and sojourned in the land of the Philistines seven years.
3 ¶ And at the seven year’s end, the woman returned out of the land of the Philistines, and went out [b]to call upon the king for her house and for her land.
4 And the King talked with Gehazi the servant of the man of God, saying, Tell me, I pray thee, all the great acts, that Elisha hath done.
5 And as he told [c]the king, how he had restored one dead to life, behold, the woman, whose son he had raised to life, called upon the king for her house and for her land. Then 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 her an Eunuch, saying, Restore thou all that are hers, and all the [d]fruits of her land since the day she left the land, even until this time.
7 ¶ Then Elisha came to Damascus, and Ben-Hadad the king of Aram was sick: and one told him, saying, The man of God is come hither.
8 And the king said unto Hazael, Take a present in thine hand, and go meet the man of God, that thou mayest inquire of the Lord by him, saying, Shall I recover of this disease?
9 So Hazael went to meet him, and took the present in his hand, and of every [e]good thing of Damascus, even the burden of forty camels, and came and stood before him, and said, Thy son Ben-Hadad king of Aram hath sent me to thee, saying, Shall I recover of this disease?
10 And Elisha said to him, Go, and say unto him, Thou shalt [f]recover: howbeit the Lord hath showed me, that he shall surely die.
11 And he looked upon him steadfastly, till Hazael was ashamed, and the man of God wept.
12 And Hazael said, Why weepeth my lord? And he answered, because I know the evil that thou shalt do unto the children of Israel: for their strong cities shalt thou set on fire, and their young men shalt thou slay with the sword, and shalt dash their infants against the stones, and rent in pieces their women with child.
13 Then Hazael said, What? is thy servant [g]a dog, that I should do this great thing? And Elisha answered, The Lord hath showed me, that thou shalt be King of Aram.
14 ¶ So he departed from Elisha, and came to his master, who said to him, What said Elisha to thee? And he answered, He told me that thou shouldest recover.
15 And on the morrow he took a thick cloth and dipped in it water, and [h]spread it on his face, and he died: and Hazael reigned in his stead.
16 ¶ (B)Now in the fifth year of Joram the son of Ahab king of Israel, and of Jehoshaphat King of Judah, [i]Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat king of Judah began [j]to reign.
17 He was two and thirty years old, when he began to reign: and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem.
18 And he walked in the ways of the Kings of Israel, as did the house of Ahab: for the [k]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 David his servant’s sake, (C)as he had promised him to give him a light, and to his children forever.
20 ¶ In those days Edom [l]rebelled from under the hand of Judah, and made a King over themselves.
21 Therefore Joram went to Zair, and all his chariots with him, and he arose by night, and smote the Edomites which were about him, with the captains of the chariots, and the people fled into their tents.
22 So Edom rebelled from under the hand of Judah unto this day: then [m]Libnah rebelled at that same time.
23 Concerning 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 And Joram slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David. And (D)Ahaziah his son reigned in his stead.
25 ¶ In the twelfth year of Joram the son of Ahab King of Israel, did Ahaziah the son of Jehoram king of Judah begin to reign.
26 [n]Two and twenty years old was Ahaziah when he began to reign, and he reigned one year in Jerusalem, and his mother’s name was Athaliah the daughter of Omri king of Israel.
27 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 And he went with Joram the son of Ahab to war against Hazael king of Aram in [o]Ramoth Gilead, and the Aramites smote Joram.
29 And king Joram returned to be healed in [p]Jezreel of the wounds which the Aramites had given him at Ramah, when he fought against Hazael king of Aram. And 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 Where thou canst find a commodious place to dwell, where as is plenty.
- 2 Kings 8:3 That is, to complain on them which had taken her possessions while she was absent.
- 2 Kings 8:5 God’s wonderful providence appeareth in this, that he caused the King to be desirous to hear of him, whom before he contemned, and also hereby prepared an entrance to the poor widow’s suit.
- 2 Kings 8:6 The King caused that to be justly restored, which was wrongfully holden from her.
- 2 Kings 8:9 Of all the chiefest and precious things of the country.
- 2 Kings 8:10 Meaning, that he should recover of this disease: but he knew that this messenger Hazael should slay him to obtain the kingdom.
- 2 Kings 8:13 That I should be without all humanity and pity.
- 2 Kings 8:15 Under pretence to refresh or ease him, he stifled him with his cloth.
- 2 Kings 8:16 Read 2 Kings 1:17.
- 2 Kings 8:16 He was confirmed in his kingdom after his father’s death.
- 2 Kings 8:18 The holy Ghost showeth hereby what danger it is to join with infidels.
- 2 Kings 8:20 Which had been subject from David’s time, until this time of Jehoram.
- 2 Kings 8:22 This was a city in Judah given to the Levites, Josh. 21:13, and after turned from King Jehoram, because of his idolatry.
- 2 Kings 8:26 Which is to be understood, that he was made king when his father reigned, but after his father’s death he was confirmed king when he was forty-two years old, as 2 Chron. 22:2.
- 2 Kings 8:28 Which was a city in the tribe of Gad beyond Jordan.
- 2 Kings 8:29 This is a city belonging to the tribe of Issachar.
2 Kings 8
New Catholic Bible
Chapter 8
Famine Predicted. 1 Now Elisha spoke to the woman whose son he had restored to life, saying, “You and your household must get up and go to dwell wherever you can, for the Lord has called a famine down upon the land, and it will last for seven years.”
2 The woman rose up and did what the man of God had told her to do. She and her household went and dwelt in the land of the Philistines for seven years. 3 At the end of seven years, the woman returned from the land of the Philistines. She went to the king and begged for her house and her land.
4 The king had been talking to Gehazi, the servant of the man of God, and he had said, “Please tell me all of the great things that Elisha has done.” 5 Just as he was recounting to the king how he had restored a dead body to life, the woman whose son he had restored to life beseeched the king for her house and her land. Gehazi said, “My lord, O king, this is the woman whose son Elisha restored to life.”
6 The king questioned the woman about it, and she told him about it. The king assigned an official for her case, saying, “Restore everything to her, including the produce from the field from the day she left the land up until the present.”
Ben-hadad’s Death Foretold. 7 Elisha went to Damascus, to Ben-hadad, the king of the Arameans, who was ill. He was told, “The man of God has come here.”
8 The king said to Hazael, “Take a present with you and go and meet the man of God. Inquire of the Lord through him, asking, ‘Will I recover from this illness?’ ”
9 Hazael went to meet him, and he took a present of forty camel loads of the finest products of Damascus with him. He stood before him and said, “Ben-hadad the king of Aram, has sent me to you, saying, ‘Will I recover from this illness?’ ” 10 Elisha answered, “Go and say to him, ‘You will surely recover,’ for the Lord has revealed to me that he will surely die.”[a]
11 He continued to stare at him until he became embarrassed. The man of God then began to weep. 12 Hazael asked, “Why is my lord weeping?” He answered, “Because I know what harm you will do to the Israelites. You will burn down their strongholds, you will put their young men to the sword, you will dash their children to the ground, and you will rip open their pregnant women.” 13 Hazael said, “But how could your servant, who is nothing more than a dog,[b] do such a great thing?” Elisha answered, “The Lord has revealed to me that you will be the king of Aram.”
14 He left Elisha and went back to his master who said to him, “What did Elisha say to you?” He answered, “He told me that you will surely recover.” 15 The next day he took a thick cloth and soaked it in water. He placed it over the king’s face, so that he died. Hazael then reigned in his stead.
16 Reign of Joram of Judah. In the fifth year of the reign of Joram, the son of Ahab, the king of Israel, when Jehoshaphat was the king of Judah, Joram, the son of Jehoshaphat, began to reign over Judah. 17 He was thirty-two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned for eight years in Jerusalem. 18 He walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, as the house of Ahab had, for the daughter of Ahab was his wife. He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. 19 Yet, the Lord would not destroy Judah for the sake of David, his servant, for he had promised to give a light to him and his children forever.
20 During his reign, Edom rebelled against Judah and set up their own king. 21 Joram went to Zair with all of his chariots. He rose up during the night and attacked the Edomites who had surrounded him. The captains of his chariots and his army fled back home. 22 Edom has been in a state of rebellion against Judah up to the present. Libnah rebelled at the same time.
23 As for the other deeds of Joram, what he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?
24 Joram slept with his fathers, and he was buried with his fathers in the City of David, and Ahaziah, his son, reigned in his stead.
25 Ahaziah Rules Judah. Ahaziah, the son of Joram, began to reign as the king of Judah during the twelfth year of the reign of Joram, the son of Ahab, the king of Israel. 26 Ahaziah was twenty-two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem for one year. His mother’s name was Athaliah. She was the daughter of Omri, the king of Israel.[c] 27 He walked in the ways of the house of Ahab and did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, as the house of Ahab had, for he was the son-in-law of the house of Ahab.
28 He went to war against Hazael, the king of Aram, at Ramoth-gilead along with Joram, the son of Ahab. The Arameans wounded Joram. 29 Joram returned to Jezreel to recover from the wounds he had received from the Arameans at Ramoth when he fought against Hazael, the king of the Arameans.
Ahaziah, the son of Joram, the king of Judah, went down to visit Joram, the son of Ahab, in Jezreel because he was ill.
Footnotes
- 2 Kings 8:10 That is, he will die, but not of his present disease; he would have recovered, had he not been killed.
- 2 Kings 8:13 Nothing more than a dog: this seemingly derogatory designation might be Hazael’s way of declaring his powerlessness to commit the atrocities that Elisha forecasts.
- 2 Kings 8:26 Athaliah, whether the daughter or granddaughter of Omri (see v. 18), acted much as her evil parents Ahab and Jezebel did. After her son Ahaziah is killed in battle, Athaliah wipes out all the male descendants and rules as queen (see 2 Ki 11:1).
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