Passage Resources Hebrew/Greek Your Content
Previous Next
Add parallel Print Page Options
Close CEB

2 Kings 8
Common English Bible

The woman from Shunem

8 Elisha spoke to the woman whose son he had brought back to life: “You and your household must go away and live wherever you can, because the Lord has called for a famine. It is coming to the land and will last seven years.”

2 So the woman went and did what the man of God asked. She and her household moved away, living in Philistia seven years. 3 When seven years had passed, the woman returned from Philistia. She went to appeal to the king for her house and her farmland. 4 The king was speaking to Gehazi, the man of God’s servant, asking him, “Tell me about all the great things Elisha has done.” 5 So Gehazi was telling the king how Elisha had brought the dead to life. At that very moment, the woman whose son he had brought back to life began to appeal to the king for her house and her farmland.

Gehazi said, “Your Majesty, this is the woman herself! And this is her son, the one Elisha brought to life!”

6 The king questioned the woman, and she told him her story. Then the king appointed an official to help her, saying, “Return everything that belongs to her, as well as everything that the farmland has produced, starting from the day she left the country until right now.”

Hazael becomes king

7 Now Elisha had gone to Damascus when Aram’s King Ben-hadad became sick. The king was told, “The man of God has come all this way.”

8 So the king said to Hazael, “Take a gift with you and go to meet the man of God. Question the Lord through him: ‘Will I recover from this sickness?’”

9 So Hazael went out to meet Elisha. He took along forty camel-loads of Damascus’ finest goods as a gift. He came and stood before Elisha and said, “Your son Ben-hadad, the king of Aram, sent me to you to ask, ‘Will I recover from this sickness?’”

10 Elisha said to him, “Go and tell him, ‘You will definitely recover,’ but actually the Lord has shown me that he will die.” 11 Elisha stared straight at Hazael until he felt uneasy.[a] Then the man of God began to cry.

12 Hazael said, “Master, why are you crying?”

“Because I know what violence you will do to the Israelites,” Elisha said. “You will drive them from their forts with fire. You will kill their young men with the sword. You will smash their children and rip open their pregnant women.”

13 Hazael replied, “How could your servant, who is nothing but a dog, do such mighty things?”

Elisha said, “The Lord has shown me that you will be king over Aram.” 14 Then Hazael left Elisha and returned to his master.

“What did Elisha say to you?” Ben-hadad asked.

“He told me that you will certainly live,” Hazael replied. 15 But the next day he took a blanket, soaked it in water, and put it over Ben-hadad’s face until he died. Hazael succeeded him as king.

Jehoram rules Judah

16 In the fifth year of Israel’s King Joram, Ahab’s son, Jehoram, the son of Judah’s King Jehoshaphat, became king.[b] 17 He was 32 years old when he became king, and he ruled for eight years in Jerusalem. 18 He walked in the ways of Israel’s kings, just as Ahab’s dynasty had done, because he married Ahab’s daughter. He did what was evil in the Lord’s eyes. 19 Nevertheless, because of his servant David, the Lord wasn’t willing to destroy Judah. The Lord had promised to preserve a lamp for David and his sons forever. 20 During Jehoram’s rule Edom rebelled against Judah’s power and appointed their own king. 21 Jehoram[c] along with all his chariots crossed over to Zair. He got up at night to attack the Edomites who had surrounded him and his chariot commanders,[d] but his army fled back home. 22 So Edom has been independent of Judah to this day. Libnah rebelled at the same time. 23 The rest of Jehoram’s deeds and all that he accomplished, aren’t they written in the official records of Judah’s kings? 24 Jehoram died and was buried with his ancestors in David’s City. His son Ahaziah succeeded him as king.

Ahaziah rules Judah

25 Ahaziah, the son of Judah’s king Jehoram, became king in the twelfth year of Israel’s King Joram,[e] Ahab’s son. 26 Ahaziah was 22 years old when he became king, and he ruled for one year in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Athaliah; she was the granddaughter of Israel’s King Omri. 27 He walked in the ways of Ahab’s dynasty, doing what was evil in the Lord’s eyes, just as Ahab’s dynasty had done, because he had married into Ahab’s family. 28 Ahaziah went with Joram, Ahab’s son, to fight against Aram’s King Hazael at Ramoth-gilead, where the Arameans wounded Joram. 29 King Joram returned to Jezreel to recover from the wounds the Arameans had given him at Ramah in his battle with Aram’s King Hazael. Then Judah’s King Ahaziah, the son of Jehoram, went down to visit Joram, Ahab’s son, at Jezreel because he had been wounded.

Footnotes

  1. 2 Kings 8:11 Heb uncertain
  2. 2 Kings 8:16 LXX, Syr; MT includes Jehoshaphat had been Judah’s king.
  3. 2 Kings 8:21 Heb Joram (also in 8:23-24); the king’s name is usually spelled in its long form Jehoram (cf 2 Chron 21:9).
  4. 2 Kings 8:21 Heb uncertain
  5. 2 Kings 8:25 Heb Jehoram (also in 8:29); the king’s name is variously spelled in either long Jehoram or short Joram form.
Listen to 2 Kings 8
Close NASB

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

  1. 2 Kings 8:1 Lit you and your
  2. 2 Kings 8:3 Lit cry out
  3. 2 Kings 8:5 Lit cried out
  4. 2 Kings 8:11 Lit made his face stand fast and he set
  5. 2 Kings 8:12 Lit said
  6. 2 Kings 8:13 Lit said
  7. 2 Kings 8:14 Lit said
  8. 2 Kings 8:15 I.e., item of woven material
  9. 2 Kings 8:19 Lit said to him
  10. 2 Kings 8:19 I.e., descendant on the throne
  11. 2 Kings 8:20 Lit hand
  12. 2 Kings 8:21 Lit the people
  13. 2 Kings 8:22 Lit under the hand of
  14. 2 Kings 8:24 I.e., died
  15. 2 Kings 8:28 Lit struck
  16. 2 Kings 8:29 Lit struck
Next
2 Kings 7
2 Kings 9
Next
dropdown
Common English Bible (CEB)

Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible

New American Standard Bible (NASB)

New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.

New American Standard Bible is made available by The Lockman Foundation