2 Kings 8
Young's Literal Translation
8 And Elisha spake unto the woman whose son he had revived, saying, `Rise and go, thou and thy household, and sojourn where thou dost sojourn, for Jehovah hath called for a famine, and also, it is coming unto the land seven years.'
2 And the woman riseth, and doth according to the word of the man of God, and goeth, she and her household, and sojourneth in the land of the Philistines seven years.
3 And it cometh to pass, at the end of seven years, that the woman turneth back from the land of the Philistines, and goeth out to cry unto the king, for her house, and for her field.
4 And the king is speaking unto Gehazi, servant of the man of God, saying, `Recount, I pray thee, to me, the whole of the great things that Elisha hath done.'
5 And it cometh to pass, he is recounting to the king how he had revived the dead, and lo, the woman whose son he had revived is crying unto the king, for her house and for her field, and Gehazi saith, `My lord, O king, this [is] the woman, and this her son, whom Elisha revived.'
6 And the king asketh at the woman, and she recounteth to him, and the king appointeth to her a certain eunuch, saying, `Give back all that she hath, and all the increase of the field from the day of her leaving the land even till now.'
7 And Elisha cometh in to Damascus, and Ben-Hadad king of Aram is sick, and it is declared to him, saying, `The man of God hath come hither.'
8 And the king saith unto Hazael, `Take in thy hand a present, and go to meet the man of God, and thou hast sought Jehovah by him, saying, Do I revive from this sickness?'
9 And Hazael goeth to meet him, and taketh a present in his hand, even of every good thing of Damascus, a burden of forty camels, and he cometh in and standeth before him, and saith, `Thy son Ben-Hadad, king of Aram, hath sent me unto thee, saying, Do I revive from this sickness?'
10 And Elisha saith unto him, `Go, say, Thou dost certainly not revive, seeing Jehovah hath shewed me that he doth surely die.'
11 And he setteth his face, yea, he setteth [it] till he is ashamed, and the man of God weepeth.
12 And Hazael saith, `Wherefore is my lord weeping?' and he saith, `Because I have known the evil that thou dost to the sons of Israel -- their fenced places thou dost send into fire, and their young men with sword thou dost slay, and their sucklings thou dost dash to pieces, and their pregnant women thou dost rip up.'
13 And Hazael saith, `But what, [is] thy servant the dog, that he doth this great thing?' And Elisha saith, `Jehovah hath shewed me thee -- king of Aram.'
14 And he goeth from Elisha, and cometh in unto his lord, and he saith unto him, `What said Elisha to thee?' and he saith, `He said to me, Thou dost certainly recover.'
15 And it cometh to pass on the morrow, that he taketh the coarse cloth, and dippeth in water, and spreadeth on his face, and he dieth, and Hazael reigneth in his stead.
16 And in the fifth year of Joram son of Ahab king of Israel -- and Jehoshaphat [is] king of Judah -- hath Jehoram son of Jehoshaphat king of Judah reigned;
17 a son of thirty and two years was he in his reigning, and eight years he hath reigned in Jerusalem.
18 And he walketh in the way of the kings of Israel, as did the house of Ahab, for a daughter of Ahab was to him for a wife, and he doth the evil thing in the eyes of Jehovah,
19 and Jehovah was not willing to destroy Judah, for the sake of David his servant, as He said to him, to give to him a lamp -- to his sons all the days.
20 In his days hath Edom revolted from under the hand of Judah, and they cause a king to reign over them,
21 and Joram passeth over to Zair, and all the chariots with him, and he himself hath risen by night, and smiteth Edom, that is coming round about unto him, and the heads of the chariots, and the people fleeth to its tents;
22 and Edom revolteth from under the hand of Judah till this day; then doth Libnah revolt at that time.
23 And the rest of the matters of Joram, and all that he did, are they not written on the book of the Chronicles of the kings of Judah?
24 And Joram lieth with his fathers, and is buried with his fathers in the city of David, and reign doth Ahaziah his son in his stead.
25 In the twelfth year of Joram son of Ahab king of Israel reigned hath Ahaziah son of Jehoram king of Judah;
26 a son of twenty and two years [is] Ahaziah in his reigning, and one year he hath reigned in Jerusalem, and the name of his mother [is] Athaliah daughter of Omri king of Israel,
27 and he walketh in the way of the house of Ahab, and doth the evil thing in the eyes of Jehovah, like the house of Ahab, for he [is] son-in-law of the house of Ahab.
28 And he goeth with Joram son of Ahab to battle with Hazael king of Aram in Ramoth-Gilead, and the Aramaeans smite Joram,
29 and Joram the king turneth back to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds with which the Arameans smite him in Ramah, in his fighting with Hazael king of Aram, and Ahaziah son of Jehoram king of Judah hath gone down to see Joram son of Ahab in Jezreel, for he is sick.
2 Kings 8
English Standard Version
The Shunammite's Land Restored
8 Now Elisha had said to the woman (A)whose son he had restored to life, “Arise, and depart with your household, and sojourn wherever you can, for the Lord (B)has called for a famine, and it will come upon the land for (C)seven years.” 2 So the woman arose and did according to the word of the man of God. She went with her household and sojourned in the land of the Philistines seven years. 3 And at the end of the seven years, when the woman returned from the land of the Philistines, she went to appeal to the king for her house and her land. 4 Now the king was talking with (D)Gehazi the servant of the man of God, saying, “Tell me all the great things that Elisha has done.” 5 And while he was telling the king how (E)Elisha had restored the dead to life, behold, the woman whose son he had restored to life appealed to the king for her house and her land. And Gehazi said, “My lord, O king, here is the woman, and here is her son whom Elisha restored to life.” 6 And when the king asked the woman, she told him. So the king appointed an official for her, saying, “Restore all that was hers, together with all the produce of the fields from the day that she left the land until now.”
Hazael Murders Ben-hadad
7 Now Elisha came to (F)Damascus. (G)Ben-hadad the king of Syria was sick. And when it was told him, “The man of God has come here,” 8 the king said to (H)Hazael, (I)“Take a present with you and go to meet the man of God, (J)and inquire of the Lord through him, saying, ‘Shall I recover from this sickness?’” 9 So Hazael went to meet him, and took a present with him, all kinds of goods of Damascus, forty camels' loads. When he came and stood before him, he said, (K)“Your son Ben-hadad king of Syria has sent me to you, saying, ‘Shall I recover from this sickness?’” 10 And Elisha said to him, (L)“Go, say to him, ‘You shall certainly recover,’ but[a] the Lord has shown me that (M)he shall certainly die.” 11 And he fixed his gaze and stared at him, (N)until he was embarrassed. And the man of God wept. 12 And Hazael said, “Why does my lord weep?” He answered, “Because I know (O)the evil that you will do to the people of Israel. You will set on fire their fortresses, and you will kill their young men with the sword (P)and dash in pieces their little ones and rip open their pregnant women.” 13 And Hazael said, “What is your servant, (Q)who is but a dog, that he should do this great thing?” Elisha answered, (R)“The Lord has shown me that you are to be 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 (S)that you would certainly recover.” 15 But the next day he took the bed cloth[b] and dipped it in water and spread it over his face, till he died. And Hazael became king in his place.
Jehoram Reigns in Judah
16 In the fifth year of (T)Joram the son of Ahab, king of Israel, when Jehoshaphat was king of Judah,[c] Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, began to reign. 17 He was (U)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, as the house of Ahab had done, for (V)the daughter of Ahab was his wife. And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. 19 Yet the Lord was not willing to destroy Judah, for the sake of David his servant, (W)since he promised to give (X)a lamp to him and to his sons forever.
20 In his days Edom revolted from the rule of Judah and set up (Y)a king of their own. 21 Then Joram[d] passed over to Zair with all his chariots and rose by night, and he and his chariot commanders struck the Edomites who had surrounded him, but his army (Z)fled home. 22 (AA)So Edom revolted from the rule of Judah to this day. Then (AB)Libnah revolted at the same 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 slept with his fathers and was buried (AC)with his fathers in the city of David, and (AD)Ahaziah his son reigned in his place.
Ahaziah Reigns in Judah
25 (AE)In the (AF)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 (AG)twenty-two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Athaliah; she was (AH)a granddaughter of Omri king of Israel. 27 He also walked in the way of the house of Ahab and did 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 the son of Ahab to make war against (AI)Hazael king of Syria at (AJ)Ramoth-gilead, and the Syrians wounded Joram. 29 (AK)And King Joram returned to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds that the Syrians had given him at (AL)Ramah, when he fought against Hazael king of Syria. And (AM)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 8:10 Some manuscripts say, ‘You shall certainly not recover,’ for
- 2 Kings 8:15 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain
- 2 Kings 8:16 Septuagint, Syriac lack when Jehoshaphat was king of Judah
- 2 Kings 8:21 Joram (also verses 23, 24) is an alternate spelling of Jehoram (son of Jehoshaphat), mentioned in verses 16, 25, 29
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.