⁷ Elisha came to Damascus. Now Ben-Hadad king of Aram was ill, and he was told, “The man of God has come up here.” ⁸ Then the king said to Hazael, “Take a gift in your hand and go meet the man of God. Inquire of Yahweh from him, saying, ‘Shall I recover from this illness?’” ⁹ So Hazael went to meet him and took a gift in his hand of all of the good things of Damascus, a load on each of forty camels, and he came and stood before him. Then he said, “Your son Ben-Hadad king 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 Yahweh has shown me that he certainly will die.” ¹¹ Then the man fixed his gaze and stared at him^[a] until he was ashamed and the man of God cried. ¹² Then Hazael asked, “Why is my lord crying?” He said, “Because I know what evil you will do to the Israelites.^[b] You will set their fortifications on fire,^[c] and you will kill their young men with the sword. Their little ones you will dash to pieces, and their pregnant women you will rip open!” ¹³ Then Hazael said, “But how could your servant, who is like a dog, do this great thing?” Elisha said, “Yahweh has shown me that you are to be king over Aram.” ¹⁴ So he departed from Elisha and came to his master. He asked him, “What did Elisha say to you.” So he said, “He said to me that you will certainly recover.” ¹⁵ On the next day, he took the bed cover, dipped it in the water, and spread it over his face so that he died. Then Hazael became king in his place.