The Murder of King Ben-hadad of Aram

⁷ Later on, Elisha traveled to Damascus. King Ben-hadad of Aram was ill, but someone informed him, “The man of God has come here!”

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

⁹ So Hazael went out to meet with him and took a gift with him—40 camel loads filled with samples of everything good in Damascus. He approached the man of God^[a] and said, “Your son King Ben-hadad from Aram has sent me to you to ask you, ‘Will I recover from this sickness?’”

¹⁰ But Elisha told him, “Go tell him, ‘You will certainly recover,’ but the Lord has shown me that he will certainly die.” ¹¹ Then Elisha^[b] looked steadily at Hazael^[c] until Hazael grew ashamed, and then the man of God began to cry.

¹² “Why are you crying, sir?” Hazael asked.

“Because I know the evil that you’re about to bring on the Israelis,” he replied. “You’ll burn down their fortified cities, execute their young men with swords, dash to pieces their little ones, and you’ll tear open their pregnant women!”

¹³ But Hazael responded, “What? Who am I, your servant, that I should do such a horrible thing?”

But Elisha answered, “The Lord has shown me that you will be king over Aram.”

¹⁴ So he left Elisha and returned to his master, who asked him, “What did Elisha tell you?”

He replied, “He told me that you would certainly get better.”

¹⁵ But the very next day, Hazael^[d] grabbed a thick covering, soaked it in water, and spread it over the king’s^[e] face, and he suffocated.^[f] Then Hazael succeeded Ben-hadad^[g] as king.