BOOK II

Psalms 42–72

Psalm 42^[a][b]

For the director of music. A maskil^[c] of the Sons of Korah.

Naaman Healed of Leprosy

5 Now Naaman was commander of the army of the king of Aram.^(A) He was a great man in the sight of his master and highly regarded, because through him the Lord had given victory to Aram. He was a valiant soldier, but he had leprosy.^[a](B)

² Now bands of raiders^(C) from Aram had gone out and had taken captive a young girl from Israel, and she served Naaman’s wife. ³ She said to her mistress, “If only my master would see the prophet^(D) who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy.”

⁴ Naaman went to his master and told him what the girl from Israel had said. ⁵ “By all means, go,” the king of Aram replied. “I will send a letter to the king of Israel.” So Naaman left, taking with him ten talents^[b] of silver, six thousand shekels^[c] of gold and ten sets of clothing.^{(E) 6} The letter that he took to the king of Israel read: “With this letter I am sending my servant Naaman to you so that you may cure him of his leprosy.”

⁷ As soon as the king of Israel read the letter,^(F) he tore his robes and said, “Am I God?^(G) Can I kill and bring back to life?^(H) Why does this fellow send someone to me to be cured of his leprosy? See how he is trying to pick a quarrel^(I) with me!”

⁸ When Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his robes, he sent him this message: “Why have you torn your robes? Have the man come to me and he will know that there is a prophet^(J) in Israel.” ⁹ So Naaman went with his horses and chariots and stopped at the door of Elisha’s house. ¹⁰ Elisha sent a messenger to say to him, “Go, wash^(K) yourself seven times^(L) in the Jordan, and your flesh will be restored and you will be cleansed.”

¹¹ But Naaman went away angry and said, “I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, wave his hand^(M) over the spot and cure me of my leprosy. ¹² Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters^(N) of Israel? Couldn’t I wash in them and be cleansed?” So he turned and went off in a rage.^(O)

¹³ Naaman’s servants went to him and said, “My father,^(P) if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more, then, when he tells you, ‘Wash and be cleansed’!” ¹⁴ So he went down and dipped himself in the Jordan seven times,^(Q) as the man of God had told him, and his flesh was restored^(R) and became clean like that of a young boy.^(S)

¹⁵ Then Naaman and all his attendants went back to the man of God^(T). He stood before him and said, “Now I know^(U) that there is no God in all the world except in Israel. So please accept a gift^(V) from your servant.”

²³ Jesus said to them, “Surely you will quote this proverb to me: ‘Physician, heal yourself!’ And you will tell me, ‘Do here in your hometown^(A) what we have heard that you did in Capernaum.’”^(B)

²⁴ “Truly I tell you,” he continued, “no prophet is accepted in his hometown.^{(C) 25} I assure you that there were many widows in Israel in Elijah’s time, when the sky was shut for three and a half years and there was a severe famine throughout the land.^{(D) 26} Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them, but to a widow in Zarephath in the region of Sidon.^{(E) 27} And there were many in Israel with leprosy^[a] in the time of Elisha the prophet, yet not one of them was cleansed—only Naaman the Syrian.”^(F)

²⁸ All the people in the synagogue were furious when they heard this. ²⁹ They got up, drove him out of the town,^(G) and took him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw him off the cliff. ³⁰ But he walked right through the crowd and went on his way.^(H)