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Elisha Heals Naaman

(A) Naaman was the commander of the Syrian army. The Lord had helped him and his troops defeat their enemies, so the king of Syria respected Naaman very much. Naaman was a brave soldier, but he had leprosy.[a]

One day while the Syrian troops were raiding Israel, they captured a girl, and she became a servant of Naaman's wife. Some time later the girl said, “If your husband Naaman would go to the prophet in Samaria, he would be cured of his leprosy.”

When Naaman told the king what the girl had said, the king replied, “Go ahead! I will give you a letter to take to the king of Israel.”

Naaman left and took along 30,000 pieces of silver, 6,000 pieces of gold, and 10 new outfits. He also carried the letter to the king of Israel. It said, “I am sending my servant Naaman to you. Would you cure him of his leprosy?”

When the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes in fear and shouted, “That Syrian king believes I can cure this man of leprosy! Does he think I'm God with power over life and death? He must be trying to pick a fight with me.”

As soon as Elisha the prophet[b] heard what had happened, he sent the Israelite king this message: “Why are you so afraid? Send the man to me, so that he will know there is a prophet in Israel.”

Naaman left with his horses and chariots and stopped at the door of Elisha's house. 10 Elisha sent someone outside to say to him, “Go wash seven times in the Jordan River. Then you'll be completely cured.”

11 But Naaman stormed off, grumbling, “Why couldn't he come out and talk to me? I thought for sure he would stand in front of me and pray to the Lord his God, then wave his hand over my skin and cure me. 12 What about the Abana River[c] or the Pharpar River? Those rivers in Damascus are just as good as any river in Israel. I could have washed in them and been cured.”

13 His servants went over to him and said, “Sir, if the prophet had told you to do something difficult, you would have done it. So why don't you do what he said? Go wash and be cured.”

14 Naaman walked down to the Jordan; he waded out into the water and stooped down in it seven times, just as Elisha had told him. At once, he was cured, and his skin became as smooth as a child's.

15 Naaman and his officials went back to Elisha. Naaman stood in front of him and announced, “Now I know that the God of Israel is the only God in the whole world. Sir, would you please accept a gift from me?”

16 “I am a servant of the living Lord,” Elisha answered, “and I swear that I will not take anything from you.”

Naaman kept begging, but Elisha kept refusing. 17 Finally Naaman said, “If you won't accept a gift, then please let me take home as much soil as two mules can pull in a wagon. Sir, from now on I will offer sacrifices only to the Lord.[d] 18 But I pray that the Lord will forgive me when I go into the temple of the god Rimmon and bow down there with the king of Syria.”

19 “Go on home, and don't worry about that,” Elisha replied. Then Naaman left.

Elisha Places a Curse on Gehazi

After Naaman had gone only a short distance, 20 Gehazi said to himself, “Elisha let that Syrian off too easy. He should have taken Naaman's gift. I swear by the living Lord that I will talk to Naaman myself and get something from him.” 21 So he hurried after Naaman.

When Naaman saw Gehazi running after him, he got out of his chariot to meet him. Naaman asked, “Is everything all right?”

22 “Yes,” Gehazi answered. “But my master has sent me to tell you about two young prophets from the hills of Ephraim. They came asking for help, and now Elisha wants to know if you would give them 3,000 pieces of silver and some new clothes?”

23 “Sure,” Naaman replied. “But why don't you take twice that amount of silver?” He convinced Gehazi to take it all, then put the silver in two bags. He handed the bags and the clothes to his two servants, and they carried them for Gehazi.

24 When they reached the hill where Gehazi lived, he took the bags from the servants and placed them in his house, then sent the men away. After they had gone, 25 Gehazi went in and stood in front of Elisha, who asked, “Gehazi, where have you been?”

“Nowhere, sir,” Gehazi answered.

26 Elisha asked, “Don't you know that my spirit was there when Naaman got out of his chariot to talk with you? Gehazi, you have no right to accept money or clothes, olive orchards or vineyards, sheep or cattle, or servants. 27 Because of what you've done, Naaman's leprosy[e] will now be on you and your descendants forever!”

Suddenly, Gehazi's skin became white with leprosy, and he left.

Elisha Makes an Ax Head Float

One day the prophets said to Elisha, “The place where we meet with you is too small. Why don't we build a new meeting place near the Jordan River? Each of us could get some wood, then we could build it.”

“That's a good idea,” Elisha replied, “get started.”

“Aren't you going with us?” one of the prophets asked.

“Yes, I'll go,” Elisha answered, and he left with them.

They went to the Jordan River and began chopping down trees. While one of the prophets was working, his ax head fell off and dropped into the water. “Oh!” he shouted. “Sir, I borrowed this ax.”

“Where did it fall in?” Elisha asked. The prophet pointed to the place, and Elisha cut a stick and threw it into the water at that spot. The ax head floated to the top of the water.

“Now get it,” Elisha told him. And the prophet reached in and grabbed it.

Elisha Stops an Invasion of the Syrian Army

Time after time, when the king of Syria was at war against the Israelites, he met with his officers and announced, “I've decided where we will set up camp.”

Each time, Elisha[f] would send this warning to the king of Israel: “Don't go near there. That's where the Syrian troops have set up camp.”[g] 10 So the king would warn the Israelite troops in that place to be on guard.

11 The king of Syria was furious when he found out what was happening. He called in his officers and asked, “Which one of you has been telling the king of Israel our plans?”

12 “None of us, Your Majesty,” one of them answered. “It's an Israelite named Elisha. He's a prophet, so he can tell his king everything—even what you say in your own room.”

13 “Find out where he is!” the king ordered. “I'll send soldiers to bring him here.”

They learned that Elisha was in the town of Dothan[h] and reported it to the king. 14 He ordered his best troops to go there with horses and chariots. They marched out during the night and surrounded the town.

15 When Elisha's servant got up the next morning, he saw that Syrian troops had the town surrounded. “Sir, what are we going to do?” he asked.

16 “Don't be afraid,” Elisha answered. “There are more troops on our side than on theirs.” 17 Then he prayed, “Lord, please help him to see.” And the Lord let the servant see that the hill[i] was covered with fiery horses and flaming chariots all around Elisha.

18 As the Syrian army came closer, Elisha prayed, “Lord, make those soldiers blind!” And the Lord blinded them with a bright light.

19 Elisha told the enemy troops, “You've taken the wrong road and are in the wrong town. Follow me. I'll lead you to the man you're looking for.” Elisha led them straight to the capital city of Samaria.

20 When all the soldiers were inside the city, Elisha prayed, “Lord, now let them see again.” The Lord let them see that they were standing in the middle of Samaria.

21 The king of Israel saw them and asked Elisha, “Should I kill them, sir?”

22 “No!” Elisha answered. “You didn't capture these troops in battle, so you have no right to kill them. Instead, give them something to eat and drink and let them return to their leader.”

23 The king ordered a huge meal to be prepared for Syria's army, and when they finished eating, he let them go.

For a while, the Syrian troops stopped invading Israel's territory.

King Benhadad of Syria Attacks Samaria

24 Some time later, King Benhadad of Syria[j] called his entire army together, then they marched to Samaria and attacked. 25 They kept up the attack until there was nothing to eat in the city. In fact, a donkey's head cost 80 pieces of silver, and a small bowl of pigeon droppings[k] cost 5 pieces of silver.

26 One day as the king of Israel[l] was walking along the top of the city wall, a woman shouted to him, “Please, Your Majesty, help me!”

27 “Let the Lord help you!” the king said. “Do you think I have grain or wine to give you?” 28 Then he asked, “What's the matter anyway?”

The woman answered, “Another woman and I were so hungry that we agreed to eat our sons. She said if we ate my son one day, we could eat hers the next day. 29 (B) So yesterday we cooked my son and ate him. But today when I went to her house to eat her son, she had hidden him.”

30 The king tore off his clothes in sorrow, and since he was on top of the city wall, the people saw that he was wearing sackcloth underneath. 31 He said, “I pray that God will punish me terribly, if Elisha's head is still on his shoulders by this time tomorrow.” 32 Then he sent a messenger to Elisha.

Elisha was home at the time, and the important leaders of Israel were meeting with him. Even before the king's messenger arrived, Elisha told the leaders, “That murderer[m] is sending someone to cut off my head. When you see him coming, shut the door and don't let him in. I'm sure the king himself will be right behind him.”

33 Before Elisha finished talking, the messenger[n] came up and said, “The Lord has made all these terrible things happen to us. Why should I think he will help us now?”

Elisha answered, “I have a message for you. The Lord promises that tomorrow here in Samaria, you will be able to buy a large sack of flour or two large sacks of barley for almost nothing.”

The chief officer there with the king replied, “I don't believe it! Even if the Lord sent a rainstorm, it couldn't produce that much grain by tomorrow.”

“You will see it happen, but you won't eat any of the food,” Elisha warned him.

The Syrian Army Stops Its Attack

About the same time, four men with leprosy[o] were just outside the gate of Samaria. They said to each other, “Why should we sit here, waiting to die? There's nothing to eat in the city, so we would starve if we went inside. But if we stay out here, we will die for sure. Let's sneak over to the Syrian army camp and surrender. They might kill us, but they might not.” 5-8 That evening the four men got up and left for the Syrian camp.

As they walked toward the camp, the Lord caused the Syrian troops to hear what sounded like the roar of a huge cavalry. The soldiers said to each other, “Listen! The king of Israel must have hired Hittite and Egyptian troops to attack us. Let's get out of here!” So they ran out of their camp that night, leaving their tents and horses and donkeys.

When the four men with leprosy reached the edge of the Syrian camp, no one was there. They walked into one of the tents, where they ate and drank, before carrying off clothes, as well as silver and gold. They hid all this, then walked into another tent; they took what they wanted and hid it too.

They said to each other, “This isn't right. Today is a day to celebrate, and we haven't told anyone else what has happened. If we wait until morning, we will be punished. Let's go to the king's palace at once and tell the good news.”

10 They went back to Samaria and shouted up to the guards at the gate, “We've just come from the Syrian army camp, and all the soldiers are gone! The tents are empty, and the horses and donkeys are still tied up. We didn't see or hear anybody.”

11 The guards reported the news to the king's palace. 12 The king got out of bed and said to his officers, “I know what those Syrians are doing. They know we're starving, so they're hiding in the fields, hoping we will go out to look for food. When we do, they can capture us and take over our city.”

13 One of his officers replied, “We have a few horses left—why don't we let some men take five of them and go to the Syrian camp and see what's happening? We're going to die anyway like those who have already died.”[p] 14 They found two chariots, and the king commanded the men to find out what had happened to the Syrian troops.

15 The men rode as far as the Jordan River. All along the way they saw clothes and equipment that the Syrians had thrown away as they escaped. Then they went back to the king and told him what they had seen.

16 At once the people went to the Syrian camp and carried off what was left. They took so much that a large sack of flour and two large sacks of barley sold for almost nothing, just as the Lord had promised.

17 The king of Israel had put his chief officer in charge of the gate, but he died when the people trampled him as they rushed out of the city. 18 Earlier, when the king was at Elisha's house, Elisha had told him that flour or barley would sell for almost nothing. 19 But the officer refused to believe that even the Lord could do that. So Elisha warned him that he would see it happen, but would not eat any of the food. 20 And that's exactly what happened—the officer was trampled to death.

The Woman from Shunem Is Given Back Her Land

(C) Elisha told the woman whose son he had brought back to life,[q] “The Lord has warned that there will be no food here for seven years. Take your family and go live somewhere else for a while.” The woman did exactly what Elisha had said and went to live in Philistine territory.

She and her family lived there seven years. Then she returned to Israel and immediately begged the king to give back her house and property.

Meanwhile, the king was asking Gehazi the servant of Elisha about the amazing things Elisha had been doing. While Gehazi was telling him that Elisha had brought a dead boy back to life, the woman and her son arrived.

“Here's the boy, Your Majesty,” Gehazi said. “And this is his mother.”

The king asked the woman to tell her story, and she told him everything that had happened. He then said to one of his officials, “I want you to make sure that this woman gets back everything that belonged to her, including the money her crops have made since the day she left Israel.”

Hazael Kills Benhadad

Some time later Elisha went to the capital city of Damascus to visit King Benhadad of Syria, who was sick. And when Benhadad was told he was there, he said to Hazael,[r] “Go meet with Elisha the man of God and get him to ask the Lord if I will get well. And take along a gift for him.”

Hazael left with forty camel loads of the best things made in Damascus as a gift for Elisha. He found the prophet and said, “Your servant, King Benhadad, wants to know if he will get well.”

10 “Tell him he will,” Elisha said to Hazael. “But the Lord has already told me that Benhadad will definitely die.” 11 Elisha stared at him until Hazael was embarrassed, then Elisha began crying.[s]

12 “Sir, why are you crying?” Hazael asked.

Elisha answered, “Because I know the terrible things you will do to the people of Israel. You will burn down their walled cities and slaughter their young men. You will even crush the heads of their babies and rip open their pregnant women.”

13 (D) “How could I ever do anything like that?” Hazael replied. “I'm only a servant and don't have that kind of power.”

“Hazael, the Lord has told me that you will be the next king of Syria.”

14 Hazael went back to Benhadad and told him, “Elisha said that you will get well.” 15 But the very next day, Hazael got a thick blanket; he soaked it in water and held it over Benhadad's face until he died. Hazael then became king.

King Jehoram of Judah

(2 Chronicles 21.2-20)

16 Jehoram son of Jehoshaphat became king of Judah in Joram's fifth year as king of Israel, while Jehoshaphat was still king of Judah.[t] 17 Jehoram was 32 years old when he became king, and he ruled 8 years from Jerusalem.

18 Jehoram disobeyed the Lord by doing wrong. He married Ahab's daughter and was as sinful as Ahab's family and the kings of Israel. 19 (E) But the Lord refused to destroy Judah, because he had promised his servant David that someone from his family would always rule in Judah.

20 (F) While Jehoram was king, the people of Edom rebelled and chose their own king. 21 So Jehoram[u] and his cavalry marched to Zair, where the Edomite army surrounded him and his commanders. During the night he attacked the Edomites, but he was defeated, and his troops escaped to their homes.[v] 22 Judah was never able to regain control of Edom. Even the town of Libnah[w] rebelled at that time.

23 Everything else Jehoram did while he was king is written in The History of the Kings of Judah. 24 Jehoram died and was buried beside his ancestors in Jerusalem.[x] His son Ahaziah then became king.

King Ahaziah of Judah

(2 Chronicles 22.1-6)

25 Ahaziah son of Jehoram became king of Judah in the twelfth year of Joram's rule in Israel. 26 Ahaziah was 22 years old when he became king, and he ruled from Jerusalem for only one year. His mother was Athaliah, a granddaughter of King Omri of Israel. 27 Since Ahaziah was related to Ahab's family,[y] he acted just like them and disobeyed the Lord by doing wrong.

28 Ahaziah went with King Joram of Israel to attack King Hazael and the Syrian troops at Ramoth in Gilead. Joram was wounded in that battle, 29 so he went to the town of Jezreel to recover. Ahaziah went there to visit him.

Footnotes

  1. 5.1 leprosy: The word translated “leprosy” was used for many different kinds of skin diseases.
  2. 5.8 the prophet: Hebrew “the man of God.”
  3. 5.12 Abana River: Most Hebrew manuscripts; some Hebrew manuscripts and two ancient translations “Amana River.”
  4. 5.17 let me take … the Lord: It was believed that the Lord had to be worshiped in Israel or on soil taken from Israel.
  5. 5.27 leprosy: See the note at 5.1.
  6. 6.9 Elisha: Hebrew “the man of God.”
  7. 6.9 have set up camp: Or “are going.”
  8. 6.13 Dothan: About 15 kilometers north of Samaria.
  9. 6.17 the hill: The hill on which the town was built.
  10. 6.24 King Benhadad of Syria: This may or may not be the same Benhadad mentioned in 1 Kings 20.1. Several of the Syrian kings were named Benhadad.
  11. 6.25 pigeon droppings: This may have been used for food or to burn for fuel. It also may have been a popular name for roasted beans or the shells of certain seeds.
  12. 6.26 the king of Israel: Probably either Jehoahaz or Jehoash, but possibly even Joram.
  13. 6.32 That murderer: Hebrew “That murderer's son.”
  14. 6.33 messenger: Or “king” (see 7.2,18); the two Hebrew words are very similar.
  15. 7.3 leprosy: See the note at 5.1.
  16. 7.13 We're going … died: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
  17. 8.1 Elisha … life: See 4.8-37.
  18. 8.8 Hazael: Probably one of Benhadad's officials.
  19. 8.11 Elisha stared … crying: Or “Hazael stared at him until Elisha was embarrassed and began to cry.”
  20. 8.16 while Jehoshaphat … Judah: In biblical times, a father and son would sometimes rule as kings at the same time. That way, when the father died, his son would already have control of the kingdom.
  21. 8.21 Jehoram: The Hebrew text has “Joram,” another spelling of the name.
  22. 8.21 he attacked … homes: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
  23. 8.22 Even the town of Libnah: This was a town on the border between Philistia and Judah, which means that Jehoram was facing rebellion on two sides of his kingdom.
  24. 8.24 Jerusalem: Hebrew “the city of David.”
  25. 8.27 Since … family: Ahaziah's mother was Ahab's daughter (see verse 18).

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