2 Kings 8

1 Now Elisha had said to the woman whose son he had given back to life, Go now, with all the people of your house, and get a living-place for yourselves wherever you are able; for by the word of the Lord, there will be great need of food in the land; and this will go on for seven years.

Now Elisha had said to the woman whose son he had restored to life, “Arise, you and your household; go and live as a foreigner wherever you can. For the LORD has decreed a seven-year famine, and it has already come to the land.”

2 So the woman got up and did as the man of God said; and she and the people of her house were living in the land of the Philistines for seven years.

So the woman had proceeded to do as the man of God had instructed. And she and her household lived as foreigners for seven years in the land of the Philistines.

3 And when the seven years were ended, the woman came back from the land of the Philistines and went to the king with a request for her house and her land.

At the end of seven years, when the woman returned from the land of the Philistines, she went to the king to appeal for her house and her land.

4 Now the king was talking with Gehazi, the servant of the man of God, saying, Now, give me an account of all the great things Elisha has done.

Now the king had been speaking to Gehazi, the servant of the man of God, saying, “Please relate to me all the great things Elisha has done.”

5 And while he was giving the king the story of how Elisha had given life to the dead, the woman whose son had come back to life came to the king with a request for her house and her land. And Gehazi said, My lord king, this is the woman and this is her son, whose life Elisha gave back to him.

And Gehazi was telling the king how Elisha had brought the dead back to life. Just then the woman whose son Elisha had revived came to appeal to the king for her house and her land. So Gehazi said, “My lord the king, this is the woman, and this is the son Elisha restored to life.”

6 And in answer to the king's questions, the woman gave him all the story. So the king gave orders to one of his unsexed servants, saying, Give her back all her property, and all the produce of her fields from the day when she went away from the land up till now.

When the king asked the woman, she confirmed it. So the king appointed for her an officer, saying, “Restore all that was hers, along with all the proceeds of the field from the day that she left the country until now.”

7 And Elisha came to Damascus; and Ben-hadad, king of Aram, was ill; and they said to him, The man of God has come.

Then Elisha came to Damascus while Ben-hadad king of Aram was sick, and the king was told, “The man of God has come here.”

8 Then the king said to Hazael, Take an offering with you, and go to see the man of God and get directions from the Lord by him, saying, Am I going to get better from my disease?

So the king said to Hazael, “Take a gift in your hand, go to meet the man of God, and inquire of the LORD through him, ‘Will I recover from this illness?’”

9 So Hazael went to see him, taking with him forty camels with offerings on their backs of every sort of good thing from Damascus; and when he came before him, he said, Your son Ben-hadad, king of Aram, has sent me to you, saying, Will I get better from this disease?

So Hazael went to meet Elisha, taking with him a gift of forty camel loads of every good thing from Damascus. And he went in and stood before him and said, “Your son Ben-hadad king of Aram has sent me to ask, ‘Will I recover from this illness?’”

10 And Elisha said to him, Go, say to him, You will certainly get better; but the Lord has made it clear to me that only death is before him.

Elisha answered, “Go and tell him, ‘You will surely recover.’ But the LORD has shown me that in fact he will die.”

11 And he kept his eyes fixed on him till he was shamed, and the man of God was overcome with weeping.

Elisha fixed his gaze steadily on him until Hazael became uncomfortable. Then the man of God began to weep.

12 And Hazael said, Why is my lord weeping? Then he said in answer, Because I see the evil which you will do to the children of Israel: burning down their strong towns, putting their young men to death with the sword, smashing their little ones against the stones, and cutting open the women who are with child.

“Why is my lord weeping?” asked Hazael. “Because I know the evil you will do to the Israelites,” Elisha replied. “You will set fire to their fortresses, kill their young men with the sword, dash their little ones to pieces, and rip open their pregnant women.”

13 And Hazael said, How is it possible that your servant, who is only a dog, will do this great thing? And Elisha said, The Lord has made it clear to me that you will be king over Aram.

“But how could your servant, a mere dog, do such a monstrous thing?” said Hazael. And Elisha answered, “The LORD has shown me that you will be king over Aram.”

14 Then he went away from Elisha and came in to his master, who said to him, What did Elisha say to you? And his answer was, He said that you would certainly get well.

So Hazael left Elisha and went to his master, who asked him, “What did Elisha say to you?” And he replied, “He told me that you would surely recover.”

15 Now on the day after, Hazael took the bed-cover, and making it wet with water, put it over Ben-hadad's face, causing his death: and Hazael became king in his place.

But the next day Hazael took a thick cloth, dipped it in water, and spread it over the king’s face. So Ben-hadad died, and Hazael reigned in his place.

16 In the fifth year of Joram, the son of Ahab, king of Israel, Jehoram, the son of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, became king.

In the fifth year of the reign of Joram son of Ahab over Israel, Jehoram son of Jehoshaphat succeeded his father as king of Judah.

17 He was thirty-two years old when he became king; and he was ruling in Jerusalem for eight years.

Jehoram was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eight years.

18 He went in the ways of the kings of Israel, as the family of Ahab did: for the daughter of Ahab was his wife; and he did evil in the eyes of the Lord.

And Jehoram walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, just as the house of Ahab had done. For he married a daughter of Ahab and did evil in the sight of the LORD.

19 But it was not the Lord's purpose to send destruction on Judah, because of David his servant, to whom he had given his word that he would have a light for ever.

Yet for the sake of His servant David, the LORD was unwilling to destroy Judah, since He had promised to maintain a lamp for David and his descendants forever.

20 In his time, Edom made themselves free from the rule of Judah, and took a king for themselves.

In the days of Jehoram, Edom rebelled against the hand of Judah and appointed their own king.

21 Then Joram went over to Zair, with all his war-carriages; ... made an attack by night on the Edomites, whose forces were all round him, ... the captains of the war-carriages; and the people went in flight to their tents.

So Jehoram crossed over to Zair with all his chariots. When the Edomites surrounded him and his chariot commanders, he rose up and attacked by night. His troops, however, fled to their homes.

22 So Edom made themselves free from the rule of Judah to this day. And at the same time, Libnah made itself free.

So to this day Edom has been in rebellion against the hand of Judah. Likewise, Libnah rebelled at the same time.

23 Now the rest of the acts of Joram, and all he did, are they not recorded in the book of the history of the kings of Judah?

As for the rest of the acts of Jehoram, along with all his accomplishments, are they not written in the book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah?

24 And Joram went to rest with his fathers and was put into the earth with his fathers in the town of David: and Ahaziah his son became king in his place.

And Jehoram rested with his fathers and was buried with them in the City of David. And his son Ahaziah reigned in his place.

25 In the twelfth year that Joram, the son of Ahab, was king of Israel, Ahaziah, the son of Jehoram, king of Judah, became king;

In the twelfth year of the reign of Joram son of Ahab over Israel, Ahaziah son of Jehoram became king of Judah.

26 Ahaziah was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he was ruling in Jerusalem for one year. His mother's name was Athaliah, the daughter of Omri, king of Israel.

Ahaziah was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem one year. His mother’s name was Athaliah, the granddaughter of Omri king of Israel.

27 He went in the ways of the family of Ahab, and did evil in the eyes of the Lord as the family of Ahab did, for he was a son-in-law of the family of Ahab.

And Ahaziah walked in the ways of the house of Ahab and did evil in the sight of the LORD like the house of Ahab, for he was a son-in-law of the house of Ahab.

28 He went with Joram, the son of Ahab, to make war on Hazael, king of Aram, at Ramoth-gilead: and Joram was wounded by the Aramaeans.

Then Ahaziah went with Joram son of Ahab to fight against Hazael king of Aram at Ramoth-gilead, and the Arameans wounded Joram.

29 So King Joram went back to Jezreel to get well from the wounds which the bowmen had given him at Ramah, when he was fighting against Hazael, king of Aram. And Ahaziah, the son of Jehoram, king of Judah, went down to see Joram, the son of Ahab, in Jezreel, because he was ill.

So King Joram returned to Jezreel to recover from the wounds that the Arameans had inflicted on him at Ramah when he fought against Hazael king of Aram. Then Ahaziah son of Jehoram king of Judah went down to Jezreel to visit Joram son of Ahab, because Joram had been wounded.