Kings IV 8

1 And Elisaie spoke to the woman, whose son he [had] restored to life, saying, Arise, and go you and your house, and sojourn wherever you may sojourn: for the Lord has called for a famine upon the land; indeed it is come upon the land [for] seven years.

After Elisha caused the son of the woman from Shunem [town] to become alive again, he told her that she should leave with her family and live somewhere else for a while, because Yahweh was going to (send a famine/cause food to become very scarce) in the land. He said that the famine would last for seven years.

2 And the woman arose, and did according to the word of Elisaie, both she and her house; and they sojourned in the land of the Philistines seven years.

So the woman did what Elisha told her to do. She and her family went to live in [the] Philistia [region] for seven years.

3 And it came to pass after the expiration of the seven years, that the woman returned out of the land of the Philistines to the city; and came to cry to the king for her house and for her lands.

After the seven years were ended, they returned to their home. The woman went to the king to request that her house and her land be given back to her.

4 And the king spoke to Giezi the servant of Elisaie the man of God, saying, Tell me, I pray you, all the great things which Elisaie has done.

When she arrived, the king was talking with Gehazi, Elisha’s servant. The king was saying to him, “Tell me all the great things that Elisha has done.”

5 And it came to pass, as he was telling the king how he had restored to life the dead son, behold, the woman whose son Elisaie restored to life [came] crying to the king for her house and for her lands. And Giezi said, My lord, O king, this [is] the woman, and this [is] her son, whom Elisaie restored to life.

While Gehazi was telling the king that Elisha had caused the son of a woman [from Shunem] to become alive again, that woman came in and requested the king to enable her to get her house and land back again. Gehazi exclaimed, “Your Majesty, this is the woman whose son Elisha caused to become alive again!”

6 And the king asked the woman, and she told him: and the king appointed her a eunuch, saying, Restore all that was hers, and all the fruits of the field from the day that she left the land until now.

When the king asked her about it, she told him [that what Gehazi had said was true]. The king summoned one of his officials and said to him, “[I want] everything that this woman possessed previously, including the value of all the crops that have been harvested during these last seven years while she was away from her land, [to] be given back to her.” [So the official did that].

7 And Elisaie came to Damascus; and the king of Syria the son of Ader was ill, and they brought him word, saying, The man of God is come here.

Elisha went to Damascus, [the capital of Syria], when Ben-Hadad, the king of Syria, was [very] sick. When someone told the king that Elisha was in Damascus,

8 And the king said to Azael, Take in your hand a present, and go to meet the man of God, and enquire of the Lord by him, saying, Shall I recover of this my disease?

the king told [one of his officials named] Hazael, “Go and talk to that prophet and take a present/gift with you to give to him. Request him to ask Yahweh if I will recover from my illness.”

9 And Azael went to meet him, and he took a present in his hand, and all the good things of Damascus, forty camels' load, and came and stood before him, and said to Elisaie, Your son the son of Ader, the king of Syria, has sent me to you to enquire, saying, Shall I recover of this my disease?

So Hazael went to talk with Elisha. He took with him forty camels that were carrying many kinds of goods that were produced in Damascus. When Hazael met him, he said to him, “Your friend Ben-Hadad, the king of Syria, sent me to ask you whether [you think] he will recover from his illness.”

10 And Elisaie said, Go, say, You shall certainly live; yet the Lord has showed me that you shall surely die.

Elisha said to Hazael, “Go and say to him, ‘Yes, you will certainly not die from this illness,’ but Yahweh has shown me that he will certainly die [before he recovers].”

11 And he stood before him, and fixed [his countenance] till he was ashamed: and the man of God wept.

Then Elisha stared at him and had a terrified look on his face. That caused Hazael to feel uneasy/embarrassed. Then [suddenly] Elisha started to cry.

12 And Azael said, Why does my lord weep? And he said, Because I know all the evil that you will do to the children of Israel: you will utterly destroy their strong holds with fire, and you will kill their choice men with the sword, and you will dash their infants [against the ground], and their women with child you will rip up.

Hazael said, “Sir, why are you crying?” Elisha replied, “Because [Yahweh has enabled] me [to] know the terrible things that you will do to the people of Israel: You will burn their cities with walls around them, you will kill their fine young men with a sword, you will bash the heads of their children, and you will rip open the bellies of their pregnant women [with a sword].”

13 And Azael said, Who is your servant? a dead dog, that he should do this thing? And Elisaie said, The Lord has shown me you ruling over Syria.

Hazael replied, “I am [as insignificant as] [MET] a dog; (how could I do such things?/I would never do such terrible things!)” [RHQ] Elisha replied, “Yahweh has also revealed to me that you will become the king of Syria.”

14 And he departed from Elisaie, and went in to his lord; and he said to him, What said Elisaie to you? and he said, He said to me, You shall surely live.

Then Hazael left and returned to his master/boss [the king], who asked him, “What did Elisha say?” He replied, “He told me that you would certainly recover.”

15 And it came to pass on the next day that he took a thick cloth, and dipped it in water, and put it on his face, and he died: and Azael reigned in his stead.

But the next day, [while the king was sleeping, ] Hazael took a blanket and soaked it in water. Then he spread it on the king’s face [in order that he could not breathe], and he died. Then Hazael became the king of Syria instead of Ben-Hadad.

16 In the fifth year of Joram son of Achaab king of Israel, and while Josaphat was king of Juda, Joram the son of Josaphat king of Juda began to reign.

After King Joram, the son of Ahab, had been ruling in Israel for almost five years, Jehoshaphat’s son Jehoram became the king of Judah.

17 Thirty and two years old was he when he began to reign, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem.

He was thirty-two years old when he became the king, and he ruled in Jerusalem for eight years.

18 And he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, as did the house of Achaab; for the daughter of Achaab was his wife: and he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord.

His wife was the daughter of King Ahab. And like everyone in Ahab’s family, he continually did the evil things that the previous kings of Israel had done. He did things that Yahweh considered to be evil.

19 But the Lord would not destroy Juda for David his servant's sake, as he said he would give a light to him and to his sons continually.

But Yahweh did not want to get rid of the people of Judah, because of what he had promised David, who served him [very well]. He had promised David that his descendants [MET] would always rule Judah.

20 In his days Edom revolted from under the hand of Juda, and they made a king over themselves.

During the time that Jehoram ruled, [the king of] Edom rebelled against Judah, and they appointed their own king.

21 And Joram went up to Sior, and all the chariots that were with him: and it came to pass after he had arisen, that he struck Edom who compassed him about, and the captains of the chariots; and the people fled to their tents.

So Jehoram went with his army and all their chariots to Zair [city near the border of Edom]. There the army of Edom surrounded them. But during the night, Jehoram and the commanders in their chariots were able to get through the enemy lines and escaped. And all his soldiers also fled to their homes.

22 Yet Edom revolted from under the hand of Juda till this day. Then Lobna revolted at that time.

So after that, Edom was no longer controlled by Judah, and it is still like that. During that same time, the people of Libnah [city] also freed themselves from being controlled by Judah.

23 And the rest of the acts of Joram, and all that he did, behold, are not these written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Juda?

[If you want to read about] the other things that Jehoram did, they are written in the scroll called ‘The History of the Kings of Judah’.

24 So Joram slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of his father David: and Ochozias his son reigned in his stead.

Jehoram died [EUP] and was buried where the other kings of Judah had been buried in [the part of Jerusalem called] ‘The City of David’. Then Jehoram’s son Ahaziah became the king.

25 In the twelfth year of Joram son of Achaab king of Israel, Ochozias son of Joram began to reign.

After Ahab’s son Joram has been ruling in Israel for almost twelve years, Jehoram’s son Ahaziah became the king of Judah.

26 Twenty and two years old [was] Ochozias when he began to reign, and he reigned one year in Jerusalem: and the name of his mother [was] Gotholia, daughter of Ambri king of Israel.

Ahaziah was twenty-two years old when he started to rule. He ruled in Jerusalem for [only] one year. His mother’s name was Athaliah, [the daughter of King Ahab and] the granddaughter of King Omri of Israel.

27 And he walked in the way of the house of Achaab, and did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, as did the house of Achaab.

King Ahab conducted his life just like the members of Ahab’s family had done. He did things that Yahweh considered to be very evil.

28 And he went with Joram the son of Achaab to war against Azael king of the Syrians in Remmoth Galaad; and the Syrians wounded Joram.

Ahaziah’s army joined the army of King Joram of Israel to fight against the army of King Hazael of Syria. Their armies started fighting at Ramoth [city] in [the] Gilead [region], and the soldiers of Syria wounded Joram.

29 And king Joram returned to be healed in Jezrael of the wounds with which they wounded him in Remmoth, when he fought with Azael king of Syria. And Ochozias son of Joram went down to see Joram the son of Achaab in Jezrael, because he was sick.

King Joram returned to Jezreel [city] to recover from his wounds. King Ahaziah went to visit him there.