2 Kings 8

1 And Eliseus spoke to the woman, whose son he had restored to life, saying: Arise, and go thou and thy household, and sojourn wheresoever thou canst find: for the Lord hath exiled a famine, and it shall come upon the land 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 she arose, and did according to the word of the man of God: and going with her household, she sojourned in the land of the Philistines many days.

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 when the seven years were ended, the woman returned out of the land of the Philistines, and she went forth to speak 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 talked with Giezi, the servant of the man of God, saying: Tell me all the great things that Eliseus hath 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 when he was telling the king how he had raised one dead to life, the woman appeared, whose son he had restored to life, crying to the king for her house, and her lands. And Giezi said: My lord O king, this is the woman, and this is her son, whom Eliseus raised 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 an eunuch, saying: Restore her all that is hers, and all the revenues of the lands, from the day that she left the land, to this present.

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 Eliseus also came to Damascus, and Benadad king of Syria was sick: and they told him, saying: The man of God is come hither.

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 Hazael: Take with thee presents, and go to meet the man of God, and consult the Lord by him, saying: Can I recover of this my illness?

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 Hazael went to meet him, taking with him presents, and all the good things of Damascus, the burdens of forty camels. And when he stood before him, he said: Thy son Benadad the king of Syria hath sent me to thee, saying: Can I recover of this my illness?

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 Eliseus said to him: Go tell him: Thou shalt recover: bat the Lord hath shewn me that he 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 with him, and was troubled so far as to blush: 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 Hazael said to him: Why doth my lord weep? And he said: Because I know the evil that thou wilt do to the children of Israel. Their strong cities then wilt burn with fire, and their young men thou wilt kill with the sword, and thou wilt dash their children, and rip up their pregnant women.

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 Hazael said: But what am I thy servant a dog, that I should do this great thing? And Eliseus said: The Lord hath shewn me that thou shalt be king of 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 when he was departed from Eliseus, he came to his master, who said to him: What saith Eliseus to thee? And he answered: He told me: Thou shalt recover.

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 on the next day he took a blanket, and pouted water on it, and spread it upon his face: and he died, and Hazael 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 Achab king of Israel, and of Josaphat king of Juda, reigned Joram son of Josaphat king of Juda.

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 He was two and thirty years old 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 ways of the kings of Israel, as the house of Achab had walked: for the daughter of Achab 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 had promised him, to give him a light, and to his children always.

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 being under Juda, and made themselves a king.

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

21 And Joram came to Seira, and all the chariots with him: and he arose in the night, and defeated the Edomites that had surrounded him, and the captains of the chariots, but the people fled into 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 So Edom revolted from being under Juda, unto this day. Then Lobna also revolted at the same 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 But the rest of the acts of Joram, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the words of the days 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 And Joram slept with his fathers, and was buried with them in the city of David, and Ochozias his son reigned in Iris 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 Achab king of Israel, reigned Ochozias son of Joram king of Juda.

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

26 Ochozias was two and twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned one year in Jerusalem: the name of his mother was Athalia the daughter of Amri 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 ways of the house of Achab: and he did evil before the Lord, as did the house of Achab: for he was the son in law of the house of Achab.

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 He went also with Joram son of Achab, to fight against Hazael king of Syria in Ramoth 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 he went back to be healed, in Jezrahel: because the Syrians had wounded him in Ramoth when he fought against Hazael king of Syria. And Ochozias the son of Joram king of Juda, went down to visit Joram the son of Achab in Jezrahel, because he was sick there.

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