2 Kings 8

1 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.

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.

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

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.

3 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.

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.

4 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.”

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.

5 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!”

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.

6 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].

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.

7 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,

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

8 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.”

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?

9 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.”

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?

10 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].”

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.

11 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.

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

12 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].”

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.

13 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.”

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.

14 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.”

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.

15 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.

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.

16 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.

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

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

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

18 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.

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.

19 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.

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.

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

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

21 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.

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.

22 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.

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

23 [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’.

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?

24 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.

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.

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

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

26 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.

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.

27 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.

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.

28 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.

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.

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

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.