2 Kings 8

1 Now Elisha had spoken to the woman whose son he had restored to life. He said to her, “Arise, and go with your household, and stay wherever you can in another land, because Yahweh has called for a famine which will come on this 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 So the woman arose and she obeyed the word of the man of God. She went with her household and lived 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 It came about at the end of seven years that the woman returned from the land of the Philistines, and she went to the king to beg him for her house and for her land.

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 Now the king was talking with Gehazi the servant of the man of God, saying, “Please tell me all the great things that Elisha 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 Then as he was telling the king how Elisha had restored to life the child who was dead, the very woman whose son he had restored to life came to beg the king for her house and land. Gehazi said, “My master, king, this is the woman, and this is her son, whom Elisha 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 When the king asked the woman about her son, she explained it to him. So the king ordered a certain officer for her, saying, “Give back to her all that was hers and all the harvests of her fields since 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 Elisha came to Damascus where Ben Hadad the king of Aram was sick. The king was told, “The man of God has 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 The king said to Hazael, “Take a gift in your hand and go meet the man of God, and consult with Yahweh through him, saying, 'Will I recover from this sickness?'”

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 So Hazael went to meet him and took a gift with him of every kind of good thing of Damascus, carried by forty camels. So Hazael came and stood before Elisha and said, “Your son Ben Hadad king of Aram has sent me to you, saying, 'Will I recover from this sickness?'”

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 Elisha said to him, “Go, say to Ben Hadad, 'You will surely recover,' but Yahweh has shown me that he will 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 Then Elisha stared at Hazael until 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 Hazael asked, “Why do you weep, my master?” He answered, “Because I know the evil that you will do to the people of Israel. You will set their strongholds on fire, and you will kill their young men with the sword, dash in pieces their little ones, and rip open 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 Hazael replied, “Who is your servant, that he should do this great thing? He is only a dog.” Elisha answered, “Yahweh has shown me that you will be king over Aram.”

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 Then Hazael left Elisha and came to his master, who said to him, “What did Elisha say to you?” He answered, “He told me that you would certainly 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 Then the next day Hazael took the blanket and dipped it in water, and spread it on Ben Hadad's face so that he died. Then Hazael became king in his place.

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 Ahab, king of Israel, Jehoram began to reign. He was the son of Jehoshaphat king of Judah. He began to reign when Jehoshaphat was king of Judah.

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 Jehoram was thirty-two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned for eight years in Jerusalem.

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

18 Jehoram walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, as the house of Ahab was doing; for he had Ahab's daughter as his wife, and he did what was evil in Yahweh's sight.

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 However, because of his servant David, Yahweh did not want to destroy Judah, since he had told him that he would always give him descendants.

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 Jehoram's days, Edom revolted from under the hand of Judah, and they set a king over themselves.

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

21 Then Jehoram crossed over to Zair with all his chariots. When the Edomites surrounded Jehoram, his chariot commanders rose up and attacked them during the night; but Jehoram's army ran away and went back to their homes.

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 has been in rebellion against the rule of Judah to this present day. Libnah 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 As for the other matters concerning Jehoram, all that he did, are they not written in the book of the events of the kings of Judah?

[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 Jehoram rested with his fathers and was buried with them in the city of David. Then Ahaziah his son became king in his place.

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 Ahab, king of Israel, Ahaziah son of Jehoram, king of Judah, 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 Ahaziah was twenty-two years old when he began to reign; he reigned for one year in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Athaliah; she was the daughter of Omri, 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 Ahaziah walked in the ways of the house of Ahab; he did what was evil in the sight of Yahweh, as the house of Ahab was doing, for Ahaziah was a son-in-law to the house of Ahab.

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 Ahaziah went with Joram son of Ahab, to fight against Hazael, king of Aram, at Ramoth Gilead. The Arameans 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 King Joram returned to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds that the Arameans had given him at Ramah, when he fought against Hazael king of Aram. So Ahaziah son of Jehoram, king of Judah, went down to Jezreel to see Joram son of Ahab, because Joram had been wounded.

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