The Shunammite’s Land Restored
1 Now Elisha had said to tthe woman whose son he had restored to life, “Arise, and udepart with your household, and sojourn wherever you can, for the Lord has vcalled for a famine, and it will come upon the land for seven years.” 2 So the woman arose and did according to the word of the man of God. She went with her household and sojourned in the land of the Philistines seven years. 3 And at the end of the seven years, when the woman returned from the land of the Philistines, she went to appeal to the king for her house and her land. 4 Now the king was talking with wGehazi the servant of the man of God, saying, “Tell me all the great things that Elisha has done.” 5 And while he was telling the king how xElisha had restored the dead to life, behold, the woman whose son he had restored to life appealed to the king for her house and her land. And Gehazi said, “My lord, O king, here is the woman, and here is her son whom Elisha restored to life.” 6 And when the king asked the woman, she told him. So the king appointed an official for her, saying, “Restore all that was hers, together with all the produce of the fields from the day that she left the land until now.”
Hazael Murders Ben-hadad
7 Now Elisha came to Damascus. yBen-hadad the king of Syria was sick. And when it was told him, “The man of God has come here,” 8 the king said to zHazael, “Take a apresent with you and go to meet the man of God, and inquire of the Lord through him, saying, b‘Shall I recover from this sickness?’” 9 So Hazael went to meet him, and took a present with him, all kinds of goods of Damascus, forty camels’ loads. When he came and stood before him, he said, “Your son Ben-hadad king of Syria has sent me to you, saying, ‘Shall I recover from this sickness?’” 10 And Elisha said to him, “Go, say to him, ‘You shall certainly recover,’ but1 the Lord has shown me that he shall certainly die.” 11 And he fixed his gaze and stared at him, until he was embarrassed. And the man of God wept. 12 And Hazael said, “Why does my lord weep?” He answered, “Because I know the evil that you will do to the people of Israel. You will set on fire their fortresses, and you will ckill their young men with the sword and ddash in pieces their little ones and rip open their pregnant women.” 13 And Hazael said, “What is your servant, who is but a edog, that he should do this great thing?” Elisha answered, “The Lord has shown me that you are to be king over Syria.” 14 Then he departed from Elisha and came to his master, who said to him, “What did Elisha say to you?” And he answered, “He told me that you would certainly recover.” 15 But the next day he took the bed cloth2 and dipped it in water and spread it over his face, till he died. And Hazael became king in his place.
Jehoram Reigns in Judah
16 fIn the fifth year of gJoram the son of Ahab, king of Israel, when hJehoshaphat was king of Judah,3 iJehoram the son of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, began to reign. 17 He was jthirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. 18 And he kwalked in the way of the kings of Israel, as the house of Ahab had done, for the daughter of Ahab was his wife. And he ldid what was evil in the sight of the Lord. 19 Yet the Lord was not willing to destroy Judah, for the sake of David his servant, since mhe promised to give a nlamp to him and to his sons forever.
20 In his days oEdom prevolted from the rule of Judah and set up a king of their own. 21 Then Joram4 passed over to Zair with all his chariots and rose by night, and he and his chariot commanders struck the Edomites who had surrounded him, but his army qfled home. 22 So Edom revolted from the rule of Judah rto this day. Then sLibnah revolted at the same time. 23 tNow the rest of the acts of Joram, and all that he did, are they not written in the uBook of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? 24 So Joram slept with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of David, and Ahaziah his son reigned in his place.
Ahaziah Reigns in Judah
25 vIn the twelfth year of wJoram the son of Ahab, king of Israel, xAhaziah the son of Jehoram, king of Judah, began to reign. 26 Ahaziah was twenty-two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was yAthaliah; she was a granddaughter of zOmri king of Israel. 27 He also awalked in the way of the house of Ahab and bdid what was evil in the sight of the Lord, as the house of Ahab had done, for he was son-in-law to the house of Ahab.
28 He went with Joram the son of Ahab to make war against Hazael king of Syria at Ramoth-gilead, and the Syrians wounded Joram. 29 And King Joram creturned to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds that the Syrians had given him at Ramah, when he fought against Hazael king of Syria. And Ahaziah the son of Jehoram king of Judah went down to see Joram the son of Ahab in Jezreel, because he was sick.
Jehoram Reigns in Judah
1 Jehoshaphat slept with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of David, and zJehoram his son reigned in his place. 2 He had brothers, the sons of Jehoshaphat: Azariah, Jehiel, Zechariah, Azariah, Michael, and Shephatiah; all these were the sons of Jehoshaphat king of Israel.1 3 Their father gave them great gifts of silver, gold, and valuable possessions, together with afortified cities in Judah, but he gave the kingdom to Jehoram, because he was the firstborn. 4 When Jehoram had ascended the throne of his father and was established, he killed all his brothers with the sword, and also some of the princes of Israel. 5 bJehoram was cthirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. 6 And he dwalked in the way of the kings of Israel, as the house of Ahab had done, efor the daughter of Ahab was his wife. And he fdid what was evil in the sight of the Lord. 7 Yet the Lord was not willing to destroy the house of David, because of the gcovenant that he had made with David, and since hhe had promised to give a ilamp to him and to his sons forever.
8 In his days jEdom krevolted from the rule of Judah and set up a king of their own. 9 Then Jehoram passed over with his commanders and all his chariots, and he rose by night and struck the Edomites who had surrounded him and his chariot commanders. 10 So Edom revolted from the rule of Judah lto this day. At that time Libnah also revolted from his rule, because he had forsaken the Lord, the God of his fathers.
11 Moreover, he made high places in the hill country of Judah and led the inhabitants of Jerusalem into mwhoredom and made Judah go astray. 12 And a letter came to him from Elijah the prophet, saying, “Thus says the Lord, the God of David your father, ‘Because you have not walked in the ways of Jehoshaphat your father, or in nthe ways of Asa king of Judah, 13 but have walked in the way of the kings of Israel and have enticed Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem into whoredom, as the house of Ahab led Israel into whoredom, and also you have killed your brothers, of your father’s house, who were better than you, 14 behold, the Lord will bring a great plague on your people, your children, your wives, and all your possessions, 15 and you yourself will have a severe sickness with a disease of your bowels, until your bowels come out because of the disease, day by day.’”
16 And the Lord stirred up against Jehoram the anger2 of the Philistines and of the Arabians who are near the Ethiopians. 17 And they came up against Judah and invaded it and carried away all the possessions they found that belonged to the king’s house, and also his sons and his wives, so that no son was left to him except Jehoahaz, his youngest son.
18 oAnd after all this the Lord pstruck him in his bowels with an incurable disease. 19 In the course of time, at the end of two years, his bowels came out because of the disease, and he died in great agony. His people made no qfire in his honor, like the fires made for his fathers. 20 He was rthirty-two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. And he departed with no one’s regret. They buried him in the city of David, but snot in the tombs of the kings.
Ahaziah Reigns in Judah
1 tAnd the inhabitants of Jerusalem made uAhaziah, his youngest son, king in his place, for the band of men that came with the Arabians to the camp had killed all the older sons. So Ahaziah the son of Jehoram king of Judah reigned. 2 Ahaziah was twenty-two3 years old when he began to reign, and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was vAthaliah, the granddaughter of wOmri. 3 He also xwalked in the ways of the house of Ahab, for his mother was his counselor in doing wickedly. 4 He ydid what was evil in the sight of the Lord, as the house of Ahab had done. For after the death of his father they were his counselors, to his undoing. 5 He even followed their counsel and went with zJehoram the son of Ahab king of Israel to make war against aHazael king of Syria at Ramoth-gilead. And the Syrians wounded Joram, 6 and he breturned to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds that he had received at Ramah, when he fought against Hazael king of Syria. And Ahaziah the son of Jehoram king of Judah went down to see Joram the son of Ahab in Jezreel, because he was wounded.
