The Shunammite’s Land Restored
1 Now Elisha had said to the woman qwhose son he had restored to life, “Arise, and depart with your household, and sojourn wherever you can, for the Lord rhas called for a famine, and it will come upon the land for sseven 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 tGehazi 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 qElisha 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 uDamascus. vBen-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 wHazael, x“Take a present with you and go to meet the man of God, yand inquire of the Lord through him, saying, ‘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, z“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, a“Go, say to him, ‘You shall certainly recover,’ but1 the Lord has shown me that bhe shall certainly die.” 11 And he fixed his gaze and stared at him, cuntil he was embarrassed. And the man of God wept. 12 And Hazael said, “Why does my lord weep?” He answered, “Because I know dthe evil that you will do to the people of Israel. You will set on fire their fortresses, and you will kill their young men with the sword eand dash in pieces their little ones and rip open their pregnant women.” 13 And Hazael said, “What is your servant, fwho is but a dog, that he should do this great thing?” Elisha answered, g“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 hthat 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 In the fifth year of iJoram the son of Ahab, king of Israel, when Jehoshaphat was king of Judah,3 Jehoram 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 walked in the way of the kings of Israel, as the house of Ahab had done, for kthe daughter of Ahab was his wife. And he did 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, lsince he promised to give ma lamp to him and to his sons forever.
20 In his days Edom revolted from the rule of Judah and set up na 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 ofled home. 22 pSo Edom revolted from the rule of Judah to this day. Then qLibnah revolted at the same time. 23 Now the rest of the acts of Joram, and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? 24 So Joram slept with his fathers and was buried rwith his fathers in the city of David, and sAhaziah his son reigned in his place.
Ahaziah Reigns in Judah
25 tIn the utwelfth year of Joram the son of Ahab, king of Israel, Ahaziah the son of Jehoram, king of Judah, began to reign. 26 Ahaziah was vtwenty-two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Athaliah; she was wa granddaughter of Omri king of Israel. 27 He also walked in the way of the house of Ahab and did 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 xHazael king of Syria at yRamoth-gilead, and the Syrians wounded Joram. 29 zAnd King Joram returned to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds that the Syrians had given him at aRamah, when he fought against Hazael king of Syria. And bAhaziah 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 dJehoshaphat slept with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of David, and Jehoram 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 eIsrael.1 3 Their father gave them great gifts of silver, gold, and valuable possessions, together with ffortified 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 eIsrael. 5 gJehoram was hthirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. 6 iAnd he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, as the house of Ahab had done, for jthe daughter of Ahab was his wife. And he did 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 covenant that he had made with David, and since he had promised to give ka lamp to him and to his sons forever.
8 In his days Edom revolted from the lrule 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 mthe rule of Judah to 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 ninto whoredom 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, o‘Because you have not walked in the ways of Jehoshaphat your father, or pin the ways of Asa king of Judah, 13 ibut have walked in the way of the kings of Israel and have enticed Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem ninto whoredom, qas the house of Ahab led Israel into whoredom, and also you rhave 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 swith a disease of your bowels, until your bowels come out because of the disease, day by day.’”
16 tAnd the Lord stirred up against Jehoram the anger2 of the Philistines and of uthe 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 vJehoahaz, his youngest son.
18 And after all this the Lord struck him win 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 fire in his honor, xlike the fires made for his fathers. 20 yHe was thirty-two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. And he departed zwith no one’s regret. aThey buried him in the city of David, but not in the tombs of the kings.
Ahaziah Reigns in Judah
1 bAnd the inhabitants of Jerusalem made Ahaziah, his youngest son, king in his place, for the band of men that came with cthe 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 Athaliah, dthe granddaughter of Omri. 3 He also walked in the ways of the house of Ahab, for his mother was his counselor in doing wickedly. 4 He did 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 Jehoram the son of Ahab king of Israel to make war against Hazael king of Syria at Ramoth-gilead. And the Syrians wounded Joram, 6 and he returned 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.
