2 Kings 5-6

Contemporary English Version

Elisha Heals Naaman

5 ^(A) Naaman was the commander of the Syrian army. The Lord had helped him and his troops defeat their enemies, so the king of Syria respected Naaman very much. Naaman was a brave soldier, but he had leprosy.^[a]

² One day while the Syrian troops were raiding Israel, they captured a girl, and she became a servant of Naaman's wife. ³ Some time later the girl said, “If your husband Naaman would go to the prophet in Samaria, he would be cured of his leprosy.”

⁴ When Naaman told the king what the girl had said, ⁵ the king replied, “Go ahead! I will give you a letter to take to the king of Israel.”

Naaman left and took along 30,000 pieces of silver, 6,000 pieces of gold, and 10 new outfits. ⁶ He also carried the letter to the king of Israel. It said, “I am sending my servant Naaman to you. Would you cure him of his leprosy?”

⁷ When the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes in fear and shouted, “That Syrian king believes I can cure this man of leprosy! Does he think I'm God with power over life and death? He must be trying to pick a fight with me.”

⁸ As soon as Elisha the prophet^[b] heard what had happened, he sent the Israelite king this message: “Why are you so afraid? Send the man to me, so that he will know there is a prophet in Israel.”

⁹ Naaman left with his horses and chariots and stopped at the door of Elisha's house. ¹⁰ Elisha sent someone outside to say to him, “Go wash seven times in the Jordan River. Then you'll be completely cured.”

¹¹ But Naaman stormed off, grumbling, “Why couldn't he come out and talk to me? I thought for sure he would stand in front of me and pray to the Lord his God, then wave his hand over my skin and cure me. ¹² What about the Abana River^[c] or the Pharpar River? Those rivers in Damascus are just as good as any river in Israel. I could have washed in them and been cured.”

¹³ His servants went over to him and said, “Sir, if the prophet had told you to do something difficult, you would have done it. So why don't you do what he said? Go wash and be cured.”

¹⁴ Naaman walked down to the Jordan; he waded out into the water and stooped down in it seven times, just as Elisha had told him. At once, he was cured, and his skin became as smooth as a child's.

¹⁵ Naaman and his officials went back to Elisha. Naaman stood in front of him and announced, “Now I know that the God of Israel is the only God in the whole world. Sir, would you please accept a gift from me?”

¹⁶ “I am a servant of the living Lord,” Elisha answered, “and I swear that I will not take anything from you.”

Naaman kept begging, but Elisha kept refusing. ¹⁷ Finally Naaman said, “If you won't accept a gift, then please let me take home as much soil as two mules can pull in a wagon. Sir, from now on I will offer sacrifices only to the Lord.^{[d] 18} But I pray that the Lord will forgive me when I go into the temple of the god Rimmon and bow down there with the king of Syria.”

¹⁹ “Go on home, and don't worry about that,” Elisha replied. Then Naaman left.

Elisha Places a Curse on Gehazi

After Naaman had gone only a short distance, ²⁰ Gehazi said to himself, “Elisha let that Syrian off too easy. He should have taken Naaman's gift. I swear by the living Lord that I will talk to Naaman myself and get something from him.” ²¹ So he hurried after Naaman.

When Naaman saw Gehazi running after him, he got out of his chariot to meet him. Naaman asked, “Is everything all right?”

²² “Yes,” Gehazi answered. “But my master has sent me to tell you about two young prophets from the hills of Ephraim. They came asking for help, and now Elisha wants to know if you would give them 3,000 pieces of silver and some new clothes?”

²³ “Sure,” Naaman replied. “But why don't you take twice that amount of silver?” He convinced Gehazi to take it all, then put the silver in two bags. He handed the bags and the clothes to his two servants, and they carried them for Gehazi.

²⁴ When they reached the hill where Gehazi lived, he took the bags from the servants and placed them in his house, then sent the men away. After they had gone, ²⁵ Gehazi went in and stood in front of Elisha, who asked, “Gehazi, where have you been?”

“Nowhere, sir,” Gehazi answered.

²⁶ Elisha asked, “Don't you know that my spirit was there when Naaman got out of his chariot to talk with you? Gehazi, you have no right to accept money or clothes, olive orchards or vineyards, sheep or cattle, or servants. ²⁷ Because of what you've done, Naaman's leprosy^[e] will now be on you and your descendants forever!”

Suddenly, Gehazi's skin became white with leprosy, and he left.

Elisha Makes an Ax Head Float

6 One day the prophets said to Elisha, “The place where we meet with you is too small. ² Why don't we build a new meeting place near the Jordan River? Each of us could get some wood, then we could build it.”

“That's a good idea,” Elisha replied, “get started.”

³ “Aren't you going with us?” one of the prophets asked.

“Yes, I'll go,” Elisha answered, ⁴ and he left with them.

They went to the Jordan River and began chopping down trees. ⁵ While one of the prophets was working, his ax head fell off and dropped into the water. “Oh!” he shouted. “Sir, I borrowed this ax.”

⁶ “Where did it fall in?” Elisha asked. The prophet pointed to the place, and Elisha cut a stick and threw it into the water at that spot. The ax head floated to the top of the water.

⁷ “Now get it,” Elisha told him. And the prophet reached in and grabbed it.

Elisha Stops an Invasion of the Syrian Army

⁸ Time after time, when the king of Syria was at war against the Israelites, he met with his officers and announced, “I've decided where we will set up camp.”

⁹ Each time, Elisha^[f] would send this warning to the king of Israel: “Don't go near there. That's where the Syrian troops have set up camp.”^{[g] 10} So the king would warn the Israelite troops in that place to be on guard.

¹¹ The king of Syria was furious when he found out what was happening. He called in his officers and asked, “Which one of you has been telling the king of Israel our plans?”

¹² “None of us, Your Majesty,” one of them answered. “It's an Israelite named Elisha. He's a prophet, so he can tell his king everything—even what you say in your own room.”

¹³ “Find out where he is!” the king ordered. “I'll send soldiers to bring him here.”

They learned that Elisha was in the town of Dothan^[h] and reported it to the king. ¹⁴ He ordered his best troops to go there with horses and chariots. They marched out during the night and surrounded the town.

¹⁵ When Elisha's servant got up the next morning, he saw that Syrian troops had the town surrounded. “Sir, what are we going to do?” he asked.

¹⁶ “Don't be afraid,” Elisha answered. “There are more troops on our side than on theirs.” ¹⁷ Then he prayed, “Lord, please help him to see.” And the Lord let the servant see that the hill^[i] was covered with fiery horses and flaming chariots all around Elisha.

¹⁸ As the Syrian army came closer, Elisha prayed, “Lord, make those soldiers blind!” And the Lord blinded them with a bright light.

¹⁹ Elisha told the enemy troops, “You've taken the wrong road and are in the wrong town. Follow me. I'll lead you to the man you're looking for.” Elisha led them straight to the capital city of Samaria.

²⁰ When all the soldiers were inside the city, Elisha prayed, “Lord, now let them see again.” The Lord let them see that they were standing in the middle of Samaria.

²¹ The king of Israel saw them and asked Elisha, “Should I kill them, sir?”

²² “No!” Elisha answered. “You didn't capture these troops in battle, so you have no right to kill them. Instead, give them something to eat and drink and let them return to their leader.”

²³ The king ordered a huge meal to be prepared for Syria's army, and when they finished eating, he let them go.

For a while, the Syrian troops stopped invading Israel's territory.

King Benhadad of Syria Attacks Samaria

²⁴ Some time later, King Benhadad of Syria^[j] called his entire army together, then they marched to Samaria and attacked. ²⁵ They kept up the attack until there was nothing to eat in the city. In fact, a donkey's head cost 80 pieces of silver, and a small bowl of pigeon droppings^[k] cost 5 pieces of silver.

²⁶ One day as the king of Israel^[l] was walking along the top of the city wall, a woman shouted to him, “Please, Your Majesty, help me!”

²⁷ “Let the Lord help you!” the king said. “Do you think I have grain or wine to give you?” ²⁸ Then he asked, “What's the matter anyway?”

The woman answered, “Another woman and I were so hungry that we agreed to eat our sons. She said if we ate my son one day, we could eat hers the next day. ^29 (B) So yesterday we cooked my son and ate him. But today when I went to her house to eat her son, she had hidden him.”

³⁰ The king tore off his clothes in sorrow, and since he was on top of the city wall, the people saw that he was wearing sackcloth underneath. ³¹ He said, “I pray that God will punish me terribly, if Elisha's head is still on his shoulders by this time tomorrow.” ³² Then he sent a messenger to Elisha.

Elisha was home at the time, and the important leaders of Israel were meeting with him. Even before the king's messenger arrived, Elisha told the leaders, “That murderer^[m] is sending someone to cut off my head. When you see him coming, shut the door and don't let him in. I'm sure the king himself will be right behind him.”

³³ Before Elisha finished talking, the messenger^[n] came up and said, “The Lord has made all these terrible things happen to us. Why should I think he will help us now?”