2 Kings 7-8

Holman Christian Standard Bible

Aram Defeated

7 Elisha replied, “Hear the word of the Lord! This is what the Lord says: ‘About this time tomorrow at the gate of Samaria, six quarts^[a] of fine meal will sell for a shekel^[b] and 12 quarts^[c] of barley will sell for a shekel.’”^[d](A)

² Then the captain, the king’s right-hand man,^(B) responded to the man of God,^(C) “Look, even if the Lord were to make windows in heaven, could this really happen?”^(D)

Elisha announced, “You will in fact see it with your own eyes, but you won’t eat any of it.”^(E)

³ Four men with a skin disease^(F) were at the entrance to the gate. They said to each other, “Why just sit here until we die? ⁴ If we say, ‘Let’s go into the city,’ we will die there because the famine is in the city, but if we sit here, we will also die. So now, come on. Let’s go to the Arameans’ camp.^(G) If they let us live, we will live; if they kill us, we will die.”

⁵ So the diseased men got up at twilight to go to the Arameans’ camp. When they came to the camp’s edge, they discovered that there was not a single man there, ⁶ for the Lord^[e] had caused the Aramean camp to hear the sound of chariots, horses, and a great army.^(H) The Arameans had said to each other, “The king of Israel must have hired the kings of the Hittites^(I) and the kings of Egypt^(J) to attack us.” ⁷ So they had gotten up and fled^(K) at twilight, abandoning their tents, horses, and donkeys. The camp was intact, and they had fled for their lives.

⁸ When these men came to the edge of the camp, they went into a tent to eat and drink. Then they picked up the silver, gold, and clothing and went off and hid them. They came back and entered another tent, picked things up, and hid them.^{(L) 9} Then they said to each other, “We’re not doing what is right. Today is a day of good news.^(M) If we are silent and wait until morning light, our sin will catch up with us. Let’s go tell the king’s household.”

¹⁰ The diseased men went and called to the city’s gatekeepers and told them, “We went to the Aramean camp and no one was there—no human sounds. There was nothing but tethered horses and donkeys, and the tents were intact.” ¹¹ The gatekeepers called out, and the news was reported to the king’s household.

¹² So the king got up in the night and said to his servants, “Let me tell you what the Arameans have done to us. They know we are starving,^(N) so they have left the camp to hide in the open country, thinking, ‘When they come out of the city, we will take them alive and go into the city.’”^(O)

¹³ But one of his servants responded, “Please, let messengers take five of the horses that are left in the city. Their fate is like the entire Israelite community who will die,^[f] so let’s send them and see.”

¹⁴ The messengers took two chariots with horses, and the king sent them after the Aramean army, saying, “Go and see.” ¹⁵ So they followed them as far as the Jordan. They saw that the whole way was littered with clothes and equipment the Arameans had thrown off in their haste. The messengers returned and told the king. ¹⁶ Then the people went out and plundered the Aramean camp.^(P)

It was then that six quarts^[g] of fine meal sold for a shekel^[h] and 12 quarts^[i] of barley sold for a shekel,^[j] according to the word of the Lord.^{(Q) 17} The king had appointed the captain, his right-hand man,^(R) to be in charge of the gate, but the people trampled him in the gateway. He died, just as the man of God had predicted when the king came to him. ¹⁸ When the man of God had said to the king, “About this time tomorrow 12 quarts^[k] of barley will sell for a shekel^[l] and six quarts^[m] of fine meal will sell for a shekel^[n] at the gate of Samaria,” ¹⁹ this captain had answered the man of God, “Look, even if the Lord were to make windows in heaven, could this really happen?” Elisha had said, “You will in fact see it with your own eyes, but you won’t eat any of it.”^{(S) 20} This is what happened to him: the people trampled him in the gateway, and he died.

The Shunammite’s Land Restored

8 Elisha said to the woman whose son he had restored to life,^(T) “Get ready, you and your household, and go and live as a foreigner wherever you can. For the Lord has announced a seven-year famine,^(U) and it has already come to the land.”

² So the woman got ready and did what the man of God said. She and her household lived as foreigners in the land of the Philistines for seven years. ³ When the woman returned from the land of the Philistines at the end of seven years,^(V) she went to appeal to the king for her house and field.^(W)

⁴ The king had been speaking to Gehazi,^(X) the attendant of the man of God, saying, “Tell me all the great things Elisha has done.”

⁵ While he was telling the king how Elisha restored the dead son to life, the woman whose son he had restored to life came to appeal to the king for her house and field. So Gehazi said, “My lord the king, this is the woman and this is the son Elisha restored to life.”^(Y)

⁶ When the king asked the woman, she told him the story. So the king appointed a court official for her, saying, “Restore all that was hers, along with all the income from the field from the day she left the country until now.”

Aram’s King Hazael

⁷ Elisha came to Damascus^(Z) while Ben-hadad^(AA) king of Aram was sick, and the king was told, “The man of God^(AB) has come here.” ⁸ So the king said to Hazael,^(AC) “Take a gift^(AD) with you and go meet the man of God. Inquire of the Lord through him, ‘Will I recover from this sickness?’”^(AE)

⁹ Hazael went to meet Elisha, taking with him a gift: 40 camel-loads of all kinds of goods from Damascus. When he came and stood before him, he said, “Your son,^(AF) Ben-hadad king of Aram, has sent me to ask you, ‘Will I recover from this sickness?’”

¹⁰ Elisha told him, “Go say to him, ‘You are sure to^[o] recover.’ But the Lord has shown me that he is sure to die.” ¹¹ Then Elisha stared steadily at him until Hazael was ashamed.^(AG)

The man of God wept,^{(AH) 12} and Hazael asked, “Why is my lord weeping?”

He replied, “Because I know the evil you will do to the people of Israel. You will set their fortresses on fire. You will kill their young men with the sword. You will dash their little ones to pieces. You will rip open their pregnant women.”^(AI)

¹³ Hazael said, “How could your servant, a mere dog,^(AJ) do this monstrous thing?”

Elisha answered, “The Lord has shown me that you will be king over Aram.”^(AK)

¹⁴ Hazael left Elisha and went to his master, who asked him, “What did Elisha say to you?”

He responded, “He told me you are sure to recover.” ¹⁵ The next day Hazael took a heavy cloth, dipped it in water, and spread it over the king’s face. Ben-hadad died, and Hazael reigned instead of him.

Judah’s King Jehoram

¹⁶ In the fifth year^(AL) of Israel’s King Joram^(AM) son of Ahab, Jehoram^[p](AN) son of Jehoshaphat became king of Judah, replacing his father.^{[q](AO) 17} He was 32 years old when he became king and reigned eight years in Jerusalem.^{(AP) 18} He walked in the way of the kings of Israel, as the house of Ahab had done, for Ahab’s daughter was his wife. He did what was evil in the Lord’s sight.^{(AQ) 19} The Lord was unwilling to destroy Judah because of His servant David, since He had promised to give a lamp^(AR) to David and his sons forever.^(AS)

²⁰ During Jehoram’s reign, Edom rebelled against Judah’s control and appointed their own king.^{(AT) 21} So Jehoram crossed over to Zair with all his chariots. Then at night he set out to attack the Edomites who had surrounded him and the chariot commanders, but his troops fled to their tents.^{(AU) 22} So Edom is still in rebellion against Judah’s control today. Libnah^(AV) also rebelled at that time.

²³ The rest of the events of Jehoram’s reign, along with all his accomplishments, are written in the Historical Record of Judah’s Kings.^{(AW) 24} Jehoram rested with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of David, and his son Ahaziah became king in his place.^(AX)

Judah’s King Ahaziah

²⁵ In the twelfth year of Israel’s King Joram son of Ahab,^(AY) Ahaziah son of Jehoram became king of Judah.^{(AZ) 26} Ahaziah was 22 years old when he became king and reigned one year in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Athaliah, granddaughter of Israel’s King Omri.^{(BA) 27} He walked in the way of the house of Ahab and did what was evil in the Lord’s sight like the house of Ahab,^(BB) for he was a son-in-law to Ahab’s family.

²⁸ Ahaziah went with Joram son of Ahab to fight against Hazael^(BC) king of Aram in Ramoth-gilead,^(BD) and the Arameans wounded Joram. ²⁹ So King Joram returned to Jezreel^(BE) to recover from the wounds that the Arameans had inflicted on him in Ramoth-gilead^[r] when he fought against Aram’s King Hazael.^(BF) Then Judah’s King Ahaziah son of Jehoram went down to Jezreel to visit Joram son of Ahab since Joram was ill.