2 Kings 7-8

New Life Version

7 Then Elisha said, “Listen to the word of the Lord. The Lord says, ‘Tomorrow about this time, a basket of fine flour will be sold for one piece of silver in the gate of Samaria. And two baskets of barley will be sold for a piece of silver.’” ² The captain on whose arm the king rested said to the man of God, “See, if the Lord should make windows in heaven, could this thing be?” Elisha said, “You will see it with your own eyes. But you will not eat of it.”

The Syrians Leave

³ Now there were four men at the city gate with a bad skin disease. They said to one another, “Why do we sit here until we die? ⁴ If we go into the city, there is no food there and we will die. And if we sit here, we will die also. So now come, let us go over to the tents of the Syrians. If they do not kill us, we will live. And if they kill us, we will die there.” ⁵ So they got up in the evening to go to the Syrians. When they came to the tents of the Syrians, there was no one there. ⁶ For the Lord had made the Syrian army hear a sound of war-wagons and horses and an army of many soldiers. So they said to one another, “The king of Israel has paid the kings of the Hittites and the kings of the Egyptians to fight against us.” ⁷ And they ran away in the evening. They left their tents and their horses and donkeys. They left everything just as it was, and ran for their lives. ⁸ Then the men with a bad skin disease came to the tents. They went into one tent and ate and drank. They carried away silver and gold and clothing, and hid them. Then they returned and went into another tent and carried things away from it, and hid them.

⁹ They said to one another, “We are not doing right. This is a day of good news, but we are keeping quiet. We will be punished if we wait until morning. So now let us go and tell those of the king’s house.” ¹⁰ And they came and called the men who watched the city gate. They said to them, “We went to the tents of the Syrians. But there was no one to be seen or heard there. Only the horses and donkeys were tied there. The tents were left just as they were.” ¹¹ So the men at the gate called out, and the news was heard in the king’s house. ¹² The king got up in the night and said to his servants, “I will tell you what the Syrians have done to us. They know that we are hungry. So they have left the tents to hide themselves in the field. They are saying, ‘When they come out of the city, we will take them alive and get into the city.’” ¹³ One of his servants said, “Let some men take five of the horses that are left. Those who are left in the city are not doing better than all those who have died. So let us send men out to see.” ¹⁴ So they took two war-wagons with horses. And the king sent them after the Syrian army, saying, “Go and see.” ¹⁵ They went after them to the Jordan. All the way was covered with clothes and objects which the Syrians had thrown away in their hurry. Then the men returned and told the king.

¹⁶ So the people went out and took what the Syrians had left. Then a basket of fine flour was sold for a piece of silver. And two baskets of barley sold for a piece of silver, just as the word of the Lord had said. ¹⁷ Now the king chose the captain on whose arm he rested to watch the gate. But the people stepped on him at the gate. He died just as the man of God had said when the king came down to him. ¹⁸ It happened just as the man of God had told the king, saying, “About this time tomorrow at the gate of Samaria, two baskets of barley will sell for a piece of silver. And a basket of fine flour will sell for a piece of silver.” ¹⁹ Then the captain had said to the man of God, “See, if the Lord should make windows in heaven, could such a thing be?” And Elisha had said, “You will see it with your own eyes. But you will not eat of it.” ²⁰ So it happened to him. The people stepped on him at the gate, and he died.

The Shunammite’s Land Given Back

8 Now Elisha spoke to the woman whose son he had brought back to life. He said, “Get ready and go with those of your house. Stay in whatever country you can. For the Lord has called for a time of no food. It will come upon the land for seven years.” ² So the woman got ready as the man of God had told her. She went with those of her house and stayed in the land of the Philistines seven years. ³ At the end of seven years she returned from the land of the Philistines. And she went out to ask the king for her house and field. ⁴ Now the king was talking with Gehazi, the servant of the man of God, saying, “Tell me all the great things that Elisha has done.” ⁵ Gehazi started telling the king how Elisha had brought the one who was dead to life again. Then the woman whose son he had brought back to life asked the king for her house and field. And Gehazi said, “My lord, O king, this is the woman and this is her son, whom Elisha brought back to life.” ⁶ When the king asked the woman, she told him what had happened. So the king chose a certain captain to help her, saying, “Give her all that was hers. And give her all the food taken from the field from the day she left the land until now.”

The Death of Ben-hadad

⁷ Then Elisha came to Damascus. Ben-hadad the king of Syria was sick, and he was told, “The man of God has come here.” ⁸ The king said to Hazael, “Take a gift and go meet the man of God. Ask the Lord through him, saying, ‘Will I get better from this sickness?’” ⁹ So Hazael went to meet Elisha and took with him a gift of every kind of good thing of Damascus. It took forty camels to carry it all. He came and stood in front of Elisha and said, “Your son Ben-hadad king of Syria has sent me to you, saying, ‘Will I get better from this sickness?’” ¹⁰ Elisha said to him, “Go and tell him, ‘You will get better for sure.’ But the Lord has shown me that he will die for sure.” ¹¹ Then Elisha looked at Hazael until he was ashamed. And the man of God cried. ¹² Hazael said, “Why are you crying, my lord?” Then Elisha answered, “Because I know the bad things that you will do to the people of Israel. You will set their strong places on fire. You will kill their young men with the sword. You will crush their little ones against the stones. And you will cut up their women who are with child.” ¹³ Hazael said, “What is your servant, only a dog, that he should do this bad thing?” Elisha answered, “The Lord has shown me that you will be the king of Syria.” ¹⁴ Then he left Elisha and returned to his owner. Ben-hadad said to him, “What did Elisha tell you?” And Hazael answered, “He told me that you will get better for sure.” ¹⁵ But the next day Hazael took the bed covering and put it in water. Then he spread it on Ben-hadad’s face so that he died. And Hazael became king in his place.

Jehoram Rules Judah

¹⁶ In the fifth year of Joram the son of Ahab, king of Israel, Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat king of Judah began to rule. ¹⁷ He was thirty-two years old when he became king. He ruled eight years in Jerusalem. ¹⁸ He walked in the way of the kings of Israel, just as those of Ahab’s house had done. Ahab’s daughter became his wife. He did what was sinful in the eyes of the Lord. ¹⁹ But the Lord was not willing to destroy Judah, because of His servant David. The Lord had promised to give David one to rule through his sons always.

²⁰ In his days Edom turned against the rule of Judah and chose a king of their own. ²¹ Then Joram crossed over to Zair, with all his war-wagons. He and his war-wagon captains got up during the night and fought against the Edomites who had gathered around them. But his army ran away to their tents. ²² So Edom turned against the rule of Judah to this day. Libnah turned against Judah’s rule at the same time. ²³ The rest of the acts of Joram and all he did, are they not written in the Book of Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? ²⁴ Then Joram died and was buried in the city of David. His son Ahaziah became king in his place.

Ahaziah Rules Judah

²⁵ In the twelfth year of Ahab’s son Joram the king of Israel, Ahaziah the son of Jehoram king of Judah began to rule. ²⁶ Ahaziah was twenty-two years old when he became king. He ruled one year in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Athaliah the granddaughter of Omri king of Israel. ²⁷ He walked in the way of the family of Ahab. He did what was sinful in the eyes of the Lord, like those of the family of Ahab had done, because he was a son-in-law of the family of Ahab. ²⁸ He went with Ahab’s son Joram to war against Hazael king of Syria at Ramoth-gilead. And the Syrians hurt Joram. ²⁹ So King Joram returned to Jezreel to be healed of the cuts the Syrians had given him at Ramah when he fought against Hazael king of Syria. Then Jehoram’s son Ahaziah king of Judah went down to Jezreel to see Joram the son of Ahab because he was sick.