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2 Kings 5-8
Easy-to-Read Version
2 Kings 5-8
Easy-to-Read Version
Naaman’s Problem
5 Naaman was the captain of the army of the king of Aram. He was very important to his king[a] because the Lord used him to lead Aram to victory. Naaman was a great and powerful man, but he was also sick with leprosy.
2 The Aramean army sent many groups of soldiers to fight in Israel. One time they took a little girl from the land of Israel. This girl became a servant of Naaman’s wife. 3 She said to his wife, “I wish that my master would meet the prophet who lives in Samaria. He could heal Naaman of his leprosy.”
4 Naaman went to the king and told him what the Israelite girl said.
5 Then the king of Aram said, “Go now, and I will send a letter to the king of Israel.”
So Naaman went to Israel. He took 750 pounds[b] of silver, 6000 pieces of gold and ten changes of clothes as gifts. 6 Naaman took the letter from the king of Aram to the king of Israel. The letter said: “Now this letter is to show that I am sending my servant Naaman to you. Cure his leprosy.”
7 When the king of Israel had read the letter, he tore his clothes to show he was sad and upset. He said, “Am I God? I don’t have the power over life and death. So why did the king of Aram send a man sick with leprosy for me to heal? Think about it, and you will see that it is a trick. The king of Aram is trying to start a fight.”
8 Elisha, the man of God, heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes. So Elisha sent this message to the king: “Why did you tear your clothes? Let Naaman come to me. Then he will know there is a prophet in Israel.”
9 So Naaman came with his horses and chariots to Elisha’s house and stood outside the door. 10 Elisha sent a messenger to Naaman who said, “Go and wash in the Jordan River seven times. Then your skin will be healed, and you will be pure and clean.”
11 Naaman became angry and left. He said, “I thought Elisha would at least come out and stand in front of me and call on the name of the Lord his God. I thought he would wave his hand over my body and heal the leprosy. 12 Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, are better than all the water in Israel. Why can’t I wash in those rivers in Damascus and become clean?” He was very angry and turned to leave.
13 But Naaman’s servants went to him and talked to him. They said, “Father,[c] if the prophet told you to do some great thing, you would do it, isn’t that right? But he said, ‘Wash, and you will be pure and clean.’”
14 So Naaman did what the man of God said. He went down and dipped himself in the Jordan River seven times, and he became pure and clean. His skin became soft like the skin of a baby.
15 Naaman and his whole group came back to the man of God. He stood before Elisha and said, “Look, I now know there is no God in all the earth except in Israel. Now please accept a gift from me.”
16 But Elisha said, “The Lord is the one I serve, and as surely as he lives, I will not accept any gift.”
Naaman tried hard to make Elisha take the gift, but he refused. 17 Then Naaman said, “If you will not accept this gift, at least do this for me. Let me have enough dirt from Israel to fill the baskets on two of my mules.[d] I ask this because I will never again offer any burnt offering or sacrifice to any other gods. I will offer sacrifices only to the Lord! 18 And I pray that the Lord will forgive me for this: When my master goes to the temple of Rimmon to worship that false god, he will want to lean on me for support. So I must bow down in the temple of Rimmon. I ask the Lord now to forgive me when that happens.”
19 Then Elisha said to Naaman, “Go in peace.”
So Naaman left Elisha and went a short way. 20 But Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, said, “Look, my master has let Naaman the Aramean go without accepting the gift that he brought. As the Lord lives, I will run after Naaman and get something from him.” 21 So Gehazi ran to Naaman.
Naaman saw someone running after him. He stepped down from the chariot to meet Gehazi. Naaman said, “Is everything all right?”
22 Gehazi said, “Yes, everything is all right. My master has sent me. He said, ‘Look, two young men came to me from the group of prophets[e] in the hill country of Ephraim. Please give them 75 pounds[f] of silver and two changes of clothes.’”
23 Naaman said, “Please, take 150 pounds.[g]” He persuaded Gehazi to take the silver. Naaman put 150 pounds of silver in two bags and took two changes of clothes. Then he gave these things to two of his servants. The servants carried these things for Gehazi. 24 When Gehazi came to the hill, he took these things from the servants. He sent the servants away, and they left. Then he hid those things in the house.
25 Gehazi came in and stood before his master. Elisha said to Gehazi, “Where have you been Gehazi?”
Gehazi answered, “I didn’t go anywhere.”
26 Elisha said to him, “That is not true! My heart was with you when the man turned from his chariot to meet you. This is not the time to take money, clothes, olives, grapes, sheep, cattle, or men and women servants. 27 Now you and your children will catch Naaman’s disease. You will have leprosy forever!”
When Gehazi left Elisha, his skin was as white as snow! He was sick with leprosy.
Elisha and the Ax Head
6 The group of prophets said to Elisha, “We are staying in that place over there, but it is too small for us. 2 Let’s go to the Jordan River and cut some wood. Each of us will get a log and we will build us a place to live there.”
Elisha answered, “Go and do it.”
3 One of them said, “Please go with us.”
Elisha said, “Yes, I will go with you.”
4 So Elisha went with the group of prophets. When they arrived at the Jordan River, they began to cut down some trees. 5 But when one man was cutting down a tree, the iron ax head slipped from the handle and fell into the water. He shouted, “Oh, master! I borrowed that ax!”
6 The man of God said, “Where did it fall?”
The man showed Elisha the place where the ax head fell. Then Elisha cut a stick and threw the stick into the water. The stick made the iron ax head float. 7 Elisha said, “So pick up the ax head.” Then the man reached out and took the ax head.
Aram Tries to Trap Israel
8 The king of Aram was making war against Israel. He had a council meeting with his army officers. He said, “Go to such and such a place and prepare to attack the Israelites when they come by.”
9 But the man of God sent a message to the king of Israel. Elisha said, “Be careful! Don’t go by that place, because the Aramean soldiers are hiding there!”
10 The king of Israel sent a message to his men at the place that the man of God warned him about. And the king of Israel saved quite a few men.[h]
11 The king of Aram was very upset about this. He called his army officers and said to them, “Tell me who is spying for the king of Israel.”
12 One of the officers of the king of Aram said, “My lord and king, not one of us is a spy. Elisha, the prophet from Israel, can tell the king of Israel many secret things—even the words that you speak in your bedroom!”
13 The king of Aram said, “Find Elisha, and I will send men to catch him.”
The servants told the king of Aram, “Elisha is in Dothan.”
14 Then the king of Aram sent horses, chariots, and a large army to Dothan. They arrived at night and surrounded the city. 15 Elisha’s servant got up early that morning. When he went outside, he saw an army with horses and chariots all around the city.
The servant said to Elisha, “Oh, my master, what can we do?”
16 Elisha said, “Don’t be afraid. The army that fights for us is larger than the army that fights for Aram.”
17 Then Elisha prayed and said, “Lord, I ask you, open my servant’s eyes so that he can see.”
The Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and the servant saw the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire. They were all around Elisha.
18 These horses and chariots of fire came down to Elisha. He prayed to the Lord and said, “I pray that you will cause these people to become blind.”
So God did what Elisha asked. He caused the Aramean army to become blind. 19 Elisha said to the Aramean army, “This is not the right way. This is not the right city. Follow me. I will lead you to the man you are looking for.” Then Elisha led them to Samaria.[i]
20 When they arrived at Samaria, Elisha said, “Lord, open the eyes of these men so that they can see.”
Then the Lord opened their eyes, and the Aramean army saw they were in the city of Samaria! 21 The king of Israel saw the Aramean army and said to Elisha, “My father, should I kill them? Should I kill them?”
22 Elisha answered, “No, don’t kill them. They are not soldiers you captured in battle. Give them some bread and water. Let them eat and drink. Then let them go home to their leader.”
23 So the king prepared a big meal for the Aramean army. After they ate and drank, he sent them back home to their leader. The Arameans did not send any more soldiers into the land of Israel to make raids.
A Time of Terrible Hunger Hits Samaria
24 After this happened, King Ben-Hadad of Aram gathered all his army and went to surround and attack the city of Samaria. 25 The soldiers would not let people bring food into the city, so there was a time of terrible hunger in Samaria. It was so bad in Samaria that a donkey’s head was sold for 80 pieces of silver and one pint[j] of dove’s dung sold for five pieces of silver.
26 The king of Israel was walking on the wall around the city. A woman shouted out to him. She said, “My lord and king, please help me!”
27 The king of Israel said, “If the Lord does not help you, how can I help you? I cannot give you grain from the threshing floor or wine from the winepress.” 28 Then he said to her, “What is your trouble?”
She answered, “This woman said to me, ‘Give me your son so that we can eat him today. Then we will eat my son tomorrow.’ 29 So we boiled my son and ate him. Then the next day, I said to this woman, ‘Give me your son so that we can eat him.’ But she has hidden her son!”
30 When the king heard the woman’s words, he tore his clothes to show he was upset. As he passed by on the wall, the people saw the king was wearing the rough cloth under his clothes to show he was sad and upset.
31 The king said, “May God punish me if the head of Elisha son of Shaphat is still on his body at the end of this day!”
32 The king sent a messenger to Elisha. Elisha was sitting in his house, and the elders were sitting with him. Before the messenger arrived, Elisha said to the elders, “Look, that son of a murderer is sending men to cut off my head. When the messenger arrives, shut the door. Hold the door and don’t let him in. I hear the sound of his master’s feet coming behind him.”
33 While Elisha was still talking with the elders, the messenger[k] came to him. This was the message: “This trouble has come from the Lord. Why should I wait for the Lord any longer?”
7 Elisha said, “Listen to the message from the Lord! The Lord says, ‘About this time tomorrow, there will be plenty of food, and it will be cheap again. A person will be able to buy a basket[l] of fine flour or two baskets of barley for only one shekel[m] in the marketplace by the city gates of Samaria.’”
2 Then the officer who was close to the king[n] answered the man of God. The officer said, “Even if the Lord made windows in heaven, this could not happen.”
Elisha said, “You will see it with your own eyes, but you will not eat any of that food.”
Lepers Find the Aramean Camp Empty
3 There were four men sick with leprosy near the city gate. They said to each other, “Why are we sitting here waiting to die? 4 There is no food in Samaria. If we go into the city, we will die there. If we stay here, we will also die. So let’s go to the Aramean camp. If they let us live, we will live. If they kill us, we will just die.”
5 So that evening the four lepers went to the Aramean camp. When they came to the edge of the camp, no one was there! 6 The Lord had caused the Aramean army to hear the sound of chariots, horses, and a large army. So the soldiers said to each other, “The king of Israel has hired the kings of the Hittites and Egyptians to come against us.”
7 The Arameans ran away early that evening. They left everything behind. They left their tents, horses, and donkeys and ran for their lives.
The Lepers in the Enemy Camp
8 When these lepers came to where the camp began, they went into one tent. They ate and drank. Then they carried silver, gold, and clothes out of the camp and hid them. Then they came back and entered another tent. They carried things out from this tent and went out and hid them. 9 Then they said to each other, “We are doing wrong! Today we have good news, but we are silent. If we wait until the sun comes up, we will be punished. Now let’s go and tell the people who live in the king’s palace.”
The Lepers Tell the Good News
10 So the lepers came and called to the gatekeepers of the city. They told the gatekeepers, “We went to the Aramean camp, but we did not hear anyone. No one was there, but the horses and donkeys were still tied up, and the tents were still standing.”
11 Then the gatekeepers of the city shouted out and told the people in the king’s palace. 12 It was night, but the king got up from bed and said to his officers, “I will tell you what the Aramean soldiers are doing to us. They know we are hungry. They left the camp to hide in the field. They are thinking, ‘When the Israelites come out of the city, we will capture them alive. And then we will enter the city.’”
13 One of the king’s officers said, “Let some men take five of the horses that are still left in the city. The horses will soon die anyway, just as all the Israelites who are still left in the city.[o] Let’s send these men to see what happened.”
14 So the men took two chariots with horses. The king sent these men after the Aramean army. He told them, “Go and see what happened.”
15 The men went after the Aramean army as far as the Jordan River. All along the road there were clothes and weapons. The Arameans had thrown these things down when they hurried away. The messengers went back to Samaria and told the king.
16 Then the people ran out to the Aramean camp and took valuable things from there. So it happened just as the Lord had said. A person could buy a basket of fine flour or two baskets of barley for only one shekel.
17 There was one officer who always stayed close by the king to help him. The king sent this officer to guard the gate, but the people knocked him down and trampled him, and he died. So everything happened just as the man of God had said when the king came to Elisha’s house. 18 Elisha had said, “A person will be able to buy a basket of fine flour or two baskets of barley for only one shekel in the marketplace by the city gates of Samaria.” 19 But that officer had answered the man of God, “Even if the Lord made windows in heaven, this could not happen!” And Elisha had told the officer, “You will see it with your own eyes, but you will not eat any of that food.” 20 It happened to the officer just that way. The people knocked him down at the gate and trampled him, and he died.
The King and the Shunammite Woman
8 Elisha talked to the woman whose son he had brought back to life. He said, “You and your family should move to another country, because the Lord has decided that there will be a famine here. It will last for seven years.”
2 So the woman did what the man of God said. She went with her family to stay in the land of the Philistines for seven years. 3 After seven years she returned from the land of the Philistines.
She went to speak with the king to ask him to help her get back her house and land.
4 The king was talking with Gehazi, the servant of the man of God. The king said to Gehazi, “Please tell me all the great things Elisha has done.”
5 Gehazi was telling the king about Elisha bringing a dead person back to life. At that same time the woman whose son Elisha brought back to life went to the king. She wanted to ask him to help her get back her house and land. Gehazi said, “My lord and king, this is the woman, and this is the son who Elisha brought back to life.”
6 The king asked the woman what she wanted, and she told him.
Then the king chose an officer to help her. The king said, “Give to the woman all that belongs to her. And give her all the harvest of her land from the day she left the country until now.”
Ben-Hadad Sends Hazael to Elisha
7 Elisha went to Damascus. King Ben-Hadad of Aram was sick. Someone told Ben-Hadad, “The man of God has come here.”
8 Then the King Ben-Hadad said to Hazael, “Take a gift and go meet the man of God. Ask him to ask the Lord if I will get well from my sickness.”
9 So Hazael went to meet Elisha. Hazael brought a gift with him. He brought all kinds of good things from Damascus. It took 40 camels to carry everything. Hazael came to Elisha and said, “Your follower,[p] King Ben-Hadad of Aram, sent me to you. He asks if he will get well from his sickness.”
10 Then Elisha said to Hazael, “Go and tell Ben-Hadad, ‘You will live.’ But really the Lord told me, ‘He will die.’”
Elisha Makes a Prophecy About Hazael
11 Elisha began to stare. He stared for an embarrassingly long time. Then the man of God began to cry. 12 Hazael said, “Sir, why are you crying?”
Elisha answered, “I am crying because I know the bad things you will do to the Israelites. You will burn their strong cities and kill their young men with swords. You will kill their babies and split open their pregnant women.”
13 Hazael said, “I am not a powerful man![q] How can I do these great things?”
Elisha answered, “The Lord showed me that you will be king over Aram.”
14 Then Hazael left Elisha and went to his king.[r] Ben-Hadad said to Hazael, “What did Elisha say to you?”
He answered, “Elisha told me that you will live.”
Hazael Murders Ben-Hadad
15 But the next day Hazael took a thick cloth and dipped it in water. Then he held it on Ben-Hadad’s face until he died. Then Hazael became the new king.
Jehoram Begins His Rule
16 Jehoram son of Jehoshaphat was the king of Judah. He began to rule in the fifth year that Joram son of Ahab was king of Israel.[s] 17 Jehoram was 32 years old when he began to rule. He ruled eight years in Jerusalem. 18 But Jehoram lived as the kings of Israel and did what the Lord saw as evil. He lived as the people from Ahab’s family, because his wife was Ahab’s daughter. 19 But the Lord would not destroy Judah because of the promise to his servant David. He had promised David that someone from his family would always be king.
20 In Jehoram’s time Edom broke away from Judah’s rule. The people of Edom chose a king for themselves.
21 Then Jehoram and all his chariots went to Zair. The Edomite army surrounded them, but Jehoram and his officers attacked them and escaped. Jehoram’s soldiers all ran away and went home. 22 So the Edomites broke away from the rule of Judah. And they have been free from the rule of Judah until today.
At the same time Libnah also broke away from Judah’s rule.
23 All the things Jehoram did are written in the book, The History of the Kings of Judah.
24 Jehoram died and was buried with his ancestors in the City of David. Jehoram’s son Ahaziah became the new king.
Ahaziah Begins His Rule
25 Ahaziah son of Jehoram became the king of Judah in the 12th year that Joram son of Ahab was king of Israel. 26 Ahaziah was 22 years old when he began to rule. He ruled one year in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Athaliah. She was the daughter of King Omri of Israel. 27 Ahaziah did what the Lord said was wrong. He did many bad things, just as the people from Ahab’s family had done. He lived like this because his wife was from Ahab’s family.
Joram Is Hurt in the War Against Hazael
28 Joram was from Ahab’s family. Ahaziah went with Joram to fight against King Hazael of Aram at Ramoth Gilead. The Arameans wounded Joram. 29 King Joram went back to Israel so that he could get well from those wounds. He went to the area of Jezreel. Ahaziah son of Jehoram was the king of Judah. Ahaziah went to Jezreel to see Joram.
Footnotes
- 2 Kings 5:1 king Literally, “master.”
- 2 Kings 5:5 750 pounds Literally, “10 talents” (345 kg).
- 2 Kings 5:13 Father Slaves often called their masters “father,” and the masters often called their slaves “children.”
- 2 Kings 5:17 Let me have … my mules Naaman probably thought the ground in Israel was holy, so he wanted to take some with him to help him worship the Lord in his own country.
- 2 Kings 5:22 group of prophets Literally, “sons of the prophets.” These were prophets and people studying to become prophets. Also in 6:1, 4.
- 2 Kings 5:22 75 pounds Literally, “1 talent” (34.5 kg).
- 2 Kings 5:23 150 pounds Literally, “2 talents” (69 kg).
- 2 Kings 6:10 quite a few men Literally, “not one or two.”
- 2 Kings 6:19 Samaria This was the capital city of Israel—the enemy of Aram.
- 2 Kings 6:25 one pint Literally, “1/4 cab” (about .3 l).
- 2 Kings 6:33 messenger Or possibly, “king.”
- 2 Kings 7:1 basket Literally, “ seah.” Also in verses 16, 18.
- 2 Kings 7:1 shekel 2/5 of an ounce (11.5 g). Also in verses 16, 18.
- 2 Kings 7:2 who was close to the king Literally, “on whose arm the king leaned.”
- 2 Kings 7:13 The horses … city The Hebrew text here is hard to understand.
- 2 Kings 8:9 follower Literally, “son.”
- 2 Kings 8:13 I … powerful man Literally, “Your servant is only a dog!”
- 2 Kings 8:14 king Literally, “master.”
- 2 Kings 8:16 The standard Hebrew text adds “while Jehoshaphat was still king of Judah.” That is, according to the Hebrew, father and son ruled Judah together for a time.
2 Kings 5-8
New International Version
2 Kings 5-8
New International Version
Naaman Healed of Leprosy
5 Now Naaman was commander of the army of the king of Aram.(A) He was a great man in the sight of his master and highly regarded, because through him the Lord had given victory to Aram. He was a valiant soldier, but he had leprosy.[a](B)
2 Now bands of raiders(C) from Aram had gone out and had taken captive a young girl from Israel, and she served Naaman’s wife. 3 She said to her mistress, “If only my master would see the prophet(D) who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy.”
4 Naaman went to his master and told him what the girl from Israel had said. 5 “By all means, go,” the king of Aram replied. “I will send a letter to the king of Israel.” So Naaman left, taking with him ten talents[b] of silver, six thousand shekels[c] of gold and ten sets of clothing.(E) 6 The letter that he took to the king of Israel read: “With this letter I am sending my servant Naaman to you so that you may cure him of his leprosy.”
7 As soon as the king of Israel read the letter,(F) he tore his robes and said, “Am I God?(G) Can I kill and bring back to life?(H) Why does this fellow send someone to me to be cured of his leprosy? See how he is trying to pick a quarrel(I) with me!”
8 When Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his robes, he sent him this message: “Why have you torn your robes? Have the man come to me and he will know that there is a prophet(J) in Israel.” 9 So Naaman went with his horses and chariots and stopped at the door of Elisha’s house. 10 Elisha sent a messenger to say to him, “Go, wash(K) yourself seven times(L) in the Jordan, and your flesh will be restored and you will be cleansed.”
11 But Naaman went away angry and said, “I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, wave his hand(M) over the spot and cure me of my leprosy. 12 Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters(N) of Israel? Couldn’t I wash in them and be cleansed?” So he turned and went off in a rage.(O)
13 Naaman’s servants went to him and said, “My father,(P) if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more, then, when he tells you, ‘Wash and be cleansed’!” 14 So he went down and dipped himself in the Jordan seven times,(Q) as the man of God had told him, and his flesh was restored(R) and became clean like that of a young boy.(S)
15 Then Naaman and all his attendants went back to the man of God(T). He stood before him and said, “Now I know(U) that there is no God in all the world except in Israel. So please accept a gift(V) from your servant.”
16 The prophet answered, “As surely as the Lord lives, whom I serve, I will not accept a thing.” And even though Naaman urged him, he refused.(W)
17 “If you will not,” said Naaman, “please let me, your servant, be given as much earth(X) as a pair of mules can carry, for your servant will never again make burnt offerings and sacrifices to any other god but the Lord. 18 But may the Lord forgive your servant for this one thing: When my master enters the temple of Rimmon to bow down and he is leaning(Y) on my arm and I have to bow there also—when I bow down in the temple of Rimmon, may the Lord forgive your servant for this.”
19 “Go in peace,”(Z) Elisha said.
After Naaman had traveled some distance, 20 Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, said to himself, “My master was too easy on Naaman, this Aramean, by not accepting from him what he brought. As surely as the Lord(AA) lives, I will run after him and get something from him.”
21 So Gehazi hurried after Naaman. When Naaman saw him running toward him, he got down from the chariot to meet him. “Is everything all right?” he asked.
22 “Everything is all right,” Gehazi answered. “My master sent me to say, ‘Two young men from the company of the prophets have just come to me from the hill country of Ephraim. Please give them a talent[d] of silver and two sets of clothing.’”(AB)
23 “By all means, take two talents,” said Naaman. He urged Gehazi to accept them, and then tied up the two talents of silver in two bags, with two sets of clothing. He gave them to two of his servants, and they carried them ahead of Gehazi. 24 When Gehazi came to the hill, he took the things from the servants and put them away in the house. He sent the men away and they left.
25 When he went in and stood before his master, Elisha asked him, “Where have you been, Gehazi?”
“Your servant didn’t go anywhere,” Gehazi answered.
26 But Elisha said to him, “Was not my spirit with you when the man got down from his chariot to meet you? Is this the time(AC) to take money or to accept clothes—or olive groves and vineyards, or flocks and herds, or male and female slaves?(AD) 27 Naaman’s leprosy(AE) will cling to you and to your descendants forever.” Then Gehazi(AF) went from Elisha’s presence and his skin was leprous—it had become as white as snow.(AG)
An Axhead Floats
6 The company(AH) of the prophets said to Elisha, “Look, the place where we meet with you is too small for us. 2 Let us go to the Jordan, where each of us can get a pole; and let us build a place there for us to meet.”
And he said, “Go.”
3 Then one of them said, “Won’t you please come with your servants?”
“I will,” Elisha replied. 4 And he went with them.
They went to the Jordan and began to cut down trees. 5 As one of them was cutting down a tree, the iron axhead fell into the water. “Oh no, my lord!” he cried out. “It was borrowed!”
6 The man of God asked, “Where did it fall?” When he showed him the place, Elisha cut a stick and threw(AI) it there, and made the iron float. 7 “Lift it out,” he said. Then the man reached out his hand and took it.
Elisha Traps Blinded Arameans
8 Now the king of Aram was at war with Israel. After conferring with his officers, he said, “I will set up my camp in such and such a place.”
9 The man of God sent word to the king(AJ) of Israel: “Beware of passing that place, because the Arameans are going down there.” 10 So the king of Israel checked on the place indicated by the man of God. Time and again Elisha warned(AK) the king, so that he was on his guard in such places.
11 This enraged the king of Aram. He summoned his officers and demanded of them, “Tell me! Which of us is on the side of the king of Israel?”
12 “None of us, my lord the king(AL),” said one of his officers, “but Elisha, the prophet who is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the very words you speak in your bedroom.”
13 “Go, find out where he is,” the king ordered, “so I can send men and capture him.” The report came back: “He is in Dothan.”(AM) 14 Then he sent(AN) horses and chariots and a strong force there. They went by night and surrounded the city.
15 When the servant of the man of God got up and went out early the next morning, an army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city. “Oh no, my lord! What shall we do?” the servant asked.
16 “Don’t be afraid,”(AO) the prophet answered. “Those who are with us are more(AP) than those who are with them.”
17 And Elisha prayed, “Open his eyes, Lord, so that he may see.” Then the Lord opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots(AQ) of fire all around Elisha.
18 As the enemy came down toward him, Elisha prayed to the Lord, “Strike this army with blindness.”(AR) So he struck them with blindness, as Elisha had asked.
19 Elisha told them, “This is not the road and this is not the city. Follow me, and I will lead you to the man you are looking for.” And he led them to Samaria.
20 After they entered the city, Elisha said, “Lord, open the eyes of these men so they can see.” Then the Lord opened their eyes and they looked, and there they were, inside Samaria.
21 When the king of Israel saw them, he asked Elisha, “Shall I kill them, my father?(AS) Shall I kill them?”
22 “Do not kill them,” he answered. “Would you kill those you have captured(AT) with your own sword or bow? Set food and water before them so that they may eat and drink and then go back to their master.” 23 So he prepared a great feast for them, and after they had finished eating and drinking, he sent them away, and they returned to their master. So the bands(AU) from Aram stopped raiding Israel’s territory.
Famine in Besieged Samaria
24 Some time later, Ben-Hadad(AV) king of Aram mobilized his entire army and marched up and laid siege(AW) to Samaria. 25 There was a great famine(AX) in the city; the siege lasted so long that a donkey’s head sold for eighty shekels[e] of silver, and a quarter of a cab[f] of seed pods[g](AY) for five shekels.[h]
26 As the king of Israel was passing by on the wall, a woman cried to him, “Help me, my lord the king!”
27 The king replied, “If the Lord does not help you, where can I get help for you? From the threshing floor? From the winepress?” 28 Then he asked her, “What’s the matter?”
She answered, “This woman said to me, ‘Give up your son so we may eat him today, and tomorrow we’ll eat my son.’ 29 So we cooked my son and ate(AZ) him. The next day I said to her, ‘Give up your son so we may eat him,’ but she had hidden him.”
30 When the king heard the woman’s words, he tore(BA) his robes. As he went along the wall, the people looked, and they saw that, under his robes, he had sackcloth(BB) on his body. 31 He said, “May God deal with me, be it ever so severely, if the head of Elisha son of Shaphat remains on his shoulders today!”
32 Now Elisha was sitting in his house, and the elders(BC) were sitting with him. The king sent a messenger ahead, but before he arrived, Elisha said to the elders, “Don’t you see how this murderer(BD) is sending someone to cut off my head?(BE) Look, when the messenger comes, shut the door and hold it shut against him. Is not the sound of his master’s footsteps behind him?” 33 While he was still talking to them, the messenger came down to him.
The king said, “This disaster is from the Lord. Why should I wait(BF) for the Lord any longer?”
7 Elisha replied, “Hear the word of the Lord. This is what the Lord says: About this time tomorrow, a seah[i] of the finest flour will sell for a shekel[j] and two seahs[k] of barley for a shekel(BG) at the gate of Samaria.”
2 The officer on whose arm the king was leaning(BH) said to the man of God, “Look, even if the Lord should open the floodgates(BI) of the heavens, could this happen?”
“You will see it with your own eyes,” answered Elisha, “but you will not eat(BJ) any of it!”
The Siege Lifted
3 Now there were four men with leprosy[l](BK) at the entrance of the city gate. They said to each other, “Why stay here until we die? 4 If we say, ‘We’ll go into the city’—the famine is there, and we will die. And if we stay here, we will die. So let’s go over to the camp of the Arameans and surrender. If they spare us, we live; if they kill us, then we die.”
5 At dusk they got up and went to the camp of the Arameans. When they reached the edge of the camp, no one was there, 6 for the Lord had caused the Arameans to hear the sound(BL) of chariots and horses and a great army, so that they said to one another, “Look, the king of Israel has hired(BM) the Hittite(BN) and Egyptian kings to attack us!” 7 So they got up and fled(BO) in the dusk and abandoned their tents and their horses and donkeys. They left the camp as it was and ran for their lives.
8 The men who had leprosy(BP) reached the edge of the camp, entered one of the tents and ate and drank. Then they took silver, gold and clothes, and went off and hid them. They returned and entered another tent and took some things from it and hid them also.
9 Then they said to each other, “What we’re doing is not right. This is a day of good news and we are keeping it to ourselves. If we wait until daylight, punishment will overtake us. Let’s go at once and report this to the royal palace.”
10 So they went and called out to the city gatekeepers and told them, “We went into the Aramean camp and no one was there—not a sound of anyone—only tethered horses and donkeys, and the tents left just as they were.” 11 The gatekeepers shouted the news, and it was reported within the palace.
12 The king got up in the night and said to his officers, “I will tell you what the Arameans have done to us. They know we are starving; so they have left the camp to hide(BQ) in the countryside, thinking, ‘They will surely come out, and then we will take them alive and get into the city.’”
13 One of his officers answered, “Have some men take five of the horses that are left in the city. Their plight will be like that of all the Israelites left here—yes, they will only be like all these Israelites who are doomed. So let us send them to find out what happened.”
14 So they selected two chariots with their horses, and the king sent them after the Aramean army. He commanded the drivers, “Go and find out what has happened.” 15 They followed them as far as the Jordan, and they found the whole road strewn with the clothing and equipment the Arameans had thrown away in their headlong flight.(BR) So the messengers returned and reported to the king. 16 Then the people went out and plundered(BS) the camp of the Arameans. So a seah of the finest flour sold for a shekel, and two seahs of barley sold for a shekel,(BT) as the Lord had said.
17 Now the king had put the officer on whose arm he leaned in charge of the gate, and the people trampled him in the gateway, and he died,(BU) just as the man of God had foretold when the king came down to his house. 18 It happened as the man of God had said to the king: “About this time tomorrow, a seah of the finest flour will sell for a shekel and two seahs of barley for a shekel at the gate of Samaria.”
19 The officer had said to the man of God, “Look, even if the Lord should open the floodgates(BV) of the heavens, could this happen?” The man of God had replied, “You will see it with your own eyes, but you will not eat any of it!” 20 And that is exactly what happened to him, for the people trampled him in the gateway, and he died.
The Shunammite’s Land Restored
8 Now Elisha had said to the woman(BW) whose son he had restored to life, “Go away with your family and stay for a while wherever you can, because the Lord has decreed a famine(BX) in the land that will last seven years.”(BY) 2 The woman proceeded to do as the man of God said. She and her family went away and stayed in the land of the Philistines seven years.
3 At the end of the seven years she came back from the land of the Philistines and went to appeal to the king for her house and land. 4 The king was talking to Gehazi, the servant of the man of God, and had said, “Tell me about all the great things Elisha has done.” 5 Just as Gehazi was telling the king how Elisha had restored(BZ) the dead to life, the woman whose son Elisha had brought back to life came to appeal to the king for her house and land.
Gehazi said, “This is the woman, my lord the king, and this is her son whom Elisha restored to life.” 6 The king asked the woman about it, and she told him.
Then he assigned an official to her case and said to him, “Give back everything that belonged to her, including all the income from her land from the day she left the country until now.”
Hazael Murders Ben-Hadad
7 Elisha went to Damascus,(CA) and Ben-Hadad(CB) king of Aram was ill. When the king was told, “The man of God has come all the way up here,” 8 he said to Hazael,(CC) “Take a gift(CD) with you and go to meet the man of God. Consult(CE) the Lord through him; ask him, ‘Will I recover from this illness?’”
9 Hazael went to meet Elisha, taking with him as a gift forty camel-loads of all the finest wares of Damascus. He went in and stood before him, and said, “Your son Ben-Hadad king of Aram has sent me to ask, ‘Will I recover from this illness?’”
10 Elisha answered, “Go and say to him, ‘You will certainly recover.’(CF) Nevertheless,[m] the Lord has revealed to me that he will in fact die.” 11 He stared at him with a fixed gaze until Hazael was embarrassed.(CG) Then the man of God began to weep.(CH)
12 “Why is my lord weeping?” asked Hazael.
“Because I know the harm(CI) you will do to the Israelites,” he answered. “You will set fire to their fortified places, kill their young men with the sword, dash(CJ) their little children(CK) to the ground, and rip open(CL) their pregnant women.”
13 Hazael said, “How could your servant, a mere dog,(CM) accomplish such a feat?”
“The Lord has shown me that you will become king(CN) of Aram,” answered Elisha.
14 Then Hazael left Elisha and returned to his master. When Ben-Hadad asked, “What did Elisha say to you?” Hazael replied, “He told me that you would certainly recover.” 15 But the next day he took a thick cloth, soaked it in water and spread it over the king’s face, so that he died.(CO) Then Hazael succeeded him as king.
Jehoram King of Judah(CP)
16 In the fifth year of Joram(CQ) son of Ahab king of Israel, when Jehoshaphat was king of Judah, Jehoram(CR) son of Jehoshaphat began his reign as king of Judah. 17 He was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eight years. 18 He followed the ways of the kings of Israel, as the house of Ahab had done, for he married a daughter(CS) of Ahab. He did evil in the eyes of the Lord. 19 Nevertheless, for the sake of his servant David, the Lord was not willing to destroy(CT) Judah. He had promised to maintain a lamp(CU) for David and his descendants forever.
20 In the time of Jehoram, Edom rebelled against Judah and set up its own king.(CV) 21 So Jehoram[n] went to Zair with all his chariots. The Edomites surrounded him and his chariot commanders, but he rose up and broke through by night; his army, however, fled back home. 22 To this day Edom has been in rebellion(CW) against Judah. Libnah(CX) revolted at the same time.
23 As for the other events of Jehoram’s reign, and all he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah? 24 Jehoram rested with his ancestors and was buried with them in the City of David. And Ahaziah his son succeeded him as king.
Ahaziah King of Judah(CY)
25 In the twelfth(CZ) year of Joram son of Ahab king of Israel, Ahaziah son of Jehoram king of Judah began to reign. 26 Ahaziah was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem one year. His mother’s name was Athaliah,(DA) a granddaughter of Omri(DB) king of Israel. 27 He followed the ways of the house of Ahab(DC) and did evil(DD) in the eyes of the Lord, as the house of Ahab had done, for he was related by marriage to Ahab’s family.
28 Ahaziah went with Joram son of Ahab to war against Hazael king of Aram at Ramoth Gilead.(DE) The Arameans wounded Joram; 29 so King Joram returned to Jezreel(DF) to recover from the wounds the Arameans had inflicted on him at Ramoth[o] in his battle with Hazael(DG) king of Aram.
Then Ahaziah(DH) son of Jehoram king of Judah went down to Jezreel to see Joram son of Ahab, because he had been wounded.
Footnotes
- 2 Kings 5:1 The Hebrew for leprosy was used for various diseases affecting the skin; also in verses 3, 6, 7, 11 and 27.
- 2 Kings 5:5 That is, about 750 pounds or about 340 kilograms
- 2 Kings 5:5 That is, about 150 pounds or about 69 kilograms
- 2 Kings 5:22 That is, about 75 pounds or about 34 kilograms
- 2 Kings 6:25 That is, about 2 pounds or about 920 grams
- 2 Kings 6:25 That is, probably about 1/4 pound or about 100 grams
- 2 Kings 6:25 Or of doves’ dung
- 2 Kings 6:25 That is, about 2 ounces or about 58 grams
- 2 Kings 7:1 That is, probably about 12 pounds or about 5.5 kilograms of flour; also in verses 16 and 18
- 2 Kings 7:1 That is, about 2/5 ounce or about 12 grams; also in verses 16 and 18
- 2 Kings 7:1 That is, probably about 20 pounds or about 9 kilograms of barley; also in verses 16 and 18
- 2 Kings 7:3 The Hebrew for leprosy was used for various diseases affecting the skin; also in verse 8.
- 2 Kings 8:10 The Hebrew may also be read Go and say, ‘You will certainly not recover,’ for.
- 2 Kings 8:21 Hebrew Joram, a variant of Jehoram; also in verses 23 and 24
- 2 Kings 8:29 Hebrew Ramah, a variant of Ramoth
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