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?”