1Then Elisha spoke to the woman, whose son he had restored to life, “Arise, you and your household, and go and stay for a while wherever you can; for the LORD has called for a famine; and it shall be upon the land for seven years.” 2And the woman did as the man of God said; she went with her household, and stayed in the land of the Philistines for seven years. 3And at the end of seven years, the woman returned from the land of the Philistines, and she appealed to the king for the return of her house and her land. 4And the king told Gehazi, the servant of Elisha, the man of God, “Please tell me all the great things that Elisha has done.” 5And as Gehazi was telling the king how he had restored a dead body to life, behold, that same woman, whose son he had revived, came and appealed to the king to restore her house and land. And Gehazi said, “My lord, O king, this is the woman, and this is her son, whom Elisha restored to life.” 6And when the king asked the woman, she told him. So the king assigned a certain officer to her, saying, “Restore all that was hers, and all the fruits of the field since the day that she left the land until now.” 7And Elisha came to Damascus; and Ben-hadad, king of Syria, was sick; and he was told, “Elisha, the man of God, has come here.” 8And the king told Hazael, “Take a present and go, meet the man of God, and have him inquire of the LORD, ‘Shall I recover from this illness?’” 9So Hazael went to meet him, and took a present with him, of all the good things of Damascus, forty camels' burden, and came and stood before Elisha, and said, “Your son, Ben-hadad, king of Syria, has sent me to ask you, ‘Shall I recover from this illness?’” 10And Elisha said, “Go, and tell him, ‘You may certainly recover’. However, the LORD has revealed to me that he will in fact, die.” 11And Elisha stared at Hazael, until he became uneasy; and then Elisha began to weep. 12And Hazael asked, “Why are you weeping, my lord?” And he answered, “Because I know the evil that you will do to the children of Israel; you will set their strongholds on fire, slay their young men with the sword, dash their children, and rip up their women with child.” 13And Hazael said, “Surely not! For how could I, who is nothing but a dog, even be able to do this atrocious thing?” And Elisha answered, “The LORD has shown me that you shall became king of Syria.” 14Then Hazael left Elisha, and returned to his master; who asked him, “What did Elisha tell you?” And he answered, “He told me that you should surely recover.” 15And then, the next day, Hazael took a thick cloth, dipped it in water, and spread it on Ben-hadad’s face, so that he died; and Hazael reigned in Syria in his stead. 16And in the fifth year of Joram (Jehoram), son of Ahab, king of Israel, when Jehoshaphat was king of Judah, Jehoram, (yet another Jehoram) the son of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, became king and began to reign in Judah. 17He was thirty-two years old when he began to reign; and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. 18And he followed the ways of the kings of Israel, as Ahab had done; for the daughter of Ahab was his wife. And he did evil in the eyes of the LORD. 19Yet the LORD would not destroy Judah, for the sake of His servant, David, because He had promised to maintain a light for David and his descendants forever. 20In Jehoram’s days Edom revolted from under Judah, and set a king over themselves. 21So Joram (Jehoram) went over to Zair, with all his chariots; to attack; but the Edomites surrounded them, and the commanders of the chariots and the men of his army broke through and fled by night back to their tents. 22So Edom revolted from under the rule of Judah unto this day. Then, at the same time, Libnah revolted. 23And the rest of the acts of Joram, and what he did, and his deeds, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? 24And Joram died, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David; and Ahaziah, his son, reigned in his stead. 25In the twelfth year of Joram, son of Ahab, king of Israel, Ahaziah, son of Jehoram, began to reign in Judah. 26 Ahaziah was twenty-two years old was when he began to reign, and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Athaliah, daughter of Omri, king of Israel. 27And he walked in the way of the house of Ahab, and did evil in the eyes of the LORD, as did the house of Ahab; for he was related by marriage to the family of Ahab. 28And he went with Joram, son of Ahab, to wage war against Hazael, king of Syria, in Ramoth-gilead; and the Syrians wounded Joram. 29And King Joram returned to Jezreel to recover from the wounds the Syrians had given him, when he fought against Hazael, king of Syria at Ramah. And Ahaziah, son of Jehoram, king of Judah, went down to visit Joram, son of Ahab, in Jezreel, because he was sick. Reader-Friendly Bible: Purple Letter Edition © 2024 by Jim Musser. Used by Permission. All rights Reserved. Bible Hub |