CHAPTER 8
Now Elisha
said
to
the woman
whose son
he had restored to life,
“Arise,
you
and your household,
and go
and live as a foreigner
wherever
you can.
For
the LORD
has decreed
a seven-year
famine,
and it has already come
to
the land."
So the woman
got ready
and did
as the man
of God
had instructed.
She
and her household
lived as foreigners
for seven
years
in the land
of the Philistines.
At the end
of seven
years,
when the woman
returned
from the land
of the Philistines,
she went
to
the king
to appeal
for
her house
and
her land.
Now the king
had been speaking
to
Gehazi,
the servant
of the man
of God,
saying,
“Please
relate
to me
all
the great things
Elisha
has done.”
And as
Gehazi
was telling
the king
how
Elisha had brought the dead
back to life,
the woman
whose son
he had revived
came to appeal
to
the king
for
her house
and
her land.
So Gehazi
said,
“My lord
the king,
this
is the woman,
and this
is the son
Elisha
restored to life."
When the king
asked
the woman,
she confirmed it.
So the king
appointed
for her
an
officer,
saying,
“Restore
all
that was hers,
along with all
the proceeds
of the field
from the day
that she left
the country
until
now."
Then Elisha
came
to Damascus
while Ben-hadad
king
of Aram
was sick,
and the king was told,
“The man
of God
has come
here.”
So the king
said
to
Hazael,
“Take
a gift
in your hand,
go
to meet
the man
of God,
and inquire of
the LORD
through him,
‘Will I recover
from this
illness?’”
So Hazael
went
to meet Elisha,
taking
with him
a gift
of forty
camel-loads
of every
good thing
from Damascus.
And 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?'"
Elisha
answered,
“Go
and say to him,
‘You will surely recover.’
But the LORD
has shown me
that
in fact
he will die.”
Elisha fixed
his gaze
steadily
on him until
Hazael became uncomfortable.
Then the man
of God
began to weep.
“Why
is my lord
weeping?”
asked
Hazael.
“Because
I know
the evil
you will do
to the Israelites,”
Elisha replied.
“You will set
fire
to their fortresses,
kill
their young men
with the sword,
dash their little ones
to pieces,
and rip open
their pregnant women.”
“But
what is
your servant,
a mere dog,
that
he should do
this
monstrous
thing?”
said
Hazael.
And Elisha
answered,
“The LORD
has shown me
that you will become
king
over
Aram.”
So Hazael left
Elisha
and went
to
his master,
who asked him,
“What
did Elisha
say to you?”
And he replied,
“He told
me
you would surely recover.”
But
the next day
Hazael took
a thick cloth,
dipped
it in water,
and spread
it over
the king’s face.
So Ben-hadad died,
and Hazael
reigned
in his place.
In the fifth
year
of the reign
of Joram
son
of Ahab
over Israel,
Jehoram
son
of Jehoshaphat
succeeded his father
as king
of Judah.
And Jehoram walked
in the way
of the kings
of Israel,
just as
the house
of Ahab
had done.
For
he married
a daughter
of Ahab
and did
evil
in the sight
of the LORD.
Yet for the sake
of His servant
David,
the LORD
was unwilling
to destroy
Judah,
since
He had promised
to maintain
a lamp
for David
and his descendants
forever.
So Joram
crossed over
to Zair
with
all
his chariots.
When the Edomites
surrounded
him
and
his chariot
commanders,
he
rose up
and attacked
by night.
His troops, however,
fled
to their homes.
So to
this
day
Edom
has been in rebellion
against
the hand of
Judah.
Likewise,
Libnah
rebelled
at the same
time.
As for the rest
of the acts
of Joram,
along with all
his accomplishments,
are they not written
in the Book
of the Chronicles
of the Kings
of Judah?
And Joram
rested
with
his fathers
and was buried
with
them
in the City
of David.
And his son
Ahaziah
became king
in his place.
In the twelfth
year
of the reign
of Joram
son
of Ahab
over Israel,
Ahaziah
son
of Jehoram
became king
of Judah.
Ahaziah
was twenty-two
years old
when he became king,
and he reigned
in Jerusalem
one
year.
His mother’s
name
was Athaliah,
the granddaughter
of Omri
king
of Israel.
And Ahaziah walked
in the way
of the house
of Ahab
and did
evil
in the sight
of the LORD
like the house
of Ahab,
for
he
was a son-in-law
of the house
of Ahab.
Then Ahaziah went
with
Joram
son
of Ahab
to fight
against
Hazael
king
of Aram
at Ramoth-gilead,
and the Arameans
wounded
Joram.
So King
Joram
returned
to Jezreel
to recover
from
the wounds
that
the Arameans
had inflicted on him
at Ramah
in his battle
against
Hazael
king
of Aram.
And Ahaziah
son
of Jehoram
king
of Judah
went down
to Jezreel
to visit
Joram
son
of Ahab,
since
Joram
had been wounded.