8:1 Now Elisha had said to the woman 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 in the land that will last seven years.”
8:2 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.
8:3 At the end of the seven years she came back from the land of the Philistines and went to the king to beg for her house and land.
8:4 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.”
8:5 Just as Gehazi was telling the king how Elisha had restored the dead to life, the woman whose son Elisha had brought back to life came to beg 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.”
8:6 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.”
8:7 Elisha went to Damascus, and Ben-Hadad king of Aram was ill. When the king was told, “The man of God has come all the way up here,”
8:8 he said to Hazael, “Take a gift with you and go to meet the man of God. Consult the LORD through him; ask him, ‘Will I recover from this illness?’”
8:9 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?’”
8:10 Elisha answered, “Go and say to him, ‘You will certainly recover’; but the LORD has revealed to me that he will in fact die.”
8:11 He stared at him with a fixed gaze until Hazael felt ashamed. Then the man of God began to weep.
8:12 “Why is my lord weeping?” asked Hazael. “Because I know the harm you will do to the Israelites,” he answered. “You will set fire to their fortified places, kill their young men with the sword, dash their little children to the ground, and rip open their pregnant women.”
8:13 Hazael said, “How could your servant, a mere dog, accomplish such a feat?” “The LORD has shown me that you will become king of Aram,” answered Elisha.
8:14 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.”
8:15 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. Then Hazael succeeded him as king.
8:16 In the fifth year of Joram son of Ahab king of Israel, when Jehoshaphat was king of Judah, Jehoram son of Jehoshaphat began his reign as king of Judah.
8:17 He was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eight years.
8:18 He walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, as the house of Ahab had done, for he married a daughter of Ahab. He did evil in the eyes of the LORD.
8:19 Nevertheless, for the sake of his servant David, the LORD was not willing to destroy Judah. He had promised to maintain a lamp for David and his descendants forever.
8:20 In the time of Jehoram, Edom rebelled against Judah and set up its own king.
8:21 So Jehoram 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.
8:22 To this day Edom has been in rebellion against Judah. Libnah revolted at the same time.
8:23 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?
8:24 Jehoram rested with his fathers and was buried with them in the City of David. And Ahaziah his son succeeded him as king.
8:25 In the twelfth year of Joram son of Ahab king of Israel, Ahaziah son of Jehoram king of Judah began to reign.
8:26 Ahaziah was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem one year. His mother’s name was Athaliah, a granddaughter of Omri king of Israel.
8:27 He walked in the ways of the house of Ahab and did evil in the eyes of the LORD, as the house of Ahab had done, for he was related by marriage to Ahab’s family.
8:28 Ahaziah went with Joram son of Ahab to war against Hazael king of Aram at Ramoth Gilead. The Arameans wounded Joram;
8:29 so King Joram returned to Jezreel to recover from the wounds the Arameans had inflicted on him at Ramoth in his battle with Hazael king of Aram. Then Ahaziah son of Jehoram king of Judah went down to Jezreel to see Joram son of Ahab, because he had been wounded.
8:1 Now Elisha had spoken to the woman whose son he had restored to life, saying, Rise up, and you and your household go and dwell wherever you can; for Jehovah has called for a famine, and it will also come upon the land for seven years.
8:2 So the woman rose up and did according to the word of the man of God. And she and her household went and dwelt in the land of the Philistines for seven years.
8:3 And at the end of the seven years the woman returned from the land of the Philistines. And she went forth to cry unto the king for her house and her land.
8:4 And the king was talking to Gehazi the attendant of the man of God, saying, Recount to me all the great things that Elisha has done.
8:5 And while Gehazi was telling the king how Elisha had restored the dead boy to life, there came the woman whose son he had restored to life, crying to the king for her house and her land. And Gehazi said, O my lord the king, this is the woman, and this is her son whom Elisha restored to life.
8:6 And the king asked the woman, and she recounted it to him. And the king appointed a certain officer for her, saying, Restore all that was hers and all the produce of her land from the day that she left the country until now.
8:7 And Elisha went to Damascus. And Ben-hadad the king of Syria was sick. And it was told him, saying, The man of God has come here.
8:8 And the king said to Hazael, Take a gift with you, and go to meet the man of God; and inquire of Jehovah through him, saying, Will I recover from this sickness?
8:9 So Hazael went to meet him; and he took a gift with him, even all good things of Damascus, forty camel loads. And he came and stood before him and said, Your son Ben-hadad the king of Syria has sent me to you, saying, Will I recover from this sickness?
8:10 And Elisha said to him, Go and say to him, You shall certainly recover; however Jehovah has shown me that he shall certainly die.
8:11 And he fixed his gaze and stared at him until he was ashamed. Then the man of God began to weep.
8:12 And Hazael said, Why are you weeping, my lord? And he said, Because I know the evil that you will do to the children of Israel: Their strongholds you will set on fire, and their choice young men you will slay with the sword, and their little ones you will dash to pieces, and their pregnant women you will rip open.
8:13 And Hazael said, But what is your servant, who is but a dog, that he should do this great thing? And Elisha said, Jehovah has shown me that you will be king over Syria.
8:14 And he went from Elisha and came to his master. And his master said to him, What did Elisha say to you? And he said, He told me that you shall certainly recover.
8:15 But on the next day he took the heavy covering over Ben-hadad and dipped it in water and spread it over his face, so that he died; and Hazael reigned in his place.
8:16 Now in the fifth year of Joram the son of Ahab, the king of Israel, while Jehoshaphat was king of Judah, Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, began to reign.
8:17 He was thirty-two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem.
8:18 And he walked in the way of the kings of Israel and as the house of Ahab had done, for Ahab s daughter was his wife; and he did what was evil in the sight of Jehovah.
8:19 But Jehovah would not destroy Judah, because of David His servant, as He had promised him that for his sake He would provide a lamp for his children always.
8:20 In his days Edom revolted from under the hand of Judah, and they installed a king over themselves.
8:21 So Joram crossed over to Zair, and all his chariots with him. And he rose up at night and struck the Edomites all around him and the captains of the chariots, but his people fled to their tents.
8:22 So Edom revolted from under the hand of Judah, as it is to this day. Then Libnah revolted at the same time.
8:23 And the rest of the acts of Joram and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?
8:24 And Joram slept with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of David. And Ahaziah his son reigned in his place.
8:25 In the twelfth year of Joram the son of Ahab, the king of Israel, Ahaziah the son of Jehoram, the king of Judah, began to reign.
8:26 Ahaziah was twenty-two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. And his mother s name was Athaliah, the daughter of Omri the king of Israel.
8:27 And he walked in the way of the house of Ahab and did what was evil in the sight of Jehovah, like the house of Ahab; for he was a son-in-law to the house of Ahab.
8:28 And he went with Joram the son of Ahab to fight with Hazael the king of Syria at Ramoth-gilead. And the Syrians struck Joram.
8:29 And Joram the king returned to heal in Jezreel of his wounds that the Syrians had inflicted on him in Ramah when he fought with Hazael the king of Syria. And Ahaziah the son of Jehoram, the king of Judah, went down to see Joram the son of Ahab in Jezreel, for he was sick.