2 Kings 5
Darby Translation
5 And Naaman, captain of the host of the king of Syria, was a great man before his master, and honourable, for by him Jehovah had given deliverance to Syria; and he was a mighty man of valour, [but] a leper.
2 And the Syrians had gone out in bands, and had brought away captive out of the land of Israel a little maid; and she waited on Naaman's wife.
3 And she said to her mistress, Oh, would that my lord were before the prophet that is in Samaria! then he would cure him of his leprosy.
4 And he went and told his lord saying, Thus and thus said the maid that is of the land of Israel.
5 And the king of Syria said, Well! go, and I will send a letter to the king of Israel. And he departed, and took with him ten talents of silver, and six thousand [shekels] of gold, and ten changes of raiment.
6 And he brought the letter to the king of Israel, saying, And now, when this letter comes to thee, behold, I have sent Naaman my servant to thee, that thou mayest cure him of his leprosy.
7 And it came to pass when the king of Israel had read the letter, that he rent his garments, and said, Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man sends to me to cure a man of his leprosy? Wherefore consider, I pray you, and see how he seeks an occasion against me.
8 And it was so, when Elisha the man of God had heard that the king of Israel had rent his garments, that he sent to the king, saying, Why hast thou rent thy garments? let him come now to me, and he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel.
9 And Naaman came with his horses and with his chariot, and stood at the doorway of the house of Elisha.
10 And Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and thy flesh shall come again to thee, and thou shalt be clean.
11 And Naaman was wroth, and went away and said, Behold, I thought, He will certainly come out to me, and stand, and call on the name of Jehovah his God, and wave his hand over the place, and cure the leper.
12 Are not the Abanah and the Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? may I not wash in them and be clean? And he turned and went away in a rage.
13 And his servants drew near, and spoke to him and said, My father, [if] the prophet had bidden thee [do some] great thing, wouldest thou not have done it? how much rather then, when he says to thee, Wash and be clean?
14 Then he went down, and plunged himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God. And his flesh became again like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.
15 And he returned to the man of God, he and all his company, and came and stood before him; and he said, Behold, I know that there is no God in all the earth but in Israel; and now, I pray thee, take a present of thy servant.
16 But he said, As Jehovah liveth, before whom I stand, I will receive none! And he urged him to take it; but he refused.
17 And Naaman said, If not, then let there, I pray thee, be given to thy servant two mules' burden of [this] earth; for thy servant will no more offer burnt-offering and sacrifice to other gods, but to Jehovah.
18 In this thing Jehovah pardon thy servant: when my master goes into the house of Rimmon to bow down there, and he leans on my hand, and I bow down myself in the house of Rimmon—when I bow down myself in the house of Rimmon, Jehovah pardon thy servant, I pray thee, in this thing.
19 And he said to him, Go in peace. And he departed from him a little way.
20 And Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, said, Behold, my master has spared Naaman, this Syrian, in not receiving at his hands that which he brought; but as Jehovah liveth, I will run after him and take somewhat of him.
21 And Gehazi followed after Naaman. And when Naaman saw him running after him, he sprang down from the chariot to meet him, and said, Is all well?
22 And he said, All is well. My master has sent me saying, Behold, even now there are come to me from mount Ephraim two young men of the sons of the prophets; give them, I pray thee, a talent of silver, and two changes of raiment.
23 And Naaman said, Consent to take two talents. And he urged him, and bound two talents of silver in two bags, with two changes of raiment, and laid them upon two of his young men; and they bore them before him.
24 And when he came to the hill, he took them from their hand, and stowed them in the house; and he let the men go, and they departed.
25 And he entered in and stood before his master. And Elisha said to him, Whence [comest thou], Gehazi? And he said, Thy servant went no whither.
26 And he said to him, Did not my heart go, when the man turned again from his chariot to meet thee? Is it a time to receive money, and to receive garments, and oliveyards, and vineyards, and sheep, and oxen, and bondmen, and bondwomen?
27 But the leprosy of Naaman shall fasten upon thee, and upon thy seed for ever. And he went out from his presence leprous, as snow.
2 Kings 5
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.
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).
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