2 Kings 8:1-9:13

New King James Version

The King Restores the Shunammite’s Land

8 Then Elisha spoke to the woman ^(A)whose son he had restored to life, saying, “Arise and go, you and your household, and stay wherever you can; for the Lord ^(B)has called for a ^(C)famine, and furthermore, it will come upon the land for seven years.” ² So the woman arose and did according to the saying of the man of God, and she went with her household and dwelt in the land of the Philistines seven years.

³ It came to pass, at the end of seven years, that the woman returned from the land of the Philistines; and she went to make an appeal to the king for her house and for her land. ⁴ Then the king talked with ^(D)Gehazi, the servant of the man of God, saying, “Tell me, please, all the great things Elisha has done.” ⁵ Now it happened, as he was telling the king how he had restored the dead to life, that there was the woman whose son he had ^(E)restored to life, appealing to the king for her house and for her land. And Gehazi said, “My lord, O king, this is the woman, and this is her son whom Elisha restored to life.” ⁶ And when the king asked the woman, she told him.

So the king appointed a certain officer for her, saying, “Restore all that was hers, and all the proceeds of the field from the day that she left the land until now.”

Death of Ben-Hadad

⁷ Then Elisha went to Damascus, and ^(F)Ben-Hadad king of Syria was sick; and it was told him, saying, “The man of God has come here.” ⁸ And the king said to ^(G)Hazael, ^(H)“Take a present in your hand, and go to meet the man of God, and ^(I)inquire of the Lord by him, saying, ‘Shall I recover from this disease?’ ” ⁹ So ^(J)Hazael went to meet him and took a present with him, of every good thing of Damascus, forty camel-loads; and he came and stood before him, and said, “Your son Ben-Hadad king of Syria has sent me to you, saying, ‘Shall I recover from this disease?’ ”

¹⁰ And Elisha said to him, “Go, say to him, ‘You shall certainly recover.’ However the Lord has shown me that ^(K)he will really die.” ¹¹ Then he ^[a]set his countenance in a stare until he was ashamed; and the man of God ^(L)wept. ¹² And Hazael said, “Why is my lord weeping?”

He answered, “Because I know ^(M)the evil that you will do to the children of Israel: Their strongholds you will set on fire, and their young men you will kill with the sword; and you ^(N)will dash their children, and rip open their women with child.”

¹³ So Hazael said, “But what ^(O)is your servant—a dog, that he should do this gross thing?”

And Elisha answered, ^(P)“The Lord has shown me that you will become king over Syria.”

¹⁴ Then he departed from Elisha, and came to his master, who said to him, “What did Elisha say to you?” And he answered, “He told me you would surely recover.” ¹⁵ But it happened on the next day that he took a thick cloth and dipped it in water, and spread it over his face so that he died; and Hazael reigned in his place.

Jehoram Reigns in Judah^(Q)

¹⁶ Now ^(R)in the fifth year of Joram the son of Ahab, king of Israel, Jehoshaphat having been king of Judah, ^(S)Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat began to reign as ^[b]king of Judah. ¹⁷ He was ^(T)thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. ¹⁸ And he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, just as the house of Ahab had done, for ^(U)the daughter of Ahab was his wife; and he did evil in the sight of the Lord. ¹⁹ Yet the Lord would not destroy Judah, for the sake of His servant David, ^(V)as He promised him to give a lamp to him and his sons forever.

²⁰ In his days ^(W)Edom revolted against Judah’s authority, ^(X)and made a king over themselves. ²¹ So ^[c]Joram went to Zair, and all his chariots with him. Then he rose by night and attacked the Edomites who had surrounded him and the captains of the chariots; and the troops fled to their tents. ²² Thus Edom has been in revolt against Judah’s authority to this day. ^(Y)And Libnah revolted at that time.

²³ Now 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? ²⁴ So Joram ^[d]rested with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the City of David. Then ^(Z)Ahaziah^[e] his son reigned in his place.

Ahaziah Reigns in Judah^(AA)

²⁵ In the twelfth year of Joram the son of Ahab, king of Israel, Ahaziah the son of Jehoram, king of Judah, began to reign. ²⁶ Ahaziah was ^(AB)twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Athaliah the granddaughter of Omri, king of Israel. ^27 (AC)And he 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 the son-in-law of the house of Ahab.

²⁸ Now he went ^(AD)with Joram the son of Ahab to war against Hazael king of Syria at ^(AE)Ramoth Gilead; and the Syrians wounded Joram. ²⁹ Then ^(AF)King Joram went back to Jezreel to recover from the wounds which the Syrians had inflicted on him at ^[f]Ramah, when he fought against Hazael king of Syria. ^(AG)And Ahaziah the son of Jehoram, king of Judah, went down to see Joram the son of Ahab in Jezreel, because he was sick.

Jehu Anointed King of Israel

9 And Elisha the prophet called one of ^(AH)the sons of the prophets, and said to him, ^(AI)“Get^[g] yourself ready, take this flask of oil in your hand, ^(AJ)and go to Ramoth Gilead. ² Now when you arrive at that place, look there for Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat, the son of Nimshi, and go in and make him rise up from among ^(AK)his associates, and take him to an inner room. ³ Then ^(AL)take the flask of oil, and pour it on his head, and say, ‘Thus says the Lord: “I have anointed you king over Israel.” ’ Then open the door and flee, and do not delay.”

⁴ So the young man, the servant of the prophet, went to Ramoth Gilead. ⁵ And when he arrived, there were the captains of the army sitting; and he said, “I have a message for you, Commander.”

Jehu said, “For which one of us?”

And he said, “For you, Commander.” ⁶ Then he arose and went into the house. And he poured the oil on his head, and said to him, ^(AM)“Thus says the Lord God of Israel: ‘I have anointed you king over the people of the Lord, over Israel. ⁷ You shall strike down the house of Ahab your master, that I may ^(AN)avenge the blood of My servants the prophets, and the blood of all the servants of the Lord, ^(AO)at the hand of Jezebel. ⁸ For the whole house of Ahab shall perish; and ^(AP)I will cut off from Ahab all ^(AQ)the males in Israel, both ^(AR)bond and free. ⁹ So I will make the house of Ahab like the house of ^(AS)Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of ^(AT)Baasha the son of Ahijah. ^10 (AU)The dogs shall eat Jezebel on the plot of ground at Jezreel, and there shall be none to bury her.’ ” And he opened the door and fled.

¹¹ Then Jehu came out to the servants of his master, and one said to him, “Is all well? Why did ^(AV)this madman come to you?”

And he said to them, “You know the man and his babble.”

¹² And they said, “A lie! Tell us now.”

So he said, “Thus and thus he spoke to me, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord: “I have anointed you king over Israel.” ’ ”

¹³ Then each man hastened ^(AW)to take his garment and put it ^[h]under him on the top of the steps; and they blew trumpets, saying, “Jehu is king!”