2 Kings 8

¹ Now Elisha had spoken to the woman whose son he had restored to life, saying, "Get up and go—you and your household—and stay wherever you can as a foreigner, for the LORD has called for a famine, and it will come on the land for seven years."

² So the woman got up and did according to the word of the man of God. She went with her household and stayed as a foreigner in the land of the Philistines for seven years.

³ At the end of seven years, the woman returned from the land of the Philistines and went out to appeal to the king for her house and her land.

⁴ Now the king was speaking with Gehazi, the servant of the man of God, saying, "Tell me all the great things Elisha has done."

⁵ As he was telling the king how Elisha had restored the dead to life, the very woman whose son he had restored to life came to appeal to the king for her house and her land. Gehazi said, "My lord the king, this is the woman, and this is her son whom Elisha restored to life."

⁶ The king asked the woman, and she told him. So the king appointed a certain official for her, saying, "Restore all that was hers, including all the produce of the field from the day she left the land until now."

⁷ Elisha went to Damascus. Ben-hadad king of Aram was sick, and he was told, "The man of God has come here."

⁸ The king said to Hazael, "Take a gift in your hand and go meet the man of God. Inquire of the LORD through him, saying, 'Will I recover from this illness?'"

⁹ Hazael went to meet him, taking a gift with him—every good thing of Damascus, a load for forty camels. He came and stood before him and said, "Your son Ben-hadad king of Aram has sent me to you, saying, 'Will I recover from this illness?'"

¹⁰ Elisha said to him, "Go, say to him, 'You will certainly recover.' But the LORD has shown me that he will certainly die."

¹¹ He fixed his gaze and stared at him until Hazael was ashamed. Then the man of God wept.

¹² Hazael said, "Why is my lord weeping?" He said, "Because I know the evil you will do to the people of Israel. You will set their fortresses on fire, kill their young men with the sword, dash their infants to pieces, and rip open their pregnant women."

¹³ Hazael said, "What is your servant—a mere dog—that he could do such a great thing?" Elisha said, "The LORD has shown me that you will be king over Aram."

¹⁴ He left Elisha and went to his master, who said to him, "What did Elisha say to you?" He said, "He told me you will certainly recover."

¹⁵ The next day, he took a thick cloth, dipped it in water, and spread it over his face so that he died. And Hazael became king in his place.

¹⁶ In the fifth year of Joram son of Ahab king of Israel, while Jehoshaphat was king of Judah, Jehoram son of Jehoshaphat king of Judah became king.

¹⁷ He was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem.

¹⁸ He walked in the way of the kings of Israel, just as the house of Ahab had done, for the daughter of Ahab was his wife. He did what was evil in the eyes of the LORD.

¹⁹ Yet the LORD was not willing to destroy Judah, for the sake of David his servant, since he had promised to give him a lamp for his descendants always.

²⁰ In his days, Edom revolted from under the hand of Judah and set up a king over themselves.

²¹ Joram crossed over to Zair with all his chariots. He rose by night and struck the Edomites who had surrounded him and the chariot commanders, but his army fled to their tents.

²² So Edom has been in revolt against Judah to this day. Libnah also revolted at that time.

²³ As for 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 Joram slept with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the City of David. Ahaziah his son became king in his place.

²⁵ In the twelfth year of Joram son of Ahab king of Israel, Ahaziah son of Jehoram king of Judah became king.

²⁶ Ahaziah was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Athaliah, granddaughter of Omri king of Israel.

²⁷ He walked in the way of the house of Ahab and did what was evil in the eyes of the LORD, like the house of Ahab, for he was a son-in-law of the house of Ahab.

²⁸ He went with Joram son of Ahab to war against Hazael king of Aram at Ramoth-gilead, and the Arameans wounded Joram.

²⁹ King Joram returned to Jezreel to recover from the wounds that the Arameans had inflicted on him at Ramah when he fought against Hazael king of Aram. Ahaziah son of Jehoram king of Judah went down to see Joram son of Ahab in Jezreel, because he was wounded.