UST 2 KI Chapter 8

◄ 2 KI 8 ► ║ ═ ©

8 Several years earlier, Elisha had spoken to the Shunammite woman whose son he had made live again. He had told her, “Yahweh is going to allow a famine to occur in Israel. This famine will last for seven years. So you and your family should go and live somewhere else for a while where there will be food to eat.” 2 The woman had done what Elisha told her to do. She and her family had gone to live in the region of Philistia for seven years. 3 After those seven years were over, she and her family returned to Israel. By this time someone else was living in her house and on her land, so the woman went to the king to ask him to order that person to return her house and her land to her. 4 Just as she arrived, the king was speaking with Gehazi, Elisha’s servant. The king was saying to him, “Tell me about all the miracles that Elisha has done.” 5 Just as Gehazi was telling the king how Elisha had caused the woman’s son to become alive again, that woman came in and asked the king to enable her to get her house and land back. Gehazi exclaimed, “Your Majesty, this is the woman I was just telling you about, and this is her son, whom Elisha caused to become alive again!” 6 So the king asked her about this, and she told him the whole story of what Elisha had done. Then the king assigned one of his officials to help her. He told him, “Make sure that this woman gets her house and land back. Also give her as many crops as grew on her land while she was away.”

7 Later Elisha traveled to the city of Damascus. At that time, King Ben Hadad of Aram was very sick. When someone told him that Elisha had come to Damascus, 8 the king told his official Hazael, “Go and speak with Elisha. Bring him a gift from me, and ask him to ask Yahweh if I will recover from this illness.” 9 So Hazael went to speak with Elisha. As a gift, he brought him many of the goods that people produced in Damascus. It took 40 camels to carry everything he brought. When Hazael met with Elisha, he told him, “Your friend Ben Hadad, the king of Aram, has sent me to ask you whether he will recover from his illness.” 10 Elisha told Hazael, “You may go back and tell him that he will surely recover from this illness. However, Yahweh has shown me that he is going to die some other way.” 11 Then Elisha looked steadily at Hazael for a long time. That made Hazael feel embarrassed. Then Elisha started to cry. 12 Hazael asked, “Sir, why are you crying?” Elisha replied, “Because Yahweh has enabled me to know the terrible things that you will do to the people of Israel. Your soldiers will burn down their cities that now have walls around them. They will kill their best young soldiers in battle. They will throw their babies against stones to kill them. And they will use their swords to split open the bellies of their pregnant women and kill the children in their wombs.” 13 Hazael replied, “I am an insignificant person. I do not have the power to do the things you have described.” Elisha replied, “Yahweh has revealed to me that you will become the king of Aram.” 14 Then Hazael left Elisha and returned to the king. The king asked Hazael, “What did Elisha tell you?” Hazael replied, “He told me that you would surely recover.” 15 But the next day, while the king was sleeping, Hazael got a thick cloth and soaked it in water. Then he spread it over the king’s face so that he would not be able to breathe. As a result, he died. Then Hazael became the king of Aram instead of Ben Hadad.

16 After Joram son of Ahab had been ruling Israel for almost five years, Jehoram son of Jehoshaphat became one of the rulers of Judah. Jehoshaphat continued to be a ruler himself. 17 Jehoram was 32 years old when he became a ruler, and he ruled in Jerusalem for eight years. 18 Jehoram’s wife was the daughter of King Ahab. As a result, he behaved just as the kings of Israel behaved who were descendants of Ahab. He did many things that Yahweh had told the Israelites were evil. 19 However, Yahweh had promised his servant David that his descendants would always be kings. So Yahweh did not want to allow the enemies of the kingdom of Judah to destroy it.

20 During the time when Jehoram ruled, the Edomites rebelled against Judah. They appointed their own king. 21 So Joram went with his army and all of his chariots to the city of Zair. The Edomite army came and surrounded them. But Jehoram and his chariot commanders made a surprise attack at night, and the Judean army escaped. But then the regular soldiers ran away and went home, so Joram was not able to reconquer Edom. 22 Since that time, Judah has no longer controlled Edom. Around that same time, the people of the city of Libnah also rebelled against Judah. 23 The book in which the kings of Judah recorded what happened during their reigns describes further things that Jehoram did. 24 Then Joram died, and the Judeans buried him in the part of Jerusalem that people called the City of David. That is where people had buried his ancestors. Joram’s son Ahaziah became the next king.

25 After Joram son of Ahab had been ruling Israel for almost 12 years, Ahaziah son of Jehoram became the king of Judah. 26 Ahaziah was 22 years old when he became the king. He ruled in Jerusalem for one year. His mother’s name was Athaliah. Her father was Ahab, the son of King Omri of Israel. 27 Because Ahaziah’s mother was a daughter of Ahab, he behaved just as the kings of Israel behaved who were descendants of Ahab. He did many things that Yahweh had told the Israelites were evil. 28 Ahaziah led his army to join King Jehoram of Israel and his army to fight against the army of King Hazael of Aram. Their armies started fighting at the city of Ramoth Gilead. The Aramean soldiers wounded Jehoram in the battle there. 29 So King Joram left Ramah, where his army had been fighting against the army of King Hazael of Aram. Because the Arameans had wounded him, he went back to the city of Jezreel to recover from his wounds. King Ahaziah of Judah learned that he had gone there to recover. So he went to Jezreel to visit him.

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UST 2 KI Chapter 8

UST 2 KI Chapter 8