UST by section 2 KI 5:1

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2 Kings 5

5 A certain man whose name was Naaman was the commander of the Aramean army. Yahweh had enabled him to win many victories for Aram, and so the king of Aram admired and honored him. Naaman was a great warrior. Unfortunately, he also had leprosy. 2 Some groups of Aramean soldiers went on raids into the land of Israel. They captured a young girl and brought her back to Aram. She became a servant of Naaman’s wife. 3 One day that girl told her, “I wish that my master Naaman could go to the prophet who lives in the city of Samaria. That prophet would heal him of his leprosy.” 4 Naaman’s wife told her husband what the girl from Israel had said. So Naaman went and reported that to the king. 5 The king told him, “Very well, go right away to the land of Israel. I will write a letter for you to bring to the king of Israel in which I will ask him to help you.” So Naaman went to Israel. He brought with him as a gift 330 kilograms of silver, 66 kilograms of gold, and 10 sets of expensive clothing. 6 When Naaman arrived, he gave the king of Israel the letter. The king of Aram had written in it, “I am writing this letter to introduce my army commander Naaman. I want you to heal him of his leprosy.” 7 When the king read the letter, he tore his clothes to show his distress. He told his officials, “I am not God! I am not able to cause people to live or to die! So this man should not be asking me to cure someone of leprosy. If you think about it, the king of Aram must want a reason to attack us and he will pretend to be offended if I do not do what he asks.”

8 The prophet Elisha heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes. So he sent a message to the king. He told him, “You did not need to feel such distress that you tore your clothes. Send Naaman to me. He will learn that there is a prophet in Israel through whom Yahweh can heal him.” 9 So Naaman went with his horses and chariots to Elisha’s house, He waited outside the door. 10 But rather than coming out to speak to Naaman, Elisha sent a messenger to tell him, “Go to the Jordan River. Go down into its water seven times to wash yourself. Then your skin will become healthy again. You will no longer have leprosy.” 11 But this made Naaman furious, and he left Elisha’s house. He stopped and told his servants, “I expected him to come out of his house and stand in front of me. I was sure that he would ask Yahweh his God to heal me. I expected him to wave his hand over the area where I have leprosy and heal me! 12 Surely the Abanah River and the Pharpar River in Damascus have better water than any river in Israel! The prophet should have told me to wash in those rivers in order to become healthy again!” Naaman was so furious that he started to leave again. 13 But his servants came to him, and one of them said, “Sir, if that prophet had told you to do something difficult, you would certainly have done it. So you should certainly be willing to do a simple thing such as he described when he told you to wash yourself in the Jordan River in order to become clean.” 14 So Naaman went to the Jordan River and went down into its water seven times, as the prophet had instructed him to do. Then his skin became smooth once again, like the skin of a young child. He no longer had leprosy.

15 Then Naaman and the soldiers who were with him returned to Elisha’s house. This time Elisha met with them personally. Naaman told him, “Now I know that the God whom you Israelites worship is the only true God anywhere. Please accept these gifts that I have brought you.” 16 But Elisha replied, “I swear by Yahweh, the God whom I serve, that I will not accept any gifts from you.” Naaman urged him to accept something, but Elisha refused to accept anything. 17 Then Naaman said, “All right, but I have one request. From now on, I am going to offer sacrifices only to Yahweh, not to any other god. So please allow me to take back with me as much soil from Israel as two mules can carry so that I can spread out that soil to make a place where I can worship Yahweh. 18 But there is one thing I will have to do for which I ask Yahweh to forgive me. When my master, the king of Aram, goes into the temple of Rimmon and bows down to the idol there, he needs to lean on my arm for support. That requires me to bow down as well, but I will not intend that as an act of worship. I ask Yahweh to forgive me for bowing down to the idol of Rimmon.” 19 Elisha replied, “Yahweh will forgive you, so you may return home without worrying about that.” So Naaman and his servants started to travel home.

20 But then Elisha’s servant Gehazi said to himself, “My master Elisha should have accepted the gifts that this Aramean man Naaman brought. I swear by Yahweh that I am going to catch up with him and get something from him.” 21 So Gehazi ran to catch up with Naaman. When Naaman saw that a man was running after him, he stopped the chariot in which he was riding and climbed down from it in order to speak with the man. When Gehazi arrived, he asked him, “Is everything all right?” 22 Gehazi replied, “Yes, everything is all right. But two young prophets from the hilly area where the descendants of Ephraim live have just arrived to stay with Elisha for a while. He wants to give them something. So he sent me to ask you for a disk of 33 kilograms of silver and two sets of clothing.” 23 Naaman replied, “Certainly, and I hope you will accept two silver disks, one for each of those prophets.” Gehazi pretended to be reluctant, but Naaman urged him to accept the second disk, and Gehazi agreed. So Naaman had his servants tie up a silver disk and a set of clothing in each of two bags. He instructed two of his servants to carry these bags back to Elisha, and they walked ahead of Gehazi as they returned. 24 When they arrived at a certain hill in Samaria, Gehazi took the bags from the servants and sent them back to Naaman. He brought the bags into his own house and hid them there. 25 Then he went to Elisha and acted as if nothing had happened. Elisha asked him, “Where did you go, Gehazi?” Gehazi replied, “I did not go anywhere.” 26 Elisha told him, “You must realize that my spirit was there with you when Naaman got out of his chariot to talk with you! This is certainly no time to accept gifts of silver or clothing and sell them to buy olive groves or vineyards or sheep or oxen or male and female servants! 27 Because you have done this, you and all of your future descendants will have leprosy just as Naaman did!” Before Gehazi even left the room, he became a leper. His skin became as white as snow.

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UST by section 2 KI 5:1

2 Kings 5

UST by section 2 KI 5:1