¹ Now Elisha had said to the woman whose son he had restored to life, “Arise, you and your household; go and live as a foreigner wherever you can. For the LORD has decreed a seven-year famine, and it has already come to the land.”

² So the woman had proceeded to do as the man of God had instructed. And she and her household lived as foreigners for seven years in the land of the Philistines.

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

⁴ Now the king had been speaking to Gehazi, the servant of the man of God, saying, “Please relate to me all the great things Elisha has done.”

⁵ And Gehazi was telling the king how Elisha had brought the dead back to life. Just then the woman whose son Elisha had revived came to appeal to the king for her house and her land. So Gehazi said, “My lord the king, this is the woman, and this is the son Elisha restored to life.”

⁶ When the king asked the woman, she confirmed it. So the king appointed for her an officer, saying, “Restore all that was hers, along with all the proceeds of the field from the day that she left the country until now.”

Hazael Murders Ben-hadad

⁷ Then Elisha came to Damascus while Ben-hadad king of Aram was sick, and the king was told, “The man of God has come here.”

⁸ So the king said to Hazael, “Take a gift in your hand, go to meet the man of God, and inquire of the LORD through him, ‘Will I recover from this illness?’”

⁹ So Hazael went to meet Elisha, taking with him a gift of forty camel loads of every good thing from Damascus. And he went in and stood before him and said, “Your son Ben-hadad king of Aram has sent me to ask, ‘Will I recover from this illness?’”

¹⁰ Elisha answered, “Go and tell him, ‘You will surely recover.’ But the LORD¹ has shown me that in fact he will die.”

1. Or ‘You will surely not recover.’ And the LORD

¹¹ Elisha fixed his gaze steadily on him until Hazael became uncomfortable. Then the man of God began to weep.

¹² “Why is my lord weeping?” asked Hazael. “Because I know the evil you will do to the Israelites,” Elisha replied. “You will set fire to their fortresses, kill their young men with the sword, dash their little ones to pieces, and rip open their pregnant women.”

¹³ “But how could your servant, a mere dog, do such a monstrous thing?” said Hazael. And Elisha answered, “The LORD has shown me that you will be king over Aram.”

¹⁴ So Hazael left Elisha and went to his master, who asked him, “What did Elisha say to you?” And he replied, “He told me that you would surely recover.”

¹⁵ But the next day Hazael took a thick cloth, dipped it in water, and spread it over the king’s face. So Ben-hadad died, and Hazael reigned in his place.

Jehoram Reigns in Judah

(2 Chronicles 21:1–7)

¹⁶ In the fifth year of the reign of Joram son of Ahab over Israel, Jehoram son of Jehoshaphat succeeded his father as king of Judah.

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

¹⁸ And Jehoram walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, just as the house of Ahab had done. For he married a daughter of Ahab and did evil in the sight of the LORD.

¹⁹ Yet for the sake of His servant David, the LORD was unwilling to destroy Judah, since He had promised to maintain a lamp for David and his descendants forever.

Edom and Libnah Rebel

(2 Chronicles 21:8–11)

²⁰ In the days of Jehoram,¹ Edom rebelled against the hand of Judah and appointed their own king.

1. Literally In his days

²¹ So Jehoram¹ crossed over to Zair with all his chariots. When the Edomites surrounded him and his chariot commanders, he rose up and attacked by night. His troops, however, fled to their homes.

1. Hebrew Joram, a variant of Jehoram (the son of Jehoshaphat), as in verse 16; also in verses 23, and 24

²² So to this day Edom has been in rebellion against the hand of Judah. Likewise, Libnah rebelled at the same time.

²³ As for the rest of the acts of Jehoram, along with all his accomplishments, are they not written in the book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah?

²⁴ And Jehoram rested with his fathers and was buried with them in the City of David. And his son Ahaziah reigned in his place.

Ahaziah Reigns in Judah

(2 Chronicles 22:1–7)

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

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

²⁷ And Ahaziah walked in the ways of the house of Ahab and did evil in the sight of the LORD like the house of Ahab, for he was a son-in-law of the house of Ahab.

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

²⁹ So King Joram returned to Jezreel to recover from the wounds that the Arameans had inflicted on him at Ramah¹ when he fought against Hazael king of Aram. Then Ahaziah son of Jehoram king of Judah went down to Jezreel to visit Joram son of Ahab, because Joram had been wounded.

1. Ramah is a variant of Ramoth; see verse 28.