2Kings 8

The Woman from Shunem Returns Home

8Elisha had told the woman whose son he had brought back to life, "Take your family and move to some other place, for the LORD has called for a famine on Israel that will last for seven years."H1696H477H802H1121H2421H559H6965H3212H1004H1481H834H1481H3068H7121H7458H935H776H7651H81412So the woman did as the man of God instructed. She took her family and settled in the land of the Philistines for seven years.H802H6965H6213H1697H376H430H3212H1004H1481H776H6430H7651H81413After the famine ended she returned from the land of the Philistines, and she went to see the king about getting back her house and land.H7651H8141H7097H802H7725H776H6430H3318H6817H4428H1004H77044As she came in, the king was talking with Gehazi, the servant of the man of God. The king had just said, "Tell me some stories about the great things Elisha has done."H4428H1696H1522H5288H376H430H559H5608H1419H477H62135And Gehazi was telling the king about the time Elisha had brought a boy back to life. At that very moment, the mother of the boy walked in to make her appeal to the king about her house and land."Look, my lord the king!" Gehazi exclaimed. "Here is the woman now, and this is her son—the very one Elisha brought back to life!"H5608H4428H2421H4191H2421H802H1121H2421H6817H4428H1004H7704H1522H559H113H4428H802H1121H477H24216"Is this true?" the king asked her. And she told him the story. So he directed one of his officials to see that everything she had lost was restored to her, including the value of any crops that had been harvested during her absence.H4428H7592H802H5608H4428H5414H259H5631H559H7725H8393H7704H3117H5800H776

Hazael Murders Ben-Hadad

7Elisha went to Damascus, the capital of Aram, where King Ben-hadad lay sick. When someone told the king that the man of God had come,H477H935H1834H1130H4428H758H2470H5046H559H376H430H935H20088the king said to Hazael, "Take a gift to the man of God. Then tell him to ask the LORD, 'Will I recover from this illness?'"H4428H559H2371H3947H4503H3027H3212H7125H376H430H1875H3068H559H2421H24839So Hazael loaded down forty camels with the finest products of Damascus as a gift for Elisha. He went to him and said, "Your servant Ben-hadad, the king of Aram, has sent me to ask, 'Will I recover from this illness?'"H2371H3212H7125H3947H4503H3027H2898H1834H705H1581H4853H935H5975H6440H559H1121H1130H4428H758H7971H559H2421H248310And Elisha replied, "Go and tell him, 'You will surely recover.' But actually the LORD has shown me that he will surely die!"H477H559H3212H559H2421H2421H3068H7200H4191H419111Elisha stared at Hazael

with a fixed gaze until Hazael became uneasy. Then the man of God started weeping.H5975H6440H7760H954H376H430H105812"What's the matter, my lord?" Hazael asked him. Elisha replied, "I know the terrible things you will do to the people of Israel. You will burn their fortified cities, kill their young men with the sword, dash their little children to the ground, and rip open their pregnant women!"H2371H559H1058H113H559H3045H7451H6213H1121H3478H4013H7971H784H970H2026H2719H7376H5768H1234H203013Hazael responded, "How could a nobody like me

ever accomplish such great things?" Elisha answered, "The LORD has shown me that you are going to be the king of Aram."H2371H559H5650H3611H6213H1419H1697H477H559H3068H7200H4428H75814When Hazael left Elisha and went back, the king asked him, "What did Elisha tell you?" And Hazael replied, "He told me that you will surely recover."H3212H477H935H113H559H559H477H559H559H2421H242115But the next day Hazael took a blanket, soaked it in water, and held it over the king's face until he died. Then Hazael became the next king of Aram.H4283H3947H4346H2881H4325H6566H6440H4191H2371H4427

Jehoram Rules in Judah

16Jehoram son of King Jehoshaphat of Judah began to rule over Judah in the fifth year of the reign of Joram son of Ahab, king of Israel.H2568H8141H3141H1121H256H4428H3478H3092H4428H3063H3088H1121H3092H4428H3063H442717Jehoram was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eight years.H7970H8147H8141H1121H4427H4427H8083H8141H338918But Jehoram followed the example of the kings of Israel and was as wicked as King Ahab, for he had married one of Ahab's daughters. So Jehoram did what was evil in the LORD's sight.H3212H1870H4428H3478H6213H1004H256H1323H256H802H6213H7451H5869H306819But the LORD did not want to destroy Judah, for he had made a covenant with David and promised that his descendants would continue to rule, shining like a lamp forever.H3068H14H7843H3063H1732H5650H559H5414H3117H5216H112120During Jehoram's reign, the Edomites revolted against Judah and crowned their own king.H3117H123H6586H3027H3063H4427H442821So Jehoram

went with all his chariots to attack the town of Zair. The Edomites surrounded him and his chariot commanders, but he went out at night and attacked them under cover of darkness. But Jehoram's army deserted him and fled to their homes.H3141H5674H6811H7393H6965H3915H5221H123H5437H8269H7393H5971H5127H16822So Edom has been independent from Judah to this day. The town of Libnah also revolted about that same time.H123H6586H3027H3063H3117H3841H6586H1931H625623The rest of the events in Jehoram's reign and everything he did are recorded in The Book of the History of the Kings of Judah.H3499H1697H3141H6213H3789H5612H1697H3117H4428H306324When Jehoram died, he was buried with his ancestors in the City of David. Then his son Ahaziah became the next king.H3141H7901H1H6912H1H5892H1732H274H1121H4427

Ahaziah Rules in Judah

25Ahaziah son of Jehoram began to rule over Judah in the twelfth year of the reign of Joram son of Ahab, king of Israel.H8147H6240H8141H8141H3141H1121H256H4428H3478H274H1121H3088H4428H3063H442726Ahaziah was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem one year. His mother was Athaliah, a granddaughter of King Omri of Israel.H8147H6242H8141H1121H274H4427H4427H259H8141H3389H517H8034H6271H1323H6018H4428H347827Ahaziah followed the evil example of King Ahab's family. He did what was evil in the LORD's sight, just as Ahab's family had done, for he was related by marriage to the family of Ahab.H3212H1870H1004H256H6213H7451H5869H3068H1004H256H2860H1004H25628Ahaziah joined Joram son of Ahab, the king of Israel, in his war against King Hazael of Aram at Ramoth-gilead. When the Arameans wounded King Joram in the battle,H3212H3141H1121H256H4421H2371H4428H758H7433H1568H761H5221H314129he returned to Jezreel to recover from the wounds he had received at Ramoth

. Because Joram was wounded, King Ahaziah of Judah went to Jezreel to visit him.H4428H3141H7725H7495H3157H4347H761H5221H7414H3898H2371H4428H758H274H1121H3088H4428H3063H3381H7200H3141H1121H256H3157H2470