1Now Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Syria, was a great man in the estimation of his master, and honored, because by him the LORD had given deliverance to Syria; he was also a mighty man in valor, but he was a leper.
2And the Syrians had gone out by companies, and had carried a little maid away captive out of the land of Israel; and she served Naaman's wife.
3And she said to her mistress, “If only my lord (the commander of the army) were with the prophet who is in Samaria! For he would cure him of his leprosy.”
4And someone went and told Naaman, “Thus and thus said the maid who is of the land of Israel” And Naaman repeated that to the king.
5And the king of Syria said, “Go visit that prophet; and I will send with you a letter to the king of Israel”. And Naaman departed, and took with him ten talents of silver, and six thousand pieces of gold, and ten changes of raiment.
6And he brought the letter to the king of Israel, which read, “Now when this letter is come to you, behold, I have sent with it Naaman, my servant, to you, that you may cure him of his leprosy”.
7And when the king (Jehoram, son of Ahab) had read the letter, he tore his clothes, and said, “Am I God, that I can kill and to make alive again, that this man sends to me to cure a man of his leprosy? Consider how he seeks to pick a quarrel with me.”
8And when Elisha, the man of God, heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, he sent a message to the king, saying, “Why have you torn your clothes? Let him come to me, and he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel”.
9So Naaman came with his horses and with his chariot, and stood at the door of the house of Elisha.
10And Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, “Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored to you, and you shall be clean”.
11But Naaman went away angry, and said, “I thought, ‘He will surely come out to me, and stand, and call on the name of the LORD his God, and place his hand over the diseased place, and cure the leprosy.
12Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? May I not wash in them, and be clean?’” So he turned and went away in a rage.
13And Naaman’s servants came near, and said, “Sir, if the prophet had bid you do some difficult thing, would you have not done it? How much rather then, when he just says to you, ‘Wash, and be clean?’”
14And so then he went down, and dipped himself seven times in the Jordan, according to what Elisha, the man of God, had said; and his flesh became like the flesh of a little child, and he was cured.
15And Naaman and all his company returned to the man of God, and stood before him, and said, “Behold, now I know that there is no God in all the earth, but in Israel; now, therefore, I pray you, take a blessing from your servant”.
16But Elisha said, “As the LORD lives, before Whom I stand, I will accept nothing”. And Naaman urged him to take it; but he refused.
17And Naaman said, “Will you not then, give me two mules' load of earth that I may take it back home with me? For hereafter, I will not offer my worship, burnt offerings nor sacrifices to other gods, but only unto the LORD.
18And may the LORD pardon your servant in this thing - that when my master (the king of Syria) goes into the house of Rimmon to worship there, and he leans on my hand, and I bow myself in the house of Rimmon; when I bow in the house of Rimmon, may the LORD pardon me in this thing”. Verse 17 – Naaman’s request for two mule loads of the soil of Israel seems odd until the belief of the ancient world pagans is considered: They believed a god could only be worshiped on the native soil of the nation that a particular god served. Naaman wanted the soil for an altar (cf. Ex 20:24) so that he could worship the true God of Israel back home in Aram (Syria).
19And Elisha said to him, “Go in peace”. So Naaman departed. But after he had traveled a little way,
20Gehazi, Elisha’s servant, said, “Look, my master has spared Naaman, this Syrian, in not accepting what which he offered; but, as the LORD lives, I will run after him, and get somewhat from him”.
21So Gehazi ran after Naaman. And when Naaman saw him running after him, he stepped down from the chariot to meet him, and said, “Is everything OK?”
22And Gehazi said, “All is well. My master has sent me to say, “Behold, even now there have come to me from Mount Ephraim two young men of the sons of the prophets: give them, I pray you, a talent of silver, and two changes of garments”.
23And Naaman said, “By all means, take two talents”. And he urged him, and tied two talents of silver in two bags, with two changes of garments, and laid them upon two of his servants, and they carried them ahead of Gehazi.
24And when he came to the hill, he took them from them, and stashed them in the house; and he sent the men away, and they departed.
25But when he went in to his master, Elisha asked him, “Where did you just come from, Gehazi?” And he said, “I have gone nowhere”.
26And Elisha said to him, “Did my heart not go with you, when the man stepped down from his chariot to meet you? Is this a time to receive money, garments, olive yards, vineyards, sheep, oxen, menservants, or maidservants?
27Therefore, the leprosy of Naaman shall cling to you, and to your offspring forever”. And he went out from his presence a leper, as white as snow. Easy Reader Bible: Purple Letter Edition © 2023 by Jim Musser. Used by Permission. All rights Reserved. Bible Hub |
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