| Berean Study Bible | New Living Translation |
| 1Now 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.” | 1Elisha 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.” |
| 2So 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. | 2So the woman did as the man of God instructed. She took her family and settled in the land of the Philistines for seven years. |
| 3At 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. | 3After 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. |
| 4Now 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.” | 4As 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.” |
| 5And 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.” | 5And 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!” |
| 6When 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.” | 6“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. Hazael Murders Ben-Hadad |
| 7Then Elisha came to Damascus while Ben-hadad king of Aram was sick, and the king was told, “The man of God has come here.” | 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, |
| 8So 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?’ ” | 8the 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?’” |
| 9So 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?’ ” | 9So 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?’” |
| 10Elisha answered, “Go and tell him, ‘You will surely recover.’ But the LORD has shown me that in fact he will die.” | 10And Elisha replied, “Go and tell him, ‘You will surely recover.’ But actually the LORD has shown me that he will surely die!” |
| 11Elisha fixed his gaze steadily on him until Hazael became uncomfortable. Then the man of God began to weep. | 11Elisha stared at Hazael with a fixed gaze until Hazael became uneasy. Then the man of God started weeping. |
| 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.” | 12“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!” |
| 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.” | 13Hazael 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.” |
| 14So 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.” | 14When 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.” |
| 15But 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. | 15But 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. Jehoram Rules in Judah |
| 16In the fifth year of the reign of Joram son of Ahab over Israel, Jehoram son of Jehoshaphat succeeded his father as king of 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. |
| 17Jehoram was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eight years. | 17Jehoram was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eight years. |
| 18And 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. | 18But 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. |
| 19Yet 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. | 19But the LORD did not want to destroy Judah, for he had promised his servant David that his descendants would continue to rule, shining like a lamp forever. |
| 20In the days of Jehoram, Edom rebelled against the hand of Judah and appointed their own king. | 20During Jehoram’s reign, the Edomites revolted against Judah and crowned their own king. |
| 21So Jehoram 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. | 21So 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. |
| 22So to this day Edom has been in rebellion against the hand of Judah. Likewise, Libnah rebelled at the same time. | 22So Edom has been independent from Judah to this day. The town of Libnah also revolted about that same time. |
| 23As 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? | 23The 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. |
| 24And Jehoram rested with his fathers and was buried with them in the City of David. And his son Ahaziah reigned in his place. | 24When Jehoram died, he was buried with his ancestors in the City of David. Then his son Ahaziah became the next king. Ahaziah Rules in Judah |
| 25In the twelfth year of the reign of Joram son of Ahab over Israel, Ahaziah son of Jehoram became king of 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. |
| 26Ahaziah 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. | 26Ahaziah 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. |
| 27And 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. | 27Ahaziah 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. |
| 28Then Ahaziah went with Joram son of Ahab to fight against Hazael king of Aram at Ramoth-gilead, and the Arameans wounded Joram. | 28Ahaziah joined Joram son of Ahab in his war against King Hazael of Aram at Ramoth-gilead. When the Arameans wounded King Joram in the battle, |
| 29So King Joram returned to Jezreel to recover from the wounds that the Arameans had inflicted on him at Ramah 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. | 29he 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. |
|
