2 Kings 8:1-13 ▼

1 And Elisha spoke to the woman, whom he had revived her son, saying, “Arise and go, you and your house, and sojourn to where you will sojourn. For YHWH has called for a famine, and also it will come upon the land seven years.”

2 And the woman arose, and she did according to the word of the man of God, and she went, she and her house, and she sojourned in the land of the Philistines seven years.

3 And it came to pass at the end of seven years that the woman returned from the land of the Philistines, and she went to make an appeal to the king on behalf of her house and on behalf her field.

4 And the king spoke to Gehazi the servant of the man of God, saying, “Recount, please, to me all the great things that Elisha has done.”

5 And it came to pass, as he was telling the king how he had revived the dead, that there was the woman whom he had revived her son, appealing to the king for her house and for her field. And Gehazi said, “My lord the king, this is the woman and this is her son whom Elisha revived.”

6 And the king asked the woman, and she told him. And the king appointed for her one eunuch, saying, “Restore all that was unto her, and all the proceeds of the field from the day that she left the land and until now.”

7 And Elisha went to Damascus, and Ben-hadad king of Aram was sick. And it was declared to him, saying, “The man of God has come as far as here.”

8 And the king said to Hazael, “Take in your hand a gift, and go to meet the man of God, and inquire of YHWH by him, saying, ‘Will I recover from this sickness?’”

9 And Hazael went to meet him, and took a gift in his hand of every good thing of Damascus, a burden of forty camels. And he came and stood before his face and said, “Your son Ben-hadad king of Aram has sent me to you, saying, ‘Will I recover from this sickness?’”

10 And Elisha said to him, “Go, say, ‘Will you not surely recover?’ And YHWH has shown me that he will surely die.”

11 And he set his countenance, and he set it until he was ashamed. And the man of God wept.

12 And Hazael said, “Why is my lord weeping?” And He answered, “Because I know the evil that you will do to the sons of Israel—their strongholds you will send into the fire, and their young men you will kill with the sword, and their children you will dash to pieces, and their pregnant women you will split open.”

13 And Hazael said, “But what is your servant, a dog, that he should do this great thing?” And Elisha answered, “YHWH has made me see that you will be king over Aram.”