2 Kings 8

1 After Elisha caused the son of the woman from Shunem [town] to become alive again, he told her that she should leave with her family and live somewhere else for a while, because Yahweh was going to (send a famine/cause food to become very scarce) in the land. He said that the famine would last for seven years.

Elisha told the woman whose son he had brought back to life, “You and your family need to pack up and leave, and live where you can somewhere else like a foreigner. For the Lord announced a famine will come to the land and will last seven years.”

2 So the woman did what Elisha told her to do. She and her family went to live in [the] Philistia [region] for seven years.

The woman packed up and did what the man of God had told her. She and her family went and lived as foreigners for seven years in the country of the Philistines.

3 After the seven years were ended, they returned to their home. The woman went to the king to request that her house and her land be given back to her.

When the seven years were over, she came back from the country of the Philistines and went to the king to appeal for the return of her house and lands.

4 When she arrived, the king was talking with Gehazi, Elisha’s servant. The king was saying to him, “Tell me all the great things that Elisha has done.”

The king was talking with Gehazi, the servant of the man of God, asking him, “Please tell me about all the wonderful things Elisha did.”

5 While Gehazi was telling the king that Elisha had caused the son of a woman [from Shunem] to become alive again, that woman came in and requested the king to enable her to get her house and land back again. Gehazi exclaimed, “Your Majesty, this is the woman whose son Elisha caused to become alive again!”

It so happened that right then Gehazi was telling the king the story of how Elisha had brought the dead boy back to life when his mother arrived to make her appeal to the king for the return of her house and lands. “My lord the king,” Gehazi called out, “this is the woman, and this is her son that Elisha brought back to life.”

6 When the king asked her about it, she told him [that what Gehazi had said was true]. The king summoned one of his officials and said to him, “[I want] everything that this woman possessed previously, including the value of all the crops that have been harvested during these last seven years while she was away from her land, [to] be given back to her.” [So the official did that].

The king asked the woman about it and she explained the whole story to him. The king gave orders to an official, saying, “Make sure everything that belonged to her is returned to her, together with all the profit from her lands from the day that she left the country until now.”

7 Elisha went to Damascus, [the capital of Syria], when Ben-Hadad, the king of Syria, was [very] sick. When someone told the king that Elisha was in Damascus,

Elisha went to Damascus when Ben-hadad king of Aram was ill. The king was informed, “The man of God has arrived in town.”

8 the king told [one of his officials named] Hazael, “Go and talk to that prophet and take a present/gift with you to give to him. Request him to ask Yahweh if I will recover from my illness.”

The king ordered Hazael, “Take a gift with you and go and meet the man of God. Ask him to ask the Lord, ‘Will I recover from this illness?’”

9 So Hazael went to talk with Elisha. He took with him forty camels that were carrying many kinds of goods that were produced in Damascus. When Hazael met him, he said to him, “Your friend Ben-Hadad, the king of Syria, sent me to ask you whether [you think] he will recover from his illness.”

So Hazael went to meet Elisha. He took with him a gift of all the best things from Damascus—forty camel-loads of goods. He came in and stood before him and said, “Your son Ben-hadad, king of Aram, has sent me to you to ask, ‘Will I recover from this illness?’”

10 Elisha said to Hazael, “Go and say to him, ‘Yes, you will certainly not die from this illness,’ but Yahweh has shown me that he will certainly die [before he recovers].”

“Go and tell him, ‘You will definitely recover.’ But the Lord has shown me that definitely he is going to die,” Elisha replied.

11 Then Elisha stared at him and had a terrified look on his face. That caused Hazael to feel uneasy/embarrassed. Then [suddenly] Elisha started to cry.

Elisha stared at him for a long time until Hazael became uncomfortable. Then the man of God started to cry.

12 Hazael said, “Sir, why are you crying?” Elisha replied, “Because [Yahweh has enabled] me [to] know the terrible things that you will do to the people of Israel: You will burn their cities with walls around them, you will kill their fine young men with a sword, you will bash the heads of their children, and you will rip open the bellies of their pregnant women [with a sword].”

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

13 Hazael replied, “I am [as insignificant as] [MET] a dog; (how could I do such things?/I would never do such terrible things!)” [RHQ] Elisha replied, “Yahweh has also revealed to me that you will become the king of Syria.”

“But how could someone like me who's just a ‘dog’ achieve anything like that?” Hazael asked. “The Lord has shown me that you are going to be the king of Aram,” Elisha replied.

14 Then Hazael left and returned to his master/boss [the king], who asked him, “What did Elisha say?” He replied, “He told me that you would certainly recover.”

Hazael left Elisha and went to his master, who asked him, “What did Elisha tell you?” Hazael replied, “He told me you would definitely recover.”

15 But the next day, [while the king was sleeping, ] Hazael took a blanket and soaked it in water. Then he spread it on the king’s face [in order that he could not breathe], and he died. Then Hazael became the king of Syria instead of Ben-Hadad.

But the following day Hazael took the bed cover, soaked it in water, and spread it over the king's face until he died. Then Hazael took over from him as king.

16 After King Joram, the son of Ahab, had been ruling in Israel for almost five years, Jehoshaphat’s son Jehoram became the king of Judah.

Jehoram, son of Jehoshaphat, began his reign as king of Judah in the fifth year of the reign of Joram, son of Ahab, king of Israel, while Jehoshaphat was still king of Judah.

17 He was thirty-two years old when he became the king, and he ruled in Jerusalem for eight years.

He was thirty-two when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem for eight years.

18 His wife was the daughter of King Ahab. And like everyone in Ahab’s family, he continually did the evil things that the previous kings of Israel had done. He did things that Yahweh considered to be evil.

Jehoram followed the ways of the kings of Israel, just as the house of Ahab had done, for he married a daughter of Ahab and did what was evil in the Lord's sight.

19 But Yahweh did not want to get rid of the people of Judah, because of what he had promised David, who served him [very well]. He had promised David that his descendants [MET] would always rule Judah.

But for the sake of David his servant the Lord didn't want to destroy Judah since he had promised him that there would always be a ruler from his descendants, like a lamp forever.

20 During the time that Jehoram ruled, [the king of] Edom rebelled against Judah, and they appointed their own king.

During Jehoram's time as king, Edom rebelled against Judah's rule and chose their own king.

21 So Jehoram went with his army and all their chariots to Zair [city near the border of Edom]. There the army of Edom surrounded them. But during the night, Jehoram and the commanders in their chariots were able to get through the enemy lines and escaped. And all his soldiers also fled to their homes.

So Jehoram went over to Zair with all his chariots. The Edomites surrounded him and his chariot commanders, but he took action and attacked at night. But his army ran back to their homes.

22 So after that, Edom was no longer controlled by Judah, and it is still like that. During that same time, the people of Libnah [city] also freed themselves from being controlled by Judah.

As a result Edom has been in rebellion against Judah's rule to this day. At the same time Libnah also decided to rebel.

23 [If you want to read about] the other things that Jehoram did, they are written in the scroll called ‘The History of the Kings of Judah’.

The rest of what happened in Jehoram's reign and all that he did are recorded in the Book of Chronicles of the Kings of Judah.

24 Jehoram died [EUP] and was buried where the other kings of Judah had been buried in [the part of Jerusalem called] ‘The City of David’. Then Jehoram’s son Ahaziah became the king.

Jehoram died and was buried with his forefathers in the City of David. His son Ahaziah succeeded him as king.

25 After Ahab’s son Joram has been ruling in Israel for almost twelve years, Jehoram’s son Ahaziah became the king of Judah.

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

26 Ahaziah was twenty-two years old when he started to rule. He ruled in Jerusalem for [only] one year. His mother’s name was Athaliah, [the daughter of King Ahab and] the granddaughter of King Omri of Israel.

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

27 King Ahab conducted his life just like the members of Ahab’s family had done. He did things that Yahweh considered to be very evil.

Ahaziah also followed the evil ways of the family of Ahab, and did what was evil in the Lord's sight as the family of Ahab had done, for he was related to them by marriage.

28 Ahaziah’s army joined the army of King Joram of Israel to fight against the army of King Hazael of Syria. Their armies started fighting at Ramoth [city] in [the] Gilead [region], and the soldiers of Syria wounded Joram.

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

29 King Joram returned to Jezreel [city] to recover from his wounds. King Ahaziah went to visit him there.

and he returned to Jezreel to recover from the wounds he'd received in Ramah fighting against Hazael king of Aram. Ahaziah, son of Jehoram, king of Judah, went to Jezreel to visit Joram, son of Ahab, because Joram was wounded.