2 Kings 3:1-8:15

Evangelical Heritage Version

Jehoram’s War With Moab

3 Now Jehoram^[a] son of Ahab became king over Israel in Samaria in the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and he ruled as king for twelve years. ² He did evil in the eyes of the Lord but not as his father and mother had done. He removed the sacred memorial stones for Baal which his father had made, ³ but he clung to the sins which Jeroboam son of Nebat caused Israel to commit. He did not turn from them.

⁴ Mesha king of Moab raised sheep. He brought tribute to the king of Israel consisting of one hundred thousand lambs and the wool of one hundred thousand rams.

⁵ When Ahab died, the king of Moab rebelled against the king of Israel. ⁶ So King Jehoram went out from Samaria at that time, and he mobilized all Israel. ⁷ He sent a message to Jehoshaphat king of Judah: “Moab has rebelled against me. Will you go with me to wage war against Moab?”

Jehoshaphat replied, “I will go with you. I am like you. My people are like your people. My horses are like your horses.” ⁸ Then Jehoshaphat asked, “By what road should we go up?”

Jehoram answered, “By the road through the wilderness of Edom.”

⁹ Then the king of Israel, the king of Judah, and the king of Edom marched for seven days by a roundabout way. There was no water for the army or for the animals which were along with them.

¹⁰ Then the king of Israel said, “This is terrible! The Lord has summoned these three kings to give them into the hand of Moab!”

¹¹ But Jehoshaphat said, “Is there no prophet of the Lord here, so that we may inquire of the Lord through him?”

One of the servants of the king of Israel answered, “Elisha son of Shaphat, who used to pour water on the hands of Elijah, is here.”

¹² Then Jehoshaphat said, “The word of the Lord is in him.” So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat and the king of Edom went down to meet him.

¹³ Elisha said to the king of Israel, “What do we have in common? Go to your father’s prophets and your mother’s prophets!”

Then the king of Israel said to him, “No, for the Lord has summoned these three kings to give them into the hand of Moab.”

¹⁴ Then Elisha said, “As surely as the Lord of Armies lives, before whom I stand, if I did not respect the presence of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, I would not look at you or notice you. ¹⁵ But now bring me a musician.”

While the musician was playing, the hand of the Lord came upon Elisha. ¹⁶ He said, “This is what the Lord says. Make this valley full of ditches. ¹⁷ Yes, this is what the Lord says: You will not see wind. You will not see rain. But this valley will be full of water and you will drink—you and your livestock and your animals. ¹⁸ This is nothing in the eyes of the Lord. He will also give Moab into your hands. ¹⁹ You will destroy all their fortified cities and all their main towns. You will cut down every good tree. You will stop up every spring of water. You will ruin every good plot of land with stones.”

²⁰ In the morning, at the time for the regular offering, suddenly there was water coming from the direction of Edom. So the land was full of water.

²¹ All Moab heard that the kings had come up to fight against them. They summoned all those who were old enough to strap on a sword and took their stand at the border. ²² They got up early in the morning as the rising sun was shining on the water. When the Moabites saw the water from a distance, it was red like blood. ²³ They said, “Look! Blood! The kings fought and killed each other. Now, get to the plunder, Moab!” ²⁴ So they went to Israel’s camp, but Israel rose up and struck Moab, and the Moabites fled from them. Israel advanced against them to strike down Moab.^[b]

²⁵ Israel tore down the cities. Each man threw a stone on every good plot of land and covered all of them. They stopped up every spring, and they cut down every good tree. Only in Kir Hareseth were the stones left standing. Then the troops armed with slings surrounded it and attacked it. ²⁶ When the king of Moab saw that he was losing the battle, he took seven hundred swordsmen to break through to the king of Edom, but they were not able to do it. ²⁷ So he took his firstborn son, who would have become king in his place, and he offered him as a burnt offering on the wall. There was great anger against Israel, so they withdrew from him and returned to their own country.

Elisha Multiplies the Widow’s Oil

4 The wife of one of the sons of the prophets cried out to Elisha, “Your servant, my husband, is dead. You know that your servant feared the Lord. But now the moneylender is coming to take my two sons as slaves.”

² Then Elisha said to her, “What can I do for you? Tell me, what do you have in your house?”

She said, “Your servant has nothing at all in the house except a jar of olive oil.”

³ He told her, “Go and ask all your neighbors for jars—empty jars. Don’t ask for only a few. ⁴ Then go inside and shut the door behind you and your sons. Then pour oil into all the jars. When each one is full, set it aside.”

⁵ So she went and shut the door to her house behind her and her sons. They brought the jars, and she poured. ⁶ When a jar was filled, she said to her son, “Bring me another jar.”

Finally he said, “There aren’t any more.” Then the oil stopped.

⁷ So she went and told the man of God. He said, “Go and sell the oil and pay your debt. Then you and your sons can live off what’s left.”

Elisha and the Woman of Shunem

⁸ One day Elisha went to Shunem. A wealthy woman lived there, and she urged him to eat a meal with her. So whenever he passed by, he would stop there for a meal.

⁹ Then she said to her husband, “Listen. I know that the man who passes by here all the time is a holy man of God. ¹⁰ Let’s make a small upper room on the roof, and let’s put a bed, a table, a chair, and a lamp there for him. Then whenever he comes to us, he can stay there.”

¹¹ One day when Elisha came there, he went into the room and lay down. ¹² Then he said to Gehazi his servant, “Call the woman of Shunem.” He called her, and she stood in front of him.

¹³ Then Elisha said to Gehazi, “Tell her, ‘You have been very concerned about us. What can we do for you? Is there something we can request for you from the king or from the commander of the army?’”

She said, “I am living among my own people.”

¹⁴ Then he said, “What can be done for her?”

Then Gehazi said, “Well, she has no son, and her husband is old.”

¹⁵ He said, “Call her.” So he called her, and she stood at the doorway.

¹⁶ Then he said to her, “At this time next year, you will be holding a son.”

But she said, “No, my lord, you man of God. Do not deceive your servant.”

¹⁷ But the woman conceived, and she gave birth to a son at that same time of year, just as Elisha said to her.

Elisha Raises the Boy From the Dead

¹⁸ The boy grew up, and one day he went out to his father, who was with the reapers. ¹⁹ Then he said to his father, “My head! My head!”

His father said to his servant, “Carry him to his mother.” ²⁰ So he picked him up and carried him to his mother, and the boy sat on her lap until noon. Then he died.

²¹ Then she went up and laid him on the bed of the man of God. She shut the door behind her and went out. ²² Then she called to her husband and said, “Send one of the servants to me with one of the donkeys, so that I can run to the man of God and come back.”

²³ He said, “Why are you going to him today? It’s not the new moon, and it’s not the Sabbath.”

But she said, “It’s all right.”

²⁴ Then she saddled the donkey and said to her servant, “Lead the way. Don’t slow down for me unless I tell you.”

²⁵ So she went to the man of God at Mount Carmel.

When the man of God saw her from a distance, he said to his servant Gehazi, “Look! That’s the woman from Shunem! ²⁶ Now run to meet her and say, ‘Are you all right? Is your husband all right? Is your son all right?’”

She answered, “We’re all right.”

²⁷ Then she came to the man of God at the mountain, and she grasped his feet. Gehazi stepped forward to push her away, but the man of God said, “Leave her alone, for her soul is in distress, but the Lord has hidden it from me. He has not told me.”

²⁸ Then she said, “Did I ask my lord for a son? Didn’t I say, ‘Don’t give me false hope’?”

²⁹ Then Elisha said to Gehazi, “Hike up your garments for travel,^[c] and take my staff in your hand and go! If you meet someone, do not greet him, and if someone greets you, do not answer. Put my staff on the boy’s face.”

³⁰ But the boy’s mother said, “As surely as the Lord lives and your soul lives, I will not leave you.” So he got up and followed her. ³¹ Gehazi went ahead of them and put the staff on the boy’s face. But there was no sound, and there was no response. So he went back to Elisha and told him, “The boy did not wake up.”

³² When Elisha came to the house, there the boy was—dead, lying on his bed. ³³ So he went in and he shut the door behind the two of them. Then he prayed to the Lord. ³⁴ He got up and lay down on top of the boy. He put his mouth to the boy’s mouth, his eyes to the boy’s eyes, his palms to the boy’s palms. Then he bent down over him, and the boy’s flesh became warm. ³⁵ He went back into the house and paced back and forth. Then he went up and bent down over him, and the boy sneezed seven times. Then the boy opened his eyes.

³⁶ Then Elisha called Gehazi and said, “Call the woman of Shunem!” So he called her, and she came in. He said, “Pick up your son.” ³⁷ So she came in and fell at Elisha’s feet and bowed down to the ground. Then she picked up her son and went out.

Elisha Makes a Poison Meal Safe

³⁸ Then Elisha returned to Gilgal. There was a famine in the land. The sons of the prophets were sitting with him, and he said to his servant, “Put the large cooking pot on the fire, and cook some stew for the sons of the prophets.”

³⁹ One of the men went out to the field to gather plants. He found a wild vine and picked some gourds from it. He filled his garment with them. Then he came in and cut them into pieces for the pot of stew. They did not know what they were, ⁴⁰ but they served it to the men to eat. While they were eating the stew, they cried out, “Man of God, there is death in the pot!” So they could not eat it.

⁴¹ But he said, “Take some flour and throw it into the pot.” Then he said, “Serve it to the people.” They ate, and there was nothing harmful in the pot.

A Miraculous Meal

⁴² A man came from Baal Shalishah and brought the man of God some bread from the first ripe grain, twenty loaves of barley bread, and some new grain in his sack. Elisha said, “Set it before the people so that they can eat.”

⁴³ His attendant said, “How can I set this before one hundred men?” But he said, “Set it before the people so that they may eat, for this is what the Lord says: They will eat and have some left over.” So he set it before them. They ate, and they had some left over, just as the Lord had said.

Elisha Cures Na’aman’s Leprosy

5 Na’aman,^[d] the commander of the king of Aram’s army, was a great man in the opinion of his master. He was highly honored because the Lord had provided victory for Aram through him. Although he was a powerful warrior, he had leprosy.^[e]

² Raiding parties had once gone out from Aram and brought back a young girl. She served Na’aman’s wife. ³ She said to her mistress, “I wish my master stood before the prophet who is in Samaria, because he would cure him of his leprosy.”

⁴ So Na’aman went and told his master what the servant girl from the land of Israel had said.

⁵ Then the king of Aram said, “Go there. I will send a letter to the king of Israel.” So Na’aman went, and he took ten talents^[f] of silver and six thousand shekels^[g] of gold and ten sets of clothing. ⁶ Then he took the letter to the king of Israel. The letter said, “Now, when you receive this letter, you will know that I am sending my officer Na’aman to you so that you can cure him of his leprosy.”

⁷ When the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothing and said, “Am I God that I can kill and make alive? Why is he sending a man to me for me to heal him from his leprosy? See how he is looking for a pretext to fight against me.”

⁸ But when Elisha, the man of God, heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, he sent a message to the king: “Why have you torn your clothes? Let him come to me, and he will know that there is a prophet in Israel.”

⁹ So Na’aman went with his horses and chariots and stopped in front of the door of Elisha’s house. ¹⁰ But Elisha sent a messenger out to him to say, “Go and wash seven times in the Jordan. Then your flesh will be restored and you will be clean.”

¹¹ But Na’aman was angry and he left, saying, “Look, I said to myself, ‘He will certainly come out and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God and wave his hand over the place, and I will be cured of the leprosy!’ ¹² Aren’t the Abana and the Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Couldn’t I wash in them and be cleansed?” So he turned and went away in a burning rage.

¹³ But his servants approached and spoke to him. They said, “My father, if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not do it? How much more when he says to you, ‘Wash and be clean’?”

¹⁴ So he went down and dipped in the Jordan seven times, just as the man of God had said. Then his flesh was restored like the flesh of a small child, and he was clean. ¹⁵ Then he and his whole escort went back to the man of God. He stood in front of Elisha and said, “To be sure, now I know that there is no God in all the earth except in Israel. Now accept a gift from your servant.”

¹⁶ But Elisha said, “As surely as the Lord lives, in whose presence I stand, I will not take anything.” Even though Na’aman urged him to accept something, he refused.

¹⁷ Then Na’aman said, “If you do not want anything, please give me, your servant, as much dirt as two donkeys can carry, for your servant will never again burn incense or sacrifice to other gods, but only to the Lord. ¹⁸ But may the Lord forgive your servant this one thing: When my master goes into the house of Rimmon to bow down there and he supports himself on my arm, then I too have to bow down in the house of Rimmon. When I bow down in the house of Rimmon, may the Lord forgive your servant this one thing.”

¹⁹ Then Elisha said to him, “Go in peace.”

Gehazi’s Sin

When Na’aman had gone some distance from him, ²⁰ Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, said, “My master was too easy on this Aramean, Na’aman, when he did not accept anything that he brought. As surely as the Lord lives, I will run after him and get something from him.”

²¹ So Gehazi chased after Na’aman. When Na’aman saw him running after him, he got down from his chariot to meet him. He said, “Is everything all right?”

²² Then Gehazi said, “Yes, everything is all right. My master sent me to say, ‘Look, just now two young men from the hill country of Ephraim, from the sons of the prophets, have come to me. Please give them a talent of silver and two sets of clothing.”

²³ Na’aman said, “Certainly! Take two talents!” He urged Gehazi and tied up the two talents^[h] of silver in two bags with the two sets of clothing. Then Na’aman gave them to his two servants, and they carried them ahead of Gehazi. ²⁴ When he came to the hill, he took the gifts from them. Then he hid them in the house and sent the men back, so they left. ²⁵ Then he went in and attended his master.

Elisha said to him, “Where were you, Gehazi?”

Gehazi said, “Your servant didn’t go anywhere.”

²⁶ Then Elisha said to him, “Didn’t my heart go along when the man got down from his chariot to meet you? Is this the time to take silver, or to accept clothing or olive groves or vineyards or sheep or cattle or male and female servants? ²⁷ Na’aman’s leprosy will cling to you and to your descendants forever.” Then Gehazi went out from his presence, leprous like snow.

An Ax Floats

6 The sons of the prophets said to Elisha, “Look, the place where we are living with you is too cramped for us. ² Let’s go to the Jordan, and every one of us will get a wooden beam from there so we can build a place there for us to live.”

He said, “Go ahead.”

³ Then one of them said, “Won’t you also please come along with your servants?”

He said, “I will come.” ⁴ So he went with them. When they came to the Jordan, they began to cut down trees. ⁵ But while one of them was cutting down a tree for a beam, the ax fell into the water.

He cried out, “Oh no, my lord! It was borrowed!”

⁶ But the man of God said, “Where did it fall?” Then he showed him the place. He cut off a piece of wood and threw it into the water, and the ax floated.

⁷ Then he said, “Pick it up.” So he reached out his hand and took it.

Elisha Guarded by Angels

⁸ Now when the king of Aram was waging war against Israel, he would make plans with his officials, saying, “My camp will be at such and such a place.”

⁹ But the man of God would send a message to the king of Israel, saying, “Be careful when you pass this place because the Arameans are going down there.” ¹⁰ So the king of Israel would send scouts to the place that the man of God had pointed out. So the man of God warned him, and he was kept safe—and not just once or twice.

¹¹ The king of Aram was enraged because of this. He summoned his officials and said to them, “Won’t you tell me who of us is for the king of Israel?”

¹² One of his officials said, “No, my lord the king. It is Elisha, the prophet in Israel, who tells the king of Israel the words which you speak in your bedroom.”

¹³ Then he said, “Go and see where he is. Then I’ll send men and capture him.”

He was told, “Dothan is where he is.”

¹⁴ So he sent horses and chariots and a strong force there. They came at night and surrounded the city. ¹⁵ When the man of God’s servant got up early and went out, there were soldiers, horses, and chariots surrounding the city. So his attendant said to Elisha, “Oh no, my lord! What will we do?”

¹⁶ He answered, “Don’t be afraid, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.”

¹⁷ Then Elisha prayed and said, “O Lord, open his eyes so that he can see.” Then the Lord opened the servant’s eyes, and he saw that the hills were full of horses and chariots of fire, all around Elisha.

¹⁸ When the Arameans came down, Elisha prayed to the Lord, “Strike these people with blindness.” So he struck them with blindness, just as Elisha had asked.

¹⁹ Then Elisha said to them, “This is not the road, and this is not the city. Follow me, and I will take you to the man you are looking for.” So he brought them to Samaria. ²⁰ When they came into Samaria, Elisha prayed, “O Lord, open their eyes so that they can see.” Then the Lord opened their eyes, and they saw that they were right in the middle of Samaria.

²¹ When the king of Israel saw them, he said to Elisha, “Shall I strike them down, my father? Shall I strike them down?”

²² He said, “Do not strike them down. Would you strike down a man you captured with your own sword and bow?^[i] Set food and water before them so that they can eat and drink and then go back to their master.” ²³ So he gave a great feast for them. They ate and drank. Then he sent them on their way, and they went to their master. The Aramean raiding parties did not come into the land of Israel anymore.

Ben Hadad Lays Siege to Samaria

²⁴ After these things, Ben Hadad king of Aram mobilized his whole army and went up and laid siege to Samaria. ²⁵ There was a severe famine in Samaria, because the siege lasted until a donkey head sold for eighty shekels^[j] of silver and a cup of dove’s droppings^[k] for five shekels of silver.

²⁶ When the king of Israel was walking on the wall, a woman cried out to him, “Help me, my lord the king!”

²⁷ But he said, “If the Lord does not help you, where can I get help for you? From the threshing floor or from the winepress?” ²⁸ Then the king asked her, “What is the problem?”

She said, “This woman said to me, ‘Come on, give up your son, and we will eat him today, and we will eat my son tomorrow.’ ²⁹ So we cooked my son and ate him. Then I said to her the next day, ‘Give up your son so that we may eat him,’ but she hid her son.”

³⁰ When the king heard the woman’s words, he tore his clothes. As he was walking on the wall, the people were surprised to see that he was wearing sackcloth on his body, underneath his clothing.

³¹ Then he said, “May God punish me severely and even double it, if the head of Elisha son of Shaphat remains on his shoulders today!”

³² Now Elisha was sitting in his house, and the elders were sitting with him. The king sent a man ahead of him. But before the messenger came to him, Elisha said to the elders, “Do you see that this murderer has sent this man to cut off my head? When the messenger comes, shut the door and push against it. Isn’t the sound of the feet of his master behind him?”

³³ While he was still speaking with them, the messenger came down to him. Then the king said, “Indeed this evil is from the Lord. Why should I wait hopefully for the Lord anymore?”

The End of the Siege

7 Then Elisha said, “All of you, hear the word of the Lord! This is what the Lord says. At this time tomorrow at the gate of Samaria, twelve pounds^[l] of fine flour will sell for a shekel and twenty-four pounds of barley for a shekel.”

² Then the officer at the king’s right hand, on whose arm the king was leaning, answered the man of God, “Really? Even if the Lord opened the windows of heaven, could this happen?”

Elisha said, “Listen to me. You yourself will see it with your own eyes, but you will not eat any of it.”

³ Now four lepers were at the entrance to the gate. They said to each other, “Why should we sit here until we die? ⁴ If we say, ‘Let’s go into the city,’ there is famine in the city and we will die there. But if we stay here, we will die. So let’s go over to the camp of the Arameans. If they let us live, we will live. If they kill us, we will die.”

⁵ So they got up at twilight to go to the camp of the Arameans. When they reached the edge of the camp of the Arameans, they saw that there was no one there! ⁶ For the Lord had caused the Arameans to hear the sound of horses and chariots and the sound of a great army. They said to each other, “Listen! The king of Israel has hired the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Egypt to come against us!” ⁷ Then they arose and fled at twilight. They left their tents, their horses, and their donkeys in the camp just as they were, and they fled for their lives.

⁸ So when these lepers came to the edge of the camp, they went into a tent, and they ate and drank. They picked up silver, gold, and clothing and went and hid it. Then they returned and went to another tent. They took some of what was there and went and hid it.

⁹ Then they said to each other, “We should not be doing this. Today is a day of good news, and we are keeping silent. If we wait until daylight, our sin will find us. So come on, let’s go and tell about this at the king’s palace.”

¹⁰ So they went and called out to the city gatekeepers and told them, “We went into the camp of the Arameans, and we looked, but there was no one there! Not even the sound of a man! But the horses and the donkeys are tied there, and the tents are just as they were!”

¹¹ Then the gatekeepers proclaimed the news, and it was reported in the king’s palace. ¹² So the king got up at night and said to his officials, “I’ll tell you what the Arameans are doing to us: They know that we are hungry so they left the camp to hide in the fields, saying, ‘They will certainly come out of the city, and we will capture them alive. Then we’ll get into the city!’”

¹³ But one of his officials answered, “Please let some men take five of the horses that are left in the city—look, they won’t be any worse off than all the rest of the Israelites who are left here—all the other Israelites who are about to die. Let’s send them out, and let’s see.”

¹⁴ So they took two chariots with their horses, and the king sent them after the army of Aram, saying, “Go and take a look.” ¹⁵ So they followed them to the Jordan. The whole road was full of clothing and equipment that the Arameans threw away while they fled in panic. Then the messengers returned and reported to the king.

¹⁶ Then the people went out and looted the Aramean camp. So twelve pounds of fine flour sold for a shekel and twenty-four pounds of barley for a shekel, just as the Lord had said. ¹⁷ The king appointed the officer on whose arm he leaned to be in charge of the gate. But the people trampled him in the gate, and he died, just as the man of God had said when the king went down to speak to him.

¹⁸ It happened just as the man of God had said to the king: “Twenty-four pounds of barley will be sold for a shekel and twelve pounds of fine flour for a shekel by this time tomorrow in the gate of Samaria.”

¹⁹ The officer had said to the man of God, “Really? Even if the Lord opened the windows of heaven, could something like this happen?”

The man of God had said, “Listen to me. You yourself will see it with your own eyes, but you will not eat any of it.”

²⁰ So all this happened to him just like that: The people trampled him in the gate and he died.

The Widow’s Land Restored

8 Now Elisha said to the woman whose son he had brought back to life, “You and your household, make preparations and leave, and stay in whatever other country you can, for the Lord has decreed a famine that will be in the land for seven years.” ² So the woman got up and did just as the man of God said. She and her household went and lived in the land of the Philistines for seven years. ³ At the end of seven years, the woman returned from the land of the Philistines. Then she went to appeal to the king to get back her house and her fields.

⁴ The king had told Gehazi, the servant of the man of God, “Tell me all the great things which Elisha has done.”

⁵ While he was telling the king how Elisha had brought the dead boy back to life, the very woman whose son he had brought back to life was coming to appeal to the king about her house and her fields. Then Gehazi said, “My lord the king, this is the woman, and this is her son whom Elisha brought back to life.”

⁶ Then the king asked the woman about it, and she told him. So the king appointed a high official to her case, saying, “Return everything which is hers and all the produce of her fields, from the day she left the land until now.”

Hazael Assassinates Ben Hadad

⁷ Elisha went to Damascus while Ben Hadad the king of Aram was sick. The king was told, “The man of God has come here.”

⁸ So the king said to Hazael, “Take a gift and go to meet the man of God. You will inquire of the Lord through him, asking whether I will survive this sickness.”

⁹ Hazael went to meet him. He took a gift of forty camel loads of all the goods of Damascus, and he came and stood before Elisha and said, “Your son, Ben Hadad, king of Aram, sent me to you to say, ‘Will I survive this sickness?’”

¹⁰ Then Elisha said to him, “Go and say to him, ‘You will certainly survive,’ but the Lord has shown me that he will really die.” ¹¹ Then Elisha stared straight at him until Hazael was embarrassed. Then the man of God wept.

¹² Hazael said, “Why is my lord weeping?”

Then he said, “Because I know the evil you will do to the people of Israel. You will set fire to their fortified cities. You will kill their young men with the sword. You will dash their children to pieces, and you will rip open their pregnant women.”

¹³ Then Hazael said, “But what is your servant, a mere dog, that he could do such a great thing?”

Then Elisha said, “The Lord has shown me that you will be king over Aram.”

¹⁴ Hazael then left Elisha and went to his master, and the king said to him, “What did Elisha say to you?”

He said, “He told me that you will certainly survive.”

¹⁵ But the next day, he took a thick cloth, dipped it in water, and spread it on the king’s face so that he died. Then Hazael became king in his place.