The Shunammite’s Land is Restored

1Meanwhile, Elisha urged the woman whose son he had restored to life, “You must get up and leave with your household to go live wherever you can, because the LORD has called for a famine, and it’s going to come over the land for seven years.” 2So the woman followed the instructions given to her by the man of God, and she went to the territory of the Philistines to live for seven years with her household. 3At the end of the seven years, the woman returned from the territory of the Philistines and went to the king in order to file an appeal regarding her house and her grain field.

4The king was talking with Gehazi, the attendant of the man of God. He had asked Gehazi, “Please tell me about all of the great things that Elisha has done.” 5Just as he was telling the king about Elisha’s having restored the dead to life, the woman whose son had been restored arrived and appealed to the king for her house and her land!

Gehazi told the king, “Your majesty, this is the woman! And here’s her son, whom Elisha restored to life!”

6The king consulted with the woman, who related the story. So the king appointed a court official to represent her and ordered him: “Restore to her everything that belonged to her, including all of the produce that her fields yielded from the day she left the land until now.”

The Murder of King Ben-hadad of Aram

7Later on, Elisha traveled to Damascus. King Ben-hadad of Aram was ill, but someone informed him, “The man of God has come here!”

8So the king told Hazael, “Take a gift with you and go meet the man of God. Inquire of the LORD through him and ask, ‘Will I recover from this sickness?’”

9So Hazael went out to meet with him and took a gift with him—40 camel loads filled with samples of everything good in Damascus. He approached the man of Goda and said, “Your son King Ben-hadad from Aram has sent me to you to ask you, ‘Will I recover from this sickness?’”

10But Elisha told him, “Go tell him, ‘You will certainly recover,’ but the LORD has shown me that he will certainly die.” 11Then Elishab looked steadily at Hazaelc until Hazael grew ashamed, and then the man of God began to cry.

12“Why are you crying, sir?” Hazael asked.

“Because I know the evil that you’re about to bring on the Israelis,” he replied. “You’ll burn down their fortified cities, execute their young men with swords, dash to pieces their little ones, and you’ll tear open their pregnant women!”

13But Hazael responded, “What? Who am I, your servant, that I should do such a horrible thing?”

But Elisha answered, “The LORD has shown me that you will be king over Aram.”

14So he left Elisha and returned to his master, who asked him, “What did Elisha tell you?”

He replied, “He told me that you would certainly get better.”

15But the very next day, Hazaeld grabbed a thick covering, soaked it in water, and spread it over the king’se face, and he suffocated.f Then Hazael succeeded Ben-hadadg as king.

Jehoram Comes to the Throne of Judah

16Sometime during the fifth year of the reign of Ahab’s son Joram, king of Israel (while Jehoshaphat was still ruling as king of Judah), Jehoshaphat’s son Jehoram ascended to the throne of Judah. 17He was 32 years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem for eight years. 18He lived his life like the kings of Israel did, following the example of Ahab’s household when he married Ahab’s daughter and practiced what was evil in the LORD’s presence.h 19But the LORD remained unwilling to destroy Judah for the sake of his servant David, since he had promised to keepi David’s lamp burning brightly through his descendants every day.

20During Jehoram’s lifetime, Edom rebelled from Judah’s hegemony and appointed a king to rule over themselves. 21Then Joram crossed over to Zair, along with all of his chariots. At night he attacked the Edomites who had surrounded him and the commanders of his chariots, but the armyj ran away to their tents. 22Edom remains in rebellion against Judah to this day, and Libnah revolted at the same time. 23The rest of the officialk acts of Joram, along with everything else that he did, are recorded in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah,l are they not?

Ahaziah Succeeds Jehoram

24After Joram was laid to rest with his ancestors in the City of David, his son Ahaziah replaced him as king. 25Joram’s son Ahaziah began to reign as king of Judah during the twelfth year of the reign of Ahab’s son Joram, king of Israel. 26Ahaziah was 22 years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem for one year.

His mother was named Athaliah. She was the granddaughter of Omri, king of Israel. 27Ahaziah lived his life following the example of Ahab’s household, practicing what the LORD considered to be evil, just like the household of Ahab, because he was a son-in-law to Ahab’s household. 28He joined Ahab’s son Joram in an attack on King Hazael of Aram at Ramoth-gilead, and that’s where the Arameans wounded Joram. 29Then King Joram retreated to Jezreel to recover from the wounds that the Arameans had inflicted on him at Ramah during the battle against King Hazael of Aram. Jehoram’s son Ahaziah, king of Judah, went to visit Ahab’s son Joram in Jezreel because Joram was sick.m