The Shunammite Woman Returns Home
4 Kingdoms 8, verse 1. Elisha spoke to the woman whose son he had restored to life saying, “Arise and go, you and your household, and stay wherever you can; for the Lord called for a famine on the land, and it will come upon the land for seven years.” 4 Kingdoms 8, verse 2. So the woman arose, and both she and her house did according to the saying of Elisha. They sojourned in the land of the Philistines for seven years. 4 Kingdoms 8, verse 3. At the end of seven years, the woman returned from the land of the Philistines and went to make an appeal to the king for her house and for her land. 4 Kingdoms 8, verse 4. Now the king spoke to Gehazi, the servant of Elisha, saying, “Tell me all the significant deeds Elisha has accomplished.” 4 Kingdoms 8, verse 5. And it came pass, as he was telling the king how Elisha restored her dead son to life, behold the woman whose son Elisha had restored to life came crying to the king for her house and for her land. And Gehazi said, “My lord, O king, this is the woman, and this is her son whom Elisha restored to life.” 4 Kingdoms 8, verse 6. So the king asked the woman, and she related this fully to him. Then the king told a certain eunuch, saying, “Restore all that was hers, and all the proceeds of the field from the day she left the land until now.”
Death of the Syrian King
4 Kingdoms 8, verse 7. Then Elisha went to Damascus at a time when the son of Hadad the king of Syria was sick. And they brought word to him saying, “The man of God is here.” 4 Kingdoms 8, verse 8. And the king said to Hazael, “Take in your hand a present and go to meet the man of God, and inquire of the Lord by him, asking, ‘Shall I recover from this disease?’” 4 Kingdoms 8, verse 9. So Hazael went to meet him. In his hand, he took a present plus all the good things of Damascus, forty camel-loads, and he came and stood before him and said, “Your son the king of Syria, the son of Hadad, sent me to ask you whether he would recover from this disease.” 4 Kingdoms 8, verse 10. So Elisha said to him, “Go tell him, ‘You shall live.’ However, the Lord made known to me that he will die by being put to death.” 4 Kingdoms 8, verse 11. The man of God wept and sat there until he was ashamed, then he stood up in the presence of Hazael. 4 Kingdoms 8, verse 12. At this Hazael said, “Why does my lord weep?” He answered, “Because I know the evil you will do to the sons of Israel. You will utterly destroy their strongholds with fire, and you will kill their young men with the sword. You will dash their children and rip open their pregnant women.” 4 Kingdoms 8, verse 13. Then Hazael said, “What is your servant that I should do such a thing, a dead dog?” Elisha answered, “The Lord has shown me that you will become king over Syria.” 4 Kingdoms 8, verse 14. Then he departed from Elisha and came to his lord, who said to him, “What did Elisha say to you?” And he answered, “He told me you will live.” 4 Kingdoms 8, verse 15. But on the next day, Hazael took a thick cloth and dipped it in water, and spread it over the face of the king, the son of Hadad, and he died. Hazael reigned in his place.
Jehoram Is King of Judah
4 Kingdoms 8, verse 16. Now in the fifth year of Joram, the son of Ahab, king of Israel, Joram, the son of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, began to reign. 4 Kingdoms 8, verse 17. He was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he ruled for eight years in Jerusalem. 4 Kingdoms 8, verse 18. And he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, just as the house of Ahab had done, for the daughter of Ahab was his wife; and he did evil in the eyes of the Lord. 4 Kingdoms 8, verse 19. Yet the Lord would not destroy Judah for the sake of his servant David, as He promised to give a lamp to him and his sons forever. 4 Kingdoms 8, verse 20. In his days, Edom revolted against Judah's authority and made a king over themselves. 4 Kingdoms 8, verse 21. So Joram went to Seir with all his chariots, and it came to be, after he raised his troops, he struck Edom and the captains of the chariots who had encircled him. The people fled to their tents. 4 Kingdoms 8, verse 22. Even so, Edom revolted from being subordinate to the authority of Judah to this day. At the same time Libnah revolted as well. 4 Kingdoms 8, verse 23. Behold, the rest of the acts of Joram, and everything he did, are these not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the kings of Judah? 4 Kingdoms 8, verse 24. So Joram rested with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the City of David his father. Then Ahaziah his son reigned in his place.
Ahaziah Is King of Judah
4 Kingdoms 8, verse 25. In the twelfth year of Joram the son of Ahab, king of Israel, Ahaziah the son of Jehoram began to reign. 4 Kingdoms 8, verse 26. Ahaziah was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he ruled for one year in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Athaliah the granddaughter of Omri, king of Israel. 4 Kingdoms 8, verse 27. And he walked in the way of the house of Ahab and did evil in the eyes of the Lord, like the house of Ahab. 4 Kingdoms 8, verse 28. Now he went with Joram the son of Ahab to war against Hazael king of Syria at Ramoth Gilead; and the Syrians wounded Joram. 4 Kingdoms 8, verse 29. Then King Joram went back to Jezreel to recover from the wounds the Syrians inflicted on him at Ramah, where he fought against Hazael king of Syria. And Ahaziah the son of Jehoram, king of Judah, went down to see Joram the son of Ahab in Jezreel, because he was sick.