2 Kings 7-9

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2 Kings 7

And Elisha said, Hear the word of Yahweh: thus says Yahweh, Tomorrow about this time a measure of fine flour shall be sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, in the gate of Samaria. 2 Then the captain on whose hand the king leaned answered the man of Elohim, and said, Behold, if Yahweh should make windows in heaven, might this thing be? And he said, Behold, you shall see it with your eyes, but shall not eat of it.

3 Now there were four leprous men at the entrance of the gate: and they said to each other. Why do we sit here until we die? 4 If we say, We will enter into the city, then the famine is in the city, and we shall die there; and if we sit still here, we will die also. Now come therefore, and let us fall to the host of the Syrians: if they save us alive, we shall live; and if they kill us, we shall die. 5 And they rose up in the twilight, to go to the camp of the Syrians; and when they had come to the outermost part of the camp of the Syrians, behold, there was no man there. 6 For Yahweh had made the host of the Syrians to hear a noise of chariots, and a noise of horses, even the noise of a great host: and they said to each other. Lo, the king of Israel has hired against us the kings of the Hittites, and the kings of the Egyptians, to come upon us. 7 Therefore they arose and fled in the twilight, and left their tents, and their horses, and their asses, even the camp as it was, and fled for their life. 8 And when these lepers came to the outermost part of the camp, they went into one tent, and ate and drank, and carried from there silver, and gold, and raiment, and went and hid it; and they came back, and entered into another tent, and carried there also, and went and hid it.

9 Then they said to each other. We are not doing well; this day is a day of good tidings, and we hold our peace: if we wait till the morning light, punishment will overtake us; now therefore come let us go and tell the king’s household. 10 So they came and called to the porter of the city; and they told them, saying, We came to the camp of the Syrians, and, behold, there was no man there, neither voice of man, but the horses tied, and the asses tied, and the tents as they were. 11 And he called the porters; and they told it to the king’s household inside. 12 And the king arose in the night, and said to his servants, I will now show you what the Syrians have done to us. They know that we are hungry; therefore they have gone out of the camp to hide themselves in the field, saying, When they come out of the city, we shall take them alive, and get into the city. 13 And one of his servants answered and said, Let some take, I pray you, five of the horses that remain, which are left in the city, (behold, they are as all the multitude of Israel that are left in it; behold, they are as all the multitude of Israel that are consumed:) and let us send and see. 14 Therefore they took two chariots with horses; and the king sent after the host of the Syrians, saying, Go and see. 15 And they went after them to the Jordan: and, lo, all the way was full of garments and vessels, which the Syrians had cast away in their haste. And the messengers returned, and told the king.

16 And the people went out, and plundered the camp of the Syrians. So a measure of fine flour was sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, according to the word of Yahweh. 17 And the king appointed the captain on whose hand he leaned to have the charge of the gate: and the people trampled upon him in the gate, and he died as the man of Elohim had said, who spoke when the king came down to him. 18 And it came to pass, as the man of Elohim had spoken to the king, saying, Two measures of barley for a shekel, and a measure of fine flour for a shekel, shall be tomorrow about this time in the gate of Samaria; 19 and that captain answered the man of Elohim, and said, Now, behold, if Yahweh should make windows in heaven, might such a thing be? And he said, Behold, you shall see it with your eyes, but shall not eat of it: 20 it came to pass even so to him; for the people trampled upon him in the gate, and he died.

 

2 Kings 8

Now Elisha had spoken to the woman, whose son he had restored to life, saying, Arise, and go, you and your household, and sojourn wherever you can sojourn: for Yahweh has called for a famine; and it shall also come upon the land seven years. 2 And the woman arose, and did according to the word of the man of Elohim; and she went with her household, and sojourned in the land of the Philistines seven years. 3 And it came to pass at the seven years’ end, that the woman returned out of the land of the Philistines: and she went forth to cry to the king for her house and for her land. 4 Now the king was talking with Gehazi the servant of the man of Elohim, saying, Tell me, I pray you, all the great things that Elisha has done. 5 And it came to pass, as he was telling the king how he had restored to life him that was dead, that, behold, the woman, whose son he had restored to life, cried to the king for her house and for her land. And Gehazi said, My Sovereign, O king, this is the woman, and this is her son, whom Elisha restored to life. 6 And when the king asked the woman, she told him. So the king appointed to her a certain officer, saying, Restore all that was hers, and all the fruits of the field since the day that she left the land, even until now.

7 And Elisha came to Damascus; and Ben-hadad the king of Syria was sick; and it was told to him, saying, The man of Elohim has come here. 8 And the king said to Hazael, Take a present in your hand, and go, meet the man of Elohim, and inquire of Yahweh by him, saying, Shall I recover of this sickness? 9 So Hazael went to meet him, and took a present with him, even of every good thing of Damascus, forty camels’ burden, and came and stood before him, and said, Your son Ben-hadad king of Syria has sent me to you, saying, Shall I recover of this sickness? 10 And Elisha said to him, Go, say to him, You shall surely recover; however Yahweh has showed me that he shall surely die. 11 And he settled his countenance steadfastly upon him, until he was ashamed: and the man of Elohim wept. 12 And Hazael said, Why does my superior weep? And he answered, Because I know the evil that you will do to the children of Israel: their strongholds will you set on fire, and their young men you will kill with the sword and will dash in pieces their little ones, and rip up their women with child. 13 And Hazael said, But what is your servant, who is but a dog, that he should do this great thing? And Elisha answered, Yahweh has showed me that you shall be king over Syria. 14 Then he departed from Elisha, and came to his master; who said to him, What did Elisha say to you? And he answered, He told me that you would surely recover. 15 And it came to pass on the next day, that he took the coverlet, and dipped it in water, and spread it on his face, so that he died: and Hazael reigned in his place.

16 And in the fifth year of Joram the son of Ahab king of Israel, Jehoshaphat being then king of Judah, Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat king of Judah began to reign. 17 He was thirty-two years old when he began to reign; and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. 18 And he walked in the way of the kings Of Israel, as did the house of Ahab: for he had the daughter of Ahab to wife; and he did that which was evil in the sight of Yahweh. 19 However Yahweh would not destroy Judah, for David his servant’s sake, as he promised him to give to him a lamp for his children always.

20 In his days Edom revolted from under the hand of Judah, and made a king over themselves. 21 Then Joram passed over to Zair, and all his chariots with him: and he rose up by night, and struck the Edomites that had surrounded him, and the captains of the chariots; and the people fled to their tents. 22 So Edom revolted from under the hand of Judah to this day. Then Libnah revolted at the same time. 23 And the rest of the acts of Joram, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? 24 And Joram slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David; and Ahaziah his son reigned in his place.

25 In the twelfth year of Joram the son of Ahab king of Israel Ahaziah the son of Jehoram king of Judah began to reign. 26 Ahaziah was twenty-two years old when he began to reign; and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Athaliah the daughter of Omri king of Israel. 27 And he walked in the way of the house of Ahab, and did that which was evil in the sight of Yahweh, as did the house of Ahab; for he was the son-in-law of the house of Ahab. 28 And he went with Joram the son of Ahab to war against Hazael king of Syria at Ramoth-gilead: and the Syrians wounded Joram. 29 And king Joram returned to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds which the Syrians had given him at Ramah, when 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.

 

2 Kings 9

And Elisha the prophet called one of the sons of the prophets, and said to him, Gird up your loins, and take this vial of oil in your hand, and go to Ramoth-gilead. 2 And when you come there, look for Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat the son of Nimshi, and go in, and make him rise up from among his brethren, and carry him to an inner chamber. 3 Then take the vial of oil and pour it on his head, and say, In this manner says Yahweh, I have anointed you king over Israel. Then open the door, and flee, and do not stay. 4 So the young man, even the young man the prophet, went to Ramoth-gilead. 5 And when he came, behold, the captains of the army were sitting; and he said, I have an errand to you, O captain. And Jehu said, To which of all of us? And he said, To you, O captain. 6 And he arose, and went into the house; and he poured the oil on his head, and said to him, In this manner says Yahweh, the Elohim of Israel, I have anointed you king over the people of Yahweh, even over Israel. 7 And you shall destroy the house of Ahab your master, that I may avenge the blood of my servants the prophets, and the blood of all the servants of Yahweh, at the hand of Jezebel. 8 For the whole house of Ahab shall perish; and I will cut off from Ahab every man-child, and him that is shut up and him that is left at large in Israel. 9 And I will make the house of Ahab like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah. 10 And the dogs shall eat Jezebel in the territory of Jezreel, and there shall be no one to bury her. And he opened the door, and fled.

11 Then Jehu came forth to the servants of his sovereign: and one said to him, Is all well? Why did this mad fellow come to you? And he said to them, You know the man and what his talk was. 12 And they said, It is a lie; tell us now. And he said, In this manner he spoke to me, saying, In this manner says Yahweh, I have anointed you king over Israel. 13 Then they hurried and took every man his garment, and put it under him on the top of the stairs, and blew the trumpet, saying, Jehu is king.

14 So Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat the son of Nimshi conspired against Joram. (Now Joram was keeping Ramoth-gilead, he and all Israel, because of Hazael king of Syria; 15 but king Joram had returned to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds which the Syrians had given him, when he fought with Hazael king of Syria.) And Jehu said, If this is your mind, then let none escape and go forth out of the city, to go to tell it in Jezreel. 16 So Jehu rode in a chariot, and went to Jezreel; for Joram lay there. And Ahaziah king of Judah had come down to see Joram.

17 Now the watchman was standing on the tower in Jezreel, and he spied the company of Jehu as he came, and said, I see a company. And Joram said, Take a horseman, and send to meet them, and let him say, Is it peace? 18 So there went one on horseback to meet him, and said, In this manner says the king, Is it peace? And Jehu said, What do you have to do with peace? Turn behind me. And the watchman told, saying, The messenger came to them, but he does not come back. 19 Then he sent out a second on horseback, who came to them, and said, In this manner says the king, Is it peace? And Jehu answered, What do you have to do with peace? Turn behind me. 20 And the watchman told, saying, He came even to them, and does not come back: and the driving is like the driving of Jehu the son of Nimshi; for he drives furiously.

21 And Joram said, Make ready. And they made ready his chariot. And Joram king of Israel and Ahaziah king of Judah went out, each in his chariot, and they went out to meet Jehu, and found him in the portion of Naboth the Jezreelite. 22 And kit came to pass, when Joram saw Jehu, that he said, Is it peace, Jehu? And he answered, What peace, so long as the whoredoms of your mother Jezebel and her witchcrafts are so many? 23 And Joram turned his hands, and fled, and said to Ahaziah, There is treachery, O Ahaziah. 24 And Jehu drew his bow with his full strength, and struck Joram between his arms; and the arrow went out at his heart, and he sank down in his chariot. 25 Then Jehu said to Bidkar his captain, Take up, and cast him in the portion of the field of Naboth the Jezreelite; for remember how that, when you and I rode together after Ahab his father, Yahweh laid this burden upon him: 26 Surely I have seen yesterday the blood of Naboth, and the blood of his sons, says Yahweh; and I will requite you in this plot, says Yahweh. Now therefore take and cast him into the plot of ground, according to the word of Yahweh.

27 But when Ahaziah the king of Judah saw this, he fled by the way of the gardenhouse. And Jehu followed after him, and said, Strike him also in the chariot: and they struck him at the ascent of Gur, which is by Ibleam. And he fled to Megiddo, and died there. 28 And his servants carried him in a chariot to Jerusalem, and buried him in his sepulchre with his fathers in the city of David.

29 And in the eleventh year of Joram the son of Ahab Ahaziah began to reign over Judah.

30 And when Jehu had come to Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it; and she painted her eyes, and attired her head, and looked out at the window. 31 And as Jehu entered in at the gate, she said, Is it peace, you Zimri, your master’s murderer? 32 And he lifted up his face to the window, and said, Who is on my side? Who? And there looked out to him two or three eunuchs. 33 And he said, Throw her down. So they threw her down; and some of her blood was sprinkled on the wall, and on the horses: and he trod her under foot. 34 And when he had come in, he ate and drank; and he said, See now to this cursed woman, and bury her; for she is a king’s daughter. 35 And they went to bury her; but they found no more of her than the skull, and the feet, and the palms of her hands. 36 Therefore they came back, and told him. And he said, This is the word of Yahweh, which he spoke by his servant EliYah the Tishbite, saying, In the portion of Jezreel shall the dogs eat the flesh of Jezebel; 37 and the body of Jezebel shall be as dung upon the face of the field in the portion of Jezreel, so that they shall not say, This is Jezebel.

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