1Earlier, Elisha had told the woman whose son he brought back to life, “Get up, go with your family, and live for a while wherever you can, because Yahweh has announced a famine that will last for seven years in this land.”
2So the woman got up and did as the man of God instructed. She went with her family and lived in the land of the Philistines for seven years.
3At the end of seven years, the woman returned from the land of the Philistines. She then went to speak to the king, to ask for her house and her land back.
4The king was talking with Gehazi, the servant of the man of God, saying, “Please tell me all the amazing things Elisha has done.”
5While Gehazi was telling the king how Elisha had brought a dead person back to life, suddenly the woman whose son he had restored to life appeared, asking the king for her house and her land. Gehazi exclaimed, “My lord the king, this is the woman, and this is her son whom Elisha brought back to life!”
6When the king asked the woman, she confirmed the story. So the king assigned one of his officials to her, saying, “Restore everything that belonged to her, including all the produce from her fields since the day she left the land, until now.”
7Elisha went to Damascus, where Benhadad, the king of Syria, was sick. The king was told, “The man of God has arrived here.”
8The king told Hazael, “Take a gift with you, go and meet the man of God, and ask Yahweh through him, ‘Will I recover from this sickness?’”
9So Hazael went to meet him, taking a gift that included every good thing from Damascus, carried on forty camels. He came and stood before Elisha and said, “Your son Benhadad, the king of Syria, has sent me to you to ask, ‘Will I recover from this sickness?’”
10Elisha told him, “Go and tell the king that he will definitely recover.” But then Elisha added, “However, Yahweh has shown me that he will certainly die.”
11Elisha stared at him intently until Hazael felt ashamed. Then the man of God began to cry.
12Hazael asked, “Why are you crying, my lord?” Elisha answered, “Because I know the terrible things you will do to the people of Israel. You will set their fortresses on fire, kill their young men with the sword, smash their little children to pieces, and rip open their pregnant women.”
13Hazael replied, “Who am I, your servant, just a dog, to do such a great thing?” Elisha answered, “Yahweh has shown me that you will be king over Aram (Syria).”,
14Then Hazael left Elisha and went back to his master. The king asked him, “What did Elisha tell you?” Hazael answered, “He told me that you would surely recover.”
15The next day, Hazael took a thick cloth, dipped it in water, and spread it over the king’s face until he died. Then Hazael became king in his place.
16In the fifth year that Joram son of Ahab was king of Israel, Jehoram son of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, began to rule. Jehoshaphat was still king of Judah at that time.
17Jehoram was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned for eight years in Jerusalem.
18He followed the ways of the kings of Israel, just like the family of Ahab did, because he married Ahab’s daughter. He did what Yahweh considered evil.
19However, Yahweh would not destroy Judah because of his servant David, as he had promised David that he would always provide a descendant to rule after him.
20During Jehoram’s reign, Edom rebelled against Judah and set up their own king.
21So Jehoram went to Zair with all his chariots. He attacked the Edomites who had surrounded him and his chariot commanders during the night, and the Edomite people fled to their tents.
22Edom has been independent of Judah ever since. Libnah also rebelled at the same time.
23The rest of the events of Jehoram’s reign, and everything he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?
24Jehoram passed away and was buried with his ancestors in the City of David. His son Ahaziah became king in his place.
25In the twelfth year that Joram son of Ahab was king of Israel, Ahaziah son of Jehoram, king of Judah, began to reign.
26Ahaziah was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned for one year in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Athaliah, the granddaughter of Omri, king of Israel.
27He followed the ways of Ahab’s family and did what was evil in Yahweh’s sight, just like Ahab’s family, because he was related by marriage to Ahab’s family.
28He went with Joram son of Ahab to fight against King Hazael of Aram (Syria) at Ramoth Gilead, where the Arameans wounded Joram.
29King Joram returned to Jezreel to recover from the wounds the Arameans had inflicted on him at Ramah when he fought against King Hazael of Aram (Syria). While Joram was recovering, Ahaziah son of Jehoram, king of Judah, went down to Jezreel to visit him because he was sick.