Chapter 8 Then spake Elisha unto the woman whose son he had restored to life,
saying, Arise, and go thou, and thine household, and sojourn wheresoever thou
canst sojourn.
For the Lord hath called for a famine, and it shall also come upon the land seven
years.
And the woman arose, and did after the saying of the man of God.
And she went with her household, and sojourned in the land of the
Philistines seven years.
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 unto the king for her house and for her land.
And the king talked with Gehazi, the servant of the man of God,
saying, Tell me, I pray thee, all the great things that Elisha hath done.
And it came to pass, as he was telling the king how he had restored a dead body to
life, 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 lord, O king, this is the woman, and this is her son,
whom Elisha restored to life.
And when the king asked the woman, she told him.
So the king appointed unto her a certain officer, saying, Restore all that was
hers, and all the fruits of the fields, since the day that she left the land,
even until now.
And Elisha came to Damascus, and Ben-Hadad, the king of Syria, was sick.
And it was told him, saying, The man of God has come hither.
And the king said unto Hazael, Take a present in thine hand, and go,
meet the man of God, and inquire of the Lord by him, saying, Shall I recover of
this disease?
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, Thy son Ben-Hadad, king of Syria, hath sent me to thee, saying,
Shall I recover of this disease?
And Elisha said unto him, Go say unto him, Thou mayest certainly recover,
howbeit the Lord hath showed me that he shall surely die.
And he settled his countenance steadfastly, until he was ashamed,
and the man of God wept.
And Hazael said, Why weepeth my lord?
And he answered, Because I know the evil that thou wilt do unto the children of
Israel.
Their strongholds wilt thou set on fire, and their young men wilt thou slay with
the sword, and wilt dash their children, and rip up their women with child.
And Hazael said, But what, is thy servant a dog, that he should do this great thing?
And Elisha answered, The Lord hath showed me that thou shalt be king over Syria.
So he departed from Elisha, and came to his master, who said to him, What said
Elisha to thee?
And he answered, He told me that thou shouldst surely recover.
And it came to pass on the morrow, that he took a thick cloth, and dipped it
in water, and spread it on his face, so that he died.
And Hazael reigned in his stead.
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.
Thirty and two years old was he when he began to reign, and he reigned eight years
in Jerusalem.
And he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, as did the house of Ahab.
For the daughter of Ahab was his wife, and he did evil in the sight of the Lord.
Yet the Lord would not destroy Judah for David his servant's sake, as he promised
him to give him all way a light and to his children.
In his days Edom revolted from under the hand of Judah, and made a king over
themselves.
So Joram went over to Zeah and all the chariots with him, and he rose by night
and smote the Edomites, which compassed him about, and the captains of the
chariots.
And the people fled into their tents.
Yet Edom revolted from under the hand of Judah unto this day.
Then Libna revolted at the same time.
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?
And Joram slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the
city of David.
And Ahaziah his son reigned in his stead.
In the twelfth year of Joram the son of Ahab king of Israel, did Ahaziah the son
of Jehoram king of Judah begin to reign.
Two and twenty years old was Ahaziah 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.
And he walked in the way of the house of Ahab, and did evil in the sight of the
Lord, as did the house of Ahab.
For he was the son-in-law of the house of Ahab.
And he went with Joram the son of Ahab to the war against Hazel king of Syria,
and Ramoth Gilead.
And the Syrians wounded Joram.
And king Joram went back to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds which the Syrians
had given him at Ramah, when he fought against Hazel 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.