¶ Elisha's Miracles and Prophecies
A reading from the book of 2 Kings.
🔇 Silence
Now Elisha had said to the woman whose son he had restored to life. Arise and depart with your household and sojourn wherever you can, for the Lord has called for a famine, and it will come upon the land for seven years. So the woman arose and did according to the word of the man of God. She went with her household and sojourned in the land of the Philistines seven years.
And at the end of the seven years, when the woman returned from the land of the Philistines, she went to appeal to the king for a house and her land. Now the king was talking with Gehazi, the servant of the man of God, saying Tell me all the great things that Elisha has done, And while he was telling the king how Elisha had restored the dead to life, behold, the woman whose son he had restored to life appealed to the king for a house and her land.
And Gehazi said, My lord, O king, here is the woman, and here is her son, whom Elisha restored to life. And when the king asked the woman, she told him So the king appointed an official for her, saying, Restore all that was hers, together with all the produce of the fields, from the day that she left the land until now. Now Elisha came to Damascus.
Benadad, the king of Syria, was sick. And when it was told him, The man of God has come here, the king said to Hazael, Take a present with you, and go to meet the man of God, and inquire of the Lord through him, saying, Shall I recover from this sickness?
So Hazael went to meet him, and took a present with him, all kinds of goods of Damascus, forty camels loads. When he came and stood before him, he said Your son Benadad, King of Syria, has sent me to you, saying, Shall I recover from the sickness? And Elisha said to him, Go, say to him, You shall certainly recover, but the Lord has shown me that he shall certainly die.
And he fixed his gaze and stared at him until he was embarrassed. And the man of God wept, and Hazael said, Why does my lord weep? He answered Because I know the evil that you will do to the people of Israel. You will set on fire their fortresses, and you will kill their young men with the sword, and dash in pieces their little ones, and rip open their pregnant women. And Hazael said, What is your servant? Who is but a dog that he should do this great thing?
Elisha answered, The Lord has shown me that you ought to be king over Syria. 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 certainly recover. But the next day he took the bedcloth and dipped it in water and spread it over his face till he died. And Hazael became king in his place.
¶ King Jehoram's Evil Reign
In the fifth year of Joram, the son of Ahab, King of Israel, when Jehoshaphat was King of Judah, Jehoram, the son of Jehoshaphat, King of Judah, began to reign. He was thirty two years old when he became king, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. And he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, as the house of Ahab had done. For the daughter of Ahab was his wife.
And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. Yet the Lord was not willing to destroy Judah for the sake of David, his servant, since he promised to give a lamp to him and to his sons forever. In his days Edom revolted from the rule of Judah and set up a king of their own. Then Joram passed over to Zaire with all his chariots, and rose by night, and he and his chariot commanders struck the Edomites, who had surrounded him, but his army fled home.
So Edom revolted from the rule of Judah to this day. Then Libna revolted at the same time. Now 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? So Joram slept with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of David, and Aziah his son reigned in his place. In the twelfth year of Joram, the son of Ahab, King of Israel,
Ahaziah, the son of Jehorim, King of Judah, began to reign. Ahaziah was twenty two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Atheliah, she was a granddaughter of Amri, King of Israel. He also walked in the way of the house of Ahab, and did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, as the house of Ahab had done, for he was son in law to the house of Ahab.
He went with Joram, the son of Ahab to make war against Hazael, King of Syria at Ramoth Gilead, and the Syrians wounded Joram. And King Joram returned to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds that the Syrians had given him at Rama, when he fought against Hazel, King of Syria. And Ahaziah, the son of Jehorim, King of Judah, went down to see Joram, the son of Ahab in Jezreel, because he was sick. And A reading from the book of Second Chronicles.
🔇 Silence
¶ Jehoram's Downfall and Judgment
Jehoshaphat slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David, and Jehorim, his son, reigned in his place. He had brothers, the sons of Jehoshaphat, Azariah, Jehael, Zachariah, Azariah, Makel, and Shepatiah. All these were the sons of Jehoshaphat, King of Israel. Their father gave them great gifts of silver, gold, and valuable possessions, together with fortified cities in Judah. But he gave the kingdom to Jehorim, because he was the firstborn.
When Jehorim had ascended the throne of his father and was established He killed all his brothers with the sword, and also some of the princes of Israel. Jehorim was thirty two years old when he became king, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. And he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, as the house of Ahab had done, for the daughter of Ahab was his wife. And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord.
Yet the Lord was not willing to destroy the house of David because of the covenant that he had made with David, and since he had promised to give a lamp to him and to his sons forever. In his days Edom revolted from the rule of Judah and set up a king of their own. Then Jehoram passed over with his commanders and all his chariots, and he rose by night and struck the Edomites who had surrounded him and his chariot commanders.
So Edom revolted from the rule of Judah to this day. At that time Libna also revolted from his rule, because he had forsaken the Lord, the god of his fathers. Moreover, he made high places in the hill country of Judah, and led the inhabitants of Jerusalem into Hordom, and made Judah go astray. And a letter came to him from Elijah the prophet saying, Thus says the Lord, the God of David your father Because you have not walked in the ways of Jehoshaphat your father.
are in the ways of Asa King of Judah, But have walked in the way of the kings of Israel, and have enticed Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem into Hordeh, as the house of Ahab led Israel into Hordeh, And also you have killed your brothers of your father's house. Who were better than you? Behold, the Lord will bring a great plague on your people, your children, your wives, and all your possessions, and you yourself will have a severe sickness with a disease of your bowels.
until your bowels come out because of the disease, day by day. And the Lord stirred up against Jehoram the anger of the Philistines and of the Arabians who are near the Ethiopians. And they came up against Judah and invaded it, and carried away all the possessions they found that belonged to the king's house. And also his sons and his wives, so that no son was left to him except Jehoahaz, his youngest son. And after all this the Lord struck him in his bowels with an incurable disease.
In the course of time at the end of two years, his boughs came out because of the disease, and he died in great agony. His people made no fire in his honor, like the fires made for his fathers. He was thirty two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem, and he departed with no one's regret. They buried him in the city of David, but not in the tombs of the king.
And the inhabitants of Jerusalem made Aaziah, his younger son, king in his place, for the band of men that came with the Arabians to the camp had killed all the older sons. So Ahaziah, the son of Jehorim, King of Judah reigned. Aaziah was twenty two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Athaliah, the granddaughter of Amri. He also walked in the ways of the house of Ahab, for his mother was his counselor in doing wickedly.
He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, as the house of Ahab had done. For after the death of his father they were his counselors to his undoing. He even followed their counsel and went with Jehorim, the son of Ahab, King of Israel, to make war against Hazael, King of Syria at Ramoth Gilead. And the Syrians wounded Joram, and he returned to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds that he had received at Rama.
when he fought against Hazael, King of Syria. And Azar, the son of Jehorim, King of Judah, went down to see Joram, the son of Ahab in Jezreel, because he was wounded.