ELISHA TELLS THE SHUNAMITE TO GO AND DWELL FOR A TIME IN ANOTHER LAND. HE PROPHESIES THAT HAZAEL WILL BE KING OVER SYRIA. JEHU IS ANOINTED KING OF ISRAEL. JEHORAM AND JEZEBEL ARE SLAIN. THE REIGNS OF JEHOAHAZ AND JEHOASH.
AFTER these things, Elisha spoke to the woman whose son he had brought to life again, saying, Go, thou and thy family, to live a while in some other land, for the Lord is going to send a famine on the land of Israel which shall last seven years. And the woman did as Elisha told her; she went with her family into the land of the Philistines, and lived there for seven years. Then she came again into the land of Israel, but found that while she was gone, another person had taken her house and her fields.
And she went with her son to king Jehoram, to beg of him that they might be given back to her. When she came to the king's house, Gehazi, the servant of Elisha, was there; the king was talking with him, and said to him, Tell me, I pray thee, all the great things that Elisha has done. While Gehazi was telling how Elisha had brought a dead body to life, the woman and her son came in to speak with the king. And Gehazi said, My lord, O king, this is the woman, and this is her son whom Elisha brought to life again. And when the king asked her about it, she told him it was true. Then he commanded one of his officers, saying, Give back to this woman her house and her land, and enough money also to pay for the fruit and the grain that have grown in her fields, since she has been in the land of the Philistines.
And Elisha came to Damascus, where Benhadad the king of Syria, lived, and it was told the king that he had come. Now Benhadad was sick, and when he heard that Elisha had come to the city, he said to Hazael, one of his officers, Take a present with thee, and go to meet Elisha the prophet, and tell him to ask of God for me whether I shall get well of my sickness. So Hazael went to meet Elisha, and took a present with him, some of all the good things of Damascus, as much as forty camels would carry.
And he came and stood before Elisha, and said, The king of Syria has sent me to ask thee, whether he shall get well of his sickness? Elisha answered, Go and tell him that he is not so sick but that he might get well, and yet the Lord has shown me that he will die. Then Elisha looked at Hazael, without speaking, until Hazael was ashamed: and Elisha wept. Hazael said, Why weepeth my lord? Elisha answered, Because I know the evil, things that thou wilt do to the children of Israel; their cities thou wilt set on fire, their young men thou wilt slay with the sword, and their women and little children thou wilt cruelly put to death. Then Hazael was astonished, and said, What, is thy servant a dog, that he should do these things? Elisha answered, The Lord has shown me that thou shalt be king over Syria.
So Hazael went back to king Benhadad, who asked him, saying, What said Elisha to thee? Hazael answered, He told me that thou shouldest surely get well. But the next day Hazael took a thick cloth and dipped it in water, and brought it into the chamber where the king was sick. And he spread it over the king's face, so that he could not breathe, and Benhadad, the king of Syria, died; and Hazael made himself king of that land.
Now Jezebel, the wicked wife of Ahab, was still living in the city of Jezreel, and Jehoram her son, the king of Israel, was there with her.
And Elisha called a young man who was one of the sons of the prophets, and said to him, Carry some oil with thee, and go to the city of Ramoth-gilead, and there look for Jehu, who is a captain in the king of Israel's army. When thou hast found him, take him into a secret chamber alone, and pour the oil on his head, and say, The Lord has anointed thee to be king over Israel. Then open the door and flee, stay not. So the young man went to Ramoth-gilead and found there the captains of the army sitting together, and Jehu was with them. And the young man went to them, and said, I have a message for thee, O captain. Jehu said, For which one of us? The young man answered, For thee.
Then Jehu rose up, and went with him into the house, and the young man poured the oil on his head, and said to him, Thus saith the Lord, I have anointed thee to be king over Israel. And after thou art made king, thou shalt put to death all who are left of the family of Ahab, that I may punish them for killing my prophets, and for the death of all my servants whom the wicked Jezebel has slain. For the whole family of Ahab shall be destroyed, as the family of Jeroboam was destroyed, till not one of them is left. And the dogs shall eat Jezebel in the city of Jezreel, and there shall be no one to bury her. When the young man had spoken these words to Jehu, he opened the door of the house and fled.
And Jehu came out again to the captains of the army, and one of them asked him, saying, What did this mad fellow say to thee? He answered, He told me that the Lord anointed me to be king over Israel. Then the captains all made haste and blew with trumpets, and cried out, Jehu is king! So they made Jehu king instead of Jehoram.
And Jehu said to the captains, Let no one go to Jezreel to tell King Jehoram of what we have done, for I myself will go there. Then Jehu made ready his chariot, and rode to Jezreel. As he came near the city, the watchman who stood on the tower over the gate, saw him and the men who were with him. And the watchman told King Jehoram of it. Jehoram said, Send out a horseman to ask whether they are coming for peace or for war? So there went out a man on horseback to meet Jehu, and when he met him, he asked, Are you coming for peace or for war? But Jehu would not answer him; he commanded the man to go behind his chariot, and follow after it.
Then Jehoram sent out another man, who came and asked the same question. And Jehu would not answer him, but commanded him also to go behind his chariot and follow after it. When Jehoram saw that the men did not come back to tell what Jehu said, he got into his chariot, and rode out himself to meet him. And he came to him and said, Is it peace, Jehu? Jehu answered, How can there be peace while the sins of thy mother Jezebel are so many? When Jehoram heard this, he turned the horses of his chariot to flee, for he saw that Jehu had come to fight against him. But Jehu drew a bow with all his might, and shot an arrow at Jehoram, that went into his heart, and he fell down dead in his chariot. Then Jehu commanded his captain to throw Jehoram's dead body out on the ground. The place where he threw it was in the vineyard that Ahab, Jehoram's father, had taken from Naboth; for Naboth's vineyard was at the city of Jezreel.
Then Jehu came into the city. And Jezebel, Jehoram's mother, heard of it, and she put on her ornaments, and painted her face, and looked out at a window. And as Jehu came in at the gate of the city, she spoke to him. But he looked up at the window, and said to the men in the house with her, Who is on my side? And there looked out to him two or three officers. Then Jehu said to them, Throw her down. So they threw her down, and her blood was sprinkled on the wall, and the horses of Jehu's chariot trod her under their feet. After Jehu had come out of his chariot, and had eaten and drunk, he said to his servants, Go, see now where the dead body of this wicked woman is, and bury her, for she was a king's daughter. And they went to bury her, but could find only her skull and her feet and the palms of her hands, for the dogs had eaten her flesh.
And Jehu caused all the family of Ahab to be put to death. So the words of Elijah came true, which he spoke fifteen years before, when Ahab took from Naboth the vineyard which his father had left him. At that time Elijah told Ahab that the Lord would send evil upon him and his family, until not one of them should be left alive. And of Jezebel Elijah said, The dogs shall eat Jezebel by the wall of Jezreel. Yet Jehu did not do these things to obey the Lord, but like Baasha, who slew the family of Jeroboam, Jehu did them because he wanted to be great and to make himself king. For he took no care in other things, to obey the Lord with all his heart, but did wickedly like the kings who had lived before him. He reigned for twenty-eight years; and he died, and Jehoahaz his son was made king over Israel.
Jehoahaz disobeyed God as his father had done, and God was angry with him, and with the people of Israel. He sent against them Hazael, king of Syria. We have heard how Hazael murdered his master, by spreading a wet cloth over his face while he was sick, and so made himself king. But God often sent wicked kings as a punishment against the children of Israel; and now he sent Hazael, the king of Syria. And Hazael did to them as Elisha had said he would do; he burned their cities and put their young men and young women to death. He destroyed the army of Israel also, and allowed Jehoahaz to have only fifty horsemen, ten chariots, and ten thousand footmen, so that he might not be able to rebel against him. Jehoahaz reigned seventeen years, and he died, and Jehoash his son was made king. Now Elisha was sick and about to die. And king Jehoash came to see him and stood by his bed and wept over him, and cried out, as Elisha had cried to Elijah, O my father, my father, the chariot of Israel and the horsemen thereof. Elisha said to king Jehoash, Take a bow and arrows. And he took them. Elisha said to the king, Put thy hand on the bow. And he put his hand on it; and Elisha put his hands upon the king's hands. And he said, open the window toward the east. And he opened it. Elisha said, Shoot; and the king shot, Then Elisha told the king what that arrow meant; he said it meant that Jehoash should gain the victory over the Syrians, and set the children of Israel free from them.
And Elisha spoke to the king again, and told him to take the arrows in his hand, and strike with them on the ground. And the king struck with them three times, and stopped. And Elisha was angry, and said, Thou shouldst have struck five or six times, for then thou wouldst have smitten the Syrians till they were destroyed; but now thou shalt smite them only three times.
And Elisha died and they buried him. After this the Moabites came into the land to rob the men of Israel. And as some of the people were carrying out a dead man to bury him, they saw a band of the Moabites coming, and because they were afraid, they did not go to the grave that was made ready for the man, but lowered him in haste into Elisha's sepulchre. And when the dead body touched the bones of Elisha, the man came to life again, and stood up on his feet.