Study Desk

Now [at another time] a man from Baal-shalisha came and brought the man of God bread of the first fruits, twenty loaves of barley bread, and fresh ears of grain [in the husk] in his sack. And Elisha said, "Give it to the people [affected by the famine] so that they may eat."

When the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes [in shock and outrage at the request] and said, "Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man sends to me [a request] to heal a man of his leprosy? Just consider [what he is asking] and see how he is seeking an opportunity [for a battle] with me."

Now when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, he sent word to the king, asking, "Why have you torn your clothes? Just let Naaman come to me, and he shall know that there is a [true] prophet in Israel."

But Naaman was furious and went away and said, "Indeed! I thought 'He would at least come out to [see] me and stand and call on the name of the LORD his God, and wave his hand over the place [of leprosy] and heal the leper.'

So he went down and plunged himself into the Jordan seven times, just as the man of God had said; and his flesh was restored like that of a little child and he was clean.

Then Naaman returned to the man of God, he and all the people in his group, and stood before him. He said, "Behold, I know that there is no God in all the earth, except in Israel; so now accept a blessing and gift from your servant."

Naaman said, "If not, then please, let your servant be given a load of earth for a team of mules; for [from this day on] your servant will no longer offer a burnt offering nor a sacrifice to other gods, but only to the LORD, [the God of Israel].

"In this matter may the LORD pardon your servant: when my master [the king] goes into the house of [his god] Rimmon to worship there, and he leans on my hand and I bow in the house of Rimmon, when I bow down in the house of Rimmon, may the LORD pardon your servant in this matter [of attending the king when he worships]."

when Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, said, "My master has spared this Naaman the Aramean (Syrian), by not accepting from him what he brought. As the LORD lives, I will run after him and get something from him."

The man of God said, "Where did it fall?" When he showed him the place, Elisha cut off a stick and threw it in there, and made the iron [axe head] float.

The man of God sent word to the king of Israel saying, "Be careful not to pass by this place, because the Arameans are pulling back to there."

The servant of the man of God got up early and went out, and behold, there was an army with horses and chariots encircling the city. Elisha's servant said to him, "Oh no, my master! What are we to do?"

When the Arameans came down to him, Elisha prayed to the LORD and said, "Please strike this people (nation) with blindness." And God struck them with blindness, in accordance with Elisha's request.

Then he said, "May God do so to me and more also, if the head of Elisha the son of Shaphat remains on him today!"

Then the royal officer on whose arm the king leaned answered the man of God and said, "If the LORD should make windows in heaven [for the rain], could this thing take place?" Elisha said, "Behold, you will see it with your own eyes, but [because you doubt] you will not eat of it."

Now the king had appointed the royal officer on whose arm he leaned to be in charge of the [city] gate; and the [starving] people trampled him at the gate [as they struggled to get through for food], and he died, just as the man of God had foretold when the king came down to him.

It happened just as [Elisha] the man of God had spoken to the king, saying, "Two measures of barley will be sold for a shekel and a measure of finely-milled flour for a shekel tomorrow about this time at the gate of Samaria."

The royal officer had answered the man of God and said, "Now behold, [even] if the LORD should make windows in heaven, could such a thing happen?" And Elisha had answered, "You will see it with your own eyes, but [because of your doubt] you will not eat it."

So the woman set out and did everything in accordance with the word of the man of God. She and her household went and stayed temporarily as foreigners in the land of the Philistines for seven years.

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."