Study Desk

Then one of them said, "Please agree and go with your servants." And he said, "I will go."

So he went with them; and when they came to the Jordan, they cut down trees.

Now the king of Aram was making war against Israel; and he consulted with his servants, saying, "In such and such a place shall be my camp."

Now when the attendant of the man of God had risen early and gone out, behold, an army with horses and chariots was circling the city. And his servant said to him, "This is hopeless, my master! What are we to do?"

And he said, "Do not be afraid, for those who are with us are greater than those who are with them."

And when they came down to him, Elisha prayed to the LORD and said, "Please strike this people with blindness." So He struck them with blindness in accordance with the word of Elisha.

But he answered, "You shall not kill them. Would you kill those whom you have taken captive with your sword and your bow? Set bread and water before them, so that they may eat and drink, and go to their master."

Now Elisha was sitting in his house, and the elders were sitting with him. And the king sent a man from his presence; but before the messenger came to him, he said to the elders, "Do you see how this son of a murderer has sent a man to cut off my head? Look, when the messenger comes, shut the door and hold the door shut against him. Is the sound of his master's feet not behind him?"

While he was still talking with them, behold, the messenger came down to him and he said, "Behold, this evil is from the LORD; why should I wait for the LORD any longer?"

The royal officer on whose hand the king was leaning responded to the man of God and said, "Even if the LORD were to make windows in heaven, could this thing happen?" Then he said, "Behold, you are going to see it with your own eyes, but you will not eat any of it."

When these men with leprosy came to the outskirts of the camp, they entered one tent and ate and drank, and carried from there silver, gold, and clothes, and they went and hid them; then they returned and entered another tent, and carried valuables from there also, and went and hid them.

Therefore they took two chariots with horses, and the king sent them after the army of the Arameans, saying, "Go and see."

So the people went out and plundered the camp of the Arameans. Then a measure of fine flour was sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, in accordance with the word of the LORD.

At that time the royal officer had responded to the man of God and said, "Now even if the LORD were to make windows in heaven, could such a thing as this happen?" And he had said, "Behold, you are going to see it with your own eyes, but you will not eat any of it."

Now Elisha spoke to the woman whose son he had restored to life, saying, "Arise and go with your household, and live wherever you can live; for the LORD has called for a famine, and it will indeed come on the land for seven years."

So the woman arose and acted in accordance with the word of the man of God: she went with her household and resided in the land of the Philistines for seven years.

Now the king was speaking with Gehazi, the servant of the man of God, saying, "Please report to me all the great things that Elisha has done."

And Hazael said, "Why is my lord weeping?" And he answered, "Because I know the evil that you will do to the sons of Israel: you will set their fortified cities on fire, you will kill their young men with the sword, their little ones you will smash to pieces, and you will rip up their pregnant women."

Then Joram crossed over to Zair, and all his chariots with him. And he got up at night and struck the Edomites who had surrounded him and the captains of the chariots; but his army fled to their tents.

So Joram lay down with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of David; and his son Ahaziah became king in his place.