The Complete Jewish Bible CJB
The Bible in Basic English BBE
1 Now Elisha had said to the woman whose son he had restored to life, "Move away, you and your household, and stay wherever you can; because ADONAI has called for a famine; and it will be on the land for seven years."
1
Now Elisha had said to the woman whose son he had given back to life, Go now, with all the people of your house, and get a living-place for yourselves wherever you are able; for by the word of the Lord, there will be great need of food in the land; and this will go on for seven years.
2 The woman acted at once and did as the man of God had said - she went with her household and stayed in the land of the P'lishtim for seven years.
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So the woman got up and did as the man of God said; and she and the people of her house were living in the land of the Philistines for seven years.
3 At the end of seven years the woman returned from the land of the P'lishtim and sought an audience with the king to claim her house and land.
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And when the seven years were ended, the woman came back from the land of the Philistines and went to the king with a request for her house and her land.
4 The king was talking with Geichazi the servant of the man of God. "Tell me," he said, "all the great things Elisha has done."
4
Now the king was talking with Gehazi, the servant of the man of God, saying, Now, give me an account of all the great things Elisha has done.
5 Just as he was telling the king how he had restored a dead person to life, at that very moment the woman whose son he had restored to life came to the king with her claim for her house and land. Geichazi said, "My lord, king, this is the woman; and this is her son, the one Elisha restored to life."
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And while he was giving the king the story of how Elisha had given life to the dead, the woman whose son had come back to life came to the king with a request for her house and her land. And Gehazi said, My lord king, this is the woman and this is her son, whose life Elisha gave back to him.
6 On being asked by the king, the woman verified it. At this, the king appointed a special officer and charged him, "Restore everything that belongs to her, including the income her fields have produced from the day she left them until now."
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And in answer to the king's questions, the woman gave him all the story. So the king gave orders to one of his unsexed servants, saying, Give her back all her property, and all the produce of her fields from the day when she went away from the land up till now.
7 Elisha went to Dammesek. Ben-Hadad the king of Aram was ill; and he was told, "The man of God has come here."
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And Elisha came to Damascus; and Ben-hadad, king of Aram, was ill; and they said to him, The man of God has come.
8 The king said to Haza'el, "Take with you a gift, go meet the man of God and consult ADONAI through him; ask if I will recover from this illness."
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Then the king said to Hazael, Take an offering with you, and go to see the man of God and get directions from the Lord by him, saying, Am I going to get better from my disease?
9 Haza'el went to meet him, taking with him a gift that included everything good Dammesek had, forty camel-loads. He came, stood before him and said, "Your son Ben-Hadad king of Aram has sent me to you; he asks, 'Will I recover from this illness?'"
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So Hazael went to see him, taking with him forty camels with offerings on their backs of every sort of good thing from Damascus; and when he came before him, he said, Your son Ben-hadad, king of Aram, has sent me to you, saying, Will I get better from this disease?
10 Elisha answered, "Go and say to him, 'You will surely recover'- even though ADONAI has shown me that he will surely die."
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And Elisha said to him, Go, say to him, You will certainly get better; but the Lord has made it clear to me that only death is before him.
11 Then the man of God fixed his gaze on him for so long that Haza'el became embarrassed; finally Elisha began to cry.
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And he kept his eyes fixed on him till he was shamed, and the man of God was overcome with weeping.
12 Haza'el asked, "Why is my lord crying?" He answered, "Because I know the disasters you will bring on the people of Isra'el - you will set their fortresses on fire, you will kill their young men with the sword, you will dash their little ones to pieces and rip their pregnant women apart."
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And Hazael said, Why is my lord weeping? Then he said in answer, Because I see the evil which you will do to the children of Israel: burning down their strong towns, putting their young men to death with the sword, smashing their little ones against the stones, and cutting open the women who are with child.
13 Haza'el said, "But what is your servant? Nothing but a dog! How could he do anything of such magnitude?" Elisha answered, "ADONAI has shown me that you will be king over Aram."
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And Hazael said, How is it possible that your servant, who is only a dog, will do this great thing? And Elisha said, The Lord has made it clear to me that you will be king over Aram.
14 Then he left Elisha and returned to his master, who asked him, "What did Elisha say to you?" "He told me you would surely recover."
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Then he went away from Elisha and came in to his master, who said to him, What did Elisha say to you? And his answer was, He said that you would certainly get well.
15 The next day he took a blanket, dipped it in water and spread it on his face, so that he died; and Haza'el took his place as king.
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Now on the day after, Hazael took the bed-cover, and making it wet with water, put it over Ben-hadad's face, causing his death: and Hazael became king in his place.
16 It was when Yoram the son of Ach'av king of Isra'el was in the fifth year of his reign that Y'horam the son of Y'hoshafat began his rule over Y'hudah.
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In the fifth year of Joram, the son of Ahab, king of Israel, Jehoram, the son of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, became king.
17 He was thirty-two years old when he began to rule, and he ruled eight years in Yerushalayim.
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He was thirty-two years old when he became king; and he was ruling in Jerusalem for eight years.
18 He lived after the example of the kings of Isra'el, as did the house of Ach'av; because he had married Ach'av's daughter; he did what was evil from ADONAI's perspective.
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He went in the ways of the kings of Israel, as the family of Ahab did: for the daughter of Ahab was his wife; and he did evil in the eyes of the Lord.
19 However, ADONAI was unwilling to destroy Y'hudah, because of his servant David; inasmuch as he had promised to give him and his children a lamp that would burn forever.
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But it was not the Lord's purpose to send destruction on Judah, because of David his servant, to whom he had given his word that he would have a light for ever.
20 During his time Edom revolted against Y'hudah and set up its own king.
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In his time, Edom made themselves free from the rule of Judah, and took a king for themselves.
21 In response, Yoram crossed to Tza'ir with all his chariots. At night he and his chariot commanders set out and attacked Edom who had surrounded him; then the people fled to their tents.
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Then Joram went over to Zair, with all his war-carriages; ... made an attack by night on the Edomites, whose forces were all round him, ... the captains of the war-carriages; and the people went in flight to their tents.
22 Nevertheless, since that day Edom has remained free of Y'hudah's domination. Livnah revolted at the same time.
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So Edom made themselves free from the rule of Judah to this day. And at the same time, Libnah made itself free.
23 Other activities of Yoram and all his accomplishments are recorded in the Annals of the Kings of Y'hudah.
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Now the rest of the acts of Joram, and all he did, are they not recorded in the book of the history of the kings of Judah?
24 Yoram slept with his ancestors and was buried with his ancestors in the City of David, and Achazyah his son took his place as king.
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And Joram went to rest with his fathers and was put into the earth with his fathers in the town of David: and Ahaziah his son became king in his place.
25 It was in the twelfth year of Yoram the son of Ach'av king of Isra'el that Achazyah the son of Y'horam king of Y'hudah began his reign.
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In the twelfth year that Joram, the son of Ahab, was king of Israel, Ahaziah, the son of Jehoram, king of Judah, became king;
26 Achazyah was twenty-two years old when he began to rule, and he ruled for one year in Yerushalayim. His mother's name was 'Atalyahu the daughter of 'Omri king of Isra'el.
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Ahaziah was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he was ruling in Jerusalem for one year. His mother's name was Athaliah, the daughter of Omri, king of Israel.
27 He lived after the example of the house of Ach'av; he did what was evil from ADONAI's perspective, as had the house of Ach'av; for he was a son-in-law in the house of Ach'av.
27
He went in the ways of the family of Ahab, and did evil in the eyes of the Lord as the family of Ahab did, for he was a son-in-law of the family of Ahab.
28 With Yoram the son of Ach'av he went to war against Haza'el king of Aram at Ramot-Gil'ad, and the Aramim wounded Yoram.
28
He went with Joram, the son of Ahab, to make war on Hazael, king of Aram, at Ramoth-gilead: and Joram was wounded by the Aramaeans.
29 King Yoram returned to Yizre'el to be healed of the wounds which the Aramim had inflicted on him at Ramah while fighting Haza'el king of Aram. Achazyah the son of Y'horam, king of Y'hudah, went down to visit Yoram the son of Ach'av in Yizre'el, because he was not feeling well.
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So King Joram went back to Jezreel to get well from the wounds which the bowmen had given him at Ramah, when he was fighting against Hazael, king of Aram. And Ahaziah, the son of Jehoram, king of Judah, went down to see Joram, the son of Ahab, in Jezreel, because he was ill.
Complete Jewish Bible Copyright 1998 by David H. Stern. Published by Jewish New Testament Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
The Bible in Basic English is in the public domain.