Naaman Healed of Leprosy
Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master and high in favor, because by him the Lord had given victory to Syria. He was a mighty man of valor, but he was a leper.
On one of their raids, the Syrians had taken a little girl from the land of Israel, and she worked in the service of Naaman’s wife. The little girl told the woman that there must be a prophet who could cure the man’s leprosy.
So the king of Syria told the man to go, and he would write a letter to the king of Israel. He took the letter with him and set out. When Elisha the man of God heard what was going on, he sent a message to Naaman.
He told him to wash in the Jordan seven times, and his flesh would be restored, and he would be clean. But Naaman was angry and went away because he thought Elisha would just wave a magic wand over him and he would be healed.
Eventually he decided to do as Elisha said, and he went down and dipped himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God. His flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.
Gehazi’s Greed and Punishment
Then the man returned to Elisha and all his company and stood before them. He said, “Behold, I know that there is no God in all the earth, but in Israel; so accept now a present from your servant.” Elisha refused to take the gift.
When Naaman had left Elisha, Gehazi the servant of Elisha went after him. He tricked him into giving him the present Naaman tried to give to Elisha. Gehazi took the items and put them in his house and sent the men away.
He went in and stood before his master Elisha, and he asked him where he had been. He said that he went nowhere, but Elisha knew he was lying. Therefore the leprosy of Naaman would cling to Gehazi and to his descendants forever. So he went out from his presence a leper, like snow.
The Axe Head Recovered
The sons of the prophets told Elisha that the place where they dwelled was too small for them. They wanted to go to the Jordan and each take a log to make a place to live there. Elisha told them they could go and he went with them.
When they got to the Jordan they cut down trees. But as one was felling a log, his axe head fell into the water. He felt terrible because it was borrowed and he cried out to Elisha.
The man of God asked where it had fallen, and the man showed him. Elisha cut a stick and threw it in the water and made the iron float. He told the man to take it up, so he reached his hand out and took it.
Horses and Chariots of Fire
Once when the king of Syria was warring against Israel, he took counsel with his servants. He told them where he would set his camp. But the man of God sent word to the king of Israel, to warn him. So the king of Israel sent to the place about which the man of God had told him.
The king of Syria asked his servants who had been talking to the king of Israel. They said no one there had, and it was Elisha the prophet who was in Israel. He told the king of Israel all the words that the king of Syria spoke in his bedroom. He told them to find him so he could go and seize him.
He sent an army of horses and chariots out to where Elisha was and they surrounded the city. When Elisha woke the next morning, he looked out and saw that an army with horses and chariots were all around the city.
His servant asked what they should do, and Elisha said, “Do not be afraid, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” Then Elisha prayed and asked the Lord to open the eyes of his young servant so he could see.
So the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw that the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.
And when the Syrians came down against him, Elisha prayed to the Lord to strike them with blindness. Elisha told them, “This is not the way, and this is not the city. Follow me, and I will bring you to the man whom you seek.” And he led them to Samaria.
As soon as they entered Samaria, Elisha asked the Lord to open their eyes so they could see. When their eyes opened they saw that they were in the midst of Samaria. As soon as the king of Israel saw them, he asked Elisha if he should strike them down.
Elisha told him that he should not strike them down for they have been taken captive. He was to give them bread and water so they could eat and drink. After they feasted, they were sent away to their master. The Syrians did not come again on raids into the land of Israel.
Ben-hadad’s Siege of Samaria
Afterward Ben-hadad king of Syria mustered his entire army and went up and besieged Samaria. There was a great famine in Samaria, as they besieged it and everything’s value increased because of it.
A woman spoke to the king and explained the trouble she was in. She told him that her and another woman had decided that she would give her son that day to be boiled and eaten, and the other would give her son the next day. So, they did so with the first son, but when it came time for the second woman to give up her son, she had hidden him.
When the king heard this, he tore his clothes and said, “May God do so to me and more also, if the head of Elisha the son of Shaphat remains on his shoulders today.”
The king sent a man to Elisha, but Elisha already knew that he was coming. He was sitting with the elders, and told them what was about to happen. He said to shut the door from the messenger and hold it fast against him. While he was still speaking with them, the messenger came down to him and said, “This trouble is from the Lord! Why should I wait for the Lord any longer?”
Elisha Promises Food
But Elisha said, “Hear the word of the Lord…” The next day there would be flour sold at a price people could afford at the gate of Samaria. Then the captain said to Elisha, “If the Lord himself should make windows in heaven, could this thing be?” But he said, “You shall see it with your own eyes, but you shall not eat of it.”
The Syrians Flee
There were four men who were lepers at the entrance of the gate. They talked to each other and wondered why they would just sit there and die. But if they went into the city with the famine, they would also die. They decided they would go to the camp of the Syrians, and if they spared their lives they would live, or if they killed them, they were dying anyway.
When they got to the camp of the Syrians, there was no one there. The Lord had made the army hear the sounds of chariots and horses and a great army, so they thought they were under attack and fled. They left all of their belongings there.
When the lepers arrived they went into a tent and ate and drank, and took gold, silver, and clothing and hid it. Then they did it all again with another tent.
They said that they were not doing right, for that day was a day of good news. So they went to the gatekeeper and told him what they had found. The king was told the news, but said that the Syrians were luring them in because they knew they were hungry.
He said that they were hiding outside of the camp and when they left the city, they would go and take it. Five men went to check it all out to see if it was a trap. They returned and explained that the Syrians had in fact fled, and left all of their things. Items were littered all along the way that were thrown away in their haste.
Then the people went out and plundered the camp of the Syrians, and the price of things reduced just at the Lord had said. Also as the Lord had said of the captain who would “see it with his own eyes, but no be able to eat it,” came true. The captain was trampled at the gate and he died.