II Kings Chapter 8

Exposé | Moral

Everything Is Under G-d’s Sovereignty

But this is not in opposition to man’s free will.

For what G-d sees is out or man’s free will.

Melachim | Kings

Elisha had spoken to the woman whose son he had revived, saying, “Arise and go forth, you and your household, and sojourn where you would sojourn, for Hashem has called a famine, and it is coming to the land for seven years.
8:1
So the woman arose and did as the man of God had told her, and she went with her househol, and sojourned in the land of the Philistines [for] seven years.
:2
The king had been speaking with Gehazi, the attendant of the man of God, saying, “Please tell me about all the great deeds that Elisha has performed.”
:4
The king asked the woman, and she told him [that it was true]. The king then designated a certain sevant for her, saying [to him], “Return everything that is hers, as well as all the produce of the land from the day she left the land to the present.”
:6
Elisha went to Damascus, where Ben-hadad, king of Aram, was ill. It was told to [the king], saying, “The man of God has come here.”
:7
The king said to Hazael, “Take a tribute with you and go to meet the man of God. Inquire of Hashem through him, asking, ‘Will I recover from this illness?’ “
:8
Elisha said to him, “Go say to him, ‘You should indeed recover’; but in fact Hashem has shown me that he will indeed die [from another cause].”
:10
[Elisha] turned his face aside for some thime, and then the man of God cried.
:11
Hazael asked him, “Why is my lord crying?” And he replied, “Because I know what evil you will do to the Children of Israel: Their strongholds you will set on fire; their young men you will kill by the sword, their babies you will tear apart, and their pregnant women you will split open.”
:12
Hazael said, “But what is your servant, a dog, that he could do such a terrible deed?” Elisha answered him, “Hashem has shown me you as king of Aram.”
:13
The next day [Hazael] took a cover, dipped it in water, and spread it over [Ben-hadad’s] face, and he died, Hazael became king in his place.
:15
In the fifth year of Jehoram son of Ahab king of Israel, and Jehoshaphat king of Judah, became king.
:16
He went in the way of the kings of Israel, just as the house of Ahab had done, for Ahab’s daughter had become his wife; he did what was evil in the eyes of Hashem.
:18
But Hashem did not wish to destroy Judah, for the sake of His servant David; in accordance with what He had said to him — that he would give dominion to his descendants all the days.
:19
Jehoram lay with his forefathers in the City of David; and his son Ahaziah reigned in his place.
:24
He followed the way of the house of Ahab, and did what was evil in the eyes of Hashem, like the house of Ahab, for he was [the son of] a [grand] son-in-law of the house of Ahab.
:27

Daily Holy Bible Reading

1 Now Elisha had spoken to the woman whose son he had revived, saying, “Get up and go, you and your household, and sojourn in a place suitable for you to sojourn, for the Lord has decreed a famine, and it is destined to come upon the land for seven years.”
2 And the woman got up and did according to the word of the man of God: and she and her household went, and she sojourned in the land of Philistines for seven years.
3 And it came about at the end of seven years that the woman returned from the land of Philistines; and she went out to complain to the king about her house and about her field.
4 Now the king was speaking to Gehazi, the servant of the man of God, saying, “Please tell me all the great things that Elisha performed.”
5 And it was that he was telling the king that he revived the dead, that the woman whose son he had revived complained to the king about her house and about her field. And Gehazi said, “My lord the king, this is the woman and this is her son whom Elisha revived.”
6 And the king asked the woman and she told him: and the king appointed for her one eunuch, saying, “Return all her property, and all the produce of the field from the day she left the land until now.”
7 And Elisha came to Damascus when Ben-Hadad was ill; and it was told to him, saying, “The man of God is coming here.”
8 And the king said to Hazael, “Take a gift in your hand and go toward the man of God, and inquire of the Lord from him, saying, “Will I recover from this illness?”
9 And Hazael went toward him and took a gift in his hand and all the bounty of Damascus, a load of forty camels; and he came and stood before him and said, “Your son, Ben-Hadad, the king of Aram, has sent me to you, saying, ‘Will I recover from this illness?’ “
10 And Elisha said to him, “Go say to him, ‘You will live,’ but the Lord has shown me that he will die.”
11 He made his face expressionless and held it a long time; then the man of God wept.
12 And Hazael said, “Why does my lord weep?” And he said, “Because I know the evil that you will do to the children of Israel. You will set fire to their fortresses, and you will slay their youths with the sword, and you will dash their infants, and you will rip open their pregnant women.”
13 And Hazael said, “Now what is your servant, the dog, that he shall perform this mighty deed? ” And Elisha said, “The Lord has shown you to me as king over Aram.”
14 And he went away from Elisha and came to his master, and he said to him, “What did Elisha say to you?” And he said, “He said to me, ‘You will live.’ “
15 And it came about on the next day that he took a blanket, dipped it in water, and spread it on his face, [after which] he died; and Hazael reigned in his stead.
16 And in the fifth year of Joram the son of Ahab, the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, Jehoram, king of Judah, became king.
17 He was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem.
18 He went in the way of the kings of Israel, as the house of Ahab had done, for a daughter of Ahab became his wife; and he did what was bad in God’s eyes.
19 Now the Lord was unwilling to destroy Judah, for the sake of His servant David, as he said to him to give him a kingdom for his children for all times.
20 In his days, Edom rebelled from under the power of Judah, and they appointed a king over themselves.
21 And Joram went over to Zair, and all the chariots were with him: and he got up at night and struck the Edomites who came around to him and the officers of the chariots; and the people fled to their dwellings.
22 And Edom rebelled from under the power of Judah until this day; then Libnah rebelled at that time.
23 And the remaining events of Joram and all that he did, are written in the book of Chronicles of the kings of Judah.
24 And Joram slept with his forefathers and was buried with his forefathers in the city of David. And Ahaziah his son reigned in his stead.
25 In the twelfth year of Joram the son of Ahab, king of Israel, Ahaziah the son of Jehoram reigned over Judah.
26 Ahaziah was twenty-two years old when he reigned, and one year he reigned in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Athaliah the daughter of Omri king of Israel.
27 And he went in the way of the house of Ahab, and he did what was evil in the eyes of the Lord, like the house of Ahab, for he was a son-in-law of the house of Ahab.
28 And he went with Joram the son of Ahab to war with Hazael, king of Aram, in Ramoth- Gilead; and the Arameans struck Joram.
29 And King Joram returned to recuperate in Jezreel, from the wounds that the Arameans had inflicted upon him in Ramah when he fought with 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.