Jo’s Place

Hazael Murders Ben-Hadad Elisha went to Damascus, the capital of Aram, where King Ben-hadad lay sick.  When someone told the king, that the man, of God, had come, the king said, to Hazael,  “Take a gift, to the man, of God.  Then, tell him, to ask the Lord,  ‘Will I recover, from this illness?’ ”  So, Hazael loaded forty camels, with the finest products, of Damascus, as a gift, for Elisha.  He went, to him, and said,  “Your servant, Ben-hadad, the king of Aram, has sent me, to ask,  ‘Will I recover, from this illness?’ ”  And Elisha replied,  “Go and tell him,  ‘You will surely recover.’  But, actually, the Lord has shown me, that he will surely die!”  Elisha stared, at Hazael, with a fixed gaze, until Hazael became uneasy.  Then the man, of God, started weeping.  “What’s the matter, my lord?” Hazael asked him.  Elisha replied, “I know the terrible things, that you will do, to the people of Israel.  You will burn their fortified cities, kill their young men, with the sword, dash their

The Woman from Shunem Returns Home Elisha had told the woman, whose son he had brought back to life,  “Take your family, and move to some other place, for the Lord has called, for a famine, on Israel, that will last for seven years.”  So, the woman did, as the man, of God, instructed.  She took her family, and settled, in the land, of the Philistines, for seven years.  After the famine ended, she returned, from the land, of the Philistines, and she went, to see the king, about getting back her house and land.  As she came in, the king was talking, with Gehazi, the servant, of the man, of God.  The king had just said,  “Tell me some stories, about the great things, that Elisha has done.”  And Gehazi was telling the king, about the time Elisha had brought a boy back to life.  At that very moment, the mother of the boy walked in, to make her appeal, to the king, about her house and land.  “Look, my lord the king!” Gehazi exclaimed.  “Here is the woman, now, and this is her son—the very on

Israel Plunders the Aramean Camp The king, of Israel, got out of bed, in the middle of the night, and told his officers,  “I know what has happened.  The Arameans know we are starving, so they have left their camp, and have hidden, in the fields.  They are expecting us, to leave the city, and then, they will take us alive, and capture the city.”  One, of his officers replied,  “We had better send out scouts, to check into this.  Let them take five, of the remaining horses.  If something happens, to them, it will be no worse, than if they stay here …and die, with the rest of us.”  So, two chariots, with horses, were prepared, and the king sent out scouts, to see what had happened, to the Aramean army.  They went all the way, to the Jordan River, following a trail, of clothing, and equipment, that the Arameans had thrown away, in their mad rush, to escape.  The scouts returned, and told the king about it.  Then, the people, of Samaria, rushed out, and plundered the Aramean camp.  So, it

Outcasts Visit the Enemy Camp There were four men, with leprosy, sitting at the entrance, of the city gates,  (when the Arameans besieged Samaria). “Why should we sit here, waiting to die?” they asked each other.  “We will starve, if we stay here, but with the famine, in the city, we will starve, if we go back there.  So we might as well go out, and surrender, to the Aramean army.  If they let us live, so much the better.  But if they kill us, we would have died anyway.”  So, at twilight, they set out, for the camp, of the Arameans.  But, when they came, to the edge of the camp, no one was there!  For, the Lord …had caused the Aramean army, to hear the clatter, of speeding chariots, and the galloping of horses, and the sounds of a great army approaching.  “The king of Israel has hired the Hittites and Egyptians, to attack us!” they cried, to one another.  So, they panicked, and ran, into the night, abandoning their tents, horses, donkeys, and everything else, as they fled, for their li