2 Kings 8:8-23

The king said to Hazael, “Take a gift in your hand and go meet him. Ask the LORD through him if I will recover from my sickness.” So Hazael went to meet Elisha, taking with him a gift of forty camels loaded with every good thing in Damascus. He came and stood before Elisha and said, “Your son Ben-Hadad king of Aram sent me to you. He asks if he will recover from his sickness.” Elisha said to Hazael, “Go and tell Ben-Hadad, ‘You will surely recover,’ but the LORD has told me he will really die.” Hazael stared at Elisha until he felt ashamed. Then Elisha cried. Hazael asked, “Why are you crying, master?” Elisha answered, “Because I know what evil you will do to the Israelites. You will burn their strong, walled cities with fire and kill their young men with swords. You will throw their babies to the ground and split open their pregnant women.” Hazael said, “Am I a dog? How could I do such things?” Elisha answered, “The LORD has shown me that you will be king over Aram.” Then Hazael left Elisha and came to his master. Ben-Hadad said to him, “What did Elisha say to you?” Hazael answered, “He told me that you will surely recover.” But the next day Hazael took a blanket and dipped it in water. Then he put it over Ben-Hadad’s face, and he died. So Hazael became king in Ben-Hadad’s place. While Jehoshaphat was king in Judah, Jehoram son of Jehoshaphat became king of Judah. This was during the fifth year Joram son of Ahab was king of Israel. Jehoram was thirty-two years old when he began to rule, and he ruled eight years in Jerusalem. He followed the ways of the kings of Israel, just as the family of Ahab had done, because he married Ahab’s daughter. Jehoram did what the LORD said was wrong. But the LORD would not destroy Judah because of his servant David. The LORD had promised that one of David’s descendants would always rule. In Jehoram’s time Edom broke away from Judah’s rule and chose their own king. So Jehoram and all his chariots went to Zair. The Edomites surrounded him and his chariot commanders. Jehoram got up and attacked the Edomites at night, but his army ran away to their tents. From then until now the country of Edom has fought against the rule of Judah. At the same time Libnah also broke away from Judah’s rule. The other acts of Jehoram and all the things he did are written in the book of the history of the kings of Judah.