7. Elisha came to Damascus while Ben-hadad king of Aram was sick, and the king was told, “The man of God has come here.”
8. So the king said to Hazael, “Take a gift with you and go meet the man of God. Inquire of the Lord through him, ‘Will I recover from this sickness? ’ ”
9. Hazael went to meet Elisha, taking with him a gift: 40 camel-loads of all kinds of goods from Damascus. When he came and stood before him, he said, “Your son, Ben-hadad king of Aram, has sent me to ask you, ‘Will I recover from this sickness? ’ ”
10. Elisha told him, “Go say to him, ‘You are sure to recover.’ But the Lord has shown me that he is sure to die.”
11. Then Elisha stared steadily at him until Hazael was ashamed. The man of God wept,
12. and Hazael asked, “Why is my lord weeping? ”He replied, “Because I know the evil you will do to the people of Israel. You will set their fortresses on fire. You will kill their young men with the sword. You will dash their little ones to pieces. You will rip open their pregnant women.”
13. Hazael said, “How could your servant, a mere dog, do this monstrous thing? ”Elisha answered, “The Lord has shown me that you will be king over Aram.”
14. Hazael left Elisha and went to his master, who asked him, “What did Elisha say to you? ”He responded, “He told me you are sure to recover.”
15. The next day Hazael took a heavy cloth, dipped it in water, and spread it over the king’s face. Ben-hadad died, and Hazael reigned instead of him.
16. In the fifth year of Israel’s King Joram son of Ahab, Jehoram son of Jehoshaphat became king of Judah, replacing his father.
17. He was 32 years old when he became king and reigned eight years in Jerusalem.
18. He walked in the way of the kings of Israel, as the house of Ahab had done, for Ahab’s daughter was his wife. He did what was evil in the Lord’s sight.
19. The Lord was unwilling to destroy Judah because of His servant David, since He had promised to give a lamp to David and his sons forever.