2 Kings 5
5
1Now Naaman, captain of the host of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master, and honourable, because by him the LORD had given victory unto Syria: he was also a mighty man of valour, but he was a leper. 2And the Syrians had gone out in bands, and had brought away captive out of the land of Israel a little maid; and she waited on Naaman's wife. 3And she said unto her mistress, Would God my lord were with the prophet that is in Samaria! then would he recover him of his leprosy. 4And one went in, and told his lord, saying, Thus and thus said the maid that is of the land of Israel. 5And the king of Syria said, Go to, go, and I will send a letter unto the king of Israel. And he departed, and took with him ten talents of silver, and six thousand pieces of gold, and ten changes of raiment. 6And he brought the letter to the king of Israel, saying, And now when this letter is come unto thee, behold, I have sent Naaman my servant to thee, that thou mayest recover him of his leprosy. 7And it came to pass, when the king of Israel had read the letter, that he rent his clothes, and said, Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man doth send unto me to recover a man of his leprosy? but consider, I pray you, and see how he seeketh a quarrel against me. 8And it was so, when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had rent his clothes, that he sent to the king, saying, Wherefore hast thou rent thy clothes? let him come now to me, and he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel.
9So Naaman came with his horses and with his chariots, and stood at the door of the house of Elisha. 10And Elisha sent a messenger unto him saying, Go and wash in Jordan seven times, and thy flesh shall come again to thee, and thou shalt be clean. 11But Naaman was wroth, and went away, and said, Behold, I thought, He will surely come out to me, and stand, and call on the name of the LORD his God, and wave his hand over the place, and recover the leper. 12Are not Abanah and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? may I not wash in them, and be clean? So he turned and went away in a rage. 13And his servants came near, and spake unto him, and said, My father, if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldest thou not have done it? how much rather then, when he saith to thee, Wash, and be clean? 14Then went he down, and dipped himself seven times in Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God: and his flesh came again like unto the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.
15And he returned to the man of God, he and all his company, and came, and stood before him: and he said, Behold now, I know that there is no God in all the earth, but in Israel: now therefore, I pray thee, take a present of thy servant. 16But he said, As the LORD liveth, before whom I stand, I will receive none. And he urged him to take it; but he refused. 17And Naaman said, If not, yet I pray thee let there be given to thy servant two mules' burden of earth; for thy servant will henceforth offer neither burnt offering nor sacrifice unto other gods, but unto the LORD. 18In this thing the LORD pardon thy servant; when my master goeth into the house of Rimmon to worship there, and he leaneth on my hand, and I bow myself in the house of Rimmon, when I bow myself in the house of Rimmon, the LORD pardon thy servant in this thing. 19And he said unto him, Go in peace. So he departed from him a little way.
20But Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, said, Behold, my master hath spared this Naaman the Syrian, in not receiving at his hands that which he brought: as the LORD liveth, I will run after him, and take somewhat of him. 21So Gehazi followed after Naaman. And when Naaman saw one running after him, he lighted down from the chariot to meet him, and said, Is all well? 22And he said, All is well. My master hath sent me, saying, Behold, even now there be come to me from the hill country of Ephraim two young men of the sons of the prophets; give them, I pray thee, a talent of silver, and two changes of raiment. 23And Naaman said, Be content, take two talents. And he urged him, and bound two talents of silver in two bags, with two changes of raiment, and laid them upon two of his servants; and they bare them before him. 24And when he came to the hill, he took them from their hand, and bestowed them in the house: and he let the men go, and they departed. 25But he went in, and stood before his master. And Elisha said unto him, Whence comest thou, Gehazi? And he said, Thy servant went no whither. 26And he said unto him, Went not mine heart with thee, when the man turned again from his chariot to meet thee? Is it a time to receive money, and to receive garments, and oliveyards and vineyards, and sheep and oxen, and menservants and maidservants? 27The leprosy therefore of Naaman shall cleave unto thee, and unto thy seed for ever. And he went out from his presence a leper as white as snow.
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2 Kings 5: RV1895
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historical text maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society
2 Kings 5
5
Naaman Is Healed of a Skin Disease
1Naaman was army commander of the king of Aram. He was very important to his master and was highly respected. That’s because the Lord had helped him win the battle over Aram’s enemies. He was a brave soldier. But he had a skin disease.
2Groups of soldiers from Aram had marched out. They had captured a young girl from Israel. She became a servant of Naaman’s wife. 3The young girl spoke to the woman she was serving. She said, “I wish my master would go and see the prophet who is in Samaria. He would heal my master of his skin disease.”
4Naaman went to see his own master. He told him what the girl from Israel had said. 5“I think you should go,” the king of Aram replied. “I’ll give you a letter to take to the king of Israel.” So Naaman left. He took 750 pounds of silver with him. He also took 150 pounds of gold. And he took ten sets of clothes. 6He carried the letter to the king of Israel. It said, “I’m sending my servant Naaman to you with this letter. I want you to heal him of his skin disease.”
7The king of Israel read the letter. As soon as he did, he tore his royal robes. He said, “Am I God? Can I kill people and bring them back to life? Why does this fellow send someone to me to be healed of his skin disease? He must be trying to pick a fight with me!”
8Elisha, the man of God, heard that the king of Israel had torn his robes. So he sent the king a message. Elisha said, “Why have you torn your robes? Tell the man to come to me. Then he will know there is a prophet in Israel.” 9So Naaman went to see Elisha. He took his horses and chariots with him. He stopped at the door of Elisha’s house. 10Elisha sent a messenger out to him. The messenger said, “Go! Wash yourself in the Jordan River seven times. Then your skin will be healed. You will be pure and ‘clean’ again.”
11But Naaman went away angry. He said, “I was sure Elisha would come out to me. I thought he would stand there and pray to the Lord his God. I thought he would wave his hand over my skin. Then I would be healed. 12And what about the Abana and Pharpar rivers of Damascus? Aren’t they better than all the rivers of Israel? Couldn’t I wash in the rivers of Damascus and be made pure and ‘clean’?” So he turned and went away. He was very angry.
13Naaman’s servants went over to him. They said, “You are like a father to us. What if Elisha the prophet had told you to do some great thing? Wouldn’t you have done it? But he only said, ‘Wash yourself. Then you will be pure and “clean.” ’ You should be even more willing to do that!” 14So Naaman went down to the Jordan River. He dipped himself in it seven times. He did exactly what the man of God had told him to do. Then his skin was made pure again. It became “clean” like the skin of a young boy.
15Naaman and all his attendants went back to the man of God. Naaman stood in front of Elisha. Naaman said, “Now I know that there is no God anywhere in the whole world except in Israel. So please accept a gift from me.”
16The prophet answered, “I serve the Lord. You can be sure that he lives. And you can be just as sure that I won’t accept a gift from you.” Even though Naaman begged him to take it, Elisha wouldn’t.
17“I can see that you won’t accept a gift from me,” said Naaman. “But please let me have some soil from your land. Give me as much as a pair of mules can carry. Here’s why I want it. I won’t ever bring burnt offerings and sacrifices to any other god again. I’ll bring them only to the Lord. I’ll worship him on his own soil. 18But there is one thing I hope the Lord will forgive me for. From time to time my master will enter the temple to bow down to his god Rimmon. When he does, he’ll lean on my arm. Then I’ll have to bow down there also. I hope the Lord will forgive me for that.”
19“Go in peace,” Elisha said.
Naaman started out on his way. 20Gehazi was the servant of Elisha, the man of God. Gehazi said to himself, “My master was too easy on Naaman from Aram. He should have accepted the gift Naaman brought. I’m going to run after him. I’m going to get something from him. And that’s just as sure as the Lord is alive.”
21Gehazi hurried after Naaman. Naaman saw him running toward him. So he got down from the chariot to greet him. “Is everything all right?” he asked.
22“Everything is all right,” Gehazi answered. “My master sent me to say, ‘Two young men from the group of the prophets have just come to me. They’ve come from the hill country of Ephraim. Please give them 75 pounds of silver and two sets of clothes.’ ”
23“I wish you would take twice as much silver,” said Naaman. He begged Gehazi to accept it. Then Naaman tied up 150 pounds of silver in two bags. He also gave Gehazi two sets of clothes. He gave all of it to two of his own servants. They carried it ahead of Gehazi. 24Gehazi came to the hill where Elisha lived. Then the servants handed the things over to Gehazi. He put them away in Elisha’s house. He sent the men away, and they left. 25Then he went back inside the house. He stood in front of his master Elisha.
“Gehazi, where have you been?” Elisha asked.
“I didn’t go anywhere,” Gehazi answered.
26But Elisha said to him, “Didn’t my spirit go with you? I know that the man got down from his chariot to greet you. Is this the time for you to accept money or clothes? Is it the time to take olive groves, vineyards, flocks or herds? Is it the time to accept male and female slaves? 27You and your children after you will have Naaman’s skin disease forever.” Then Gehazi left Elisha. And he had Naaman’s skin disease. His skin had become as white as snow.
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