10. Then Elisha said to Hazael, “Go and tell Ben-Hadad, ‘You will live.’ But really the Lord told me, ‘He will die.’”
11. Elisha began to stare. He stared for an embarrassingly long time. Then the man of God began to cry.
12. Hazael said, “Sir, why are you crying?” Elisha answered, “I am crying because I know the bad things you will do to the Israelites. You will burn their strong cities and kill their young men with swords. You will kill their babies and split open their pregnant women.”
13. Hazael said, “I am not a powerful man! How can I do these great things?” Elisha answered, “The Lord showed me that you will be king over Aram.”
14. Then Hazael left Elisha and went to his king. Ben-Hadad said to Hazael, “What did Elisha say to you?” He answered, “Elisha told me that you will live.”
15. But the next day Hazael took a thick cloth and dipped it in water. Then he held it on Ben-Hadad’s face until he died. Then Hazael became the new king.
16. Jehoram son of Jehoshaphat was the king of Judah. He began to rule in the fifth year that Joram son of Ahab was king of Israel.
17. Jehoram was 32 years old when he began to rule. He ruled eight years in Jerusalem.
18. But Jehoram lived as the kings of Israel and did what the Lord saw as evil. He lived as the people from Ahab’s family, because his wife was Ahab’s daughter.
19. But the Lord would not destroy Judah because of the promise to his servant David. He had promised David that someone from his family would always be king.