8. the king said to Hazael, “Take a gift with you and go call on the man of God. Consult the Lord through him, ‘Will I recover from this sickness?’”
9. Hazael went to visit him, carrying a present, and with forty camel loads of the best goods of Damascus. On his arrival, he stood before Elisha and said, “Your son Ben-hadad, king of Aram, has sent me to you to ask, ‘Will I recover from my sickness?’”
10. Elisha answered, “Go and tell him, ‘You will surely recover.’ But the Lord has showed me that he will surely die.”
11. Then he stared him down until he became ill at ease. The man of God wept,
12. and Hazael asked, “Why are you weeping, my lord?” Elisha replied, “Because I know the evil that you will inflict upon the Israelites. You will burn their fortresses, you will slay their youth with the sword, you will dash their little children to pieces, you will rip open their pregnant women.”
13. Hazael exclaimed, “How can your servant, a dog like me, do anything so important?” Elisha replied, “The Lord has showed you to me as king over Aram.”
14. Hazael left Elisha and returned to his master, who asked, “What did Elisha tell you?” Hazael replied, “He said, ‘You will surely recover.’”
15. The next day, however, Hazael took a cloth, dipped it in water, and spread it over the king’s face, so that he died. And Hazael succeeded him as king.
16. In the fifth year of Joram, son of Ahab, king of Israel, Joram, son of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, became king.
17. He was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem.
18. He walked in the way of the kings of Israel as the house of Ahab had done, since the daughter of Ahab was his wife; and he did what was evil in the Lord’s sight.
19. Even so, the Lord was unwilling to destroy Judah, for the sake of his servant David. For he had promised David that he would leave him a holding in the Lord’s presence for all time.
20. During Joram’s reign, Edom revolted against the rule of Judah and installed a king of its own.
21. Thereupon Joram with all his chariots crossed over to Zair. He arose by night and broke through the Edomites when they had surrounded him and the commanders of his chariots. Then his army fled homeward.
22. To this day Edom has been in revolt against the rule of Judah. Libnah also revolted at that time.
23. The rest of the acts of Joram, with all that he did, are recorded in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah.
24. Joram rested with his ancestors; he was buried with his ancestors in the City of David, and his son Ahaziah succeeded him as king.
25. In the twelfth year of Joram, son of Ahab, king of Israel, Ahaziah, son of Joram, king of Judah, became king.
26. Ahaziah was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Athaliah, daughter of Omri, king of Israel.
27. He walked in the way of the house of Ahab and did what was evil in the Lord’s sight like the house of Ahab, since he was related to them by marriage.