4 Kings 13

¹In the three and twentieth year of Joas the son of Ochozias the king of Juda, reigned Joachaz the son of Jehu over Israel in Samaria, seventeen years.

²And he did evil before our Lord, and followed the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nabat, who made Israel to sin, and declined not from them.

³And the fury of our Lord was wrath against Israel, and he delivered them into the hand of Hazael the king of Syria, and into the hand of Benadad the son of Hazael, always.

⁴But Joachaz besought the face of our Lord, and our Lord heard him: for he saw the distress of Israel, that the king of Syria had broken them:

⁵and our Lord gave a saviour to Israel, and they were delivered out of the hand of the king of Syria: and the children of Israel dwelt in their tabernacles as yesterday and the day before.

⁶But yet they departed not from the sins of Jeroboam who made Israel to sin, but they walked in them: for the grove also remained in Samaria.

⁷And there were left to Joachaz of the people but fifty horsemen, and ten chariots, and ten thousand footmen: for the king of Syria had slain them, and had brought them as dust by threshing in the barn floor.

⁸But the rest of the words of Joachaz, & all that he did, & his strength, are not these things written in the Book of the words of the days of the kings of Israel?

⁹And Joachaz slept with his fathers, and they buried him in Samaria: and Joas his son reigned for him.

¹⁰In the seven and thirtieth year of Joas the king of Juda, reigned Joas the son of Joachaz over Israel in Samaria sixteen years,

¹¹and he did that which is evil in the sight of our Lord, he declined not from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nabat, who made Israel to sin, but he walked in them.

¹²But the rest of the words of Joas, and all that he did, and his strength, how he fought against Amasias the king of Juda, are not these things written in the Book of the words of the days of the kings of Israel?

¹³And Joas slept with his fathers: but Jeroboam sat upon his throne. Moreover Joas was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel.

¹⁴And Eliseus was sick of an infirmity, whereof also he died: and Joas the king of Israel went down to him, and wept before him, and said: My father, my father, the chariot of Israel and the guarder thereof.

¹⁵And Eliseus said to him: fetch a bow and arrows. And when he had brought him a bow and arrows.

¹⁶he said to the king of Israel: Put thy hand upon the bow. And when he had put his hand, Eliseus put his hands over the king's hands,

¹⁷and said: Open the east window. And when he had opened it, Eliseus said: Shoot an arrow. And he shot. And Eliseus said: The arrow of the salvation of our Lord, and the arrow of salvation against Syria: and thou shalt strike Syria in Aphec, till thou consume it.

¹⁸And he said: Take up the arrows. Who when he had taken them again, he said to him: Strike the earth with a javelin. And when he had strucken three times, and stood still,

¹⁹the man of God was angry with him, & said: If thou hadst strucken five or six or seven times, thou hadst strucken Syria even to destruction: but now three times shalt thou strike it.

²⁰Eliseus therefore died, and they buried him. And the rovers of Moab came into the land the same year.

²¹And certain persons burying a man, saw the rovers, & threw the body in the sepulchre of Eliseus. Which when it had touched the bones of Eliseus, the man revived & stood upon his feet.

²²Hazael therefore the king of Syria afflicted Israel all the days of Joachaz:

²³and our Lord had mercy on them, and returned to them for his covenant, which he had with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob: and he would not destroy them, nor utterly cast them away, until this present time.

²⁴And Hazael the king of Syria died, and Benadad his son reigned for him.

²⁵Moreover Joas the son of Joachaz, took the cities out of the hand of Benadad the son of Hazael, which he had taken out of the hand of Joachaz his father by the right of war, three times did Joas strike him, and he delivered the cities to Israel.