2-kings

¶ Now Naaman, captain of the host of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master and in high esteem because by him the LORD had given salvation unto Syria; he was also a mighty man in valour, but he was a leper.

And the Syrians had gone out by companies and had brought away captive out of the land of Israel a little maid, and she waited on Naaman’s wife.

And she said unto her mistress, If my lord would ask the prophet that is in Samaria, he would remove his leprosy.

And Naaman went in and told his lord, saying, Thus and thus said the maid that is of the land of Israel.

And the king of Syria said, Go, depart, 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.

And he also took the letter to the king of Israel, which said, Now when this letter is come unto thee, behold, I have therewith sent Naaman, my slave, to thee, that thou may remove his leprosy.

And when the king of Israel read the letter, he rent his clothes and said, Am I God, to kill and to give life, that this man sends unto me to remove the leprosy of this man? Therefore now consider and see how he seeks a quarrel against me.

And when Elisha, the man of God, heard that the king of Israel had rent his clothes, he sent to the king, saying, Why hast thou rent thy clothes? Let him come now to me, and he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel.

¶ So Naaman came with his horses and with his chariot and stood at the door of the house of Elisha.

10 And Elisha sent a messenger unto him, saying, Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and thy flesh shall be restored, and thou shalt be clean.

11 But Naaman went away angry 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 strike his hand over the place and remove the leprosy.

12 Are not Abana and Pharpar, 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.

13 Then his slaves came near and spoke unto him, and said, My father, if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, would thou not have done it? How much rather then, when he saith to thee, Wash and be clean?

14 Then went he down and dipped himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God; and his flesh came again like unto the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.

15 ¶ And 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 blessing from thy slave.

16 But he said, As the LORD lives, before whom I stand, I will receive none. And he urged him to take it, but he refused.

17 Then Naaman said, Shall there not then, I pray thee, be given to thy slave two mules’ burden of earth? For from now on thy slave will offer neither burnt offering nor sacrifice unto other gods, but unto the LORD.

18 In this thing may the LORD pardon thy slave, that when my master goes into the house of Rimmon to worship there, and he leans on my hand, if I also bow myself in the house of Rimmon, that the LORD pardon thy slave in this thing, if I bow down myself in the house of Rimmon.

19 And he said unto him, Go in peace. So he departed from him a little way.

20 ¶ But Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, said, Behold, my master has spared Naaman, this Syrian, in not receiving at his hands that which he brought. As the LORD lives, I will run after him and take something from him.

21 So Gehazi followed after Naaman. And when Naaman saw him running after him, he lighted down from the chariot to meet him and said, Is there no peace?

22 And he said, Peace. My master has sent me, saying, Behold, even now two young men of the sons of the prophets came to me from Mount Ephraim; give them, I pray thee, a talent of silver and two changes of garments.

23 And Naaman said, If you wish take two talents. And he urged him and bound two talents of silver in two bags with two changes of garments and laid them upon two of his servants; and they bore them before him.

24 And when he came to a secret place, he took them from their hand and bestowed them in the house; and he let the men go, and they departed.

25 But when he went in and stood before his master, Elisha said unto him, From where comest thou, Gehazi? And he said, Thy servant went nowhere.

26 Then he said unto him, Did not my heart go 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 menslaves and maidslaves?

27 The 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.