Read the Modern Pastor’s Version

In the twenty-third year of King Joash's reign over Judah, Jehoahaz son of Jehu began ruling Israel in Samaria. He reigned for seventeen years but did evil in the Lord's sight, following in the sins of Jeroboam that had led Israel astray. Despite being warned, Jehoahaz refused to turn away from these sins.

As a result, the Lord's anger burned against Israel, and he handed them over to Hazael king of Syria and Benhadad son of Hazael. These kings repeatedly oppressed Israel. However, when Jehoahaz begged for mercy, the Lord listened, seeing how severely the Syrians were treating Israel. So, the Lord gave Israel a savior who freed them from under Syrian rule. The Israelites returned to living in their own tents as they had before.

But despite this deliverance, Israel failed to leave behind the sins of Jeroboam and continued walking in those same paths. They also refused to remove the Asherah pole standing in Samaria, even after being delivered from the Syrians. When Hazael king of Syria attacked, he left Jehoahaz with barely any soldiers: only fifty horsemen, ten chariots, and ten thousand footmen.

Jehoahaz died, and his son Joash took over as king. However, just like his father, Joash continued to do evil in the Lord's sight by following the sins of Jeroboam that had led Israel astray. He didn't abandon these sins but persisted in them.

As time went on, Elisha became ill, and King Joash of Israel came to visit him, weeping over his face. The king asked for a bow and arrows, which he received from Elisha. Then, the prophet instructed the king to open an east-facing window, shoot an arrow, and claim it was the "arrow of the Lord's deliverance" or "the arrow of deliverance from Syria." This symbolic act predicted that Israel would defeat Syria until they were completely consumed.

However, instead of striking the ground five or six times as instructed, King Joash only struck three times. When Elisha discovered this, he scolded the king for not following his instructions fully. Not long after, Elisha died, and soon, a year later, the Moabites invaded Israel.

When a man was being buried and was suddenly seen by a group of people, they hastily put him into Elisha's tomb. As soon as his body touched Elisha's bones, he revived and stood up on his feet. This miraculous event took place during Hazael king of Syria's time of oppression over Israel.

The Lord showed kindness to the people and had compassion on them, remembering his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Although he could have destroyed Israel for their sins, he withheld his judgment. Eventually, Hazael died, and his son Benhadad took over as king of Syria.

King Jehoash of Israel then defeated Benhadad three times in battle and reclaimed the cities that had been lost to him during war. He successfully recovered the territories Israel had previously lost to Syria under Hazael's rule.