Naaman Healed of Leprosy
2 Kings 5
Naaman,
commander of the army of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master and
in high favor, because by him the Lord had given victory to Syria. He was a
mighty man of valor, but he was a leper.[a] 2 Now the Syrians on one of their
raids had carried off a little girl from the land of Israel, and she worked in
the service of Naaman's wife. 3 She said to her mistress, “Would that my lord
were with the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy.” 4
So Naaman went in and told his lord, “Thus and so spoke the girl from the land
of Israel.” 5 And the king of Syria said, “Go now, and I will send a letter to
the king of Israel.”
So he went, taking with him ten talents of silver, six
thousand shekels[b] of gold, and ten changes of clothing. 6 And he brought the
letter to the king of Israel, which read, “When this letter reaches you, know
that I have sent to you Naaman my servant, that you may cure him of his
leprosy.” 7 And when the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes
and said, “Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man sends word to me
to cure a man of his leprosy? Only consider, and see how he is seeking a
quarrel with me.”
8 But when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of
Israel had torn his clothes, he sent to the king, saying, “Why have you torn
your clothes? Let him come now to me, that he may know that there is a prophet
in Israel.” 9 So Naaman came with his horses and chariots and stood at the door
of Elisha's house. 10 And Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, “Go and wash
in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored, and you shall be
clean.” 11 But Naaman was angry and went away, saying, “Behold, I thought that
he would surely come out to me and stand and call upon the name of the Lord his
God, and wave his hand over the place and cure the leper. 12 Are not Abana[c]
and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel?
Could I not wash in them and be clean?” So he turned and went away in a rage.
13 But his servants came near and said to him, “My father, it is a great word
the prophet has spoken to you; will you not do it? Has he actually said to you,
‘Wash, and be clean’?” 14 So he went down and dipped himself seven times in the
Jordan, according to the word of the man of God, and his flesh was restored
like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.
Footnotes:
2 Kings 5:1 Leprosy was a term for several
skin diseases; see Leviticus 13
2 Kings 5:5 A talent was about 75 pounds
or 34 kilograms; a shekel was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams
2 Kings 5:12 Or Amana
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version.
ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing
ministry of Good News Publishers.
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