<t /><p class="poetry">Here is a message about Damascus:p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;Look, Damascus is no longer a city,p> <p class="poetry">it is a heap of ruins!p>

<p class="poetry">For Syria&#8217;s leader is Damascus,p> <p class="poetry">and the leader of Damascus is Rezin.p> <p class="poetry">Within sixty-five years Ephraim will no longer exist as a nation.<n id="1" />p>

<p class="poetry">&#8220;I will set fire to the walls of Damascus;p> <p class="poetry">it will burn up the palaces of Ben Hadad.&#8221;<n id="1" />p>

<p class="poetry">The people of Damascus will lose heart and turn to flee.p> <p class="poetry">Panic will grip them.p> <p class="poetry">Pain and anguish will seize themp> <p class="poetry">like a woman in labor.p>

Damascus was your trade partner because of the abundance of your goods and of all your wealth: wine from Helbon, white wool from Zahar,

<p class="bodytext">But Abram said, &#8220;O sovereign <sc>Lordsc>,<n id="1" /> what will you give me since<n id="2" /> I continue to be<n id="3" /> childless, and my heir<n id="4" /> is<n id="5" /> Eliezer of Damascus?&#8221;<n id="6" />

The Arameans of Damascus came to help King Hadadezer of Zobah, but David killed 22,000 of the Arameans.

David placed garrisons in the territory of the Arameans of Damascus; the Arameans became David&#8217;s subjects and brought tribute. The <sc>Lordsc> protected<n id="1" /> David wherever he campaigned.<n id="2" />

He gathered some men and organized a raiding band.<n id="1" /> When David tried to kill them,<n id="2" /> they went to Damascus, where they settled down and gained control of the city.

The <sc>Lordsc> said to him, &#8220;Go back the way you came and then head for the Desert of Damascus. Go and anoint Hazael king over Syria.

The rivers of Damascus, the Abana and Pharpar, are better than any of the waters of Israel!<n id="1" /> Could I not wash in them and be healed?&#8221; So he turned around and went away angry.

<t /><p class="bodytext">Elisha traveled to Damascus while King Ben Hadad of Syria was sick. The king<n id="1" /> was told, &#8220;The prophet<n id="2" /> has come here.&#8221;

The king of Assyria responded favorably to his request;<n id="1" /> he<n id="2" /> attacked Damascus and captured it. He deported the people<n id="3" /> to Kir and executed Rezin.p>

<p class="poetry">Your neck is like a tower made of ivory.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">Your eyes are the pools in Heshbonp> <p class="poetry">by the gate of Bath-Rabbim.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">Your nose is like the tower of Lebanonp> <p class="poetry">overlooking Damascus.p>

for before the child knows how to cry out, &#8216;My father&#8217; or &#8216;My mother,&#8217; the wealth of Damascus and the plunder of Samaria<n id="1" /> will be carried off by the king of Assyria.&#8221;<n id="2" />p>

Hamath, Berothah, Sibraim, which is between the border of Damascus and the border of Hamath, as far as Hazer-hattikon, which is on the border of Hauran.

The border will run from the sea to Hazar-enan, at the border of Damascus, and on the north is the border of Hamath. This is the north side.

<p class="poetry">This is what the <sc>Lordsc> says:p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;Because Damascus has committed three crimes<n id="1" /> &#8211;p> <p class="poetry">make that four!<n id="2" /> &#8211; I will not revoke myp> <p class="poetry">decree of judgment.<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">They ripped through Gilead like threshing sledges with iron teeth.<n id="4" />p>

<p class="poetry">I will break the bar<n id="1" /> on the gate of Damascus.p> <p class="poetry">I will remove<n id="2" /> the ruler<n id="3" /> from Wicked Valley,<n id="4" />p> <p class="poetry">the one who holds the royal scepter from Beth Eden.<n id="5" />p> <p class="poetry">The people of Aram will be deported to Kir.&#8221;<n id="6" />p> <p class="poetry">The <sc>Lordsc> has spoken!p>

So Hazael went to visit Elisha.<n id="1" /> He took along a gift,<n id="2" /> as well as<n id="3" /> forty camel loads of all the fine things of Damascus. When he arrived, he stood before him and said, &#8220;Your son,<n id="4" /> King Ben Hadad of Syria, has sent me to you with this question,<n id="5" /> &#8216;Will I recover from this sickness?&#8217;&#8221;