<p class="bodytext">Now Gehazi went on ahead of them. He placed the staff on the child&#8217;s face, but there was no sound or response. When he came back to Elisha<n id="1" /> he told him, &#8220;The child did not wake up.&#8221;

Elisha<n id="1" /> went back and walked around in the house.<n id="2" /> Then he got up on the bed again<n id="3" /> and bent down over him. The child sneezed seven times and opened his eyes.

<p class="bodytext">He and his entire entourage returned to the prophet. Naaman<n id="1" /> came and stood before him. He said, &#8220;For sure<n id="2" /> I know that there is no God in all the earth except in Israel! Now, please accept a gift from your servant.&#8221;

But King Joram had returned to Jezreel to recover from the wounds he received from the Syrians<n id="1" /> when he fought against King Hazael of Syria.<n id="2" /> Jehu told his supporters,<n id="3" /> &#8220;If you really want me to be king,<n id="4" /> then don&#8217;t let anyone escape from the city to go and warn Jezreel.&#8221;

He took the officers of the units of hundreds, the Carians, the royal bodyguard, and all the people of land, and together they led the king down from the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s temple. They entered the royal palace through the Gate of the Royal Bodyguard,<n id="1" /> and the king<n id="2" /> sat down on the royal throne.

He took away all the gold and silver, all the items found in the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s temple and in the treasuries of the royal palace, and some hostages.<n id="1" /> Then he went back to Samaria.<n id="2" />p> <p class="bodytext">(

The <sc>Lordsc> afflicted the king with an illness; he suffered from a skin disease<n id="1" /> until the day he died. He lived in separate quarters,<n id="2" /> while his son Jotham was in charge of the palace and ruled over the people of the land.p>

Menahem got this silver by taxing all the wealthy men in Israel; he took fifty shekels of silver from each one of them and paid it to the king of Assyria.<n id="1" /> Then the king of Assyria left; he did not stay there in the land.p>

In the ninth year of Hoshea&#8217;s reign, the king of Assyria captured Samaria and deported the people of Israel<n id="1" /> to Assyria. He settled them in Halah, along the Habor (the river of Gozan), and in the cities of the Medes.p>

<t /><p class="bodytext">The king of Assyria brought foreigners<n id="1" /> from Babylon, Cuthah, Avva, Hamath, and Sepharvaim and settled them in the cities of Samaria<n id="2" /> in place of the Israelites. They took possession of Samaria and lived in its cities.

He rebuilt the high places that his father Hezekiah had destroyed; he set up altars for Baal and made an Asherah pole just like King Ahab of Israel had done. He bowed down to all the stars in the sky<n id="1" /> and worshiped<n id="2" /> them.

Shaphan the scribe went to the king and reported,<n id="1" /> &#8220;Your servants melted down the silver in the temple<n id="2" /> and handed it over to the construction foremen assigned to the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s temple.&#8221;

The ark of God remained in Obed-Edom&#8217;s house for three months; the <sc>Lordsc> blessed Obed-Edom&#8217;s family and everything that belonged to him.p>

He removed the city&#8217;s residents and made them do hard labor with saws, iron picks, and axes.<n id="1" /> This was his policy<n id="2" /> with all the Ammonite cities. Then David and all the army returned to Jerusalem.p>

Joram<n id="1" /> returned to Jezreel to recover from the wounds he received from the Syrians<n id="2" /> in Ramah when he fought against King Hazael of Syria. Ahaziah<n id="3" /> son of King Jehoram of Judah went down to visit Joram son of Ahab in Jezreel, because he had been wounded.<n id="4" />p>

He took away all the gold and silver, all the items found in God&#8217;s temple that were in the care of Obed-Edom, the riches in the royal palace, and some hostages. Then he went back to Samaria.p>

King Uzziah suffered from a skin disease until the day he died. He lived in separate quarters,<n id="1" /> afflicted by a skin disease and banned from the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s temple. His son Jotham was in charge of the palace and ruled over the people of the land.p>

Messengers<n id="1" /> delivered the letters from the king and his officials throughout Israel and Judah.p> <p class="bodytext">This royal edict read:<n id="2" /> &#8220;O Israelites, return to the <sc>Lordsc> God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, so he may return<n id="3" /> to you who have been spared from the kings of Assyria.<n id="4" />

Now, don&#8217;t be stubborn<n id="1" /> like your fathers! Submit<n id="2" /> to the <sc>Lordsc> and come to his sanctuary which he has permanently consecrated. Serve the <sc>Lordsc> your God so that he might relent from his raging anger.<n id="3" />

The <sc>Lordsc> sent a messenger<n id="1" /> and he wiped out all the soldiers, princes, and officers in the army of the king of Assyria. So Sennacherib<n id="2" /> returned home humiliated.<n id="3" /> When he entered the temple of his god, some of his own sons<n id="4" /> struck him down with the sword.