¹In the twenty-third year of Joash the son of Ahaziah king of Judah, Jehoahaz the son of Jehu started to reign over Israel in Samaria, and he did so for seventeen years. ²But he did evil in the sight of the Lord, and he followed the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who caused Israel to sin. He did not depart from it. ³And the Lord's anger was kindled against Israel, and he delivered them into the hand of Hazael king of Aramaea, and into the hand of Ben-Hadad the son of Hazael all the time. ⁴And Jehoahaz supplicated the Lord, and the Lord heard him, for he saw the oppression Israel was under, because the king of Aramaea was oppressing them. ⁵And the Lord gave Israel a saviour, and they escaped the hegemony of Aramaea, and the sons of Israel dwelt in their tents as they had done previously. ⁶But they did not depart from the sins of the house of Jeroboam who caused Israel to sin. He walked that way. And moreover the phallic park remained standing in Samaria. ⁷For he did not leave a people to Jehoahaz except for fifty horsemen and ten chariots and ten thousand foot soldiers, because the king of Aramaea had destroyed them and had made them like dust to tread on. ⁸And the rest of the affairs of Jehoahaz and everything he did, and his bravery, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? ⁹And Jehoahaz lay with his fathers, and they buried him in Samaria, and Joash his son reigned in his place. ¹⁰In the thirty-seventh year of Joash king of Judah, Joash the son of Jehoahaz started to reign over Israel in Samaria and he did so for sixteen years. ¹¹And he did evil in the eyes of the Lord; he did not depart from any of the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who caused Israel to sin – he walked that way. ¹²And the rest of the affairs of Joash, and everything he did, and his bravery with which he fought against Amaziah king of Judah, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? ¹³And Joash lay with his fathers, and Jeroboam sat on his throne, and Joash was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel. ¹⁴And Elisha became ill with an illness of his, of which he would die. And Joash king of Israel went down to him and wept beside him and said, “My father, my father, the chariot of Israel and its horsemen.” ¹⁵And Elisha said to him, “Fetch a bow and arrows.” So he fetched him a bow and arrows. ¹⁶Then he said to the king of Israel, “Place your hand on the bow.” So he placed his hand there, and Elisha put his hands on the king's hands. ¹⁷Then he said, “Open the window to the east.” So he opened it. Then Elisha said, “Shoot.” So he shot. Then he said, “It is an arrow of the Lord's salvation, and an arrow of salvation from Aramaea, and you will strike the Aramaeans down in Aphek, until you have annihilated them.” ¹⁸Then he said, “Take the arrows.” So he took them. Then he said to the king of Israel, “Strike the ground.” So he struck it three times, then he stopped. ¹⁹Then the man of God became angry with him, having told him to strike it five or six times. And he said, “If you had done what I said, then you would have struck the Aramaeans down until you had annihilated them. But now you will strike the Aramaeans just three times.” ²⁰Elisha then died, and they buried him. But the troops of Moab were to come into the land with the arrival of the new year. ²¹Then it came to pass as they were burying a man that, as it happened, they saw the troop, and they deposited the man in Elisha's tomb, and as he went in, the man touched Elisha's bones, and he revived and arose to his feet. ²²And Hazael king of Aramaea oppressed Israel all the days of Jehoahaz. ²³But the Lord was gracious to them, and he showed them mercy, and he turned to them for the sake of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and he was unwilling to bring ruin on them. So he has not banished them from his presence up to now. ²⁴And Hazael king of Aramaea died, and Ben-Hadad his son reigned in his place. ²⁵Then Joash the son of Jehoahaz retook the cities from the grip of Ben-Hadad the son of Hazael, who had taken them from the control of Jehoahaz his father in the war. Joash attacked him three times and regained the cities of Israel.