_How Elisha Returned Good for Evil_.

Now the king of Syria warred against Israel; and he took counsel with his servants, saying, "In such and such a place shall be my camp."

And the man of G.o.d sent to the king of Israel, saying, "Beware that thou pa.s.s not such a place; for thither the Syrians are coming down."

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[Ill.u.s.tration]

LEPERS AT THE LEPER HOSPITAL, JERUSALEM From a picture by Prof. D. G. Lyon and used by his kind permission

Leprosy was one of the terrible diseases in the days of the Old Testament. It was much more prevalent then than now, and it spared neither king nor commoner. "To be a leper was to be treated as dead--to be excluded from the city as a corpse: to be spoken to by the best beloved and most loving only at a distance: to dwell with none but lepers; to be utterly unprivileged: to be denied the rites of the temple and the synagogue: to go about with rent garments and covered mouth, except when crying 'Unclean! unclean!' to find home in the wilderness or in abandoned tombs; afraid to die, yet without hope except in death."--_Gen. Lew Wallace in "Ben Hur"_ [End ill.u.s.tration]

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And the king of Israel sent to the place which the man of G.o.d told him and warned him of; and he saved himself there, not once nor twice. And the heart of the king of Syria was sore troubled for this thing; and he called his servants, and said to them, "Will ye not show me which of us is for the king of Israel?"

And one of his servants said, "Nay, my lord, O king: but Elisha, the prophet who is in Israel, telleth the king of Israel the words that thou speakest in thy bedchamber."

And he said, "Go and see where he is, that I may send and fetch him."

And it was told him, saying, "Behold, he is in Dothan." Therefore sent he thither horses, and chariots, and a great host: and they came by night, and compa.s.sed the city about. And when the servant of the man of G.o.d was risen early, and gone forth, behold, an host with horses and chariots was round about the city. And his servant said to him, "Alas, my master! what shall we do?"

And he answered, "Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them."

And Elisha prayed, and said, "Lord, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see."

And the Lord opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha.

And when they came down to him, Elisha prayed to the Lord, and said, "Smite {152} this people, I pray thee, with blindness." And he smote them with blindness according to the word of Elisha.

And Elisha said to them, "This is not the way, neither is this the city: follow me, and I will bring you to the man whom ye seek." And he led them to Samaria.

And it came to pa.s.s, when they were come into Samaria, that Elisha said, "Lord, open the eyes of these men that they may see."

And the Lord opened their eyes, and they saw; and, behold, they were in the midst of Samaria. And the king of Israel said to Elisha, when he saw them, "My father, shall I smite them? shall I smite them?"

And he answered, "Thou shalt not smite them: wouldest thou smite those whom thou hast taken captive with thy sword and with thy bow? set bread and water before them, that they may eat and drink, and go to their master."

And he prepared great provision for them: and when they had eaten and drunk, he sent them away, and they went to their master. And the bands of Syria came no more into the land of Israel.

_How the City of Samaria Was Sorely Besieged, and How It Was Wonderfully Delivered_.

And it came to pa.s.s that Ben-hadad king of Syria gathered all his host, and went up, and besieged Samaria. And there was a great famine in Samaria: and after they had besieged it for a long time, so that the city was in desperate straits, Elisha said, "Hear ye the word of the Lord: thus saith the Lord, 'To-morrow about this time shall a{153} measure of fine flour be sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, in the gate of Samaria.'"

Then the captain on whose hand the king leaned answered the man of G.o.d, and said, "Behold, if the Lord should make windows in heaven, might this thing be?"

And he said, "Behold, thou shalt see it with thine eyes, but shalt not eat thereof."

Now there were four leprous men at the entrance of the gate: and they said one to another, "Why sit we here until we die? If we say, 'We will enter into the city,' then the famine is in the city, and we shall die there: and if we sit still here, we die also. Now therefore come, and let us go over to the host of the Syrians: if they save us alive, we shall live; but if they kill us, we shall but die."

And they rose up in the twilight, to go to the camp of the Syrians: and when they were come to the outermost part of the camp of the Syrians, behold, there was no man there. For the Lord had made the host of the Syrians to hear a noise of chariots, and a noise of horses, even the noise of a great host: and they said one to another, "Lo, the king of Israel hath hired against us the kings of the Hitt.i.tes, and the kings of the Egyptians, to come upon us."

Wherefore they arose and fled in the twilight, and left their tents, and their horses, and their a.s.ses, even the camp as it was, and fled for their life. And when these lepers came to the outermost part of the camp, they went into one tent, and did eat and drink, and carried thence silver, and gold, and raiment, and went and hid it; and they came back, and entered into another tent, and {154} carried thence also, and went and hid it. Then they said one to another, "We do not well: this day is a day of good tidings, and we hold our peace: if we tarry till the morning light, punishment will overtake us: now therefore come, let us go and tell the king's household."

So they came and called unto the porter of the city: and they told them, saying, "We came to the camp of the Syrians, and, behold, there was no man there, neither voice of man, but the horses tied, and the a.s.ses tied, and the tents as they were."

And he called the porters; and they told it to the king's household within. And the king arose in the night, and said to his servants, "I will now show you what the Syrians have done to us. They know that we are hungry; therefore are they gone out of the camp to hide themselves in the field, saying, 'When they come out of the city, we shall take them alive, and get into the city.'"

And one of his servants answered and said, "Let some take, I pray thee, five of the horses that remain, which are left in the city, and let us send and see."

They took therefore two chariots with horses; and the king sent after the host of the Syrians, saying, "Go and see."

And they went after them as far as Jordan: and, lo, all the way was full of garments and vessels, which the Syrians had cast away in their haste.

And the messengers returned, and told the king.

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[Ill.u.s.tration]

RUINS OF SAMARIA

Samaria was splendidly situated to resist a.s.sault. On a hill 300 to 400 feet above the broad fertile valley, its battlements were beyond bowshot of archers who might be stationed on near-by hills, and on no side could catapults or towers be advanced. But the best situated fortress may be starved out, and Samaria was in terrible distress when one of those blind, unreasoning panics fell upon Ben-hadad's army, and it fled away in the night with the city almost in its power.

[End ill.u.s.tration]

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And the people went out, and plundered the camp of the Syrians. So a measure of fine flour was sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, according to the word of the Lord. And the king appointed the captain on whose hand he leaned to have the charge of the gate: and the people trampled upon him in the gate, and he died as the man of G.o.d had said, who spoke when the king came down to him. And it came to pa.s.s, as the man of G.o.d had spoken to the king, saying, "Two measures of barley for a shekel, and a measure of fine flour for a shekel, shall be to-morrow about this time in the gate of Samaria"; and that captain answered the man of G.o.d, and said, "Now, behold, if the Lord should make windows in heaven, might such a thing be?" and he said, "Behold, thou shalt see it with thine eyes, but shalt not eat thereof": it came to pa.s.s even so upon him; for the people trampled upon him in the gate, and he died.

_How Elisha Anointed a New King in Israel, and How a Terrible Fate Overtook the Wicked House of Ahab_.

(Ahab the wicked king died, but his son Joram, who was just as wicked as his father, reigned in his stead, and he was helped on in his wicked deeds by the wicked old queen mother Jezebel. But no matter how prosperous and powerful evil men may be, there always comes a time of retribution. Vengeance was now following fast on the footsteps of the wicked members of the house of Ahab. King Joram lay dying of a wound he had received in battle. Elisha saw that the time had come. He anointed privately as king, Jehu, a brave, headstrong young general of the army.

Jehu did not wait for Joram to die, but made a bold dash for the throne.

This story tells of the wild ride he took (we say, "he drives like Jehu," to the present day), of the way in which he beat down all obstacles in his path, and of the terrible fate which came to the house of Ahab.)

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And Elisha the prophet called one of the sons of the prophets, and said unto him, "Gird up thy loins, and take this vial of oil in thine hand, and go to Ramoth-gilead. And when thou comest thither, look out there Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat the son of Nimshi, and go in, and make him arise up from among his brethren, and carry him to an inner chamber.

Then take the vial of oil, and pour it on his head, and say, 'Thus saith the Lord, I have anointed thee king over Israel.' Then open the door, and flee, and tarry not."

So the young man, even the young man the prophet, went to Ramoth-gilead.

And when he came, behold, the captains of the host were sitting; and he said, "I have an errand to thee, O captain."

And Jehu said, "Unto which of us?"

And he said, "To thee, O captain."

And he arose, and went into the house; and he poured the oil on his head, and said to him, "Thus saith the Lord, the G.o.d of Israel, 'I have anointed thee king over the people of the Lord, even over Israel. And thou shalt smite the house of Ahab thy master, that I may avenge the blood of my servants the prophets, and the blood of all the servants of the Lord, at the hand of Jezebel. For the whole house of Ahab shall perish. And I will make the house of Ahab like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah. And the dogs shall eat Jezebel in the rampart of Jezreel, and there shall be none to bury her.'"