he did so. 6 Elisha 7 said, “This arrow symbolizes the victory the Lord will give you over Syria. 8 You will annihilate Syria in Aphek!” 9 13:18 Then Elisha 10 said, “Take the arrows,” and he did so. 11 He told the king of Israel, “Strike the ground!” He struck the ground three times and stopped. 13:19 The prophet 12 got angry at him and said, “If you had struck the ground five or six times, you would have annihilated Syria! 13 But now, you will defeat Syria only three times.”
13:20 Elisha died and was buried. 14 Moabite raiding parties invaded 15 the land at the beginning of the year. 16 13:21 One day some men 17 were burying a man when they spotted 18 a raiding party. So they threw the dead man 19 into Elisha’s tomb. When the body 20 touched Elisha’s bones, the dead man 21 came to life and stood on his feet.
13:22 Now King Hazael of Syria oppressed Israel throughout Jehoahaz’s reign. 22 13:23 But the Lord had mercy on them and felt pity for them. 23 He extended his favor to them 24 because of the promise he had made 25 to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He has been unwilling to destroy them or remove them from his presence to this very day. 26 13:24 When King Hazael of Syria died, his son Ben Hadad replaced him as king. 13:25 Jehoahaz’s son Jehoash took back from 27 Ben Hadad son of Hazael the cities that he had taken from his father Jehoahaz in war. Joash defeated him three times and recovered the Israelite cities.