17 "Open the east window," Elisha said. So he did. "Shoot!" Elisha said. So he shot. "That's the Lord's arrow!" Elisha announced. "It means you will win the battle over Aram! You will completely destroy the men of Aram at Aphek."
18 He continued, "Get some arrows." So the king did. Elisha told him, "Strike the ground." He struck it three times. Then he stopped.
19 The man of God was angry with him. He said, "You should have struck the ground five or six times. Then you would have won the war over Aram. You would have completely destroyed them. But now you will win only three battles over them."
20 Elisha died. And his body was buried. Some robbers from Moab used to enter the country of Israel every spring.
21 One day some people of Israel were burying a man's body. Suddenly they saw a group of robbers. So they threw the man's body into Elisha's tomb. The body touched Elisha's bones. When it did, the man came back to life again. He stood up on his feet.
22 Hazael, the king of Aram, treated Israel badly. He did it the whole time Jehoahaz was king.
23 But the Lord showed his favor to Israel. He was tender and kind to them. He showed concern for them. He did all of those things because of the covenant he had made with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. To this very day he hasn't been willing to destroy them. And he hasn't driven them out of his land.