A reading from the book of Second Kings.

Nehaman, commander of the army of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master and in high favor,

because by him the Lord had given victory to Syria.

He was a mighty man of valor, but he was a leper.

Now the Syrians on one of their raids had carried off a little girl from the land of Israel,

and she worked in the service of Naaman's wife. She said to her mistress,

Would that my lord were with the prophet who was in Samaria? He would cure him of his leprosy.

So Naaman went in and told his lord. Thus and so spoke of the girl from the land of Israel,

and the king of Syria said, Go now, and I will send the girl from the land of Israel, and the king of Syria said,

Go now, and I will send a letter to the king of Israel. So he went, taking with him ten talents of

silver, six thousand shekels of gold, and ten changes of clothing, and he brought the letter to the

king of Israel, which read, When this letter reaches you, know that I have sent to you,

Neum and my servant, that you may cure him of his leprosy. And when the King of Israel read the letter,

he tore his clothes and said, Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man sends word to me

to cure a man of his leprosy? Only consider and see how he is seeking a quarrel with me. But when Elisha, the man of God, heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes,

he sent to the king saying,

Why have you torn your clothes?

Let him come now to me that he may know that there is a prophet in Israel.

So Nehaman came with his horses and chariots and stood at the door of Elisha's house,

and Elisha sent a messenger to him saying,

Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored, and you shall be clean.

When Nehaman was angry, and went away saying, Behold, I thought that he would surely come out to me,

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