THE LITTLE CAPTIVE MAID
| Leprosy. | A very dreaded disease. |
| Leper. | One who has leprosy. |
| Rent his clothes. | To show great sorrow or trouble. |
| Chariot. | A small wagon with two wheels, used in war. |
| Flesh shall come again. | In leprosy the flesh dries up, and the person becomes very thin. |
In the old times war was very cruel. Houses were burned and men and women killed, and very often the little children were taken far away and sold for slaves. Sometimes they never came back to their homes or friends again.
There had been war between the people in Israel and the people who lived in a country called Syria, which lay to the north of Israel. In this war a little girl had been taken away, and sold as a slave. She was bought by a great general named Naaman, who took her home, and she waited on Naaman's wife. Naaman and his wife must have been kind to the little slave girl, for when he was sick she wished that he could be made well.
Now Naaman, captain of the host of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master, and honorable, because by him the Lord had given deliverance to Syria: he was also a mighty man of valor, but he was a leper. And the little maid said to her mistress, "Would God my lord were with the prophet that is in Samaria! for he would heal him of his leprosy." And one went in, and told his lord, saying, "Thus and thus said the maid that is of the land of Israel." And the king of Syria said, "I will send a letter unto the king of Israel."
And he departed, and took with him a large present of money and fine clothes.
And he brought the letter to the king of Israel, saying, "Now when this letter is come unto thee, behold, I have therewith sent Naaman my servant to thee, that thou mayest heal him of his leprosy."
And it came to pass, when the king of Israel had read the letter, that he rent his clothes, and said, "Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man doth send unto me to heal a man of his leprosy? wherefore consider, I pray you, and see how he seeketh a quarrel against me."
And it was so, when Elisha the man of God [{207}] had heard that the king of Israel had rent his clothes, that he sent to the king, saying, "Wherefore hast thou rent thy clothes? let him come now to me, and he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel."
So Naaman came with his horses and with his chariot, and stood at the door of the house of Elisha.
And Elisha sent a messenger unto him, saying, "Go and wash in Jordan seven times, and thy flesh shall come again to thee, and thou shalt be clean."
Then Naaman was angry, and turned to go away in a rage.
And his servants came near, and spoke unto him, and said, "My father, if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldest thou not have done it? how much rather then, when he saith to thee, 'Wash, and be clean'?"
Then went he down, and dipped himself seven times in Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God: and his flesh came again like unto the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.