Today's reading tells of a miracle attributed to the Elisha, the prophet who succeeded Elijah. Naaman, a foreign general, was stricken with leprosy, but his wife's servant told him of a great prophet in Israel. Naaman traveled to Israel, causing great fear in the king of Israel. However, Elisha learned of Naaman's illness and offered him a straightforward prescription to be healed -- so easy that the general thought Elisha was trying to make a fool of him. However, his attendants encouraged him to follow Elisha's instructions -- to wash in the Jordan River seven times. Miraculously, Naaman was cured on leprosy.It is difficult to know which is more interesting -- that Elisha was capable of such miraculous healing or that the great prophet of Israel healed a foreigner.
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