Single lesson
Naaman Is Healed
2 Kings 5:1–14
A respected army commander learns that God’s healing does not come through pride, but through listening and obeying.
Before you teach
Naaman was commander of the army of the king of Syria. He was important and respected, and victories had come through him. But Naaman had leprosy. In his house was a young girl from Israel who had been taken captive, and she served Naaman’s wife. She said that if Naaman could go to the prophet in Samaria, he would be healed. When the king of Syria heard this, he sent Naaman with a letter to the king of Israel. Naaman travelled with silver, gold, and clothes. But when the king…
Describe the central teaching of Naaman Is Healed, using two details from the reading. A respected army commander learns that God’s healing does not come through pride, but through listening and obeying.
Welcome: Naaman Is Healed
4 minIntroduce “Naaman Is Healed” and locate 2 Kings 5:1–14. A respected army commander learns that God’s healing does not come through pride, but through listening and obeying. Invite each learner to name a detail or question they will listen for.
2 Kings 5:1, 2 Kings 5:8, 2 Kings 5:14
Read and explain the passage
8 minNaaman was commander of the army of the king of Syria. He was important and respected, and victories had come through him. But Naaman had leprosy. In his house was a young girl from Israel who had been taken captive, and she served Naaman’s wife. She said that if Naaman could go to the prophet in Samaria, he would be healed.
Elisha, the man of God, heard what had happened and sent word to the king of Israel to send Naaman to him. Naaman came with his horses and chariots and stopped at Elisha’s house. Elisha did not come out. Instead, he sent a messenger with clear instructions: wash in the Jordan seven times, and you will be clean.
Then Naaman went down to the Jordan and dipped himself seven times, just as the man of God had said. His flesh was restored, like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean. Naaman had come with power and riches, but he was healed when he listened to the word he had been given. What part of this story do you think was hardest for Naaman to accept?
Read the selected verses together, pausing at “Naaman Is Healed”. Use the source reading below and check the explanation against the words of the passage.
2 Kings 5:2, 2 Kings 5:3, 2 Kings 5:6, 2 Kings 5:10, 2 Kings 5:8, 2 Kings 5:9, 2 Kings 5:14
Discuss the details and their meaning
6 minUse the three questions below. Begin with ““When the king of Syria heard this, he sent Naaman with a letter to the king of Israel.” Which details explain how the account reaches this point?” and allow time to find the supporting verses. A respected army commander learns that God’s healing does not come through pride, but through listening and obeying. Ask learners to explain which details support their answer and to identify a question they would like to explore further.
2 Kings 5:7, 2 Kings 5:8, 2 Kings 5:5, 2 Kings 5:10, 2 Kings 5:9, 2 Kings 5:14
Make and respond: Story sequence booklet
9 minWork on “Naaman Is Healed: Story sequence booklet”. Follow the materials and steps below, using “Naaman Is Healed” as reading headings. Each learner should include at least two accurate details and their verse references. Share one observation from the finished sheet and explain how it connects with the central teaching.
2 Kings 5:1, 2 Kings 5:8, 2 Kings 5:14
Closing: return to Naaman Is Healed
3 minRevisit 2 Kings 5:1–14. Invite a learner to summarise what the group has learned about Naaman Is Healed and another to support the summary with a verse. Give learners a moment to complete their response sheet. They can share a question or, if appropriate for the group, join the optional prayer.
2 Kings 5:1, 2 Kings 5:8, 2 Kings 5:14
Questions to explore
“When the king of Syria heard this, he sent Naaman with a letter to the king of Israel.” Which details explain how the account reaches this point?
When the king of Syria heard this, he sent Naaman with a letter to the king of Israel. Naaman travelled with silver, gold, and clothes. But when the king of Israel read the letter asking for healing, he tore his clothes. He said he was not God, and he thought this request was looking for a quarrel.
2 Kings 5:7, 2 Kings 5:8, 2 Kings 5:5
How does this moment affect the rest of the account: “Elisha, the man of God, heard what had happened and sent word to the king of Israel to send Naaman to him.”?
Elisha, the man of God, heard what had happened and sent word to the king of Israel to send Naaman to him. Naaman came with his horses and chariots and stopped at Elisha’s house. Elisha did not come out. Instead, he sent a messenger with clear instructions: wash in the Jordan seven times, and you will be clean.
2 Kings 5:10, 2 Kings 5:8, 2 Kings 5:9
What part of this story do you think was hardest for Naaman to accept?
Then Naaman went down to the Jordan and dipped himself seven times, just as the man of God had said. His flesh was restored, like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean. Naaman had come with power and riches, but he was healed when he listened to the word he had been given.
2 Kings 5:14, 2 Kings 5:10, 2 Kings 5:8
Make, think or respond
Naaman Is Healed: Story sequence booklet
What you’ll need
- plain paper or card
- pencils or pens
- coloured pencils or crayons
Try it together
- Fold a sheet into three panels or draw three columns. Label them “Beginning”, “What changes?”, “How it ends”.
- Read 2 Kings 5:1–14. Use “Naaman Is Healed” as your reading headings and add a short quotation or detail with its verse reference to each panel.
- Talk through your notes with an adult. Add a word, drawing or short quotation that helps you remember each part.
- Retell the account using your three panels, checking the order against the passage.
The finished sheet keeps the details of Naaman Is Healed connected to their Bible references and gives the group a way to explain what they noticed.
Adapt for your group
- For younger children, read the selected verses aloud, prepare the three panels and let them respond with drawings or a few words. Use Naaman Is Healed as the retelling prompt.
- For older children, add verse references to the response sheet and explain a connection between Naaman Is Healed and the final part of the reading.
An optional closing prayer
“God, help us listen carefully as we read 2 Kings 5:1–14. Help us understand what we have read, ask thoughtful questions and respond with care for others. Amen.”
Read the Bible passage World English Bible Classic
2 Kings 5
1 Now Naaman, captain of the army of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master, and honorable, because by him Yahweh had given victory to Syria; he was also a mighty man of valor, but he was a leper.
2 The Syrians had gone out in bands, and had brought away captive out of the land of Israel a little girl, and she waited on Naaman’s wife.
3 She said to her mistress, “I wish that my lord were with the prophet who is in Samaria! Then he would heal him of his leprosy.”
4 Someone went in and told his lord, saying, “The girl who is from the land of Israel said this.”
5 The king of Syria said, “Go now, and I will send a letter to the king of Israel.” He departed, and took with him ten talents of silver, six thousand pieces of gold, and ten changes of clothing.
6 He brought the letter to the king of Israel, saying, “Now when this letter has come to you, behold, I have sent Naaman my servant to you, that you may heal him of his leprosy.”
7 When the king of Israel had read the letter, he tore his clothes and said, “Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man sends to me to heal a man of his leprosy? But please consider and see how he seeks a quarrel against me.”
8 It was so, when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, that he sent to the king, saying, “Why have you torn your clothes? Let him come now to me, and he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel.”
9 So Naaman came with his horses and with his chariots, and stood at the door of the house of Elisha.
10 Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, “Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall come again to you, and you shall be clean.”
11 But Naaman was angry, and went away and said, “Behold, I thought, ‘He will surely come out to me, and stand, and call on the name of Yahweh his God, and wave his hand over the place, and heal the leper.’
12 Aren’t Abanah and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Couldn’t I wash in them and be clean?” So he turned and went away in a rage.
13 His servants came near and spoke to him, and said, “My father, if the prophet had asked you do some great thing, wouldn’t you have done it? How much rather then, when he says to you, ‘Wash, and be clean’?”
14 Then went he down and dipped himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God; and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.
World English Bible Classic. Public domain.
Source passages
Something to make together
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