00:00Hello friends! Today, I have a super exciting story for you from long long ago.
00:06It's about a man named Naman. Naman was a very important and brave army commander.
00:11When he walked by in his shiny armor, everyone would cheer, hooray for Naman!
00:16He was strong, he was famous, and he had won many battles for his king.
00:21But Naman had a big big problem. It was a secret he tried to hide under his fancy clothes.
00:27He had a skin sickness called leprosy, which made his skin have sore, white spots all over.
00:33It made him very sad and very, very grumpy.
00:37Now, in Naman's house, there was a little servant girl.
00:40She had been brought from a land called Israel.
00:43Even though she was far from her home, she was a kind girl with a big heart.
00:47One day, she saw how sad Naman's wife was.
00:51The little girl said, I wish my master Naman would go to Israel.
00:55There is a prophet of God there named Elisha.
00:57I know he could heal him from his sickness.
01:00Naman's wife told Naman, and Naman told the king.
01:03The king said, what a wonderful idea.
01:06Go at once.
01:08So, Naman got ready for the biggest journey of his life.
01:11He wasn't going to battle this time.
01:13He was going to find a cure.
01:15He packed lots and lots of treasure, shiny gold, sparkling silver, and ten sets of the most
01:21beautiful clothes you've ever seen.
01:23He loaded up his chariots and horses and set off with his servants,
01:27clip-clop, clip-clop, all the way to Israel.
01:30He thought, with all this treasure, this prophet will surely heal me right away.
01:36When Naman finally arrived, he went straight to the king of Israel's palace.
01:40But the king was scared.
01:42He thought Naman was there to start a fight.
01:44But then, the prophet Elisha heard what was happening.
01:47He sent a message to the king saying, don't worry, send him to my house.
01:52Then he will know there is a true prophet of God in Israel.
01:55So Naman and his whole parade of horses and chariots trotted over to Elisha's small,
02:00simple house.
02:02It wasn't a grand palace at all.
02:04Naman waited outside, expecting Elisha to come out, wave his hands, say some magic words,
02:10and poof.
02:11The sickness would be gone.
02:13But that's not what happened.
02:14Elisha didn't even come outside.
02:16Instead, he sent his servant with a very strange message.
02:20The servant said, Elisha says you must go and wash yourself seven times in the Jordan River,
02:26and your skin will be all better.
02:28Naman was furious.
02:30He stomped his feet and his face turned red.
02:32What?
02:33He shouted.
02:34Just wash in a muddy river.
02:36I thought he would do something amazing.
02:38We have bigger and cleaner rivers back home.
02:40Why would I wash in this dirty Jordan River?
02:43This is ridiculous.
02:44I'm going home.
02:45He was so huffy and puffy, he turned his chariot around to leave.
02:49But one of his wise servants came up to him and said gently,
02:53Master, if the prophet had asked you to do something very hard, wouldn't you have done it?
02:59He is only asking you to do something simple.
03:01Why not just try it?
03:03Naman stopped and thought about it.
03:05The servant was right.
03:06He had come all this way.
03:08Maybe he should just listen.
03:09So, grumbling and mumbling, Naman went down to the Jordan River.
03:14He probably dipped one toe in and said,
03:16Yuck, it's cold and muddy.
03:19But he listened.
03:20He went all the way in and dipped himself under the water.
03:23One time.
03:24He came up, looked at his skin, still spotty.
03:27Two times.
03:29He came up, still spotty.
03:31Three, four, five, six times.
03:34Nothing was changing.
03:36He was probably thinking this was a silly waste of time.
03:39But he had to do it seven times.
03:41So, he took a deep breath and dipped himself under the water for the seventh time.
03:46And when he came up, wow.
03:48He looked at his arms.
03:50He looked at his legs.
03:51All the spots were gone.
03:53His skin was as smooth and healthy as a little kid's.
03:56He couldn't believe it.
03:57He jumped up and down, splashing in the water with a huge, happy smile.
04:02He wasn't grumpy anymore.
04:03He was healed.
04:05Naman rushed back to Elish's house, filled with joy.
04:08This time, he didn't care about his treasures.
04:11He knew something more important.
04:13He learned that sometimes, the best things happen when we are humble and just obey,
04:18even when it seems a little strange.
04:20He learned that God's power is bigger than any king or any treasure.
04:24And that's a wonderful lesson for all of us.
04:26Thanks for listening to the story today.
04:28Don't forget to like and subscribe for more amazing stories.
04:32See you next time.
