2 Kings 4

Elisha Helps a Widow and Her Sons

1 Now a wife of one of the prophetst appealedt to Elisha for help, saying, “Your servant, my husband is dead. You know that your servant was a loyal follower of the Lord.t Now the creditor is coming to take away my two boys to be his servants.”2 Elisha said to her, “What can I do for you? Tell me, what do you have in the house?” She answered, “Your servant has nothing in the house except a small jar of olive oil.”3 He said, “Go and ask all your neighbors for empty containers.t Get as many as you can.t4 Go and close the door behind you and your sons. Pour the olive oil into all the containers;t set aside each one when you have filled it.”5 So she left him and closed the door behind her and her sons. As they were bringing the containers to her, she was pouring the olive oil.6 When the containers were full, she said to one of her sons,t “Bring me another container.” But he answered her, “There are no more.” Then the olive oil stopped flowing.

7 She went and told the prophet.t He said, “Go, sell the olive oil. Repay your creditor, and then you and your sons can live off the rest of the profit.”

Elisha Gives Life to a Boy

8 One day Elisha traveled to Shunem, where a prominentt woman lived. She insisted that he stop for a meal.t So whenever he was passing through, he would stop in there for a meal.t9 She said to her husband, “Look, I’m suret that the man who regularly passes through here is a very special prophet.t

10 Let’s make a small private upper roomt and furnish it witht a bed, table, chair, and lamp. When he visits us, he can stay there.”
11 One day Elishat came for a visit; he wentt into the upper room and rested.t12 He told his servant Gehazi, “Ask the Shunammite woman to come here.”t So he did so and she came to him.t13 Elisha said to Gehazi,t “Tell her, ‘Look, you have treated us with such great respect.t What can I do for you? Can I put in a good word for you with the king or the commander of the army?’” She replied, “I’m quite secure.”t14 So he asked Gehazi,t “What can I do for her?” Gehazi replied, “She has no son, and her husband is old.”15 Elisha told him, “Ask her to come here.”t So he did sot and she came and stood in the doorway.t16 He said, “About this time next yeart you will be holding a son.” She said, “No, my master! O prophet, do not lie to your servant!”

17 The woman did conceive, and at the specified time the next year she gave birth to a son, just as Elisha had told her.
18 The boy grew and one day he went out to see his father who was with the harvest workers.t19 He said to his father, “My head! My head!” His fathert told a servant, “Carry him to his mother.”20 So he picked him up and took him to his mother. He sat on her lapt until noon and then died.21 She went up and laid him down on the prophet’st bed. She shut the door behind her and left.22 She called to her husband, “Send me one of the servants and one of the donkeys, so I can go see the prophet quickly and then return.”23 He said, “Why do you want to go see him today? It is not the new moons or the Sabbath.” She said, “Everything’s fine.”t

24 She saddled the donkey and told her servant, “Lead on.t Do not stop unless I say so.”t
25 So she went to visitt the prophet at Mount Carmel. When het saw her at a distance, he said to his servant Gehazi, “Look, it’s the Shunammite woman.26 Now, run to meet her and ask her, ‘Are you well? Are your husband and the boy well?’” She told Gehazi,t “Everything’s fine.”27 But when she reached the prophet on the mountain, she grabbed hold of his feet. Gehazi came near to push her away, but the prophet said, “Leave her alone, for she is very upset.t The Lord has kept the matter hidden from me; he didn’t tell me about it.”28 She said, “Did I ask my master for a son? Didn’t I say, ‘Don’t mislead me?’”29 Elishat told Gehazi, “Tuck your robes into your belt, take my staff,t and go! Don’t stop to exchange greetings with anyone!t Place my staff on the child’s face.”

30 The mother of the child said, “As certainly as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you.” So Elishat got up and followed her back.
31 Now Gehazi went on ahead of them. He placed the staff on the child’s face, but there was no sound or response. When he came back to Elishat he told him, “The child did not wake up.”32 When Elisha arrived at the house, there wast the child lying dead on his bed.33 He went in by himself and closed the door.t Then he prayed to the Lord.34 He got up on the bed and spread his body out overt the boy; he put his mouth on the boy’st mouth, his eyes over the boy’s eyes, and the palms of his hands against the boy’s palms. He bent down over him, and the boy’s skint grew warm.35 Elishat went back and walked around in the house.t Then he got up on the bed againt and bent down over him. The child sneezed seven times and opened his eyes.36 Elishat called to Gehazi and said, “Get the Shunammite woman.” So he did sot and she came to him. He said to her, “Take your son.”

37 She came in, fell at his feet, and bowed down. Then she picked up her son and left.

Elisha Makes a Meal Edible

38 Now Elisha went back to Gilgal, while there was famine in the land. Some of the prophets were visiting himt and he told his servant, “Put the big pot on the firet and boil some stew for the prophets.”t39 Someone went out to the field to gather some herbs and found a wild vine.t He picked some of its fruit,t enough to fill up the fold of his robe. He came back, cut it up, and threw the slicest into the stew pot, not knowing they were harmful.s40 The stew was poured outt for the men to eat. When they ate some of the stew, they cried out, “Death is in the pot, O prophet!” They could not eat it.

41 He said, “Get some flour.” Then he threw it into the pot and said, “Now pour some out for the men so they may eat.”t There was no longer anything harmful in the pot.

Elisha Miraculously Feeds a Hundred People

42 Now a man from Baal Shalisha brought some food for the prophett – twenty loaves of bread made from the firstfruits of the barley harvest, as well as fresh ears of grain.t Elishat said, “Set it before the people so they may eat.”43 But his attendant said, “How can I feed a hundred men with this?”t He replied, “Set it before the people so they may eat, for this is what the Lord says, ‘They will eat and have some left over.’”t

44 So he set it before them; they ate and had some left over, just as the Lord predicted.t

2 Kings 4

Elisha Helps a Poor Widow

1 The widow of a member of a group of prophets went to Elisha and said, “Sir, my husband has died! As you know, he was a God-fearing man, but now a man he owed money to has come to take away my two sons as slaves in payment for my husband's debt.”

2 “What shall I do for you?” he asked. “Tell me, what do you have at home?” “Nothing at all, except a small jar of olive oil,” she answered.
3 “Go to your neighbors and borrow as many empty jars as you can,” Elisha told her.

4 “Then you and your sons go into the house, close the door, and start pouring oil into the jars. Set each one aside as soon as it is full.”
5 So the woman went into her house with her sons, closed the door, took the small jar of olive oil, and poured oil into the jars as her sons brought them to her. 6 When they had filled all the jars, she asked if there were any more. “That was the last one,” one of her sons answered. And the olive oil stopped flowing.

7 She went back to Elisha, the prophet, who said to her, “Sell the olive oil and pay all your debts, and there will be enough money left over for you and your sons to live on.”

Elisha and the Rich Woman from Shunem

8 One day Elisha went to Shunem, where a rich woman lived. She invited him to a meal, and from then on every time he went to Shunem he would have his meals at her house. 9 She said to her husband, “I am sure that this man who comes here so often is a holy man.

10 Let's build a small room on the roof, put a bed, a table, a chair, and a lamp in it, and he can stay there whenever he visits us.”
11 One day Elisha returned to Shunem and went up to his room to rest. 12 He told his servant Gehazi to go and call the woman. When she came,

13 he said to Gehazi, “Ask her what I can do for her in return for all the trouble she has had in providing for our needs. Maybe she would like me to go to the king or the army commander and put in a good word for her.” “I have all I need here among my own people,” she answered.

14 Elisha asked Gehazi, “What can I do for her then?” He answered, “Well, she has no son, and her husband is an old man.”
15 “Tell her to come here,” Elisha ordered. She came and stood in the doorway,

16 and Elisha said to her, “By this time next year you will be holding a son in your arms.” “Oh!” she exclaimed. “Please, sir, don't lie to me. You are a man of God!”

17 But, as Elisha had said, at about that time the following year she gave birth to a son.
18 Some years later, at harvest time, the boy went out one morning to join his father, who was in the field with the harvest workers. 19 Suddenly he cried out to his father, “My head hurts! My head hurts!” “Carry the boy to his mother,” the father said to a servant. 20 The servant carried the boy back to his mother, who held him in her lap until noon, at which time he died. 21 She carried him up to Elisha's room, put him on the bed and left, closing the door behind her.

22 Then she called her husband and said to him, “Send a servant here with a donkey. I need to go to the prophet Elisha. I'll be back as soon as I can.”
23 “Why do you have to go today?” her husband asked. “It's neither a Sabbath nor a New Moon Festival.”t “Never mind,” she answered. 24 Then she had the donkey saddled, and ordered the servant, “Make the donkey go as fast as it can, and don't slow down unless I tell you to.” 25 So she set out and went to Mount Carmel, where Elisha was. Elisha saw her coming while she was still some distance away, and he said to his servant Gehazi, “Look, there comes the woman from Shunem! 26 Hurry to her and find out if everything is all right with her, her husband, and her son.” She told Gehazi that everything was all right,

27 but when she came to Elisha, she bowed down before him and took hold of his feet. Gehazi was about to push her away, but Elisha said, “Leave her alone. Can't you see she's deeply distressed? And the LORD has not told me a thing about it.”

28 The woman said to him, “Sir, did I ask you for a son? Didn't I tell you not to get my hopes up?”

29 Elisha turned to Gehazi and said, “Hurry! Take my walking stick and go. Don't stop to greet anyone you meet, and if anyone greets you, don't take time to answer. Go straight to the house and hold my stick over the boy.”
30 The woman said to Elisha, “I swear by my loyalty to the living LORD and to you that I will not leave you!” So the two of them started back together.

31 Gehazi went on ahead and held Elisha's stick over the child, but there was no sound or any other sign of life. So he went back to meet Elisha and said, “The boy didn't wake up.”
32 When Elisha arrived, he went alone into the room and saw the boy lying dead on the bed. 33 He closed the door and prayed to the LORD. 34 Then he lay down on the boy, placing his mouth, eyes, and hands on the boy's mouth, eyes, and hands. As he lay stretched out over the boy, the boy's body started to get warm. 35 Elisha got up, walked around the room, and then went back and again stretched himself over the boy. The boy sneezed seven times and then opened his eyes. 36 Elisha called Gehazi and told him to call the boy's mother. When she came in, he said to her, “Here's your son.”

37 She fell at Elisha's feet, with her face touching the ground; then she took her son and left.

Two More Miracles

38 Once, when there was a famine throughout the land, Elisha returned to Gilgal. While he was teaching a group of prophets, he told his servant to put a big pot on the fire and make some stew for them. 39 One of them went out in the fields to get some herbs. He found a wild vine and picked as many gourds as he could carry. He brought them back and sliced them up into the stew, not knowing what they were. 40 The stew was poured out for the men to eat, but as soon as they tasted it they exclaimed to Elisha, “It's poisoned!”—and wouldn't eat it.

41 Elisha asked for some meal, threw it into the pot, and said, “Pour out some more stew for them.” And then there was nothing wrong with it.
42 Another time, a man came from Baal Shalishah, bringing Elisha twenty loaves of bread made from the first barley harvested that year, and some freshly-cut heads of grain. Elisha told his servant to feed the group of prophets with this, 43 but he answered, “Do you think this is enough for a hundred men?” Elisha replied, “Give it to them to eat, because the LORD says that they will eat and still have some left over.”

44 So the servant set the food before them, and as the LORD had said, they all ate, and there was still some left over.