2 Kings 4

Elisha and the Widows Oil

1 A certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets cried out to Elisha, saying, Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that your servant feared the Lord. And the creditor is coming to take my two sons to be his slaves. A certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets cried out to Elisha, saying, Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that your servant feared the Lord. And the creditor is coming to take my two sons to be his slaves.2 So Elisha said to her, What shall I do for you? Tell me, what do you have in the house? And she said, Your maidservant has nothing in the house but a jar of oil.3 Then he said, Go, borrow vessels from everywhere, from all your neighborsempty vessels; do not gather just a few.4 And when you have come in, you shall shut the door behind you and your sons; then pour it into all those vessels, and set aside the full ones.5 So she went from him and shut the door behind her and her sons, who brought the vessels to her; and she poured it out.6 Now it came to pass, when the vessels were full, that she said to her son, Bring me another vessel.7 Then she came and told the man of God. And he said, Go, sell the oil and pay your debt; and you and your sons live on the rest.

Elisha Raises the Shunammites Son

8 Now it happened one day that Elisha went to Shunem, where there was a notable woman, and she persuaded him to eat some food. So it was, as often as he passed by, he would turn in there to eat some food.9 And she said to her husband, Look now, I know that this is a holy man of God, who passes by us regularly.10 Please, let us make a small upper room on the wall; and let us put a bed for him there, and a table and a chair and a lampstand; so it will be, whenever he comes to us, he can turn in there.11 And it happened one day that he came there, and he turned in to the upper room and lay down there.12 Then he said to Gehazi his servant, Call this Shunammite woman. When he had called her, she stood before him.13 And he said to him, Say now to her, Look, you have been concerned for us with all this care. What can I do for you? Do you want me to speak on your behalf to the king or to the commander of the army? She answered, I dwell among my own people.14 So he said, What then is to be done for her? And Gehazi answered, Actually, she has no son, and her husband is old.15 So he said, Call her. When he had called her, she stood in the doorway.16 Then he said, About this time next year you shall embrace a son. And she said, No, my lord. Man of God, do not lie to your maidservant!17 But the woman conceived, and bore a son when the appointed time had come, of which Elisha had told her.18 And the child grew. Now it happened one day that he went out to his father, to the reapers.19 And he said to his father, My head, my head!20 When he had taken him and brought him to his mother, he sat on her knees till noon, and then died.21 And she went up and laid him on the bed of the man of God, shut the door upon him, and went out.22 Then she called to her husband, and said, Please send me one of the young men and one of the donkeys, that I may run to the man of God and come back.23 So he said, Why are you going to him today? It is neither the New Moon nor the Sabbath.24 Then she saddled a donkey, and said to her servant, Drive, and go forward; do not slacken the pace for me unless I tell you.25 And so she departed, and went to the man of God at Mount Carmel.26 Please run now to meet her, and say to her, Is it well with you? Is it well with your husband? Is it well with the child?27 Now when she came to the man of God at the hill, she caught him by the feet, but Gehazi came near to push her away. But the man of God said, Let her alone; for her soul is in deep distress, and the Lord has hidden it from me, and has not told me.28 So she said, Did I ask a son of my lord? Did I not say, Do not deceive me?29 Then he said to Gehazi, Get yourself ready, and take my staff in your hand, and be on your way. If you meet anyone, do not greet him; and if anyone greets you, do not answer him; but lay my staff on the face of the child.30 And the mother of the child said, As the Lord lives, and as your soul lives, I will not leave you. So he arose and followed her.31 Now Gehazi went on ahead of them, and laid the staff on the face of the child; but there was neither voice nor hearing. Therefore he went back to meet him, and told him, saying, The child has not awakened.32 When Elisha came into the house, there was the child, lying dead on his bed.33 He went in therefore, shut the door behind the two of them, and prayed to the Lord.34 And he went up and lay on the child, and put his mouth on his mouth, his eyes on his eyes, and his hands on his hands; and he stretched himself out on the child, and the flesh of the child became warm.35 He returned and walked back and forth in the house, and again went up and stretched himself out on him; then the child sneezed seven times, and the child opened his eyes.36 And he called Gehazi and said, Call this Shunammite woman. So he called her. And when she came in to him, he said, Pick up your son.37 So she went in, fell at his feet, and bowed to the ground; then she picked up her son and went out.

Elisha Purifies the Pot of Stew

38 And Elisha returned to Gilgal, and there was a famine in the land. Now the sons of the prophets were sitting before him; and he said to his servant, Put on the large pot, and boil stew for the sons of the prophets.39 So one went out into the field to gather herbs, and found a wild vine, and gathered from it a lapful of wild gourds, and came and sliced them into the pot of stew, though they did not know what they were. 40 Then they served it to the men to eat. Now it happened, as they were eating the stew, that they cried out and said, Man of God, there is death in the pot! And they could not eat it. 41 So he said, Then bring some flour. And he put it into the pot, and said, Serve it to the people, that they may eat. And there was nothing harmful in the pot.

Elisha Feeds One Hundred Men

42 Then a man came from Baal Shalisha, and brought the man of God bread of the firstfruits, twenty loaves of barley bread, and newly ripened grain in his knapsack. And he said, Give it to the people, that they may eat.43 But his servant said, What? Shall I set this before one hundred men?44 So he set it before them; and they ate and had some left over, according to the word of the Lord.

2 KINGS 4

Elisha Helps a Poor Widow

1 One day the widow of one of the [Lord]'s prophets said to Elisha, “You know that before my husband died, he was a follower of yours and a worshiper of the [Lord]. But he owed a man some money, and now that man is on his way to take my two sons as his slaves.”

2 “Maybe there's something I can do to help,” Elisha said. “What do you have in your house?”
“Sir, I have nothing but a small bottle of olive oil.”
3 Elisha told her, “Ask your neighbors for their empty jars. And after you've borrowed as many as you can, 4 go home and shut the door behind you and your sons. Then begin filling the jars with oil and set each one aside as you fill it.”

5 The woman left.
Later, when she and her sons were back inside their house, the two sons brought her the jars, and she began filling them.

6 At last, she said to one of her sons, “Bring me another jar.”
“We don't have any more,” he answered, and the oil stopped flowing from the small bottle.

7 After she told Elisha what had happened, he said, “Sell the oil and use part of the money to pay what you owe the man. You and your sons can live on what is left.”

Elisha Brings //a Rich Woman's Son //Back to Life

8 Once, while Elisha was in the town of Shunem, t he met a rich woman who invited him to her home for dinner. After that, whenever he was in Shunem, he would have a meal there with her and her husband.
9 Some time later the woman said to her husband, “I'm sure the man who comes here so often is a prophet of God.

10 Why don't we build him a small room on the flat roof of our house? We can put a bed, a table and chair, and an oil lamp in it. Then whenever he comes, he can stay with us.”
11 The next time Elisha was in Shunem, he stopped at their house and went up to his room to rest.

12-13 He said to his servant Gehazi, “This woman has been very helpful. Have her come up here to the roof for a moment.” She came, and Elisha told Gehazi to say to her, “You've gone to a lot of trouble for us, and we want to help you. Is there something we can request the king or army commander to do?”t
The woman answered, “With my relatives nearby, I have everything I need.”

14 “Then what can we do for her?” Elisha asked Gehazi.
Gehazi replied, “I do know that her husband is old, and that she doesn't have a son.”

15 “Ask her to come here again,” Elisha told his servant. He called for her, and she came and stood in the doorway of Elisha's room.

16  t Elisha said to her, “Next year at this time, you'll be holding your own baby son in your arms.”
“You're a man of God,” the woman replied. “Please don't lie to me.”

17 But a few months later, the woman got pregnant. She gave birth to a son, just as Elisha had promised.
18 One day while the boy was still young, he was out in the fields with his father, where the workers were harvesting the crops.

19 Suddenly he shouted, “My head hurts. It hurts a lot!”
“Carry him back to his mother,” the father said to his servant. 20 The servant picked up the boy and carried him to his mother. The boy lay on her lap all morning, and by noon he was dead.

21 She carried him upstairs to Elisha's room and laid him across the bed. Then she walked out and shut the door behind her.

22 The woman called to her husband, “I need to see the prophet. Let me use one of the donkeys. Send a servant along with me, and let me leave now, so I can get back quickly.”

23 “Why do you need to see him today?” her husband asked. “It's not the Sabbath or time for the New Moon Festival.”
“That's all right,” she answered. 24 She saddled the donkey and said to her servant, “Let's go. And don't slow down unless I tell you to.”

25 She left at once for Mount Carmel to talk with Elisha.t
When Elisha saw her coming, he said, “Gehazi, look! It's the woman from Shunem.

26 Run and meet her. And ask her if everything is all right with her and her family.”
“Everything is fine,” she answered Gehazi.

27 But as soon as she got to the top of the mountain, she went over and grabbed Elisha by the feet.
Gehazi started toward her to push her away, when Elisha said, “Leave her alone! Don't you see how sad she is? But the [Lord] hasn't told me why.”

28 The woman said, “Sir, I begged you not to get my hopes up, and I didn't even ask you for a son.”

29 “Gehazi, get ready and go to her house,” Elisha said. “Take along my walking stick, and when you get there, lay it on the boy's face. Don't stop to talk to anyone, even if they try to talk to you.”

30 But the boy's mother said to Elisha, “I swear by the living [Lord] and by your own life that I won't leave without you.” So Elisha got up and went with them.

31 Gehazi ran on ahead and laid Elisha's walking stick on the boy's face, but the boy didn't move or make a sound. Gehazi ran back to Elisha and said, “The boy didn't wake up.”
32 Elisha arrived at the woman's house and went straight to his room, where he saw the boy's body on his bed. 33 He walked in, shut the door, and prayed to the [Lord]. 34 t Then he got on the bed and stretched out over the dead body, with his mouth on the boy's mouth, his eyes on his eyes, and his hand on his hands. As he lay there, the boy's body became warm.

35 Elisha got up and walked back and forth in the room, then he went back and leaned over the boy's body. The boy sneezed seven times and opened his eyes.

36 Elisha called out to Gehazi, “Ask the boy's mother to come here.” Gehazi did, and when she was at the door, Elisha said, “You can take your son.”

37 She came in and bowed down at Elisha's feet. Then she picked up her son and left.

Elisha Makes Some Stew //Taste Better

38 Later, Elisha went back to Gilgal, where there was almost nothing to eat, because the crops had failed.
One day while the prophets who lived there were meeting with Elisha, he said to his servant, “Prepare a big pot of stew for these prophets.”

39 One of them went out into the woods to gather some herbs. He found a wild vine and picked as much of its fruit as he could carry, but he didn't know that the fruit was very sour. When he got back, he cut up the fruit and put it in the stew.

40 The stew was served, and when the prophets started eating it, they shouted, “Elisha, this stew tastes terrible! We can't eat it.”

41 “Bring me some flour,” Elisha said. He sprinkled the flour in the stew and said, “Now serve it to them.” And the stew tasted fine.

Elisha Feeds //One Hundred People

42 A man from the town of Baal-Shalishaht brought Elisha some freshly cut grain and 20 loaves of bread made from the first barley that was harvested. Elisha said, “Give it to the people so they can eat.”

43 “There's not enough here for 100 people,” his servant said.
“Just give it to them,” Elisha replied. “The [Lord] has promised there will be more than enough.”
44 So the servant served the bread and grain to the people. They ate and still had some left over, just as the [Lord] had promised.