2 Kings 4

Chapter 4

Elisha Helps a Poor Widow

1 One day the widow of a member of the group of prophets came to Elisha and cried out, “My husband who served you is dead, and you know how he feared the LORD. But now a creditor has come, threatening to take my two sons as slaves.”

2 “What can I do to help you?” Elisha asked. “Tell me, what do you have in the house?”
“Nothing at all, except a flask of olive oil,” she replied.
3 And Elisha said, “Borrow as many empty jars as you can from your friends and neighbors.

4 Then go into your house with your sons and shut the door behind you. Pour olive oil from your flask into the jars, setting each one aside when it is filled.”
5 So she did as she was told. Her sons kept bringing jars to her, and she filled one after another.

6 Soon every container was full to the brim!
“Bring me another jar,” she said to one of her sons.
“There aren’t any more!” he told her. And then the olive oil stopped flowing.

7 When she told the man of God what had happened, he said to her, “Now sell the olive oil and pay your debts, and you and your sons can live on what is left over.”

Elisha and the Woman from Shunem

8 One day Elisha went to the town of Shunem. A wealthy woman lived there, and she urged him to come to her home for a meal. After that, whenever he passed that way, he would stop there for something to eat.
9 She said to her husband, “I am sure this man who stops in from time to time is a holy man of God.

10 Let’s build a small room for him on the roof and furnish it with a bed, a table, a chair, and a lamp. Then he will have a place to stay whenever he comes by.”
11 One day Elisha returned to Shunem, and he went up to this upper room to rest.12 He said to his servant Gehazi, “Tell the woman from Shunem I want to speak to her.” When she appeared,

13 Elisha said to Gehazi, “Tell her, ‘We appreciate the kind concern you have shown us. What can we do for you? Can we put in a good word for you to the king or to the commander of the army?’”
“No,” she replied, “my family takes good care of me.”

14 Later Elisha asked Gehazi, “What can we do for her?”
Gehazi replied, “She doesn’t have a son, and her husband is an old man.”
15 “Call her back again,” Elisha told him. When the woman returned, Elisha said to her as she stood in the doorway,

16 “Next year at this time you will be holding a son in your arms!”
“No, my lord!” she cried. “O man of God, don’t deceive me and get my hopes up like that.”

17 But sure enough, the woman soon became pregnant. And at that time the following year she had a son, just as Elisha had said.
18 One day when her child was older, he went out to help his father, who was working with the harvesters.

19 Suddenly he cried out, “My head hurts! My head hurts!”
His father said to one of the servants, “Carry him home to his mother.”
20 So the servant took him home, and his mother held him on her lap. But around noontime he died.21 She carried him up and laid him on the bed of the man of God, then shut the door and left him there.

22 She sent a message to her husband: “Send one of the servants and a donkey so that I can hurry to the man of God and come right back.”

23 “Why go today?” he asked. “It is neither a new moon festival nor a Sabbath.”
But she said, “It will be all right.”

24 So she saddled the donkey and said to the servant, “Hurry! Don’t slow down unless I tell you to.”
25 As she approached the man of God at Mount Carmel, Elisha saw her in the distance. He said to Gehazi, “Look, the woman from Shunem is coming.

26 Run out to meet her and ask her, ‘Is everything all right with you, your husband, and your child?’”
“Yes,” the woman told Gehazi, “everything is fine.”

27 But when she came to the man of God at the mountain, she fell to the ground before him and caught hold of his feet. Gehazi began to push her away, but the man of God said, “Leave her alone. She is deeply troubled, but the LORD has not told me what it is.”

28 Then she said, “Did I ask you for a son, my lord? And didn’t I say, ‘Don’t deceive me and get my hopes up’?”

29 Then Elisha said to Gehazi, “Get ready to travelt; take my staff and go! Don’t talk to anyone along the way. Go quickly and lay the staff on the child’s face.”

30 But the boy’s mother said, “As surely as the LORD lives and you yourself live, I won’t go home unless you go with me.” So Elisha returned with her.

31 Gehazi hurried on ahead and laid the staff on the child’s face, but nothing happened. There was no sign of life. He returned to meet Elisha and told him, “The child is still dead.”
32 When Elisha arrived, the child was indeed dead, lying there on the prophet’s bed.33 He went in alone and shut the door behind him and prayed to the LORD.34 Then he lay down on the child’s body, placing his mouth on the child’s mouth, his eyes on the child’s eyes, and his hands on the child’s hands. And as he stretched out on him, the child’s body began to grow warm again!

35 Elisha got up, walked back and forth across the room once, and then stretched himself out again on the child. This time the boy sneezed seven times and opened his eyes!
36 Then Elisha summoned Gehazi. “Call the child’s mother!” he said. And when she came in, Elisha said, “Here, take your son!”

37 She fell at his feet and bowed before him, overwhelmed with gratitude. Then she took her son in her arms and carried him downstairs.

Miracles during a Famine

38 Elisha now returned to Gilgal, and there was a famine in the land. One day as the group of prophets was seated before him, he said to his servant, “Put a large pot on the fire, and make some stew for the rest of the group.”
39 One of the young men went out into the field to gather herbs and came back with a pocketful of wild gourds. He shredded them and put them into the pot without realizing they were poisonous.

40 Some of the stew was served to the men. But after they had eaten a bite or two they cried out, “Man of God, there’s poison in this stew!” So they would not eat it.

41 Elisha said, “Bring me some flour.” Then he threw it into the pot and said, “Now it’s all right; go ahead and eat.” And then it did not harm them.

42 One day a man from Baal-shalishah brought the man of God a sack of fresh grain and twenty loaves of barley bread made from the first grain of his harvest. Elisha said, “Give it to the people so they can eat.”

43 “What?” his servant exclaimed. “Feed a hundred people with only this?”

But Elisha repeated, “Give it to the people so they can eat, for this is what the LORD says: Everyone will eat, and there will even be some left over!”

44 And when they gave it to the people, there was plenty for all and some left over, just as the LORD had promised.

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.