2 Kings 4

1 Now a certain woman, the wife of one of the sons of the prophets, came crying to Elisha and said, Your servant my husband is dead; and to your knowledge he was a worshipper of the Lord; but now, the creditor has come to take my two children as servants in payment of his debt.

And a woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets cried to Elisha saying, Thy servant my husband is dead, and thou knowest that thy servant feared Jehovah; and the creditor is come to take my two children to be bondmen.

2 Then Elisha said to her, What am I to do for you? say now, what have you in the house? And she said, Your servant has nothing in the house but a pot of oil.

And Elisha said to her, What shall I do for thee? Tell me, what hast thou in the house? And she said, Thy handmaid has not anything at all in the house but a pot of oil.

3 Then he said, Go out to all your neighbours and get vessels, a very great number of them.

And he said, Go, borrow for thyself vessels abroad from all thy neighbours, empty vessels; let it not be few;

4 Then go in, and, shutting the door on yourself and your sons, put oil into all these vessels, putting on one side the full ones.

and go in, and shut the door upon thee and upon thy sons, and pour out into all those vessels, and set aside what is full.

5 So she went away, and when the door was shut on her and her sons, they took the vessels to her and she put oil into them.

And she went from him, and shut the door upon her and upon her sons: they brought [the vessels] to her, and she poured out.

6 And when all the vessels were full, she said to her son, Get me another vessel. And he said, There are no more. And the flow of oil was stopped.

And it came to pass when the vessels were full, that she said to her son, Bring me yet a vessel. And he said to her, There is not a vessel more. And the oil stayed.

7 So she came to the man of God and gave him word of what she had done. And he said, Go and get money for the oil and make payment of your debt, and let the rest be for the needs of yourself and your sons.

And she came and told the man of God; and he said, Go, sell the oil, and pay thy debt, and live thou [and] thy sons on the rest.

8 Now there came a day when Elisha went to Shunem, and there was a woman of high position living there, who made him come in and have a meal with her. And after that, every time he went by, he went into her house for a meal.

And it came to pass on a day, that Elisha passed to Shunem, where was a wealthy woman; and she constrained him to eat bread. And so it was, [that] as oft as he passed by, he turned in thither to eat bread.

9 And she said to her husband, Now I see that this is a holy man of God, who comes by day after day.

And she said to her husband, Behold now, I perceive that this is a holy man of God, who passes by us continually.

10 So let us make a little room on the wall; and put a bed there for him, and a table and a seat and a light; so that when he comes to us, he will be able to go in there.

Let us make, I pray thee, a small upper chamber with walls, and let us set for him there a bed, and a table, and a seat, and a lampstand; and it shall be when he cometh to us, he shall turn in thither.

11 Now one day, when he had gone there, he went into the little room and took his rest there.

And it came to pass on a day, that he came thither, and he turned into the upper chamber, and lay there.

12 And he said to Gehazi, his servant, Send for this Shunammite. So in answer to his voice she came before him.

And he said to Gehazi his servant, Call this Shunammite. And he called her, and she stood before him.

13 And he said to him, Now say to her, See, you have taken all this trouble for us; what is to be done for you? will you have any request made for you to the king or the captain of the army? But she said, I am living among my people.

And he said to him, Say now to her, Behold, thou hast been careful for us with all this care; what is to be done for thee? wouldest thou be spoken for to the king, or to the captain of the host? And she said, I dwell among mine own people.

14 So he said, What then is to be done for her? And Gehazi made answer, Still there is this, she has no son and her husband is old.

And he said, What then is to be done for her? And Gehazi said, Verily, she has no son, and her husband is old.

15 Then he said, Send for her. And in answer to his voice she took her place at the door.

And he said, Call her; and he called her; and she stood in the doorway.

16 And Elisha said, At this time in the coming year you will have a son in your arms. And she said, No, my lord, O man of God, do not say what is false to your servant.

And he said, At this appointed time, when thy term is come, thou shalt embrace a son. And she said, No, my lord, man of God, do not lie to thy handmaid.

17 Then the woman became with child and gave birth to a son at the time named, in the year after, as Elisha had said to her.

And the woman conceived, and bore a son at that appointed time in the next year as Elisha had said to her.

18 Now one day, when the child was older, he went out to his father to where the grain was being cut.

And the child grew, and it came to pass one day, that he went out to his father to the reapers.

19 And he said to his father, My head, my head! And the father said to a servant, Take him in to his mother.

And he said to his father, My head, my head! And he said to the servant, Carry him to his mother.

20 And he took him in to his mother, and she took him on her knees and kept him there till the middle of the day, when his life went from him.

And he carried him, and brought him to his mother; and he sat on her knees till noon, and died.

21 Then she went up and put him on the bed of the man of God, shutting the door on him, and went out.

And she went up, and laid him on the bed of the man of God, and shut [the door] upon him, and went out.

22 And she said to her husband, Send me one of the servants and one of the asses so that I may go quickly to the man of God and come back again.

And she called to her husband, and said, Send me, I pray thee, one of the young men, and one of the asses, and I will run to the man of God, and come again.

23 And he said, Why are you going to him today? it is not a new moon or a Sabbath. But she said, It is well.

And he said, Why wilt thou go to him to-day? It is neither new moon nor sabbath. And she said, [It is] well.

24 Then she made the ass ready and said to her servant, Keep driving on; do not make a stop without orders from me.

Then she saddled the ass, and said to her servant, Drive and go forward; slack not the riding for me, except I bid thee.

25 So she went, and came to Mount Carmel, to the man of God. And when the man of God saw her coming in his direction, he said to Gehazi, his servant, See, there is the Shunammite;

And she went and came to the man of God, to mount Carmel. And it came to pass when the man of God saw her afar off, that he said to Gehazi his servant, Behold, there is the Shunammite:

26 Go quickly to her, and on meeting her say to her, Are you well? and your husband and the child, are they well? And she said in answer, All is well.

run now, I pray thee, to meet her, and say unto her, Is it well with thee? is it well with thy husband? is it well with the child? And she said, It is well.

27 And when she came to where the man of God was on the hill, she put her hands round his feet; and Gehazi came near with the purpose of pushing her away; but the man of God said, Let her be, for her soul is bitter in her; and the Lord has kept it secret from me, and has not given me word of it.

And she came to the man of God to the mountain, and caught him by the feet; and Gehazi drew near to thrust her away; but the man of God said, Let her alone, for her soul is troubled within her, and Jehovah has hidden it from me, and has not told me.

28 Then she said, Did I make a request to my lord for a son? did I not say, Do not give me false words?

And she said, Did I desire a son of my lord? did I not say, Do not deceive me?

29 Then he said to Gehazi, Make yourself ready, and take my stick in your hand, and go: if you come across anyone on the way, give him no blessing, and if anyone gives you a blessing, give him no answer. And put my stick on the child's face.

And he said to Gehazi, Gird up thy loins, and take my staff in thy hand, and go thy way. If thou meet any man, salute him not, and if any salute thee, answer him not again; and lay my staff upon the face of the lad.

30 But the mother of the child said, As the Lord is living and as your soul is living, I will not go back without you. So he got up and went with her.

And the mother of the lad said, As Jehovah liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee! And he rose up and followed her.

31 And Gehazi went on before them and put the stick on the child's face; but there was no voice, and no one gave attention. So he went back, and meeting him gave him the news, saying, The child is not awake.

And Gehazi passed on before them, and laid the staff upon the face of the lad; but there was neither voice, nor sign of attention. And he returned to meet him, and told him saying, The lad is not awaked.

32 And when Elisha came into the house he saw the child dead, stretched on his bed.

And when Elisha came into the house, behold, the child was dead, [and] laid upon his bed.

33 So he went in, and shutting the door on the two of them, made prayer to the Lord.

And he went in and shut the door upon them both, and prayed to Jehovah.

34 Then he got up on the bed, stretching himself out on the child, and put his mouth on the child's mouth, his eyes on his eyes and his hands on his hands; and the child's body became warm.

And he went up, and lay upon the child, and put his mouth upon his mouth, and his eyes upon his eyes, and his hands upon his hands, and bent over him; and the flesh of the child grew warm.

35 Then he came back, and after walking once through the house and back, he went up, stretching himself out on the child seven times; and the child's eyes became open.

And he returned, and walked in the house to and fro; and went up, and bent over him. And the lad sneezed seven times, and the lad opened his eyes.

36 And he gave orders to Gehazi, and said, Send for the Shunammite. And she came in answer to his voice. And he said, Take up your son.

And he called Gehazi, and said, Call this Shunammite. And he called her; and she came to him. And he said, Take up thy son.

37 And she came in, and went down on her face to the earth at his feet; then she took her son in her arms and went out.

And she came and fell at his feet, and bowed herself to the ground; and she took up her son, and went out.

38 And Elisha went back to Gilgal, now there was very little food in the land; and the sons of the prophets were seated before him. And he said to his servant, Put the great pot on the fire, and make soup for the sons of the prophets.

And Elisha came again to Gilgal. And there was a famine in the land; and the sons of the prophets were sitting before him. And he said to his servant, Set on the great pot, and boil pottage for the sons of the prophets.

39 And one went out into the field to get green plants and saw a vine of the field, and pulling off the fruit of it till the fold of his robe was full, he came back and put the fruit, cut up small, into the pot of soup, having no idea what it was.

Then one went out into the field to gather herbs, and found a wild vine, and gathered from it his lap full of wild colocynths, and came and shred them into the pot of pottage; for they did not know them.

40 Then they gave the men soup from the pot. And while they were drinking the soup, they gave a cry, and said, O man of God, there is death in the pot; and they were not able to take any more food.

And they poured out for the men to eat. And it came to pass, as they were eating of the pottage, that they cried out and said, Man of God, there is death in the pot! And they could not eat [it].

41 But he said, Get some meal. And he put it into the pot, and said, Now give it to the people so that they may have food. And there was nothing bad in the pot.

And he said, Then bring meal. And he cast [it] into the pot, and said, Pour out for the people, that they may eat. And there was no harm in the pot.

42 Now a man came from Baal-shalishah with an offering of first-fruits for the man of God, twenty barley cakes and garden fruit in his bag. And he said, Give these to the people for food.

And there came a man from Baal-shalishah, and brought the man of God bread of the first-fruits, twenty loaves of barley, and fresh ears of corn in his sack. And he said, Give to the people that they may eat.

43 But his servant said, How am I to put this before a hundred men? But he said, Give it to the people for food; for the Lord says, There will be food for them and some over.

And his attendant said, How shall I set this before a hundred men? And he said, Give the people that they may eat; for thus saith Jehovah: They shall eat, and shall have to spare.

44 So he put it before them, and they had a meal and there was more than enough, as the Lord had said.

And he set [it] before them, and they ate and left [thereof], according to the word of Jehovah.