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 certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets hath cried unto Elisha, saying, 'Thy servant, my husband, is dead, and thou hast known that thy servant was fearing Jehovah, and the lender hath come to take my two children to him for servants.'

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 saith unto her, 'What do I do for thee? declare to me, what hast thou in the house?' and she saith, 'Thy maid-servant hath nothing in the house except 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 saith, 'Go, ask for thee vessels from without, from all thy neighbours — empty vessels — let [them] 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 thou hast entered, and shut the door upon thee, and upon thy sons, and hast poured out into all these vessels, and the full ones thou dost remove.'

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 goeth from him, and shutteth the door upon her, and upon her sons; they are bringing nigh unto her, and she is pouring 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 cometh to pass, at the filling of the vessels, that she saith unto her son, 'Bring nigh unto me a vessel more,' and he saith unto her, 'There is not a vessel more;' and the oil stayeth.

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 cometh and declareth to the man of God, and he saith, 'Go, sell the oil, and repay thy loan; and thou [and] thy sons do live of 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 the day cometh that Elisha passeth over unto Shunem, and there [is] a great woman, and she layeth hold on him to eat bread, and it cometh to pass, at the time of his passing over, he turneth aside 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 saith unto her husband, 'Lo, I pray thee, I have known that a holy man of God he is, passing over 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 little upper chamber of the wall, and we set for him there a bed, and a table, and a high seat, and a candlestick; and it hath been, in his coming in unto us, he doth turn aside thither.'

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

And the day cometh, that he cometh in thither, and turneth aside unto the upper chamber, and lieth 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 saith unto Gehazi his young man, 'Call for this Shunammite;' and he calleth for her, and she standeth 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 saith to him, 'Say, I pray thee, unto her, Lo, thou hast troubled thyself concerning us with all this trouble; what — to do for thee? is it to speak for thee unto the king, or unto the head of the host?' and she saith, 'In the midst of my people I am dwelling.'

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 saith, 'And what — to do for her?' and Gehazi saith, 'Verily she hath no son, and her husband [is] aged.'

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

And he saith, 'Call for her;' and he calleth for her, and she standeth at the opening,

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 saith, 'At this season, according to the time of life, thou art embracing a son;' and she saith, 'Nay, my lord, O man of God, do not lie unto thy maid-servant.'

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 conceiveth and beareth a son, at this season, according to the time of life, that Elisha spake of unto 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 lad groweth, and the day cometh that he goeth out unto his father, unto 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 saith unto his father, 'My head, my head;' and he saith unto the young man, 'Bear him unto 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 beareth him, and bringeth him in unto his mother, and he sitteth on her knees till the noon, and dieth.

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 goeth up, and layeth him on the bed of the man of God, and shutteth [the door] upon him, and goeth 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 calleth unto her husband, and saith, 'Send, I pray thee, to me, one of the young men, and one of the asses, and I run unto the man of God, and return.'

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 saith, 'Wherefore art thou going unto him to-day? — neither new moon nor sabbath!' and she saith, 'Peace [to thee]!'

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

And she saddleth the ass, and saith unto her young man, 'Lead, and go, do not restrain riding for me, except I have said [so] to 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 goeth, and cometh in unto the man of God, unto the hill of Carmel, and it cometh to pass, at the man of God's seeing her from over-against, that he saith unto Gehazi his young man, 'Lo, this 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.

now, run, I pray thee, to meet her, and say to her, Is there peace to thee? is there peace to thy husband? is there peace to the lad?' and she saith, 'Peace.'

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 cometh in unto the man of God, unto the hill, and layeth hold on his feet, and Gehazi cometh nigh to thrust her away, and the man of God saith, 'Let her alone, for her soul [is] bitter to her, and Jehovah hath hidden [it] from me, and hath not declared [it] to 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 saith, 'Did I ask a son from 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 saith to Gehazi, 'Gird up thy loins, and take my staff in thy hand, and go; when thou dost meet a man, thou dost not salute him; and when a man doth salute thee, thou dost not answer him; and thou hast laid my staff on the face of the youth.'

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 youth saith, 'Jehovah liveth, and thy soul liveth — if I leave thee;' and he riseth and goeth after 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 hath passed on before them, and layeth the staff on the face of the youth, and there is no voice, and there is no attention, and he turneth back to meet him, and declareth to him, saying, 'The youth hath not awaked.'

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

And Elisha cometh in to the house, and lo, the youth is dead, laid on his bed,

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

and he goeth in and shutteth the door upon them both, and prayeth unto 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 goeth up, and lieth down on the lad, and putteth his mouth on his mouth, and his eyes on his eyes, and his hands on his hands, and stretcheth himself upon him, and the flesh of the lad becometh 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 turneth back and walketh in the house, once hither and once thither, and goeth up and stretcheth himself upon him, and the youth sneezeth till seven times, and the youth openeth 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 calleth unto Gehazi, and saith, 'Call unto this Shunammite;' and he calleth her, and she cometh in unto him, and he saith, 'Lift 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 goeth in, and falleth at his feet, and boweth herself to the earth, and lifteth up her son, and goeth 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 hath turned back to Gilgal, and the famine [is] in the land, and the sons of the prophets are sitting before him, and he saith to his young man, '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.

And one goeth out unto the field to gather herbs, and findeth a vine of the field, and gathereth of it gourds of the field — the fulness of his garment — and cometh in and splitteth [them] into the pot of pottage, for they knew [them] not;

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 pour out for the men to eat, and it cometh to pass at their eating of the pottage, that they have cried out, and say, 'Death [is] in the pot, O man of God!' and they have not been able to eat.

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 saith, 'Then bring ye meal;' and he casteth into the pot, and saith, 'Pour out for the people, and they eat;' and there was no evil thing 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 a man hath come from Baal-Shalishah, and bringeth in to the man of God bread of first-fruits, twenty loaves of barley, and full ears of corn in its husk, and he saith, 'Give to the people, and they 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 minister saith, 'What — do I give this before a hundred men?' and he saith, 'Give to the people, and they eat, for thus said Jehovah, Eat and leave;'

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 giveth before them, and they eat and leave, according to the word of Jehovah.