2 Kings 4

1 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.

Now the wife of one of the sons of the prophets cried out to Elisha, “Your servant, my husband, is dead, and you know that your servant feared the LORD. And now his creditor is coming to take my two children as his slaves!”

2 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.

“How can I help you?” asked Elisha. “Tell me, what do you have in the house?” She answered, “Your servant has nothing in the house but a jar of oil.”

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

“Go,” said Elisha, “borrow jars, even empty ones, from all your neighbors. Do not gather just a few.

4 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.

Then go inside, shut the door behind you and your sons, and pour oil into all these jars, setting the full ones aside.”

5 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.

So she left him, and after she had shut the door behind her and her sons, they kept bringing jars to her, and she kept pouring.

6 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.

When all the jars were full, she said to her son, “Bring me another.” But he replied, “There are no more jars.” Then the oil stopped flowing.

7 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.

She went and told the man of God, and he said, “Go, sell the oil, and pay your debt. Then you and your sons can live on the remainder.”

8 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.

One day Elisha went to Shunem, and a prominent woman who lived there persuaded him to have a meal. So whenever he would pass by, he would stop there to eat.

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

Then the woman said to her husband, “Behold, now I know that the one who often comes our way is a holy man of God.

10 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.

Please let us make a small room upstairs and put in it a bed, a table, a chair, and a lamp for him. Then when he comes to us, he can stay there.”

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

One day Elisha came to visit and went to his upper room to lie down.

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

And he said to Gehazi his servant, “Call the Shunammite woman.” And when he had called her, she stood before him,

13 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.

and Elisha said to Gehazi, “Now tell her, ‘Look, you have gone to all this trouble for us. What can we do for you? Can we speak on your behalf to the king or the commander of the army?’” “I have a home among my own people,” she replied.

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

So he asked, “Then what should be done for her?” “Well, she has no son,” Gehazi replied, “and her husband is old.”

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

“Call her,” said Elisha. So Gehazi called her, and she stood in the doorway.

16 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.

And Elisha declared, “At this time next year, you will hold a son in your arms.” “No, my lord,” she said. “Do not lie to your maidservant, O man of God.”

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

But the woman did conceive, and at that time the next year she gave birth to a son, just as Elisha had told her.

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

And the child grew, and one day he went out to his father, who was with the harvesters.

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

“My head! My head!” he complained to his father. So his father told a servant, “Carry him to his mother.”

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

After the servant had picked him up and carried him to his mother, the boy sat on her lap until noon, and then he died.

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

And she went up and laid him on the bed of the man of God. Then she shut the door and went out.

22 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.

And the woman called her husband and said, “Please send me one of the servants and one of the donkeys, that I may go quickly to the man of God and return.”

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

“Why would you go to him today?” he replied. “It is not a New Moon or a Sabbath.” “Everything is all right,” she said.

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

Then she saddled the donkey and told her servant, “Drive onward; do not slow the pace for me unless I tell you.”

25 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:

So she set out and went to the man of God at Mount Carmel. When the man of God saw her at a distance, he said to his servant Gehazi, “Look, there is the Shunammite woman.

26 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.

Please run out now to meet her and ask, ‘Are you all right? Is your husband all right? Is your child all right?’” And she answered, “Everything is all right.”

27 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.

When she reached the man of God at the mountain, she clung to his feet. Gehazi came over to push her away, but the man of God said, “Leave her alone, for her soul is in deep distress, and the LORD has hidden it from me and has not told me.”

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

Then she said, “Did I ask you for a son, my lord? Didn’t I say, ‘Do not deceive me?’”

29 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.

So Elisha said to Gehazi, “Tie up your garment, take my staff in your hand, and go! If you meet anyone, do not greet him, and if anyone greets you, do not answer him. Then lay my staff on the boy’s face.”

30 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.

And the mother of the boy said, “As surely as the LORD lives and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So he got up and followed her.

31 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.

Gehazi went on ahead of them and laid the staff on the boy’s face, but there was no sound or response. So he went back to meet Elisha and told him, “The boy has not awakened.”

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

When Elisha reached the house, there was the boy lying dead on his bed.

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

So he went in, closed the door behind the two of them, and prayed to the LORD.

34 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.

Then Elisha got on the bed and lay on the boy, mouth to mouth, eye to eye, and hand to hand. As he stretched himself out over him, the boy’s body became warm.

35 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.

Elisha turned away and paced back and forth across the room. Then he got on the bed and stretched himself out over the boy again, and the boy sneezed seven times and opened his eyes.

36 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.

Elisha summoned Gehazi and said, “Call the Shunammite woman.” So he called her and she came. Then Elisha said, “Pick up your son.”

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

She came in, fell at his feet, and bowed to the ground. Then she picked up her son and went out.

38 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.

When Elisha returned to Gilgal, there was a famine in the land. As the sons of the prophets were sitting at his feet, he said to his attendant, “Put on the large pot and boil some stew for the sons of the prophets.”

39 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.

One of them went out to the field to gather herbs, and he found a wild vine from which he gathered as many wild gourds as his garment could hold. Then he came back and cut them up into the pot of stew, though no one knew what they were.

40 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].

And they poured it out for the men to eat, but when they tasted the stew they cried out, “There is death in the pot, O man of God!” And they could not eat it.

41 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.

Then Elisha said, “Get some flour.” He threw it into the pot and said, “Pour it out for the people to eat.” And there was nothing harmful in the pot.

42 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.

Now a man from Baal-shalishah came to the man of God with a sack of twenty loaves of barley bread from the first ripe grain. “Give it to the people to eat,” said Elisha.

43 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.

But his servant asked, “How am I to set twenty loaves before a hundred men?” “Give it to the people to eat,” said Elisha, “for this is what the LORD says: ‘They will eat and have some left over.’”

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

So he set it before them, and they ate and had some left over, according to the word of the LORD.