< 2 Kings 4 >
1 And a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets has cried to Elisha, saying, “Your servant, my husband, is dead, and you have known that your servant was fearing YHWH, and the lender has come to take my two children to himself for servants.”
Now a certain woman, from the wives of the prophets, cried out to Elisha, saying: “My husband, your servant, is dead. And you know that your servant was one who fears the Lord. And behold, a creditor has arrived, so that he may take away my two sons to serve him.”
2 And Elisha says to her, “What do I do for you? Declare to me, what do you have in the house?” And she says, “Your maidservant has nothing in the house except a pot of oil.”
And Elisha said to her: “What do you want me to do for you? Tell me, what do you have in your house?” And she responded, “I, your handmaid, do not have anything in my house, except a little oil, with which I may be anointed.”
3 And he says, “Go, ask [for] vessels for yourself from outside, from all your neighbors—empty vessels—let [them] not be few;
And he said to her: “Go, ask to borrow from all your neighbors empty vessels, more than a few.
4 and you have entered, and have shut the door on you, and on your sons, and have poured it into all these vessels, and the full ones you remove.”
And enter and close your door. And when you are inside with your sons, pour from the oil into all those vessels. And when they are full, take them away.”
5 And she goes from him, and shuts the door on her, and on her sons; they are bringing [them] near to her, and she is pouring [it] out,
And so, the woman went and closed the door upon herself and her sons. They were bringing her the vessels, and she was pouring into them.
6 and it comes to pass, at the filling of the vessels, that she says to her son, “Bring another vessel near to me,” and he says to her, “There is not another vessel”; and the oil stays.
And when the vessels had been filled, she said to her son, “Bring me another a vessel.” And he responded, “I have none.” And there was oil remaining.
7 And she comes and declares [it] to the man of God, and he says, “Go, sell the oil, and repay your loan; and you [and] your sons live off the rest.”
Then she went and told the man of God. And he said: “Go, sell the oil, and repay your creditor. Then you and your sons may live on what remains.”
8 And the day comes that Elisha passes over to Shunem, and there [is] a great woman, and she lays hold on him to eat bread, and it comes to pass, at the time of his passing over, he turns aside there to eat bread,
Now it happened that, on a certain day, Elisha passed by Shunem. And there was a great woman there, who took him to eat bread. And since he frequently passed by there, he turned aside to her house, so that he might eat bread.
9 and she says to her husband, “Now behold, I have known that he is a holy man of God, passing over by us continually;
And she said to her husband: “I have noticed that he is a holy man of God, who passes by us frequently.
10 please let us make a little upper chamber of the wall, and we set for him there a bed, and a table, and a high seat, and a lampstand; and it has been, in his coming to us, he turns aside there.”
Therefore, let us prepare a small upper room for him, and place a bed in it for him, and a table, and a chair, and a lampstand, so that when he comes to us, he may stay there.”
11 And the day comes that he comes in there, and turns aside to the upper chamber, and lies there,
Then it happened that, on a certain day, arriving, he turned aside into the upper room, and he rested there.
12 and he says to his young man Gehazi, “Call for this Shunammite”; and he calls for her, and she stands before him.
And he said to his servant Gehazi, “Call this Shunammite woman.” And when he had called her, and she stood before him,
13 And he says to him, “Now say to her, Behold, you have troubled yourself concerning us with all this trouble; what can [I] do for you? Is it to speak for you to the king, or to the head of the host?” And she says, “I am dwelling in the midst of my people.”
he said to his servant: “Say to her: Behold, you have ministered to us attentively in all things. What do you want, that I might do for you? Do you have any business, or do you want me to speak to the king, or to the leader of the military?” And she responded, “I live in the midst of my own people.”
14 And he says, “And what can [I] do for her?” And Gehazi says, “Truly she has no son, and her husband [is] aged.”
And he said, “Then what does she want, that I might do for her?” And Gehazi said: “You need not ask. For she has no son, and her husband is elderly.”
15 And he says, “Call for her”; and he calls for her, and she stands at the opening,
And so, he instructed him to call her. And when she had been called, and was standing before the door,
16 and he says, “At this season, according to the time of life, you are embracing a son”; and she says, “No, my lord, O man of God, do not lie to your maidservant.”
he said to her, “At this time, and at this same hour, with life as a companion, you will have a son in your womb.” But she responded, “Do not, I ask you, my lord, a man of God, do not be willing to lie to your handmaid.”
17 And the woman conceives and bears a son, at this season, according to the time of life that Elisha spoke of to her.
And the woman conceived. And she bore a son, in the time and at the same hour as Elisha had said.
18 And the boy grows, and the day comes that he goes out to his father, to the reapers,
And the boy grew. And on a certain day, when he had gone out to his father, to the harvesters,
19 and he says to his father, “My head, my head”; and he says to the young man, “Carry him to his mother”;
he said to his father: “I have a pain in my head. I have a pain in my head.” But he said to his servant, “Take him, and lead him to his mother.”
20 and he carries him, and brings him to his mother, and he sits on her knees until the noon, and dies.
But when he had taken him, and he had led him to his mother, she placed him upon her knees, until midday, and then he died.
21 And she goes up, and lays him on the bed of the man of God, and shuts [the door] on him, and goes out,
Then she went up and laid him out on the bed of the man of God, and she closed the door. And departing,
22 and calls to her husband and says, “Please send one of the young men and one of the donkeys to me, and I run to the man of God, and return.”
she called her husband, and she said: “Send with me, I beg you, one of your servants, and a donkey, so that I may hurry to the man of God, and then return.”
23 And he says, “Why are you going to him today? [It is] neither new moon nor Sabbath!” And she says, “Peace [to you]!”
And he said to her: “What is the reason that you would go to him? Today is not the new moon, and it is not the Sabbath.” She responded, “I will go.”
24 And she saddles the donkey and says to her young man, “Lead, and go, do not restrain riding for me, except I have commanded [so] to you.”
And she saddled a donkey, and she instructed her servant: “Drive, and hurry on. You shall cause no delay for me in departing. And do whatever I instruct you to do.”
25 And she goes, and comes to the man of God, to the hill of Carmel, and it comes to pass, at the man of God’s seeing her from within view, that he says to his young man Gehazi, “Behold, this Shunammite;
And so she set out. And she came to the man of God, on mount Carmel. And when the man of God had seen her at a distance, he said to his servant Gehazi: “Behold, it is that Shunammite woman.
26 now please run to meet her, and say to her, Is there peace to you? Is there peace to your husband? Is there peace to the boy?” And she says, “Peace.”
So then, go to meet her, and say to her, ‘Does all go well concerning you, and your husband, and your son?’” And she answered, “It is well.”
27 And she comes to the man of God, to the hill, and lays hold on his feet, and Gehazi comes near to thrust her away, and the man of God says, “Leave her alone, for her soul [is] bitter to her, and YHWH has hidden [it] from me, and has not declared [it] to me.”
And when she had arrived at the man of God, on the mount, she took hold of his feet. And Gehazi drew near, so that he might remove her. But the man of God said: “Permit her. For her soul is in bitterness. And the Lord has concealed it from me, and has not revealed it to me.”
28 And she says, “Did I ask for a son from my lord? Did I not say, Do not deceive me?”
And she said to him: “Did I ask a son from my lord? Did I not say to you, ‘You should not deceive me?’”
29 And he says to Gehazi, “Gird up your loins, and take my staff in your hand, and go; when you meet a man, you do not greet him; and when a man greets you, you do not answer him; and you have laid my staff on the face of the youth.”
And so he said to Gehazi: “Gird your waist, and take my staff in your hand, and go. If any man will meet you, you shall not greet him. And if anyone greets you, you shall not respond to him. And place my staff upon the face of the boy.”
30 And the mother of the youth says, “YHWH lives, and your soul lives—if I leave you”; and he rises and goes after her.
But the mother of the boy said, “As the Lord lives, and as your soul lives, I will not release you.” Therefore, he rose up, and he followed her.
31 And Gehazi has passed on before them, and lays the staff on the face of the youth, and there is no voice, and there is no attention, and he turns back to meet him, and declares to him, saying, “The youth has not awoken.”
But Gehazi had gone before them, and he had placed the staff upon the face of the boy. And there was no voice, nor any response. And so he returned to meet him. And he reported to him, saying, “The boy did not rise up.”
32 And Elisha comes into the house, and behold, the youth is dead, laid on his bed,
Therefore, Elisha entered the house. And behold, the boy was lying dead upon his bed.
33 and he goes in and shuts the door on them both, and prays to YHWH.
And entering, he closed the door upon himself and the boy. And he prayed to the Lord.
34 And he goes up, and lies down on the boy, and puts his mouth on his mouth, and his eyes on his eyes, and his hands on his hands, and stretches himself on him, and the flesh of the boy becomes warm;
And he climbed up, and lay across the boy. And he put his mouth over his mouth, and his eyes over his eyes, and his hands over his hands. And he leaned himself over him, and the body of the boy grew warm.
35 and he turns back and walks in the house, once here and once there, and goes up and stretches himself on him, and the youth sneezes until seven times, and the youth opens his eyes.
And returning, he walked around the house, first here and then there. And he went up, and lay across him. And the boy gasped seven times, and he opened his eyes.
36 And he calls to Gehazi and says, “Call to this Shunammite”; and he calls her, and she comes to him, and he says, “Lift up your son.”
And he called Gehazi, and said to him, “Call this Shunammite woman.” And having been called, she entered to him. And he said, “Take up your son.”
37 And she goes in, and falls at his feet, and bows herself to the earth, and lifts up her son, and goes out.
She went and fell at his feet, and she reverenced upon the ground. And she took up her son, and departed.
38 And Elisha has turned back to Gilgal, and the famine [is] in the land, and the sons of the prophets are sitting before him, and he says to his young man, “Set on the great pot, and boil stew for the sons of the prophets.”
And Elisha returned to Gilgal. Now there was a famine in the land, and the sons of the prophets were living in his sight. And he said to one of his servants, “Set out a large cooking pot, and boil a soup for the sons of the prophets.”
39 And one goes out to the field to gather herbs, and finds a vine of the field, and gathers gourds of the field from it—the fullness of his garment—and comes in and splits [them] into the pot of stew, for they did not know [them];
And one went out into the field, so that he might collect wild herbs. And he found something like a wild vine, and he gathered from it bitter fruits of the field, and he filled his cloak. And returning, he cut these up for the pot of soup. But he did not know what it was.
40 and they pour out for the men to eat, and it comes to pass at their eating of the stew, that they have cried out, and say, “Death [is] in the pot, O man of God!” And they have not been able to eat.
Then they poured it out for their companions to eat. And when they had tasted the mixture, they cried out, saying, “Death is in the cooking pot, O man of God!” And they were unable to eat.
41 And he says, “Then bring a meal”; and he casts into the pot and says, “Pour out for the people, and they eat”; and there was no bad thing in the pot.
But he said, “Bring some flour.” And when they had brought it, he cast it into the cooking pot, and he said, “Pour it out for the group, so that they may eat.” And there was no longer any bitterness in the cooking pot.
42 And a man has come from Ba‘al-Shalishah, and brings to the man of God bread of first-fruits, twenty loaves of barley, and full ears of grain in its husk, and he says, “Give to the people, and they eat.”
Now a certain man arrived from Baal-Shalishah, carrying, for the man of God, bread from the first-fruits, twenty loaves of barley, and new grain in his satchel. But he said, “Give it to the people, so that they may eat.”
43 And his minister says, “How do I give this before one hundred men?” And he says, “Give to the people, and they eat, for thus said YHWH: Eat and leave”;
And his servant responded to him, “What amount is this, that I should set it before a hundred men?” But he said again: “Give it to the people, so that they may eat. For thus says the Lord, ‘They shall eat, and there shall be still more.’”
44 and he gives before them, and they eat and leave, according to the word of YHWH.
And so, he set it before them. And they ate, and there was still more, in accord with the word of the Lord.