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.”

And a certain woman, of the wives of the sons of the prophets cried unto Elisha', saying, Thy servant my husband is dead; and thou well knowest that thy servant was one who feared the Lord: and now the creditor is come to take my two sons unto himself for servants.

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 unto her, What shall I do for thee? tell me, what hast thou in the house? And she said, Thy hand-maid hath nothing in the house, save a pot of oil.

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, Go, borrow for thyself vessels from abroad from all thy neighbors, empty vessels, let them not be 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 then go home, and lock the door behind thee and behind thy sons, and then pour out into all those vessels; and that which is full thou shalt set aside.

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,

So she went from him, and locked the door behind her and behind her sons, who brought the vessels near to her, and she poured out.

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

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 came she and told it to the man of God; and he said, Go, sell the oil, and pay thy debt, and thou with thy children shalt live of the rest.

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,

And it happened one day, that Elisha' passed over to Shunem, and there was a great woman, and she constrained him to eat bread; and it happened, that as oft as he passed by, he used to turn in thither to 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 unto her husband, Behold now, I perceive that this is a holy man of God, who passeth through by us continually.

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.”

Let us then make a little upper chamber, on the wall; and let us set for him there a bed, and a table, and a chair, and a candlestick: and it shall be, when he cometh to us, that he shall turn in thither.

11 And the day comes that he comes in there, and turns aside to the upper chamber, and lies there,

And it happened one day, that he came thither, and he turned into the upper chamber, and lay 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 Gechazi his servant, Call this Shunammite: and he 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.”

And he said unto him, Say now unto her, Behold, thou hast been at pains to take all this trouble for us: what is to be done for thee? wouldst thou be spoken for to the king, or to the chief of the army? And she said, I dwell 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, What then is to be done for her? And Gechazi said, Verily, she hath no son, and her husband is old.

15 And he says, “Call for her”; and he calls for her, and she stands at the opening,

And he said, Call her: and he called her, and she stood in 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.”

And he said, At this season, next year, thou shalt embrace a son. And she said, No, my Lord, man of God, do not deceive thy hand-maid.

17 And the woman conceives and bears a son, at this season, according to the time of life that Elisha spoke of to her.

But the woman conceived, and bore a son at that season in the following year, as Elisha' had spoken unto her.

18 And the boy grows, and the day comes that he goes out to his father, to the reapers,

And the child grew up; and it happened one day, that he went out to his father to the reapers.

19 and he says to his father, “My head, my head”; and he says to the young man, “Carry him to his mother”;

And he said unto his father, My head, my head: and he said to a lad, Carry 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.

And he took him up, and brought him to his mother, and he sat on her knees till noon, when 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,

And she went up, and laid him on the bed of the man of God, and locked the door behind him, and went out.

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.”

And she called unto her husband, and said, Send me, I pray thee, one of the young men, and one of the she-asses, that I may hasten as far as the man of God, and 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, Wherefore art thou going to him today? it is neither new moon, nor sabbath. And she said, It is well.

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.”

Then she saddled the she-ass, and said to her servant, Drive, and go forward; do not restrain me in riding, unless I say it to thee.

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;

So she went and came unto 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 Gechazi his servant, Behold, yonder that Shunammite.

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.”

Now do run to meet her, and say unto her, Is it well with thee? is it well with thy husband? is it well with thy child? 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 she came to the man of God to the mount, and caught hold of his feet; and Gechazi came near to thrust her away; but the man of God said, Let her alone; for her soul is grieved within her; and the Lord hath hidden it from me, and hath not told it 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, Did I request a son from my Lord? did I not say, Do not lead me astray?

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.”

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

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.

And the mother of the lad said, As the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. And he arose and 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.”

And Gechazi passed on before them, and laid the staff upon the face of the lad; but there was neither voice, nor perceptible sound; wherefore he went back to meet him, and told him, saying, The lad is not awakened.

32 And Elisha comes into the house, and behold, the youth is dead, laid on his bed,

And when Elisha' was come into the house, behold, the lad was dead, laid upon his bed.

33 and he goes in and shuts the door on them both, and prays to YHWH.

And he went in and locked the door behind both of them, and prayed unto 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 went up, and laid himself upon the child, and put his mouth upon his mouth, and his eyes upon his eyes, and his hands upon his hands; and he stretched himself upon him: and the flesh of the child became 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.

Then he returned, and walked in the house to and fro; and went up, and stretched himself [again] upon him; and the lad sneezed as many as seven times, and the lad 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 Gechazi, and said, Call this Shunammite: so he called her, and she came in unto him; and he said, Take up thy 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.

Then went she in, and fell at his feet, and bowed herself to the ground, and took up her son, and went out.

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; and there was a famine in the land; and the sons of the prophets were sitting before him: and he said unto his servant, Set on the large pot, and seethe pottage 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 to gather herbs, and found a wild vine, and gathered thereof wild colocynths his garment full, and came and cut them up into the pot of pottage; for they knew them not.

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.

And they poured it out for the men to eat; and it came to pass, as they were eating of the pottage, that they cried out, and said, Death is in the pot, O man of God. And they could not 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, Then bring some meal. And he cast it into the pot; and he said, Pour it out for the people, that they may eat. And there was nothing bad in the 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.”

And there came a man from Ba'alshalishah, and brought unto the man of God bread of the first-fruits, twenty loaves of barley bread, and fresh ears of corn in his scrip: and he said, Give it unto the people, 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 servitor said, What, shall I set this before a hundred men? And he said, Give it unto the people, that they may eat; for thus hath said the Lord, They shall eat, and shall leave [thereof].

44 and he gives before them, and they eat and leave, according to the word of YHWH.

So he set it before them, and they ate, and left thereof, according to the word of the Lord.