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 there cried a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets to Elisha, saying, Thy servant my husband is dead; and thou knowest that thy servant feared the LORD: and the creditor hath come to take to my two sons to be his slaves.

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 shall I do for thee? tell me, what hast thou in the house? And she said, Thy handmaid hath not any thing in the house, except 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;

Then he said, Go, borrow thee vessels abroad of all thy neighbours, even empty vessels; borrow not 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 when thou hast come in, thou shalt shut the door upon thee and upon thy sons, and shalt pour out into all those vessels, and thou shalt set aside that which is full.

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 shut the door upon her and upon her sons, who brought the vessels 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 to her son, Bring me yet a vessel. And he said to her, There is not a vessel more. And the oil stopped flowing.

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 came and told the man of God. And he said, Go, sell the oil, and pay thy debt, and live thou and thy children on 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 fell on a day, that Elisha passed to Shunem, where was a great woman; and she constrained him to eat bread. And so it was, that as oft as he passed by, he turned in there 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 to her husband, Behold now, I perceive that this is an holy man of God, who passeth 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 make a little chamber, I pray thee, with walls; and let us set for him there a bed, and a table, and a stool, and a lampstand: and it shall be, when he cometh to us, that he shall turn in there.

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

And it fell on a day, that he came there, and he turned into the 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 Gehazi his servant, Call this Shunammite. And when he had called her, 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 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 answered, I dwell among 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 Gehazi answered, Verily she hath no child, 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 when he had called her, 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, About this season, next year, thou shalt embrace a son. And she said, Nay, my lord, thou man of God, do not lie to thy 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 bore a son at that season that Elisha had said to her, according to the set time.

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

And when the child was grown, it happened on a 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 to 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 when he had taken him, and brought him to his mother, he sat on her knees till noon, and then 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 shut the door upon 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 to her husband, and said, Send me, I pray thee, one of the young men, and one of the donkeys, that I may run to the man of God, and come again.

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, Why wilt thou go to him to day? it is neither new moon, nor sabbath. And she said, It shall be 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 a donkey, and said to her servant, Drive, and go forward; slack not thy riding for me, except I bid 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 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, yonder is 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.”

Run now, I pray thee, to meet her, and say to her, Is it well with thee? is it well with thy husband? is it well with the 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 when she came to the man of God to the hill, she caught him by the feet: but Gehazi came near to thrust her away. And the man of God said, Let her alone; for her soul is sorrowful within her: and the LORD hath hid it from me, and hath not told me.

28 And she says, “Did I ask for a son from my lord? Did I not say, Do not deceive me?”

Then she said, Did I ask a son from my lord? did I not say, Do 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.”

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

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 child 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 Gehazi passed on before them, and laid the staff upon the face of the child; but there was neither voice, nor hearing. Therefore he went again to meet him, and told him, saying, The child is not awakened.

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

And when Elisha had come into the house, behold, the child was dead, and laid upon his bed.

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

He went in therefore, and shut the door upon them both, and 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 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 he stretched himself upon the child; 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 upon him: and the child sneezed seven times, and the child 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, Call this Shunammite. So he called her. And when she had come in to him, 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 she went 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 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 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 from it wild gourds his lap full, and came and shred them 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.

So 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, O thou man of God, there is death in the pot. And they could not eat of it.

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 meal. And he cast it into the pot; and he said, Pour out for the people, that they may eat. And there was no harm 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 Baalshalisha, and brought the man of God bread of the firstfruits, twenty loaves of barley, and full ears of grain in its husk. And he said, Give to 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 servant said, What, should I set this before an hundred men? He said again, Give the people, that they may eat: for thus saith the LORD, They shall eat, and shall have some left.

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 some, according to the word of the LORD.