2 Kings 4
1 One day the widow of one of [Yahweh’s] prophets came to Elisha and cried out to him, “My husband, who worked with you, is dead. You know that he revered Yahweh [very much]. But now a man to whom he owed a lot of money has come to me. [And because I cannot pay back the money, he is threatening] to take away my two sons to be his slaves [as payment for what I owe him]!”
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.”
2 Elisha replied, “What can I do to help you? Tell me, what do you have in your house?” She replied, “We have only a container of [olive] oil; we have nothing else.”
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.”
3 Elisha said, “Go to your neighbors and borrow from them as many empty jars as you can.
And he says, “Go, ask [for] vessels for yourself from outside, from all your neighbors—empty vessels—let [them] not be few;
4 Then take the jars into your house with your sons. Shut the door. Then pour olive oil from your container into the other jars. When each jar is full, set it aside [and fill another jar. Keep doing that until all the jars are full].”
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.”
5 [So she did what Elisha told her to do]. Her sons kept bringing jars to her, and she kept filling them.
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,
6 Soon all the jars were full. So she said to one of her sons, “Bring me another jar!” But he replied, “There are no more jars!” And then the olive oil stopped flowing.
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.
7 When she told Elijah [what had happened], he said to her, “Now sell the jars of oil. And [with the money you get, ] pay what you owe, and there will be enough extra money to keep buying food for yourself and your sons.” [So she did that].
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.”
8 One day Elisha went to Shunem [town]. There was a wealthy woman who lived there [with her husband]. One day she invited Elisha to her house for a meal. [Elisha went there and] from then on, every time Elisha was in Shunem, he went to their house to eat a meal.
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,
9 One day the woman said to her husband, “I am sure that this man who often comes here is a prophet [who brings messages] from God.
and she says to her husband, “Now behold, I have known that he is a holy man of God, passing over by us continually;
10 I think we should make a small room for him on our [flat] roof, and put a bed, a table, a chair, and a lamp in it. If we do that, whenever he comes here, he will have a place to stay.” [So they did that].
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.”
11 One day Elisha returned to Shunem, and he went up to that room to rest.
And the day comes that he comes in there, and turns aside to the upper chamber, and lies there,
12 He said to his servant Gehazi, “Tell the woman that I want to speak to her.” [So the servant went and told her]. When she came [to the doorway of Elisha’s room],
and he says to his young man Gehazi, “Call for this Shunammite”; and he calls for her, and she stands before him.
13 Elisha said to Gehazi, “Tell her that we both appreciate all the kind things that she has done for us. Then ask her what we can do for her. Ask, ‘Do you want [me to go to] the king or the army commander, to request something for you?’” [Gehazi told her, ] and she replied, “No, [he does not need to do that, because] my family/relatives are able to give me what I need.”
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.”
14 [Later, ] Elisha asked Gehazi, “What do you think that we can do for that woman?” He replied, “She does not have a son, and her husband is an old man. [So maybe we should ask Yahweh to enable her to have a son].”
And he says, “And what can [I] do for her?” And Gehazi says, “Truly she has no son, and her husband [is] aged.”
15 Elisha told Gehazi, “Call her back again.” [So Gehazi went and called her]. And when the woman returned, as she stood in the doorway,
And he says, “Call for her”; and he calls for her, and she stands at the opening,
16 Elisha said to her, “About this time next year you will be holding your [infant] son in your arms.” But she protested, “O, sir, you are a prophet [who brings messages] from God, so please do not deceive/lie to me by saying things like that!”
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.”
17 But a few months later, the woman became pregnant, and she gave birth to a son at that time the following year, just like Elisha had predicted.
And the woman conceives and bears a son, at this season, according to the time of life that Elisha spoke of to her.
18 When the child was older, one day he went out to the fields to see his father, who was [working] with the men who were harvesting [grain].
And the boy grows, and the day comes that he goes out to his father, to the reapers,
19 [Suddenly] the boy exclaimed, “My head [hurts]! My head [hurts a lot]!” His father said to one of the servants, “Carry him home to his mother!”
and he says to his father, “My head, my head”; and he says to the young man, “Carry him to his mother”;
20 So the servant carried him home, and his mother held him on her lap. But at noontime the boy died.
and he carries him, and brings him to his mother, and he sits on her knees until the noon, and dies.
21 She carried him up [the steps] to the prophet’s room and laid him on the bed. She left him there and went out and shut the door.
And she goes up, and lays him on the bed of the man of God, and shuts [the door] on him, and goes out,
22 She then called out to her husband, saying, “Send to me one of the servants and a donkey, so that I can ride [on it] quickly to the prophet, and then come back!” [But she did not tell her husband that their son had died].
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.”
23 Her husband [called out to her and] said, “Why [do you want to go] today? This is not the day when we celebrate the Festival of the New Moon, and it is not a Sabbath day!” But she only replied, “[Just do what I requested and] everything will be all right.”
And he says, “Why are you going to him today? [It is] neither new moon nor Sabbath!” And she says, “Peace [to you]!”
24 So she [told the servant to] put saddles on [two] donkeys, and as they left, she said, “Hurry! Do not slow down unless t tell you to do that!”
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.”
25 As they approached Carmel Mountain, where Elisha was, Elisha saw her in the distance. He said to Gehazi, “Look, the woman from Shunem is coming!
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;
26 Run to her, and ask her if everything is all right with her and her husband and with her child!” [So Gehazi ran to her and asked her, but she did not tell Gehazi anything.] She only said, “Yes, everything is fine.”
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.”
27 But when she came to where Elisha was, she [prostrated herself on the ground in front of Elisha and] took hold of his feet. Gehazi started to push her away, but Elisha said, “(Do not push her away/Leave her alone)! Something is troubling her very much, but Yahweh has not told me what it is.”
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.”
28 Then she said to Elisha, “O, sir, I did not ask you to enable me to give birth to a son [RHQ]. And I told you not to lie to me about that!” [RHQ]
And she says, “Did I ask for a son from my lord? Did I not say, Do not deceive me?”
29 Then Elisha [realized that something must have happened to her son. So he] said to Gehazi, “Get ready [to leave immediately]. Take my staff/walking stick and go [to her home]. Do not [stop to] talk to anyone on the way. Go quickly [to where her son is] and lay the staff on the child’s face. [If you do that, perhaps Yahweh will enable him to be well].”
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.”
30 But the boy’s mother said, “Just [as certain] as Yahweh lives and you live, I will not go home if you do not go with me.” So Elisha returned with her [to her home].
And the mother of the youth says, “YHWH lives, and your soul lives—if I leave you”; and he rises and goes after her.
31 Gehazi hurried quickly, and [when he got to the woman’s home, ] he laid the staff/walking stick on the child’s face, but the child did not move or say anything. So Gehazi returned to meet Elisha [along the road], and told him, “The child is still dead.”
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.”
32 When Elisha reached the house, he saw that the boy was lying dead on his bed.
And Elisha comes into the house, and behold, the youth is dead, laid on his bed,
33 Elisha went into the room by himself and shut the door and prayed to Yahweh.
and he goes in and shuts the door on them both, and prays to YHWH.
34 Then he lay down on the boy’s body, and put his mouth on the boy’s mouth, and put his eyes on the boy’s eyes, and put his hands on the boy’s hands. Then the boy’s body started to become warm!
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;
35 Elisha got up and walked back and forth in the room [several times]. Then he stretched his body on the boy’s body again. The boy sneezed seven times and opened his eyes!
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.
36 Then Elisha summoned Gehazi. He said, “Call the boy’s mother!” [So Gehazi went and called her, ] and when she came in, Elisha said, “Here, take your son!”
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.”
37 She [gratefully] prostrated herself at Elisha’s feet. Then she picked up her son and carried him downstairs.
And she goes in, and falls at his feet, and bows herself to the earth, and lifts up her son, and goes out.
38 Then Elisha returned to Gilgal. But at that time there was (a famine/very little food) in that area. One day as the group of prophets was sitting in front of Elisha [listening to what he was teaching], he said to his servant, “Put a large pot on [the stove] and make some stew for these men.”
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.”
39 One of the prophets went out to the fields to gather some vegetables. But he gathered [only] some wild gourds and put them in his cloak and brought them back. He shredded them and put them in the pot, but he did not know that the gourds were poisonous.
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];
40 He served the stew to the prophets, but after the men had eaten only a couple bites, they cried out, “Elisha, there is something in the pot that will kill us!” So they would not eat it.
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.
41 Elisha said, “Bring me some flour.” [They brought him some, and] he threw it in the pot and he said, “It is all right now. You can eat it.” And they ate it, and it did not harm them.
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.
42 One day a man from Baal-Shalishah [town] brought to Elisha a sack of freshly cut grain and 20 loaves of barley bread, made from the first grain that they harvested [that year]. Elisha said [to his servant], “Give it to the group of prophets, so that they can eat it.”
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.”
43 But his servant exclaimed, “Do you think that we can feed 100 of us prophets with only that much?” [RHQ] But Elisha replied, “Give it to the prophets so that they can eat it, because Yahweh says that there will be plenty for all of them, and there will be some left over!”
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”;
44 After his servant gave it to the prophets, they ate [all that they wanted], and there was food left over, just as Yahweh had promised.
and he gives before them, and they eat and leave, according to the word of YHWH.
