2 Kings 4:18-5:27

New International Version

¹⁸The child grew, and one day he went out to his father, who was with the reapers.^(A) ¹⁹He said to his father, “My head! My head!”

His father told a servant, “Carry him to his mother.” ²⁰After the servant had lifted him up and carried him to his mother, the boy sat on her lap until noon, and then he died. ²¹She went up and laid him on the bed^(B) of the man of God, then shut the door and went out.

²²She called her husband and said, “Please send me one of the servants and a donkey so I can go to the man of God quickly and return.”

²³“Why go to him today?” he asked. “It’s not the New Moon^(C) or the Sabbath.”

“That’s all right,” she said.

²⁴She saddled the donkey and said to her servant, “Lead on; don’t slow down for me unless I tell you.” ²⁵So she set out and came to the man of God at Mount Carmel.^(D)

When he saw her in the distance, the man of God said to his servant Gehazi, “Look! There’s the Shunammite! ²⁶Run to meet her and ask her, ‘Are you all right? Is your husband all right? Is your child all right?’”

“Everything is all right,” she said.

²⁷When she reached the man of God at the mountain, she took hold of his feet. Gehazi came over to push her away, but the man of God said, “Leave her alone! She is in bitter distress,^(E) but the Lord has hidden it from me and has not told me why.”

²⁸“Did I ask you for a son, my lord?” she said. “Didn’t I tell you, ‘Don’t raise my hopes’?”

²⁹Elisha said to Gehazi, “Tuck your cloak into your belt,^(F) take my staff^(G) in your hand and run. Don’t greet anyone you meet, and if anyone greets you, do not answer. Lay my staff on the boy’s face.”

³⁰But the child’s mother said, “As surely as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you.” So he got up and followed her.

³¹Gehazi went on ahead and laid the staff on the boy’s face, but there was no sound or response. So Gehazi went back to meet Elisha and told him, “The boy has not awakened.”

³²When Elisha reached the house, there was the boy lying dead on his couch.^(H) ³³He went in, shut the door on the two of them and prayed^(I) to the Lord. ³⁴Then he got on the bed and lay on the boy, mouth to mouth, eyes to eyes, hands to hands. As he stretched^(J) himself out on him, the boy’s body grew warm. ³⁵Elisha turned away and walked back and forth in the room and then got on the bed and stretched out on him once more. The boy sneezed seven times^(K) and opened his eyes.^(L)

³⁶Elisha summoned Gehazi and said, “Call the Shunammite.” And he did. When she came, he said, “Take your son.”^(M) ³⁷She came in, fell at his feet and bowed to the ground. Then she took her son and went out.

Death in the Pot

³⁸Elisha returned to Gilgal^(N) and there was a famine^(O) in that region. While the company of the prophets was meeting with him, he said to his servant, “Put on the large pot and cook some stew for these prophets.”

³⁹One of them went out into the fields to gather herbs and found a wild vine and picked as many of its gourds as his garment could hold. When he returned, he cut them up into the pot of stew, though no one knew what they were. ⁴⁰The stew was poured out for the men, but as they began to eat it, they cried out, “Man of God, there is death in the pot!” And they could not eat it.

⁴¹Elisha said, “Get some flour.” He put it into the pot and said, “Serve it to the people to eat.” And there was nothing harmful in the pot.^(P)

Feeding of a Hundred

⁴²A man came from Baal Shalishah,^(Q) bringing the man of God twenty loaves^(R) of barley bread^(S) baked from the first ripe grain, along with some heads of new grain. “Give it to the people to eat,” Elisha said.

⁴³“How can I set this before a hundred men?” his servant asked.

But Elisha answered, “Give it to the people to eat.^(T) For this is what the Lord says: ‘They will eat and have some left over.^(U)’” ⁴⁴Then he set it before them, and they ate and had some left over, according to the word of the Lord.

Naaman Healed of Leprosy

5 Now Naaman was commander of the army of the king of Aram.^(V) He was a great man in the sight of his master and highly regarded, because through him the Lord had given victory to Aram. He was a valiant soldier, but he had leprosy.^[a]^(W)

²Now bands of raiders^(X) from Aram had gone out and had taken captive a young girl from Israel, and she served Naaman’s wife. ³She said to her mistress, “If only my master would see the prophet^(Y) who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy.”

⁴Naaman went to his master and told him what the girl from Israel had said. ⁵“By all means, go,” the king of Aram replied. “I will send a letter to the king of Israel.” So Naaman left, taking with him ten talents^[b] of silver, six thousand shekels^[c] of gold and ten sets of clothing.^(Z) ⁶The letter that he took to the king of Israel read: “With this letter I am sending my servant Naaman to you so that you may cure him of his leprosy.”

⁷As soon as the king of Israel read the letter,^(AA) he tore his robes and said, “Am I God?^(AB) Can I kill and bring back to life?^(AC) Why does this fellow send someone to me to be cured of his leprosy? See how he is trying to pick a quarrel^(AD) with me!”

⁸When Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his robes, he sent him this message: “Why have you torn your robes? Have the man come to me and he will know that there is a prophet^(AE) in Israel.” ⁹So Naaman went with his horses and chariots and stopped at the door of Elisha’s house. ¹⁰Elisha sent a messenger to say to him, “Go, wash^(AF) yourself seven times^(AG) in the Jordan, and your flesh will be restored and you will be cleansed.”

¹¹But Naaman went away angry and said, “I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, wave his hand^(AH) over the spot and cure me of my leprosy. ¹²Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters^(AI) of Israel? Couldn’t I wash in them and be cleansed?” So he turned and went off in a rage.^(AJ)

¹³Naaman’s servants went to him and said, “My father,^(AK) if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more, then, when he tells you, ‘Wash and be cleansed’!” ¹⁴So he went down and dipped himself in the Jordan seven times,^(AL) as the man of God had told him, and his flesh was restored^(AM) and became clean like that of a young boy.^(AN)

¹⁵Then Naaman and all his attendants went back to the man of God^(AO). He stood before him and said, “Now I know^(AP) that there is no God in all the world except in Israel. So please accept a gift^(AQ) from your servant.”

¹⁶The prophet answered, “As surely as the Lord lives, whom I serve, I will not accept a thing.” And even though Naaman urged him, he refused.^(AR)

¹⁷“If you will not,” said Naaman, “please let me, your servant, be given as much earth^(AS) as a pair of mules can carry, for your servant will never again make burnt offerings and sacrifices to any other god but the Lord. ¹⁸But may the Lord forgive your servant for this one thing: When my master enters the temple of Rimmon to bow down and he is leaning^(AT) on my arm and I have to bow there also—when I bow down in the temple of Rimmon, may the Lord forgive your servant for this.”

¹⁹“Go in peace,”^(AU) Elisha said.

After Naaman had traveled some distance, ²⁰Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, said to himself, “My master was too easy on Naaman, this Aramean, by not accepting from him what he brought. As surely as the Lord^(AV) lives, I will run after him and get something from him.”

²¹So Gehazi hurried after Naaman. When Naaman saw him running toward him, he got down from the chariot to meet him. “Is everything all right?” he asked.

²²“Everything is all right,” Gehazi answered. “My master sent me to say, ‘Two young men from the company of the prophets have just come to me from the hill country of Ephraim. Please give them a talent^[d] of silver and two sets of clothing.’”^(AW)

²³“By all means, take two talents,” said Naaman. He urged Gehazi to accept them, and then tied up the two talents of silver in two bags, with two sets of clothing. He gave them to two of his servants, and they carried them ahead of Gehazi. ²⁴When Gehazi came to the hill, he took the things from the servants and put them away in the house. He sent the men away and they left.

²⁵When he went in and stood before his master, Elisha asked him, “Where have you been, Gehazi?”

“Your servant didn’t go anywhere,” Gehazi answered.

²⁶But Elisha said to him, “Was not my spirit with you when the man got down from his chariot to meet you? Is this the time^(AX) to take money or to accept clothes—or olive groves and vineyards, or flocks and herds, or male and female slaves?^(AY) ²⁷Naaman’s leprosy^(AZ) will cling to you and to your descendants forever.” Then Gehazi^(BA) went from Elisha’s presence and his skin was leprous—it had become as white as snow.^(BB)

Footnotes

2 Kings 5:1 The Hebrew for leprosy was used for various diseases affecting the skin; also in verses 3, 6, 7, 11 and 27.
2 Kings 5:5 That is, about 750 pounds or about 340 kilograms
2 Kings 5:5 That is, about 150 pounds or about 69 kilograms
2 Kings 5:22 That is, about 75 pounds or about 34 kilograms

2 Kings 4:18-5:27

New King James Version

¹⁸And the child grew. Now it happened one day that he went out to his father, to the reapers. ¹⁹And he said to his father, “My head, my head!”

So he said to a servant, “Carry him to his mother.” ²⁰When he had taken him and brought him to his mother, he sat on her knees till noon, and then died. ²¹And she went up and laid him on the bed of the man of God, shut the door upon him, and went out. ²²Then she called to her husband, and said, “Please send me one of the young men and one of the donkeys, that I may run to the man of God and come back.”

²³So he said, “Why are you going to him today? It is neither the ^(A)New Moon nor the Sabbath.”

And she said, ^[a]“It is well.” ²⁴Then she saddled a donkey, and said to her servant, “Drive, and go forward; do not slacken the pace for me unless I tell you.” ²⁵And so she departed, and went to the man of God ^(B)at Mount Carmel.

So it was, when the man of God saw her afar off, that he said to his servant Gehazi, “Look, the Shunammite woman! ²⁶Please run now to meet her, and say to her, ‘Is it well with you? Is it well with your husband? Is it well with the child?’ ”

And she answered, “It is well.” ²⁷Now when she came to the man of God at the hill, she caught him by the feet, but Gehazi came near to push her away. But the man of God said, “Let her alone; for her soul is in deep distress, and the Lord has hidden it from me, and has not told me.”

²⁸So she said, “Did I ask a son of my lord? ^(C)Did I not say, ‘Do not deceive me’?”

²⁹Then he said to Gehazi, ^(D)“Get^[b] yourself ready, and take my staff in your hand, and be on your way. If you meet anyone, ^(E)do not greet him; and if anyone greets you, do not answer him; but ^(F)lay my staff on the face of the child.”

³⁰And the mother of the child said, ^(G)“As the Lord lives, and as your soul lives, I will not ^(H)leave you.” So he arose and followed her. ³¹Now Gehazi went on ahead of them, and laid the staff on the face of the child; but there was neither voice nor hearing. Therefore he went back to meet him, and told him, saying, “The child has ^(I)not awakened.”

³²When Elisha came into the house, there was the child, lying dead on his bed. ³³He ^(J)went in therefore, shut the door behind the two of them, ^(K)and prayed to the Lord. ³⁴And he went up and lay on the child, and put his mouth on his mouth, his eyes on his eyes, and his hands on his hands; and ^(L)he stretched himself out on the child, and the flesh of the child became warm. ³⁵He returned and walked back and forth in the house, and again went up ^(M)and stretched himself out on him; then ^(N)the child sneezed seven times, and the child opened his eyes. ³⁶And he called Gehazi and said, “Call this Shunammite woman.” So he called her. And when she came in to him, he said, “Pick up your son.” ³⁷So she went in, fell at his feet, and bowed to the ground; then she ^(O)picked up her son and went out.

Elisha Purifies the Pot of Stew

³⁸And Elisha returned to ^(P)Gilgal, and there was a ^(Q)famine in the land. Now the sons of the prophets were ^(R)sitting before him; and he said to his servant, “Put on the large pot, and boil stew for the sons of the prophets.” ³⁹So one went out into the field to gather herbs, and found a wild vine, and gathered from it a lapful of wild gourds, and came and sliced them into the pot of stew, though they did not know what they were. ⁴⁰Then they served it to the men to eat. Now it happened, as they were eating the stew, that they cried out and said, “Man of God, there is ^(S)death in the pot!” And they could not eat it.

⁴¹So he said, “Then bring some flour.” And ^(T)he put it into the pot, and said, “Serve it to the people, that they may eat.” And there was nothing harmful in the pot.

Elisha Feeds One Hundred Men^(U)

⁴²Then a man came from ^(V)Baal Shalisha, ^(W)and brought the man of God bread of the firstfruits, twenty loaves of barley bread, and newly ripened grain in his knapsack. And he said, “Give it to the people, that they may eat.”

⁴³But his servant said, ^(X)“What? Shall I set this before one hundred men?”

He said again, “Give it to the people, that they may eat; for thus says the Lord: ^(Y)‘They shall eat and have some left over.’ ” ⁴⁴So he set it before them; and they ate ^(Z)and had some left over, according to the word of the Lord.

Naaman’s Leprosy Healed

5 Now ^(AA)Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Syria, was ^(AB)a great and honorable man in the eyes of his master, because by him the Lord had given victory to Syria. He was also a mighty man of valor, but a leper. ²And the Syrians had gone out ^(AC)on^[c] raids, and had brought back captive a young girl from the land of Israel. She ^[d]waited on Naaman’s wife. ³Then she said to her mistress, “If only my master were with the prophet who is in Samaria! For he would heal him of his leprosy.” ⁴And Naaman went in and told his master, saying, “Thus and thus said the girl who is from the land of Israel.”

⁵Then the king of Syria said, “Go now, and I will send a letter to the king of Israel.”

So he departed and ^(AD)took with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold, and ten changes of clothing. ⁶Then he brought the letter to the king of Israel, which said,

Now be advised, when this letter comes to you, that I have sent Naaman my servant to you, that you may heal him of his leprosy.

⁷And it happened, when the king of Israel read the letter, that he tore his clothes and said, “Am I ^(AE)God, to kill and make alive, that this man sends a man to me to heal him of his leprosy? Therefore please consider, and see how he seeks a quarrel with me.”

⁸So it was, when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, that he sent to the king, saying, “Why have you torn your clothes? Please let him come to me, and he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel.”

⁹Then Naaman went with his horses and chariot, and he stood at the door of Elisha’s house. ¹⁰And Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, “Go and ^(AF)wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored to you, and you shall be clean.” ¹¹But Naaman became furious, and went away and said, “Indeed, I said to myself, ‘He will surely come out to me, and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, and wave his hand over the place, and heal the leprosy.’ ¹²Are not the ^[e]Abanah and the Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them and be clean?” So he turned and went away in a rage. ¹³And his ^(AG)servants came near and spoke to him, and said, “My father, if the prophet had told you to do something great, would you not have done it? How much more then, when he says to you, ‘Wash, and be clean’?” ¹⁴So he went down and dipped seven times in the Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God; and his ^(AH)flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child, and ^(AI)he was clean.

¹⁵And he returned to the man of God, he and all his aides, and came and stood before him; and he said, “Indeed, now I know that there is ^(AJ)no God in all the earth, except in Israel; now therefore, please take ^(AK)a gift from your servant.”

¹⁶But he said, ^(AL)“As the Lord lives, before whom I stand, ^(AM)I will receive nothing.” And he urged him to take it, but he refused.

¹⁷So Naaman said, “Then, if not, please let your servant be given two mule-loads of earth; for your servant will no longer offer either burnt offering or sacrifice to other gods, but to the Lord. ¹⁸Yet in this thing may the Lord pardon your servant: when my master goes into the temple of Rimmon to worship there, and ^(AN)he leans on my hand, and I bow down in the temple of Rimmon—when I bow down in the temple of Rimmon, may the Lord please pardon your servant in this thing.”

¹⁹Then he said to him, “Go in peace.” So he departed from him a short distance.

Gehazi’s Greed

²⁰But ^(AO)Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, said, “Look, my master has spared Naaman this Syrian, while not receiving from his hands what he brought; but as the Lord lives, I will run after him and take something from him.” ²¹So Gehazi pursued Naaman. When Naaman saw him running after him, he got down from the chariot to meet him, and said, “Is all well?”

²²And he said, “All is ^(AP)well. My master has sent me, saying, ‘Indeed, just now two young men of the sons of the prophets have come to me from the mountains of Ephraim. Please give them a talent of silver and two changes of garments.’ ”

²³So Naaman said, “Please, take two talents.” And he urged him, and bound two talents of silver in two bags, with two changes of garments, and handed them to two of his servants; and they carried them on ahead of him. ²⁴When he came to ^[f]the citadel, he took them from their hand, and stored them away in the house; then he let the men go, and they departed. ²⁵Now he went in and stood before his master. Elisha said to him, “Where did you go, Gehazi?”

And he said, “Your servant did not go anywhere.”

²⁶Then he said to him, “Did not my heart go with you when the man turned back from his chariot to meet you? Is it ^(AQ)time to receive money and to receive clothing, olive groves and vineyards, sheep and oxen, male and female servants? ²⁷Therefore the leprosy of Naaman ^(AR)shall cling to you and your descendants forever.” And he went out from his presence ^(AS)leprous, as white as snow.

Footnotes

2 Kings 4:23 Or It will be well
2 Kings 4:29 Lit. Gird up your loins. The skirt of the robe was wrapped around the legs and tucked in the belt to gain freedom of movement.
2 Kings 5:2 Or in bands
2 Kings 5:2 Served, lit. was before
2 Kings 5:12 So with Kt., LXX, Vg.; Qr., Syr., Tg. Amanah
2 Kings 5:24 Lit. the hill

2 Kings 4:18-5:27

New American Standard Bible

The Shunammite’s Son

¹⁸When the child was grown, the day came that he went out to his father, to the reapers. ¹⁹And he said to his father, “My head, my head!” And his father said to his servant, “Carry him to his mother.” ²⁰When he had carried him and brought him to his mother, he sat on her ^[a]lap until noon, and then he died. ²¹And she went up and ^(A)laid him on the bed of ^(B)the man of God, and shut the door behind him and left. ²²Then she called to her husband and said, “Please send me one of the servants and one of the donkeys, so that I may run to the man of God and return.” ²³But he said, “Why are you going to him today? It is neither ^(C)new moon nor Sabbath.” So she just said, “It will be fine.” ²⁴Then she saddled the donkey and said to her servant, “Drive the donkey and go on; do not slow down ^[b]the pace for me unless I tell you.” ²⁵So she went on and came to the man of God at ^(D)Mount Carmel.

When the man of God saw her at a distance, he said to Gehazi his servant, “Behold, that person there is the Shunammite. ²⁶Please run now to meet her and say to her, ‘Is it going well for you? Is it going well for your husband? Is it going well for the child?’” Then she ^[c]answered, “It is going well.” ²⁷But she came to the man of God ^(E)at the hill and took hold of his feet. And Gehazi came up to push her away, but the man of God said, “Leave her alone, for her soul is ^[d]troubled within her; and the Lord has concealed it from me and has not informed me.” ²⁸Then she said, “Did I ask for a son from my lord? Did I not say, ‘^(F)Do not give me false hope’?”

²⁹Then he said to Gehazi, “^[e]^(G)Get ready and ^(H)take my staff in your hand, and go; if you meet anyone, do not ^[f]^(I)greet him, and if anyone ^[g]greets you, do not reply to him. And ^(J)lay my staff on the boy’s face.” ³⁰The mother of the boy said, “^(K)As surely as the Lord lives and you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So he got up and followed her. ³¹Then Gehazi went on ahead of them and laid the staff on the boy’s face, but there was no sound or ^[h]response. So he returned to meet him and informed him, saying, “The boy ^(L)has not awakened.”

³²When Elisha entered the house, behold the boy was dead, laid on his bed. ³³So he entered and ^(M)shut the door behind them both, and he prayed to the Lord. ³⁴Then ^(N)he got up on the bed and lay on the child, and put his mouth on his mouth, his eyes on his eyes, his hands on his hands, and he bent down on him; and the flesh of the child became warm. ³⁵Then he returned and walked in the house back and forth once, and went up and ^(O)bent down on him; and the boy sneezed seven times, then the boy opened his eyes. ³⁶And he called Gehazi and said, “Call this Shunammite.” So he called her. And when she came to him, he said, “Pick up your son.” ³⁷Then she came in and fell at his feet and bowed down to the ground, and ^(P)she picked up her son and left.

The Poisonous Stew

³⁸When Elisha returned to ^(Q)Gilgal, there was ^(R)a famine in the land. ^[i]As ^(S)the sons of the prophets ^(T)were sitting in front of him, he said to his servant, “^(U)Put on the large pot and boil stew for the sons of the prophets.” ³⁹Then one went out into the field to gather mallow, and found a wild vine and gathered from it his lap full of wild gourds; and he came and sliced them into the pot of stew, because they did not know what they were. ⁴⁰So they poured it out for the men to eat. But as they were eating the stew, they cried out and said, “You man of God, there is ^(V)death in the pot!” And they were unable to eat. ⁴¹Then he said, “Bring flour.” ^(W)And he threw it into the pot, and said, “Pour it out for the people that they may eat.” Then there was nothing harmful in the pot.

⁴²Now a man came from Baal-shalishah, and brought the man of God bread of the first fruits, twenty loaves of barley and fresh grain in his sack. And Elisha said, “^(X)Give them to the people that they may eat.” ⁴³But his attendant said, “How ^(Y)am I to serve this to a hundred men?” Nevertheless he said, “Give them to the people that they may eat, for this is what the Lord says: ‘They shall eat and have some left over.’” ⁴⁴So he served it to them, and they ate and ^(Z)had some left over, in accordance with the word of the Lord.

Naaman Is Healed

5 Now ^(AA)Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Aram, was a great man ^[j]in the view of his master, and eminent, because by him the Lord had given victory to Aram. The man was also a valiant warrior, but afflicted with leprosy. ²Now the Arameans had gone out ^(AB)in bands and had taken captive a little girl from the land of Israel; and she ^[k]waited on Naaman’s wife. ³And she said to her mistress, “If only my master were ^[l]with the prophet who is in Samaria! Then he would cure him of his leprosy.” ⁴And ^[m]Naaman went in and told his master, saying, “The girl who is from the land of Israel spoke such and such.” ⁵Then the king of Aram said, “Go ^[n]now, and I will send a letter to the king of Israel.” So he departed and ^(AC)took with him ten ^[o]talents of silver, six thousand ^[p]shekels of gold, and ten ^(AD)changes of clothes.

⁶And he brought the letter to the king of Israel, ^[q]which said, “And now as this letter comes to you, behold, I have sent Naaman my servant to you, so that you may cure him of his leprosy.” ⁷But when the king of Israel read the letter, ^(AE)he tore his clothes and said, “^(AF)Am I God, to kill and to keep alive, that this man is sending word to me to cure a man of his leprosy? But ^(AG)consider now, and see how he is seeking ^[r]a quarrel against me.”

⁸Now it happened, when Elisha ^(AH)the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, that he sent word to the king, saying, “Why did you tear your clothes? Just have him come to me, and he shall learn that there is a prophet in Israel.” ⁹So Naaman came with his horses and his chariots, and stood at the doorway of Elisha’s house. ¹⁰And Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, “^(AI)Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh will be restored to you and you will be clean.” ¹¹But Naaman was furious and went away, and he said, “Behold, I ^[s]thought, ‘He will certainly come out to me, and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, and wave his hand over the site and cure the ^[t]leprosy.’ ¹²Are ^[u]Abanah and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, not better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them and be clean?” So he turned and ^(AJ)went away in a rage. ¹³^(AK)Then his servants approached and spoke to him, ^[v]saying, “^(AL)My father, had the prophet told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more then, when he says to you, ‘Wash, and be clean’?” ¹⁴So he went down and dipped himself in the Jordan seven times, in accordance with the word of the man of God; and ^(AM)his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child, and ^(AN)he was clean.

Gehazi’s Greed

¹⁵Then he returned to the man of God ^[w]with all his company, and came and stood before him. And he said, “Behold now, ^(AO)I know that there is no God in all the earth, except in Israel; so please ^(AP)accept a ^[x]gift from your servant now.” ¹⁶But he said, “^(AQ)As surely as the Lord lives, before whom I stand, ^(AR)I will accept nothing.” And he urged him to accept it, but he refused. ¹⁷Then Naaman said, “If not, please let your servant be given two mules’ load of ^(AS)earth; for your servant will no longer offer a burnt offering nor a sacrifice to other gods, but to the Lord. ¹⁸Regarding this matter may the Lord forgive your servant: when my master goes into the house of Rimmon to worship there, and ^(AT)he leans on my hand and I bow down in the house of Rimmon, when I bow down in the house of Rimmon, may the Lord please forgive your servant in this matter.” ¹⁹He said to him, “^(AU)Go in peace.” So he went some distance from him.

²⁰But ^(AV)Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, ^[y]thought, “Behold, my master has spared this Naaman the Aramean, ^[z]by not accepting from his hand what he brought. ^(AW)As the Lord lives, I will run after him and take something from him.” ²¹So Gehazi pursued Naaman. When Naaman saw someone running after him, he came down from the chariot to meet him and said, “Is everything well?” ²²And he said, “^(AX)Everything is well. My master has sent me, saying, ‘Behold, just now two young men of the sons of the prophets have come to me from ^(AY)the hill country of Ephraim. Please give them a talent of silver and ^(AZ)two changes of clothes.’” ²³Naaman said, “^(BA)Be sure to take two talents.” And he urged him, and tied up two talents of silver in two bags with two changes of clothes, and gave them to two of his servants; and they carried them before him. ²⁴When he came to the ^[aa]hill, he took them from their hand and ^(BB)deposited them in the house, and he sent the men away, and they departed. ²⁵But he went in and stood before his master. And Elisha said to him, “Where have you been, Gehazi?” And he said, “^(BC)Your servant went nowhere.”

²⁶Then he said to him, “Did my heart not go with you, when the man turned from his chariot to meet you? ^(BD)Is it a time to accept money and to accept clothes, olive groves, vineyards, sheep, oxen, and male and female slaves? ²⁷Therefore, the leprosy of Naaman shall cling to you and to your ^[ab]descendants forever.” So he went out from his presence ^(BE)afflicted with leprosy, as white as snow.

Footnotes

2 Kings 4:20 Lit knees
2 Kings 4:24 Lit riding
2 Kings 4:26 Lit said
2 Kings 4:27 Lit bitter
2 Kings 4:29 Lit Belt up your waist
2 Kings 4:29 Lit bless
2 Kings 4:29 Lit blesses
2 Kings 4:31 Lit attentiveness
2 Kings 4:38 Lit And
2 Kings 5:1 Lit before
2 Kings 5:2 Lit was before
2 Kings 5:3 Lit before
2 Kings 5:4 Lit he
2 Kings 5:5 Lit enter
2 Kings 5:5 A talent was about 75 lb. or 34 kg
2 Kings 5:5 A shekel was about 0.5 oz. or 14 gm
2 Kings 5:6 Lit saying
2 Kings 5:7 Lit an opportunity
2 Kings 5:11 Lit said
2 Kings 5:11 Lit one with leprosy
2 Kings 5:12 Another reading is Amanah
2 Kings 5:13 Lit and said
2 Kings 5:15 Lit he and
2 Kings 5:15 Lit blessing
2 Kings 5:20 Lit said
2 Kings 5:20 Lit from
2 Kings 5:24 Lit Ophel
2 Kings 5:27 Lit seed

2 Kings 4:18-5:27

New Living Translation

¹⁸One day when her child was older, he went out to help his father, who was working with the harvesters. ¹⁹Suddenly he cried out, “My head hurts! My head hurts!”

His father said to one of the servants, “Carry him home to his mother.”

²⁰So the servant took him home, and his mother held him on her lap. But around noontime he died. ²¹She carried him up and laid him on the bed of the man of God, then shut the door and left him there. ²²She sent a message to her husband: “Send one of the servants and a donkey so that I can hurry to the man of God and come right back.”

²³“Why go today?” he asked. “It is neither a new moon festival nor a Sabbath.”

But she said, “It will be all right.”

²⁴So she saddled the donkey and said to the servant, “Hurry! Don’t slow down unless I tell you to.”

²⁵As she approached the man of God at Mount Carmel, Elisha saw her in the distance. He said to Gehazi, “Look, the woman from Shunem is coming. ²⁶Run out to meet her and ask her, ‘Is everything all right with you, your husband, and your child?’”

“Yes,” the woman told Gehazi, “everything is fine.”

²⁷But when she came to the man of God at the mountain, she fell to the ground before him and caught hold of his feet. Gehazi began to push her away, but the man of God said, “Leave her alone. She is deeply troubled, but the Lord has not told me what it is.”

²⁸Then she said, “Did I ask you for a son, my lord? And didn’t I say, ‘Don’t deceive me and get my hopes up’?”

²⁹Then Elisha said to Gehazi, “Get ready to travel^[a]; take my staff and go! Don’t talk to anyone along the way. Go quickly and lay the staff on the child’s face.”

³⁰But the boy’s mother said, “As surely as the Lord lives and you yourself live, I won’t go home unless you go with me.” So Elisha returned with her.

³¹Gehazi hurried on ahead and laid the staff on the child’s face, but nothing happened. There was no sign of life. He returned to meet Elisha and told him, “The child is still dead.”

³²When Elisha arrived, the child was indeed dead, lying there on the prophet’s bed. ³³He went in alone and shut the door behind him and prayed to the Lord. ³⁴Then he lay down on the child’s body, placing his mouth on the child’s mouth, his eyes on the child’s eyes, and his hands on the child’s hands. And as he stretched out on him, the child’s body began to grow warm again! ³⁵Elisha got up, walked back and forth across the room once, and then stretched himself out again on the child. This time the boy sneezed seven times and opened his eyes!

³⁶Then Elisha summoned Gehazi. “Call the child’s mother!” he said. And when she came in, Elisha said, “Here, take your son!” ³⁷She fell at his feet and bowed before him, overwhelmed with gratitude. Then she took her son in her arms and carried him downstairs.

Miracles during a Famine

³⁸Elisha now returned to Gilgal, and there was a famine in the land. One day as the group of prophets was seated before him, he said to his servant, “Put a large pot on the fire, and make some stew for the rest of the group.”

³⁹One of the young men went out into the field to gather herbs and came back with a pocketful of wild gourds. He shredded them and put them into the pot without realizing they were poisonous. ⁴⁰Some of the stew was served to the men. But after they had eaten a bite or two they cried out, “Man of God, there’s poison in this stew!” So they would not eat it.

⁴¹Elisha said, “Bring me some flour.” Then he threw it into the pot and said, “Now it’s all right; go ahead and eat.” And then it did not harm them.

⁴²One day a man from Baal-shalishah brought the man of God a sack of fresh grain and twenty loaves of barley bread made from the first grain of his harvest. Elisha said, “Give it to the people so they can eat.”

⁴³“What?” his servant exclaimed. “Feed a hundred people with only this?”

But Elisha repeated, “Give it to the people so they can eat, for this is what the Lord says: Everyone will eat, and there will even be some left over!” ⁴⁴And when they gave it to the people, there was plenty for all and some left over, just as the Lord had promised.

The Healing of Naaman

5 The king of Aram had great admiration for Naaman, the commander of his army, because through him the Lord had given Aram great victories. But though Naaman was a mighty warrior, he suffered from leprosy.^[b]

²At this time Aramean raiders had invaded the land of Israel, and among their captives was a young girl who had been given to Naaman’s wife as a maid. ³One day the girl said to her mistress, “I wish my master would go to see the prophet in Samaria. He would heal him of his leprosy.”

⁴So Naaman told the king what the young girl from Israel had said. ⁵“Go and visit the prophet,” the king of Aram told him. “I will send a letter of introduction for you to take to the king of Israel.” So Naaman started out, carrying as gifts 750 pounds of silver, 150 pounds of gold,^[c] and ten sets of clothing. ⁶The letter to the king of Israel said: “With this letter I present my servant Naaman. I want you to heal him of his leprosy.”

⁷When the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes in dismay and said, “Am I God, that I can give life and take it away? Why is this man asking me to heal someone with leprosy? I can see that he’s just trying to pick a fight with me.”

⁸But when Elisha, the man of God, heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes in dismay, he sent this message to him: “Why are you so upset? Send Naaman to me, and he will learn that there is a true prophet here in Israel.”

⁹So Naaman went with his horses and chariots and waited at the door of Elisha’s house. ¹⁰But Elisha sent a messenger out to him with this message: “Go and wash yourself seven times in the Jordan River. Then your skin will be restored, and you will be healed of your leprosy.”

¹¹But Naaman became angry and stalked away. “I thought he would certainly come out to meet me!” he said. “I expected him to wave his hand over the leprosy and call on the name of the Lord his God and heal me! ¹²Aren’t the rivers of Damascus, the Abana and the Pharpar, better than any of the rivers of Israel? Why shouldn’t I wash in them and be healed?” So Naaman turned and went away in a rage.

¹³But his officers tried to reason with him and said, “Sir,^[d] if the prophet had told you to do something very difficult, wouldn’t you have done it? So you should certainly obey him when he says simply, ‘Go and wash and be cured!’” ¹⁴So Naaman went down to the Jordan River and dipped himself seven times, as the man of God had instructed him. And his skin became as healthy as the skin of a young child, and he was healed!

¹⁵Then Naaman and his entire party went back to find the man of God. They stood before him, and Naaman said, “Now I know that there is no God in all the world except in Israel. So please accept a gift from your servant.”

¹⁶But Elisha replied, “As surely as the Lord lives, whom I serve, I will not accept any gifts.” And though Naaman urged him to take the gift, Elisha refused.

¹⁷Then Naaman said, “All right, but please allow me to load two of my mules with earth from this place, and I will take it back home with me. From now on I will never again offer burnt offerings or sacrifices to any other god except the Lord. ¹⁸However, may the Lord pardon me in this one thing: When my master the king goes into the temple of the god Rimmon to worship there and leans on my arm, may the Lord pardon me when I bow, too.”

¹⁹“Go in peace,” Elisha said. So Naaman started home again.

The Greed of Gehazi

²⁰But Gehazi, the servant of Elisha, the man of God, said to himself, “My master should not have let this Aramean get away without accepting any of his gifts. As surely as the Lord lives, I will chase after him and get something from him.” ²¹So Gehazi set off after Naaman.

When Naaman saw Gehazi running after him, he climbed down from his chariot and went to meet him. “Is everything all right?” Naaman asked.

²²“Yes,” Gehazi said, “but my master has sent me to tell you that two young prophets from the hill country of Ephraim have just arrived. He would like 75 pounds^[e] of silver and two sets of clothing to give to them.”

²³“By all means, take twice as much^[f] silver,” Naaman insisted. He gave him two sets of clothing, tied up the money in two bags, and sent two of his servants to carry the gifts for Gehazi. ²⁴But when they arrived at the citadel,^[g] Gehazi took the gifts from the servants and sent the men back. Then he went and hid the gifts inside the house.

²⁵When he went in to his master, Elisha asked him, “Where have you been, Gehazi?”

“I haven’t been anywhere,” he replied.

²⁶But Elisha asked him, “Don’t you realize that I was there in spirit when Naaman stepped down from his chariot to meet you? Is this the time to receive money and clothing, olive groves and vineyards, sheep and cattle, and male and female servants? ²⁷Because you have done this, you and your descendants will suffer from Naaman’s leprosy forever.” When Gehazi left the room, he was covered with leprosy; his skin was white as snow.

Footnotes

4:29 Hebrew Bind up your loins.
5:1 Or from a contagious skin disease. The Hebrew word used here and throughout this passage can describe various skin diseases.
5:5 Hebrew 10 talents [340 kilograms] of silver, 6,000 [shekels] [68 kilograms] of gold.
5:13 Hebrew My father.
5:22 Hebrew 1 talent [34 kilograms].
5:23 Hebrew take 2 talents [150 pounds or 68 kilograms].
5:24 Hebrew the Ophel.

2 Kings 4:18-5:27

The Message

^18-19The child grew up. One day he went to his father, who was working with the harvest hands, complaining, “My head, my head!”

His father ordered a servant, “Carry him to his mother.”

²⁰The servant took him in his arms and carried him to his mother. He lay on her lap until noon and died.

²¹She took him up and laid him on the bed of the man of God, shut him in alone, and left.

²²She then called her husband, “Get me a servant and a donkey so I can go to the Holy Man; I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

²³“But why today? This isn’t a holy day—it’s neither New Moon nor Sabbath.”

She said, “Don’t ask questions; I need to go right now. Trust me.”

^24-25She went ahead and saddled the donkey, ordering her servant, “Take the lead—and go as fast as you can; I’ll tell you if you’re going too fast.” And so off she went. She came to the Holy Man at Mount Carmel.

^25-26The Holy Man, spotting her while she was still a long way off, said to his servant Gehazi, “Look out there; why, it’s the Shunammite woman! Quickly now. Ask her, ‘Is something wrong? Are you all right? Your husband? Your child?’”

She said, “Everything’s fine.”

²⁷But when she reached the Holy Man at the mountain, she threw herself at his feet and held tightly to him.

Gehazi came up to pull her away, but the Holy Man said, “Leave her alone—can’t you see that she’s in distress? But God hasn’t let me in on why; I’m completely in the dark.”

²⁸Then she spoke up: “Did I ask for a son, master? Didn’t I tell you, ‘Don’t tease me with false hopes’?”

²⁹He ordered Gehazi, “Don’t lose a minute—grab my staff and run as fast as you can. If you meet anyone, don’t even take time to greet him, and if anyone greets you, don’t even answer. Lay my staff across the boy’s face.”

³⁰The boy’s mother said, “As sure as God lives and you live, you’re not leaving me behind.” And so Gehazi let her take the lead, and followed behind.

³¹But Gehazi arrived first and laid the staff across the boy’s face. But there was no sound—no sign of life. Gehazi went back to meet Elisha and said, “The boy hasn’t stirred.”

^32-35Elisha entered the house and found the boy stretched out on the bed dead. He went into the room and locked the door—just the two of them in the room—and prayed to God. He then got into bed with the boy and covered him with his body, mouth on mouth, eyes on eyes, hands on hands. As he was stretched out over him like that, the boy’s body became warm. Elisha got up and paced back and forth in the room. Then he went back and stretched himself upon the boy again. The boy started sneezing—seven times he sneezed!—and opened his eyes.

³⁶He called Gehazi and said, “Get the Shunammite woman in here!” He called her and she came in.

Elisha said, “Embrace your son!”

³⁷She fell at Elisha’s feet, face to the ground in reverent awe. Then she embraced her son and went out with him.

³⁸Elisha went back down to Gilgal. There was a famine there. While he was consulting with the guild of prophets, he told his servant, “Put a large pot on the fire and cook up some stew for the prophets.”

^39-40One of the men went out into the field to get some herbs; he came across a wild vine and picked gourds from it, filling his gunnysack. He brought them back, sliced them up, and put them in the stew, even though no one knew what kind of plant it was. The stew was then served up for the men to eat. They started to eat, and then exclaimed, “Death in the pot, O man of God! Death in the pot!” Nobody could eat it.

Elisha ordered, “Get me some meal.” Then he sprinkled it into the stew pot.

⁴¹“Now serve it up to the men,” he said. They ate it, and it was just fine—nothing wrong with that stew!

⁴²One day a man arrived from Baal Shalishah. He brought the man of God twenty loaves of fresh-baked bread from the early harvest, along with a few apples from the orchard.

Elisha said, “Pass it around to the people to eat.”

⁴³His servant said, “For a hundred men? There’s not nearly enough!”

Elisha said, “Just go ahead and do it. God says there’s plenty.”

⁴⁴And sure enough, there was. He passed around what he had—they not only ate, but had leftovers.

5 ^1-3Naaman was general of the army under the king of Aram. He was important to his master, who held him in the highest esteem because it was by him that God had given victory to Aram: a truly great man, but afflicted with a grievous skin disease. It so happened that Aram, on one of its raiding expeditions against Israel, captured a young girl who became a maid to Naaman’s wife. One day she said to her mistress, “Oh, if only my master could meet the prophet of Samaria, he would be healed of his skin disease.”

⁴Naaman went straight to his master and reported what the girl from Israel had said.

⁵“Well then, go,” said the king of Aram. “And I’ll send a letter of introduction to the king of Israel.”

So he went off, taking with him about 750 pounds of silver, 150 pounds of gold, and ten sets of clothes.

⁶Naaman delivered the letter to the king of Israel. The letter read, “When you get this letter, you’ll know that I’ve personally sent my servant Naaman to you; heal him of his skin disease.”

⁷When the king of Israel read the letter, he was terribly upset, ripping his robe to pieces. He said, “Am I a god with the power to bring death or life that I get orders to heal this man from his disease? What’s going on here? That king’s trying to pick a fight, that’s what!”

⁸Elisha the man of God heard what had happened, that the king of Israel was so distressed that he’d ripped his robe to shreds. He sent word to the king, “Why are you so upset, ripping your robe like this? Send him to me so he’ll learn that there’s a prophet in Israel.”

⁹So Naaman with his horses and chariots arrived in style and stopped at Elisha’s door.

¹⁰Elisha sent out a servant to meet him with this message: “Go to the River Jordan and immerse yourself seven times. Your skin will be healed and you’ll be as good as new.”

^11-12Naaman lost his temper. He spun around saying, “I thought he’d personally come out and meet me, call on the name of God, wave his hand over the diseased spot, and get rid of the disease. The Damascus rivers, Abana and Pharpar, are cleaner by far than any of the rivers in Israel. Why not bathe in them? I’d at least get clean.” He stomped off, mad as a hornet.

¹³But his servants caught up with him and said, “Father, if the prophet had asked you to do something hard and heroic, wouldn’t you have done it? So why not this simple ‘wash and be clean’?”

¹⁴So he did it. He went down and immersed himself in the Jordan seven times, following the orders of the Holy Man. His skin was healed; it was like the skin of a little baby. He was as good as new.

¹⁵He then went back to the Holy Man, he and his entourage, stood before him, and said, “I now know beyond a shadow of a doubt that there is no God anywhere on earth other than the God of Israel. In gratitude let me give you a gift.”

¹⁶“As God lives,” Elisha replied, “the God whom I serve, I’ll take nothing from you.” Naaman tried his best to get him to take something, but he wouldn’t do it.

^17-18“If you won’t take anything,” said Naaman, “let me ask you for something: Give me a load of dirt, as much as a team of donkeys can carry, because I’m never again going to worship any god other than God. But there’s one thing for which I need God’s pardon: When my master, leaning on my arm, enters the shrine of Rimmon and worships there, and I’m with him there, worshiping Rimmon, may you see to it that God forgive me for this.”

^19-21Elisha said, “Everything will be all right. Go in peace.”

But he hadn’t gone far when Gehazi, servant to Elisha the Holy Man, said to himself, “My master has let this Aramean Naaman slip through his fingers without so much as a thank-you. By the living God, I’m going after him to get something or other from him!” And Gehazi took off after Naaman.

Naaman saw him running after him and jumped down from his chariot to greet him, “Is something wrong?”

²²“Nothing’s wrong, but something’s come up. My master sent me to tell you: ‘Two young men just showed up from the hill country of Ephraim, brothers from the guild of the prophets. Supply their needs with a gift of 75 pounds of silver and a couple of sets of clothes.’”

²³Naaman said, “Of course, how about 150 pounds?” Naaman insisted. He tied up the money in two sacks and gave him the two sets of clothes; he even gave him two servants to carry the gifts back with him.

²⁴When they got to the fort on the hill, Gehazi took the gifts from the servants, stored them inside, then sent the servants back.

²⁵He returned and stood before his master. Elisha said, “So what have you been up to, Gehazi?”

“Nothing much,” he said.

^26-27Elisha said, “Didn’t you know I was with you in spirit when that man stepped down from his chariot to greet you? Tell me, is this a time to look after yourself, lining your pockets with gifts? Naaman’s skin disease will now infect you and your family, with no relief in sight.”

Gehazi walked away, his skin flaky and white like snow.

New International Version (NIV)