Elisha Raises the Shunammite’s Son

⁸ One day Elisha was passing through Shunem, where a wealthy woman lived, who urged him to have a meal. So whenever he passed that way, he would stop there for a meal.^{(A) 9} She said to her husband, “Look, I am sure that this man who regularly passes our way is a holy man of God.^{(B) 10} Let us make a small roof chamber with walls and put there for him a bed, a table, a chair, and a lamp, so that he can stay there whenever he comes to us.”

¹¹ One day when he came there, he went up to the chamber and lay down there. ¹² He said to his servant Gehazi, “Call the Shunammite woman.” When he had called her, she stood before him.^{(C) 13} He said to him, “Say to her: Since you have taken all this trouble for us, what may be done for you? Would you have a word spoken on your behalf to the king or to the commander of the army?” She answered, “I live among my own people.” ¹⁴ He said, “What then may be done for her?” Gehazi answered, “Well, she has no son, and her husband is old.” ¹⁵ He said, “Call her.” When he had called her, she stood at the door. ¹⁶ He said, “At this season, in due time, you shall embrace a son.” She replied, “No, my lord, O man of God; do not deceive your servant.”^(D)

¹⁷ The woman conceived and bore a son at that season, in due time, as Elisha had declared to her.

¹⁸ When the child was older, he went out one day to his father among the reapers. ¹⁹ He complained to his father, “Oh, my head, my head!” The father said to his servant, “Carry him to his mother.” ²⁰ He carried him and brought him to his mother; the child sat on her lap until noon, and he died. ²¹ She went up and laid him on the bed of the man of God, closed the door on him, and left.^{(E) 22} Then she called to her husband and said, “Send me one of the servants and one of the donkeys, so that I may quickly go to the man of God and come back again.” ²³ He said, “Why go to him today? It is neither new moon nor Sabbath.” She said, “It will be all right.”^{(F) 24} Then she saddled the donkey and said to her servant, “Urge the animal on; do not hold back for me unless I tell you.” ²⁵ So she set out and came to the man of God at Mount Carmel.

When the man of God saw her coming, he said to Gehazi his servant, “Look, there is the Shunammite woman;^{(G) 26} run at once to meet her and say to her: Are you all right? Is your husband all right? Is the child all right?” She answered, “It is all right.” ²⁷ When she came to the man of God at the mountain, she caught hold of his feet. Gehazi approached to push her away, but the man of God said, “Let her alone, for she is in bitter distress; the Lord has hidden it from me and has not told me.” ²⁸ Then she said, “Did I ask my lord for a son? Did I not say, ‘Do not mislead me?’ ”^{(H) 29} He said to Gehazi, “Gird up your loins, and take my staff in your hand, and go. If you meet anyone, give no greeting, and if anyone greets you, do not answer, and lay my staff on the face of the child.”^{(I) 30} Then the mother of the child said, “As the Lord lives and as you yourself live, I will not leave without you.” So he rose up and followed her.^{(J) 31} Gehazi went on ahead and laid the staff on the face of the child, but there was no sound or sign of life. He came back to meet him and told him, “The child has not awakened.”

³² When Elisha came into the house, he saw the child lying dead on his bed. ³³ So he went in and closed the door on the two of them and prayed to the Lord.^{(K) 34} Then he got up on the bed^[a] and lay upon the child, putting his mouth upon his mouth, his eyes upon his eyes, and his hands upon his hands, and while he lay bent over him, the flesh of the child became warm.^{(L) 35} He got down, walked once to and fro in the room, then got up again and bent over him; the child sneezed seven times, and the child opened his eyes.^{(M) 36} Elisha^[b] summoned Gehazi and said, “Call the Shunammite woman.” So he called her. When she came to him, he said, “Take your son.” ³⁷ She came and fell at his feet, bowing to the ground; then she took her son and left.^(N)

The Rich Man

¹⁷ As he was setting out on a journey, a man ran up and knelt before him and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”^{(A) 18} Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. ¹⁹ You know the commandments: ‘You shall not murder. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. You shall not bear false witness. You shall not defraud. Honor your father and mother.’ ”^{(B) 20} He said to him, “Teacher, I have kept all these since my youth.” ²¹ Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said, “You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money^[a] to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.”^{(C) 22} When he heard this, he was shocked and went away grieving, for he had many possessions.

²³ Then Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!”^{(D) 24} And the disciples were perplexed at these words. But Jesus said to them again, “Children, how hard it is^[b] to enter the kingdom of God!^{(E) 25} It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” ²⁶ They were greatly astounded and said to one another,^[c] “Then who can be saved?” ²⁷ Jesus looked at them and said, “For mortals it is impossible, but not for God; for God all things are possible.”^(F)

²⁸ Peter began to say to him, “Look, we have left everything and followed you.”^{(G) 29} Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for my sake and for the sake of the good news^{[d](H) 30} who will not receive a hundredfold now in this age—houses, brothers and sisters, mothers and children, and fields, with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life. ³¹ But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first.”^(I)

Paul Sails for Rome

27 When it was decided that we were to sail for Italy, they transferred Paul and some other prisoners to a centurion of the Augustan Cohort, named Julius.^{(A) 2} Embarking on a ship of Adramyttium that was about to set sail to the ports along the coast of Asia, we put to sea, accompanied by Aristarchus, a Macedonian from Thessalonica.^{(B) 3} The next day we put in at Sidon, and Julius treated Paul kindly and allowed him to go to his friends to be cared for.^{(C) 4} Putting out to sea from there, we sailed under the lee of Cyprus, because the winds were against us. ⁵ After we had sailed across the sea that is off Cilicia and Pamphylia, we came to Myra in Lycia.^{(D) 6} There the centurion found an Alexandrian ship bound for Italy and put us on board.^{(E) 7} We sailed slowly for a number of days and arrived with difficulty off Cnidus, and as the wind was against us, we sailed under the lee of Crete off Salmone. ⁸ Sailing past it with difficulty, we came to a place called Fair Havens, near the city of Lasea.

⁹ Since much time had been lost and sailing was now dangerous, because even the Fast had already gone by, Paul advised them,^{(F) 10} saying, “Men, I can see that the voyage will be with danger and much heavy loss, not only of the cargo and the ship, but also of our lives.” ¹¹ But the centurion paid more attention to the pilot and to the owner of the ship than to what Paul said. ¹² Since the harbor was not suitable for spending the winter, the majority was in favor of putting to sea from there on the chance that somehow they could reach Phoenix, where they could spend the winter. It was a harbor of Crete, facing southwest and northwest.

The Storm at Sea

¹³ When a moderate south wind began to blow, they thought they could achieve their purpose; so they weighed anchor and began to sail past Crete, close to the shore. ¹⁴ But soon a violent wind, called the northeaster, rushed down from Crete.^{[a](G) 15} Since the ship was caught and could not be turned head-on into the wind, we gave way to it and were driven. ¹⁶ By running under the lee of a small island called Cauda^[b] we were scarcely able to get the ship’s boat under control. ¹⁷ After hoisting it up they took measures to undergird the ship; then, fearing that they would run on the Syrtis, they lowered the sea anchor and so were driven.^{(H) 18} We were being pounded by the storm so violently that on the next day they began to throw the cargo overboard,^{(I) 19} and on the third day with their own hands they threw the ship’s tackle overboard. ²⁰ When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days and no small tempest raged, all hope of our being saved was at last abandoned.

²¹ Since they had been without food for a long time, Paul then stood up among them and said, “Men, you should have listened to me and not have set sail from Crete and thereby avoided this damage and loss.^{(J) 22} I urge you now to keep up your courage, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship.^{(K) 23} For last night there stood by me an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I worship,^{(L) 24} and he said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul; you must stand before the emperor, and, indeed, God has granted safety to all those who are sailing with you.’^{(M) 25} So keep up your courage, men, for I have faith in God that it will be exactly as I have been told.^{(N) 26} But we will have to run aground on some island.”^(O)

²⁷ When the fourteenth night had come, as we were drifting across the Adriatic Sea, about midnight the sailors suspected that they were nearing land. ²⁸ So they took soundings and found twenty fathoms; a little farther on they took soundings again and found fifteen fathoms. ²⁹ Fearing that we might run on the rocks, they let down four anchors from the stern and prayed for day to come. ³⁰ But when the sailors tried to escape from the ship and had lowered the boat into the sea on the pretext of putting out anchors from the bow,^{(P) 31} Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers, “Unless these men stay in the ship, you cannot be saved.” ³² Then the soldiers cut away the ropes of the boat and set it adrift.

³³ Just before daybreak, Paul urged all of them to take some food, saying, “Today is the fourteenth day that you have been in suspense and remaining without food, having eaten nothing. ³⁴ Therefore I urge you to take some food, for it will help you survive, for none of you will lose a hair from your heads.”^{(Q) 35} After he had said this, he took bread, and giving thanks to God in the presence of all, he broke it and began to eat.^{(R) 36} Then all of them were encouraged and took food for themselves.^{(S) 37} (We were in all two hundred seventy-six^[c] persons in the ship.) ³⁸ After they had satisfied their hunger, they lightened the ship by throwing the wheat into the sea.^(T)

The Shipwreck

³⁹ In the morning they did not recognize the land, but they noticed a bay with a beach on which they planned to run the ship ashore, if they could.^{(U) 40} So they cast off the anchors and left them in the sea. At the same time they loosened the ropes that tied the steering-oars; then hoisting the foresail to the wind, they made for the beach.^{(V) 41} But striking a reef,^[d] they ran the ship aground; the bow stuck and remained immovable, but the stern was being broken up by the force of the waves.^{(W) 42} The soldiers’ plan was to kill the prisoners, so that none might swim away and escape;^{(X) 43} but the centurion, wishing to save Paul, kept them from carrying out their plan. He ordered those who could swim to jump overboard first and make for the land^{(Y) 44} and the rest to follow, some on planks and others on pieces of the ship. And so it was that all were brought safely to land.^(Z)