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2 Kings 4
International Standard Version

The Miracle of the Oil Vessels(A)

4 Now there happened to be a certain woman who had been the wife of a member of the Guild of Prophets. She cried out to Elisha, “My husband who served you has died, and you know that your servant feared the Lord. But a creditor has come to take away my children into indentured servitude!”

2 Elisha responded, “What shall I do for you? Tell me what you have in your house.”

She replied, “Your servant has nothing in the entire house except for a flask of oil.”

3 He told her, “Go out to all of your neighbors in the surrounding streets and borrow lots of pots from them. Don’t get just a few empty vessels, either. 4 Then go in and shut the door behind you, taking only your children, and pour oil[a] into all of the pots. As each one is filled, set it aside.”

5 So she left Elisha,[b] shut the door behind her and her children, and while they kept on bringing vessels to her, she kept on pouring oil.[c] 6 When the last of[d] the vessels had been filled, she told her son, “Bring me another pot!”

But he replied, “There isn’t even one pot left.” Then the oil stopped flowing. 7 After this, she went and told the man of God what had happened.[e] So he said, “Go sell the oil, pay your debt, and you and your children will be able to live on the proceeds.”

The Hospitality of a Woman from Shunem

8 Some time later, Elisha went to Shunem,[f] where he met a prominent and wealthy[g] woman who persuaded him to have a meal with her. As a result, whenever he was in the area, he stopped by to eat with her. 9 So she had a talk with her husband. “Look here! I’ve learned that this is a holy and godly man[h] who comes by here on a regular basis. 10 Now then, let’s build a small upper room and put a bed in it for him there, along with a table, a chair, and a lamp stand. That way, when he comes to visit, he can rest[i] there.”

11 One day, Elisha[j] came by to visit and stopped in to rest in the upper chamber. 12 He told his attendant[k] Gehazi, “Call this Shunammite.” So when he had summoned her, she stood in front of him.

13 Elisha[l] told him, “Ask her, ‘Look how you’ve gone to all this trouble to care for us! What can I do for you? Do you wish to be mentioned to the king or to the head of the army?’”

She replied, “I’m at home[m] living among my own people.”

14 He responded, “What, then, is to be done on her behalf?”

Gehazi answered, “Well, she has no son and her husband is growing old.”

15 “Call her,” Elisha[n] ordered. After he called her, she came and stood in the doorway, 16 and he told her, “About this time next year you will be embracing a son.”

“No, sir! Please, as a godly man,[o] don’t mislead your servant!” 17 But the woman did conceive and did bear a son at that very same time the next year, just as Elisha had told her.

Elisha Raises the Shunammite’s Son(B)

18 After the child had grown up a bit, one day he went out to visit his father, who was with the harvesters. 19 He told his father, “My head! My head!”

So his father ordered his servant, “Carry him over to his mother!” 20 So the servant carried him over to his mother, where he rested on her lap until mid-day,[p] and then he died. 21 The woman went upstairs, laid him on the bed belonging to the man of God, and shut the door, leaving him behind as she left.

22 Then she called to her husband and asked him, “Please send me one of the servants, along with one of the donkeys, so I can ride quickly to see that godly man.[q] I’ll be right back.”

23 He asked her, “What’s the point of visiting him today? It’s not a New Moon, and it isn’t the Sabbath!”

But she kept saying, “Things will go well.”[r]

24 So she saddled a donkey and told her servant, “Forward, driver! Don’t slow down on my account, unless I tell you!” 25 So out she went and eventually she arrived at Mount Carmel to visit the man of God.

When the man of God noticed her from a distance, he told his attendant Gehazi, “Look! There’s the woman from Shunem! 26 Please run out quickly and greet her. Ask her, ‘Are things going well with you? Are things going well with your husband? Are things going well with your child?’”

She answered Gehazi,[s] “Things are going well.”

27 As she came near the man of God on the mountain, she grabbed his feet. When Gehazi intervened to push her away, the man of God said, “Leave her alone! She is deeply troubled! The Lord has concealed the thing from me, and hasn’t informed me.”

28 Then she asked, “Did I ask my lord for a son? Didn’t I beg you, ‘Don’t mislead me?’”

29 At this he told Gehazi, “Get ready to run![t] Take my staff in your hand, and get on the road. Don’t greet anyone you meet. If anyone greets you, don’t respond. Just go lay my staff on the youngster’s face.”

30 At this, the youngster’s mother replied, “As long as you and the Lord live, I’m not leaving you!” So he got up and followed her.

31 Meanwhile, Gehazi went on ahead of them and placed the staff on the youngster’s face, but when there was no sound or reaction, he returned, met Elisha,[u] and told him, “The youngster has shown no sign of awakening.”

32 When Elisha entered the house, there was the youngster, dead and laid out on Elisha’s[v] bed! 33 So he entered, shut the door behind them both, and prayed to the Lord. 34 Then he approached the child and lay down with his mouth near the child’s, with his eyes near those of the child, and taking the child’s hands in his. As Elisha[w] stretched himself on the child, the child’s flesh began to grow warm. 35 Then he went downstairs, walked around back and forth inside the house once, went back up to his upper chamber,[x] and stretched himself over the child again. The young man sneezed seven times and then opened his eyes.

36 He called out to Gehazi, “Go get the Shunammite woman!” So he called her. When she came in to see Elisha,[y] he told her, “Take back your son!” 37 Then she approached him, fell at his feet, bowing low to the ground, took back her son, and went out.

Poisoned Stew is Purified

38 Elisha returned to Gilgal during a time of famine in the land. While the Guild of Prophets were having a meal[z] with him, he instructed his attendant, “Put a large pot on the fire and boil some stew for the Guild of Prophets.” 39 Somebody went out into the fields to grab some herbs, found a wild vine, and gathered a lap full of wild gourds, which he came and sliced up into the stew pot, but nobody else knew.

40 When they served the men, they began to eat the stew. But they cried out, “That pot of stew is deadly, you man of God!” So they couldn’t eat the stew.

41 But he replied, “Bring me some flour.” He tossed it into the pot and said, “Serve the people so they can eat.” Then there was nothing harmful in the pot.

Feeding of the Crowd(C)

42 Later on, a man arrived from Baal-shalishah, bringing the man of God some bread as a first fruit offering. He had 20 loaves of barley and ripe ears of corn in his sack. So Elisha[aa] said, “Give them to the people so they can eat.”

43 Elisha’s attendant asked, “What? Will this serve 100 men?”

But he replied, “Distribute it to the people so they can eat, because this is what the Lord says: ‘They will eat and have a surplus!’” 44 So he served them, and they ate and had some left over, just as the Lord had indicated.

Footnotes

  1. 2 Kings 4:4 The Heb. lacks oil
  2. 2 Kings 4:5 Lit. him
  3. 2 Kings 4:5 The Heb. lacks oil
  4. 2 Kings 4:6 The Heb. lacks last of
  5. 2 Kings 4:7 The Heb. lacks what had happened
  6. 2 Kings 4:8 I.e. a town in the territory belonging to Issachar
  7. 2 Kings 4:8 Lit. strong
  8. 2 Kings 4:9 Or a holy man of God
  9. 2 Kings 4:10 Or can turn in
  10. 2 Kings 4:11 Lit. he
  11. 2 Kings 4:12 Lit. his young man; and so throughout the chapter
  12. 2 Kings 4:13 Lit. He
  13. 2 Kings 4:13 So LXX; the Heb. lacks at home
  14. 2 Kings 4:15 Lit. he
  15. 2 Kings 4:16 Or a man of God
  16. 2 Kings 4:20 Or noon
  17. 2 Kings 4:22 Or that man of God
  18. 2 Kings 4:23 Lit. Peace; i.e. a general statement of good will; and so through v. 26
  19. 2 Kings 4:26 The Heb. lacks Gehazi
  20. 2 Kings 4:29 Lit. Tie up your garments; i.e. to secure one’s robes with a belt in preparation for running
  21. 2 Kings 4:31 Lit. him
  22. 2 Kings 4:32 Lit. his
  23. 2 Kings 4:34 Lit. he
  24. 2 Kings 4:35 The Heb. lacks up to his upper chamber
  25. 2 Kings 4:36 Lit. him
  26. 2 Kings 4:38 Lit. were sitting
  27. 2 Kings 4:42 Lit he
Close LEB

2 Kings 4
Lexham English Bible

Elisha Answers a Widow’s Request

4 A certain woman from the wives of the sons of the prophets cried out to Elisha, saying, “Your servant my husband is dead. Now you know that your servant was a fearer of Yahweh, but the creditor came to take two of my children for himself as slaves. 2 Elisha asked her, “What shall I do for you? Tell me, what do you have in the house?” Then she said, “Your servant has nothing in the house except a jar of olive oil.” 3 Then he said to her, “Go, ask for yourself some containers from the streets, from all your neighbors. You must collect as many empty containers as you can![a] 4 You must also go and shut the door behind you and your children, and you must pour out oil into all of these containers and set the filled ones aside.” 5 So she went from him, and she shut the door behind her and her children. They were bringing containers to her, and she kept pouring. 6 It happened that when the containers were full, she said to her son, “Bring near me another container,” but he said to her, “There is not another container.” Then the olive oil stopped flowing. 7 So she came and told the man of God, and he said, “Go, sell the olive oil and repay your debt. You and your sons can live on what is left over.”

Elisha at Shunem

8 It happened one day that Elisha passed through to Shunem where there was a wealthy woman, and she urged him to eat bread; so it happened each time he passed through, he would stop there to eat. 9 She said to her husband, “Please now, I know that he is a holy man of God who is passing our way[b] regularly; 10 let us make a small enclosed room upstairs and put a bed, table, chair, and lampstand there for him, so that when he comes to us, he can turn and stay there. 11 One day it happened that he came there and went to the upper room and lay down there. 12 He said to Gehazi his servant, “Call to this Shunammite,” so he called to her, and she stood before him. 13 He said to him, “Please say to her, ‘Look, you took all this trouble, showing care for us; what is there for me to do for you? To speak for you to the king or to the commander of the army?’” She said, “I am living among my people.” 14 Then he said, “What may be done for her?” Gehazi said, “Well, she has no son, and her husband is old.” 15 And he said, “Call for her,” so he called for her and she stood in the doorway. 16 And he said, “At this time next spring,[c] you will be embracing a son.” She said, “No, my lord, O man of God! You must not tell a lie to your servant!” 17 But the woman conceived, and she bore a son in the spring,[d] which Elisha had promised to her.

Elisha Restores the Shunammite’s Son

18 The child grew older, and it happened one day that he went out to his father and to the reapers. 19 Then he said to his father, “My head, my head!” So he said to the servant, “Carry him to his mother.” 20 So they carried him and brought him to his mother; he sat on her lap until noon and then died. 21 She went up, laid him on the bed of the man of God, closed the door, and went out behind it. 22 She called to her husband and said, “Please send one of the servants and one of the female donkeys for me, so that I can go quickly up to the man of God and return.” 23 And he said, “Why are you going to him today? It is neither the new moon nor the Sabbath!” And she said, “Peace.” 24 She saddled the female donkey, and she said to her servant, “Drive along and go; you must not hold me back from riding, unless I tell you.” 25 So she went and came to the man of God by Mount Carmel. It happened when the man of God saw her at a distance,[e] he said to Gehazi his servant, “There is this Shunammite. 26 Now, please run to meet her and ask her, ‘Is it peace for you? Is it peace for your husband? Is it peace for the boy?’” She said, “Peace.” 27 So she came to the man of God at the mountain, and she caught hold of his feet. Then Gehazi came near to push her away, but the man of God said, “Let her alone, for her soul is bitter, and Yahweh has hidden it from me and has not told me.” 28 Then she said, “Did I ask for a son from my lord? Did I not say that you must not mislead me?”

29 Then he said to Gehazi, “Gird up your loins and take my staff in your hand and go. If you meet anyone, you must not greet them; if anyone greets you, you must not answer them. You must put my staff on the face of the boy.” 30 Then the mother of the boy said, “As Yahweh lives[f] and as your soul lives,[g] I will surely not leave you.” So he got up and went after her. 31 Gehazi crossed over before them, and he put the staff on the face of the boy; but there was no sound, and there was no sign of life, so he returned to meet him. He told him, saying, “The boy did not wake up.”

32 When Elisha came to the house, here was the boy dead, lying on his bed. 33 He went and closed the door behind the two of them and prayed to Yahweh. 34 Then he went up and lay upon the child and put his mouth on his mouth, his eyes on his eyes, and his palms on his palms. As he bent down over him, the flesh of the boy became warm. 35 He returned and went to and fro[h] in the house one time, then he went up and bent over him. Then the boy sneezed seven times and opened his eyes. 36 Elisha called to Gehazi and said, “Call this Shunammite.” So he called her and she came to him; then he said, “Pick up your son.” 37 She came and fell at his feet and bowed down to the ground; then she picked up her son and went out.

Elisha Secures the Food

38 So Elisha returned to Gilgal. Now the famine was in the land, and the sons of the prophets were sitting before him. He said to his servant, put on the large pot and cook a stew for the sons of the prophets. 39 One went out to the field to gather herbs, and he found a wild vine[i] and gathered wild gourds from it and filled his cloak. Then he came and cut them into the pot of stew, but they did not know what they were. 40 They served the men to eat, but when they ate from the stew, they cried out and said, “There is death in the pot, O man of God!” They were not able to eat it. 41 Then he said, “Bring some flour,” and he threw it into the pot. He then said, “Serve the people and let them eat.” There was nothing harmful in the pot.

42 A man came from Baal-Shalishah and brought food to the man of God: firstfruits and twenty loaves of barley bread, with ripe grain in his sack. He said, “Give it to the people and let them eat.” 43 Then his servant said, “How can I set this before a hundred men?” He said, “Give it to the people and let them eat, for thus Yahweh says, ‘They shall eat and have some left over.’” 44 So he set it before them, and they ate and had some left over, according to the word of Yahweh.

Footnotes

  1. 2 Kings 4:3 Literally “You must not collect only a few empty containers”
  2. 2 Kings 4:9 Literally “upon us”
  3. 2 Kings 4:16 Literally “about that season as the time of life”
  4. 2 Kings 4:17 Literally “about that season as the time of life”
  5. 2 Kings 4:25 Literally “from opposite”
  6. 2 Kings 4:30 Literally “The life of Yahweh”
  7. 2 Kings 4:30 Literally “life of your soul”
  8. 2 Kings 4:35 Literally “here first and here”
  9. 2 Kings 4:39 Literally “a vine of the field”
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