³ After the famine ended she returned from the land of the Philistines, and she went to see the king about getting back her house and land.

³ A widow of that city came to him repeatedly, saying, ‘Give me justice in this dispute with my enemy.’ ⁴ The judge ignored her for a while, but finally he said to himself, ‘I don’t fear God or care about people, ⁵ but this woman is driving me crazy. I’m going to see that she gets justice, because she is wearing me out with her constant requests!’”

⁶ “Is this true?” the king asked her. And she told him the story. So he directed one of his officials to see that everything she had lost was restored to her, including the value of any crops that had been harvested during her absence.

²⁶ One day as the king of Israel was walking along the wall of the city, a woman called to him, “Please help me, my lord the king!”

¹³ Elisha said to Gehazi, “Tell her, ‘We appreciate the kind concern you have shown us. What can we do for you? Can we put in a good word for you to the king or to the commander of the army?’”

“No,” she replied, “my family takes good care of me.”

⁴ When the woman from Tekoa approached^[a] the king, she bowed with her face to the ground in deep respect and cried out, “O king! Help me!”