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2 Kings 4:1-7
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
2 Kings 4:1-7
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Chapter 4
The Widow’s Oil. 1 (A)A certain woman, the widow of one of the guild prophets, cried out to Elisha: “My husband, your servant, is dead. You know that he revered the Lord, yet now his creditor has come to take my two children into servitude.”[a] 2 Elisha answered her, “What am I to do for you? Tell me what you have in the house.” She replied, “This servant of yours has nothing in the house but a jug of oil.” 3 He said, “Go out, borrow vessels from all your neighbors—as many empty vessels as you can. 4 Then come back and close the door on yourself and your children; pour the oil into all the vessels, and as each is filled, set it aside.” 5 So she went out. She closed the door on herself and her children and, as they handed her the vessels, she would pour in oil. 6 When all the vessels were filled, she said to her son, “Bring me another vessel.” He answered, “There is none left.” And then the oil stopped. 7 She went and told the man of God, who said, “Go sell the oil to pay off your creditor; with what remains, you and your children can live.”
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2 Kings 4:1-7
Good News Translation
2 Kings 4:1-7
Good News Translation
Elisha Helps a Poor Widow
4 The widow of a member of a group of prophets went to Elisha and said, “Sir, my husband has died! As you know, he was a God-fearing man, but now a man he owed money to has come to take away my two sons as slaves in payment for my husband's debt.”
2 “What shall I do for you?” he asked. “Tell me, what do you have at home?”
“Nothing at all, except a small jar of olive oil,” she answered.
3 “Go to your neighbors and borrow as many empty jars as you can,” Elisha told her. 4 “Then you and your sons go into the house, close the door, and start pouring oil into the jars. Set each one aside as soon as it is full.”
5 So the woman went into her house with her sons, closed the door, took the small jar of olive oil, and poured oil into the jars as her sons brought them to her. 6 When they had filled all the jars, she asked if there were any more. “That was the last one,” one of her sons answered. And the olive oil stopped flowing. 7 She went back to Elisha, the prophet, who said to her, “Sell the olive oil and pay all your debts, and there will be enough money left over for you and your sons to live on.”
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2 Kings 4:1-7
New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition
2 Kings 4:1-7
New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition
Elisha and the Widow’s Oil
4 Now the wife of a member of the company of prophets[a] cried to Elisha, “Your servant my husband is dead; and you know that your servant feared the Lord, but a creditor has come to take my two children as slaves.” 2 Elisha said to her, “What shall I do for you? Tell me, what do you have in the house?” She answered, “Your servant has nothing in the house, except a jar of oil.” 3 He said, “Go outside, borrow vessels from all your neighbors, empty vessels and not just a few. 4 Then go in, and shut the door behind you and your children, and start pouring into all these vessels; when each is full, set it aside.” 5 So she left him and shut the door behind her and her children; they kept bringing vessels to her, and she kept pouring. 6 When the vessels were full, she said to her son, “Bring me another vessel.” But he said to her, “There are no more.” Then the oil stopped flowing. 7 She came and told the man of God, and he said, “Go sell the oil and pay your debts, and you and your children can live on the rest.”
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- 2 Kings 4:1 Heb the sons of the prophets
2 Kings 4:1-7
New American Standard Bible
2 Kings 4:1-7
New American Standard Bible
The Widow’s Oil
4 Now a woman of the wives of (A)the sons of the prophets cried out to Elisha, saying, “Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that your servant feared the Lord; and (B)the creditor has come to take my two children to be his slaves.” 2 So Elisha said to her, “What shall I do for you? Tell me, what do you have in the house?” And she said, “Your servant has nothing in the house except (C)a jar of oil.” 3 Then he said, “Go, [a]borrow containers [b]elsewhere for yourself, empty containers from all your neighbors—do not get too few. 4 Then you shall come in and shut the door behind you and your sons, and pour into all these containers; and you shall set aside what is full.” 5 So she left him and shut the door behind her and her sons; they began bringing the containers to her, and she poured the oil. 6 When (D)the containers were full, she said to her son, “Bring me another container.” But he said to her, “There [c]are no more containers.” Then the oil stopped. 7 So she came and told (E)the man of God. And he said, “Go, sell the oil and pay your debt, and you and your sons can live on the rest.”
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- 2 Kings 4:3 Lit request
- 2 Kings 4:3 Lit from outside
- 2 Kings 4:6 Lit is...container
2 Kings 4:1-7
New International Version
2 Kings 4:1-7
New International Version
The Widow’s Olive Oil
4 The wife of a man from the company(A) of the prophets cried out to Elisha, “Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that he revered the Lord. But now his creditor(B) is coming to take my two boys as his slaves.”
2 Elisha replied to her, “How can I help you? Tell me, what do you have in your house?”
“Your servant has nothing there at all,” she said, “except a small jar of olive oil.”(C)
3 Elisha said, “Go around and ask all your neighbors for empty jars. Don’t ask for just a few. 4 Then go inside and shut the door behind you and your sons. Pour oil into all the jars, and as each is filled, put it to one side.”
5 She left him and shut the door behind her and her sons. They brought the jars to her and she kept pouring. 6 When all the jars were full, she said to her son, “Bring me another one.”
But he replied, “There is not a jar left.” Then the oil stopped flowing.
7 She went and told the man of God,(D) and he said, “Go, sell the oil and pay your debts. You and your sons can live on what is left.”
New American Bible (Revised Edition) (NABRE)
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Good News Translation (GNT) 
Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition) © 1992 American Bible Society. All rights reserved. For more information about GNT, visit www.bibles.com and www.gnt.bible.
New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE)
New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
New American Standard Bible (NASB) 
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
New International Version (NIV) 
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.