2 Kings 4
New Catholic Bible
Chapter 4
The Widow’s Oil.[a] 1 Now the wife of one of the sons of the prophets cried out to Elisha, saying, “Your servant, my husband, is dead, and you know that your servant lived in fear of the Lord. His creditor is coming to take away his two sons to be his slaves.” 2 Elisha said, “What can I do for you? Tell me, what do you have at home?” She answered, “Your servant has nothing at home except for a flask of oil.” 3 He said, “Go around and borrow jars from all of your neighbors. Empty jars, and not too few of them. 4 Then go inside, and shut the door behind you and your sons. Fill all of those jars, and when a jar is full, set it to the side.”
5 So she left him, and she shut the door behind her and her sons who had brought her jars, and she kept pouring. 6 When all of the jars were full, she said to her son, “Bring me another jar.” He said, “There are no more jars,” and then the oil stopped flowing.
7 She went and recounted it to the man of God, and he said, “Go and sell the oil and pay your debt. You and your children can live on what is left over.”
Elisha and the Shunammite.[b] 8 One day Elisha traveled to Shunem.[c] There was an important woman there, and she insisted that he stop to eat. Whenever he passed by there, he would stop to eat.
9 She said to her husband, “Behold, this man who often visits us is a holy man of God. 10 We should prepare a small room on the roof, and place a bed, a table, a chair, and a lamp in it for him. Then he can stay there when he visits us.”
11 One day he arrived, and he went into the room to lie down. 12 He said to Gehazi, his servant, “Call the Shunammite.” So he called her, and she stood before him. 13 He said to him, “Say to her, ‘You have put yourself through all this trouble for us. What could be done for you? Should we speak to the king or the commander of the army for you?’ ” She answered, “I dwell among my own people.”
14 He said, “Then what can be done for her?” Gehazi answered, “She and her husband are old, and they have no children.” 15 Elisha said, “Summon her.” He called her and she stood in the doorway. 16 He said, “You will embrace a son around this time next year.” She said, “No, my lord, O man of God. Do not lie to your servant.”
17 The woman became pregnant, and she had a son that time the next year, just as Elisha had predicted. 18 The child grew up, and one day he went out to his father who was with the reapers. 19 He said to his father, “My head! My head!” He said to a young man, “Carry him to his mother.” 20 He picked him up and brought him to his mother. He sat on her lap until noon when he died.
21 She went up and laid him on the bed belonging to the man of God. She closed him in the room and went out. 22 She called to her husband and said, “Please send me one of the young men and one of the donkeys so that I can hurry to the man of God and return.” 23 He said, “Why would you go today? It is not a new moon or the Sabbath.” But she said, “It is all right.”[d]
24 She saddled the donkey and said to her servant, “Lead on, and do not slow down for me unless I tell you.” 25 So she departed and came to the man of God on Mount Carmel.
When the man of God saw her from a distance, he said to Gehazi his servant, “Behold, it is the Shunammite. 26 Run to her and say to her, ‘Is everything all right? Is your husband well? Is your child well?’ ” She answered, “It is all right.”
27 When she reached the man of God on the mountain, she took hold of his feet. Gehazi approached to push her away, but the man of God said, “Leave her alone. Her spirit is in despair, but the Lord had hidden it from me and did not tell me.”
28 She said, “Did I ask for a son from my lord? Did I not say, ‘Do not lie to me.’ ”
29 Elisha said to Gehazi, “Gird up your loins, and take my staff in your hands, and go! If you meet anyone, do not greet him. And if anyone greets you, do not answer. Lay my staff upon the child’s face.”[e] 30 But the boy’s mother said, “As the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you.” So he got up and followed her.
31 Gehazi went on before them, and he laid the staff upon the child’s face, but there was no sound or response. He went out to meet him, and he said to him, “The child did not wake up.”
32 When Elisha arrived at the house, the child was lying dead upon his bed. 33 He went in, and he shut the door on the two of them, and then he prayed to the Lord. 34 He got up and lay upon the child, mouth to mouth, eyes to eyes, and hands to hands. He stretched himself out upon the child, and the child’s flesh grew warm. 35 He turned and walked back and forth in the room, and then he went and stretched himself out again. The boy sneezed seven times, and then the boy opened his eyes.
36 Elisha called for Gehazi, and he said, “Call this Shunammite.” He called her, and she came, and he said to her, “Take your son.” 37 She came in and bowed down, falling to the ground at Elisha’s feet. She then took her son and left.
38 Poisoned Stew. Elisha returned to Gilgal, and there was a famine in the land. The sons of the prophets were sitting in front of him, and he said to his servant, “Set up the large pot and cook some soup for the sons of the prophets.”
39 One of them went out into the field to gather some herbs and he found a wild vine. He picked the wild gourds, filling his cloak. He cut them up into the pot of soup, although no one knew what they were.
40 When they poured out the soup for the men to eat, and they began to eat the soup, they cried out, “O man of God, there is death in the pot.” And they could not eat it.
41 He said, “Bring some flour.” He threw it into the pot and said, “Pour it out for the people to eat.” And there was nothing harmful in the pot.
42 Multiplication of Loaves. A man came from Baal-shalishah, and he brought the man of God twenty loaves of barley bread from the firstfruits along with some heads of grain. He said, “Give it to the people so that they might eat.” 43 His servant said, “What? Should I place this before one hundred men?” But he said again, “Give it to the people to eat, for thus says the Lord: They will eat, and there will be some left over.”
44 He set it before them, and they ate, and there was some left over, just as the Lord had predicted.
Footnotes
- 2 Kings 4:1 This chapter recounts God’s mercy and power in providing for the needs of the faithful. God uses Elisha to help the widow in debt, to restore life to the dead boy, to purify food, and to feed one hundred men.
- 2 Kings 4:8 The story is very like the one told of Elijah (1 Ki 17:17-24).
- 2 Kings 4:8 Shunem: at the foot of Little Hermon in northern Israel.
- 2 Kings 4:23 It was customary to approach the prophets on festival days (see 1 Sam 20:5).
- 2 Kings 4:29 The sign of an urgent mission (see Lk 10:4). Easterners are, even today, very formal, and even the simplest greeting takes time.
2 Kings 4
GOD’S WORD Translation
Elisha and the Widow’s Olive Oil
4 One of the wives of a disciple of the prophets called to Elisha, “Sir, my husband is dead! You know how he feared the Lord. Now a creditor has come to take my two children as slaves.”
2 Elisha asked her, “What should I do for you? Tell me, what do you have in your house?”
She answered, “I have nothing in the house except a jar of olive oil.”
3 Elisha said, “Borrow many empty containers from all your neighbors. 4 Then close the door behind you and your children, and pour oil into all those containers. When one is full, set it aside.”
5 So she left him and closed the door behind her and her children. The children kept bringing containers to her, and she kept pouring. 6 When the containers were full, she told her son, “Bring me another container.”
He told her, “There are no more containers.” So the olive oil stopped flowing. 7 She went and told the man of God.
He said, “Sell the oil, and pay your debt. The rest is for you and your children.”
Elisha Brings a Shunem Woman’s Son Back to Life
8 One day Elisha was traveling through Shunem, where a rich woman lived. She had invited him to eat ⌞with her⌟. So whenever he was in the area, he stopped in to eat.
9 She told her husband, “I know he’s a holy man of God. And he regularly travels past our house. 10 Let’s make a small room on the roof and put a bed, table, chair, and lamp stand there for him. He can stay there whenever he comes to visit us.”
11 One day he came ⌞to their house⌟, went into the upstairs room, and rested there. 12 He told his servant Gehazi, “Call this Shunem woman.”
Gehazi called her, and she stood in front of him. 13 Elisha said to Gehazi, “Ask her what we can do for her, since she has gone to a lot of trouble for us. Maybe she would like us to speak to the king or the commander of the army for her.”
She answered, “I’m already living among my own people.”
14 “What should we do for her?” Elisha asked.
Gehazi answered, “Well, she has no son, and her husband is old.”
15 Elisha said, “Call her.” So Gehazi called her, and she stood in the doorway. 16 Elisha said, “At this time next spring, you will hold a baby boy in your arms.”
She answered, “Don’t say that, sir. Don’t lie to me. You’re a man of God.”
17 But the woman became pregnant and had a son at that time next year, as Elisha had told her.
18 Several years later the boy went to his father, who was with the harvest workers. 19 ⌞Suddenly,⌟ he said to his father, “My head! My head!”
The father told his servant, “Carry him to his mother.”
20 The servant picked him up and brought him to his mother. The boy sat on her lap until noon, when he died. 21 She took him upstairs and laid him on the bed of the man of God, left ⌞the room⌟, and shut the door behind her. 22 She called her husband and said, “Please send me one of the servants and one of the donkeys. I will go quickly to the man of God and come back again.”
23 Her husband asked, “Why are you going to him today? It isn’t a New Moon Festival or a day of rest—a holy day.”
But she said goodbye to him.
24 She saddled the donkey. Then she told her servant, “Lead on. Don’t slow down unless I tell you.” 25 So she came to the man of God at Mount Carmel.
When he saw her coming at a distance, he told his servant Gehazi, “There is the woman from Shunem. 26 Run to meet her and ask her how she, her husband, and the boy are doing.”
“Everyone’s fine,” she answered.
27 When she came to the man of God at the mountain, she took hold of his feet. Gehazi went to push her away. But the man of God said, “Leave her alone. She is bitter. The Lord has hidden the reason from me. He hasn’t told me.”
28 The woman said, “I didn’t ask you for a son. I said, ‘Don’t raise my hopes.’ ”
29 The man of God told Gehazi, “Put on a belt, take my shepherd’s staff in your hand, and go. Whenever you meet anyone, don’t stop to greet him. If he greets you, don’t stop to answer him. Lay my staff on the boy’s face.”
30 The boy’s mother said, “I solemnly swear, as the Lord and you live, I will not leave without you.” So Elisha got up and followed her.
31 Gehazi went ahead of them and put the staff on the boy’s face, but there was no sound or sign of life. So Gehazi came back to meet the man of God. Gehazi told him, “The boy didn’t wake up.”
32 When Elisha came to the house, the dead boy was lying on Elisha’s bed. 33 He went into the room, closed the door, and prayed to the Lord. 34 Then he lay on the boy, putting his mouth on the boy’s mouth, his eyes on the boy’s eyes, his hands on the boy’s hands. He crouched over the boy’s body, and it became warm. 35 Elisha got up, walked across the room and came back, and then got back on the bed and crouched over him. The boy sneezed seven times and opened his eyes. 36 Elisha called Gehazi and said, “Call the Shunem woman.” Gehazi called her. When she came to him, he said, “Take your son.”
37 Then she immediately bowed at his feet. She took her son and left.
Elisha and the Poisoned Food
38 When Elisha went back to Gilgal, there was a famine in the country. ⌞One day,⌟ while the disciples of the prophets were meeting with him, he told his servant, “Put a large pot on the fire, and cook some stew for the disciples of the prophets.”
39 One of them went into the field to gather vegetables and found a wild vine. He filled his clothes with wild gourds. Then he cut them into the pot of stew without knowing what they were. 40 They dished out the food for the men to eat. As they were eating the stew, they cried out, “There’s death in the pot, man of God!” So they couldn’t eat it.
41 Elisha said, “Bring some flour.” He threw it into the pot and said, “Dish it out for the people to eat.” Then there was nothing harmful in the pot.
Elisha Feeds a Hundred People
42 A man from Baal Shalisha brought bread made from the first harvested grain, 20 barley loaves, and fresh grain to the man of God. The man of God said, “Give it to the people to eat.”
43 But his servant asked, “How can I set this in front of a hundred people?”
“Give it to the people to eat,” the man of God said. “This is what the Lord says: They will eat and even have some left over.”
44 The servant set it in front of them. They ate and had some left over, as the Lord had predicted.
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