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Now a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets cried out to Elisha, saying, “Your servant my husband is dead. You know that your servant feared Yahweh. Now the creditor has come to take for himself my two children to be slaves.”

Elisha said to her, “What should I do for you? Tell me: what do you have in the house?”

She said, “Your servant has nothing in the house, except a pot of oil.”

Then he said, “Go, borrow empty containers from all your neighbors. Don’t borrow just a few containers. Go in and shut the door on you and on your sons, and pour oil into all those containers; and set aside those which are full.”

So she went from him, and shut the door on herself and on her sons. They brought the containers to her, and she poured oil. When the containers were full, she said to her son, “Bring me another container.”

He said to her, “There isn’t another container.” Then the oil stopped flowing.

Then she came and told the man of God. He said, “Go, sell the oil, and pay your debt; and you and your sons live on the rest.”

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Elisha Helps a Poor Widow

One day the widow of a member of the group of prophets came to Elisha and cried out, “My husband who served you is dead, and you know how he feared the Lord. But now a creditor has come, threatening to take my two sons as slaves.”

“What can I do to help you?” Elisha asked. “Tell me, what do you have in the house?”

“Nothing at all, except a flask of olive oil,” she replied.

And Elisha said, “Borrow as many empty jars as you can from your friends and neighbors. Then go into your house with your sons and shut the door behind you. Pour olive oil from your flask into the jars, setting each one aside when it is filled.”

So she did as she was told. Her sons kept bringing jars to her, and she filled one after another. Soon every container was full to the brim!

“Bring me another jar,” she said to one of her sons.

“There aren’t any more!” he told her. And then the olive oil stopped flowing.

When she told the man of God what had happened, he said to her, “Now sell the olive oil and pay your debts, and you and your sons can live on what is left over.”

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