Add parallel Print Page Options

Elisha Answers a Widow’s Request

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. 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.” 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] 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.” 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. 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. 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.”

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. 2 Kings 4:3 Literally “You must not collect only a few empty containers”

The Widow’s Oil Multiplied

One of the wives of the sons of the prophets(A) cried out to Elisha, “Your servant, my husband, has died. You know that your servant feared the Lord.(B) Now the creditor is coming to take my two children as his slaves.”(C)

Elisha asked her, “What can I do for you? Tell me, what do you have in the house?”

She said, “Your servant has nothing in the house except a jar of oil.”(D)

Then he said, “Go out and borrow empty containers from all your neighbors. Do not get just a few.(E) Then go in and shut the door behind you and your sons, and pour oil into all these containers. Set the full ones to one side.” So she left.

After she had shut the door behind her and her sons, they kept bringing her containers, and she kept pouring.(F) When they were full, she said to her son, “Bring me another container.”

But he replied, “There aren’t any more.” Then the oil stopped.

She went and told the man of God,(G) and he said, “Go sell the oil and pay your debt; you and your sons can live on the rest.”(H)

Read full chapter