2 Kings 4
4
2 Kings 4
1¶ Now a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets cried unto Elisha, saying, Thy slave, my husband, is dead; and thou knowest that thy slave feared the Lord; and the creditor is come to take my two sons to be his slaves.
2And Elisha said unto her, What shall I do for thee? Tell me what thou hast in the house? And she said, Thy handmaid has nothing in the house except a flask of oil.
3And he said, Go, borrow vessels from all thy neighbours, empty vessels; borrow not a few.
4Then enter in and shut the door upon thee and upon thy sons and pour out into all those vessels, and as each one is full, set it aside.
5So she went from him and shut the door upon her and upon her sons, who brought the vessels to her, and she poured out the oil.
6And when the vessels were full, she said unto her son, Bring me yet another vessel. And he said unto her, There are no more vessels. Then the oil stopped flowing.
7Then she came and told the man of God. And he said, Go, sell this oil and pay thy debtors and live thou and thy sons of the rest.
8¶ And it also happened that one day Elisha passed through Shunem, where there was an important woman, and she constrained him to eat bread. And so it was, that as often as he passed by, he turned in there to eat bread.
9And she said to her husband, Behold now, I perceive that this is a holy man of God, who passes by us continually.
10Let us make a little chamber, I pray thee, on the wall, and let us set for him there a bed and a table and a stool and a lampstand so that when he comes to us, he shall turn in there.
11And it came to pass one day that he came there, and he turned into the chamber and slept there.
12Then he said to Gehazi, his servant, Call this Shunammite. And when he had called her, she stood before him.
13And he said unto Gehazi, Say now unto her, Behold, thou hast been diligent for us with all this care; what shall I do for thee? Dost thou have need that I speak for thee unto the king or to the captain of the host? And she answered, I dwell among my own people.
14And he said, What then shall we do for her? And Gehazi answered, Verily she has no child, and her husband is old.
15 Then he said, Call her. And when he had called her, she stood in the door.
16And he said, At the appointed time, according to the time of life, thou shalt embrace a son. And she said, No, my lord, thou man of God, do not deceive thy handmaid.
17But the woman conceived and gave birth to a son at the appointed time that Elisha had said unto her, according to the time of life.
18¶ And when the child was grown, it came to pass one day, that he went out to his father to the reapers.
19And he said unto his father, My head, my head. And he said to a servant, Carry him to his mother.
20And when he had taken him and brought him to his mother, he sat on her knees until noon and then died.
21Then she went up and laid him on the bed of the man of God and shut the door upon him and went out.
22And calling her husband, she said, Send me, I pray thee, one of the young men and one of the asses that I may run to the man of God and come again.
23And he said, Why must thou go to him today? It is neither new moon nor sabbath. And she said, Peace.
24Then she caused the ass to be saddled and said to her servant, Lead and go forward; slack not the pace for me except I bid thee.
25So she went and came unto the man of God to Mount Carmel. And it came to pass, when the man of God saw her afar off, that he said to Gehazi, his servant, Behold, yonder is that Shunammite.
26Run now, I pray thee, to meet her and say unto her, Dost thou have peace? And thy husband? And the child? And she answered, Peace.
27And when she came to the man of God in the mountain, she caught him by the feet. And Gehazi came near to thrust her away; but the man of God said, Let her alone, for her soul is bitter within her; and the Lord has hid it from me and has not revealed it to me.
28Then she said, Did I desire a son of my lord? Did I not say, Do not deceive me?
29Then he said to Gehazi, Gird up thy loins and take my staff in thy hand and go; if thou meet anyone, salute him not; and if anyone salutes thee, answer him not again, and lay my staff upon the face of the child.
30Then the mother of the child said, As the Lord lives and as thy soul lives, I will not leave thee. And he arose and followed her.
31And Gehazi had gone on before them and had laid the staff upon the face of the child, but there was neither voice, nor attention. Therefore he went again to meet him and told him, saying, The child is not awaked.
32And when Elisha was come into the house, behold, the child was laid dead upon his bed.
33He went in therefore and shut the door upon both of them and prayed unto the Lord.
34 Then he went up and lay upon the child and put his mouth upon his mouth and his eyes upon his eyes and his hands upon his hands; thus he stretched himself upon the child; and the flesh of the child waxed warm.
35Then he returned and walked through the house to and fro and went up and stretched himself upon him again; and the child sneezed seven times, and the child opened his eyes.
36And he called Gehazi and said, Call this Shunammite. So he called her. And as she was coming in unto him, he said, Take up thy son.
37Then she entered in and fell at his feet and bowed herself to the ground and took up her son and went out.
38¶ And Elisha returned to Gilgal. Then there was a famine in the land; and the sons of the prophets were sitting before him, so he said unto his servant, Set on the great pot and make pottage for the sons of the prophets.
39And one went out into the field to gather herbs and found a wild vine and gathered his lap full of wild grapes and came and shred them into the pot of pottage, for they knew them not.
40So they poured out for the men to eat. And it came to pass, as they were eating of that pottage, that they cried out and said, O thou man of God, there is death in the pot. And they could not eat it.
41But he said, Then bring meal. And he cast it into the pot, and he said, Pour out for the people that they may eat. And there was no evil thing in the pot.
42Then a man came from Baalshalisha, who brought the man of God bread of the firstfruits, twenty loaves of barley, and full ears of wheat in the head. And he said, Give unto the people that they may eat.
43And his minister said, How can I set this before one hundred men? He said again, Give the people, that they may eat, for thus hath the Lord said, They shall eat, and some shall be left over.
44So he set it before them, and they ate, and some was left over, according to the word of the Lord.
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2 Kings 4: JUB
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The Jubilee Bible 2000 (JUB) by Ransom Press International
2 Kings 4
4
A poor widow
1Now there was a woman who had been married to a member of a group of prophets. She appealed to Elisha, saying, “My husband, your servant, is dead. You know how he feared the LORD. But now someone he owed money to has come to take my two children away as slaves.”
2Elisha said to her, “What can I do for you? Tell me what you still have left in the house.”
She said, “Your servant has nothing at all in the house except a small jar of oil.”
3He said, “Go out and borrow containers from all your neighbors. Get as many empty containers as possible. 4Then go in and close the door behind you and your sons. Pour oil into all those containers. Set each one aside when it’s full.”
5She left Elisha and closed the door behind her and her sons. They brought her containers as she kept on pouring. 6When she had filled the containers, she said to her son, “Bring me another container.”
He said to her, “There aren’t any more.” Then the oil stopped flowing, 7and she reported this to the man of God.
He said, “Go! Sell the oil and pay your debts. You and your sons can live on what remains.”
A rich woman
8One day Elisha went to Shunem. A rich woman lived there. She urged him to eat something, so whenever he passed by, he would stop in to eat some food. 9She said to her husband, “Look, I know that he is a holy man of God and he passes by regularly. 10Let’s make a small room on the roof. We’ll set up a bed, a table, a chair, and a lamp for him there. Then when he comes to us, he can stay there.”
11So one day Elisha came there, headed to the room on the roof, and lay down. 12He said to his servant Gehazi, “Call this Shunammite woman.” Gehazi called her, and she stood before him. 13Elisha then said to Gehazi, “Say to her, ‘Look, you’ve gone to all this trouble for us. What can I do for you? Is there anything I can say on your behalf to the king or to the commander of the army?’”
She said, “I’m content to live at home with my own people.”
14Elisha asked, “So what can be done for her?”
Gehazi said, “Well, she doesn’t have a son, and her husband is old.”
15Elisha said, “Call her.” So Gehazi called her, and she stood at the door. 16Elisha said, “About this time next year, you will be holding a son in your arms.”
But she said, “No, man of God, sir; don’t lie to your servant.”
17But the woman conceived and gave birth to a son at about the same time the next year. This was what Elisha had promised her.
18The child grew up. One day he ran to his father, who was with the harvest workers. 19He said to his father, “Oh, my head! My head!”
The father said to a young man, “Carry him to his mother.” 20So he picked up the boy and brought him to his mother.
The boy sat on her lap until noon. Then he died. 21She went up and laid him down on the bed for the man of God. Then she went out and closed the door. 22She called her husband and said, “Send me one of the young men and one of the donkeys so that I can hurry to the man of God and come back.”
23Her husband said, “Why are you going to him today? It’s not a new moon or sabbath.”
She said, “Don’t worry about it.” 24She saddled the donkey, then said to her young servant, “Drive the donkey hard. Don’t let me slow down unless I tell you.” 25So she went off and came to the man of God at Mount Carmel.
As soon as the man of God saw her from a distance, he said to Gehazi his servant, “Look, it’s the Shunammite woman! 26Run out to meet her and ask her, ‘Are things okay with you, your husband, and your child?’”
She said, “Things are okay.”
27When she got to the man of God at the mountain, she grabbed his feet. Gehazi came up to push her away, but the man of God said, “Leave her alone! She is distraught, but the LORD has hidden the reason from me and hasn’t told me why.”
28She said, “Did I ask you for a son, sir? Didn’t I say, ‘Don’t raise my hopes’?”
29Elisha said to Gehazi, “Get ready, take my staff, and go! If you encounter anyone, don’t stop to greet them. If anyone greets you, don’t reply. Put my staff on the boy’s face.”
30But the boy’s mother said, “I swear by your life and by the LORD’s life, I won’t leave you!” So Elisha got up and followed her.
31Gehazi went on ahead of them. He set the staff on the young boy’s face, but there was no sound or response. So he went back to meet Elisha and told him, “The boy didn’t wake up.”
32Elisha came into the house and saw the boy lying dead on his bed. 33He went in and closed the door behind the two of them. Then he prayed to the LORD. 34He got up on the bed and lay down on top of the child, putting his mouth on the boy’s mouth, his eyes on the boy’s eyes, his hands on the boy’s hands. And as he bent over him, the child’s skin grew warm. 35Then Elisha got down and paced back and forth in the house. Once again he got up on the bed and bent over the boy, at which point the boy sneezed#4.35 Or gasped; Heb uncertain seven times and opened his eyes. 36Elisha called for Gehazi and said, “Call the Shunammite woman.” Gehazi called her, and she came to Elisha. He told her, “Pick up your son.” 37She came and fell at his feet, facedown on the ground. Then she picked up her son and left.
Miracles with food
38When Elisha returned to Gilgal, there was a famine in the land. A group of prophets was sitting before him. He said to his servant, “Put on the big pot and cook some stew for the prophets.” 39So one of them went out to the field to gather plants; he found a wild vine and gathered wild gourds from it, filling his garment. He came and cut them up into the pot of stew, but no one knew what they were.
40The stew was served to the men, but as they started to eat it, they cried out and said, “There is death in that pot, man of God!” They couldn’t eat it.
41Elisha said, “Get some flour.” He threw it into the pot and said, “Serve the people so they can eat.” At that point, there was nothing bad left in the pot.
42A man came from Baal-shalishah, bringing the man of God some bread from the early produce—twenty loaves of barley bread and fresh grain from his bag.#4.42 Or still on its stem Elisha said, “Give it to the people so they can eat.”
43His servant said, “How can I feed one hundred men with this?”
Elisha said, “Give it to the people so they can eat! This is what the LORD says: ‘Eat and there will be leftovers.’” 44So the servant gave the food to them. They ate and had leftovers, in agreement with the LORD’s word.
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