2 Kings 4
4
The Widow’s Oil Multiplied
1One of the wives of the sons of the prophets#2Kg 2:3,15 cried out to Elisha, “Your servant, my husband, has died. You know that your servant feared the Lord.#Pr 1:7; 9:10 Now the creditor is coming to take my two children as his slaves.”#Lv 25:39–41
2Elisha 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.”#1Kg 17:12
3Then he said, “Go out and borrow empty containers from all your neighbors. Do not get just a few.#2Kg 3:16 4Then 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.” 5So she left.
After she had shut the door behind her and her sons, they kept bringing her containers, and she kept pouring.#Mt 14:17–21 6When they were full, she said to her son, “Bring me another container.”
But he replied, “There aren’t any more.” Then the oil stopped.
7She went and told the man of God,#1Kg 12:22 and he said, “Go sell the oil and pay your debt; you and your sons can live on the rest.”#1Kg 17:16
The Shunammite Woman’s Hospitality
8One day Elisha went to Shunem.#Jos 19:18 A prominent woman who lived there persuaded him to eat some food. So whenever he passed by, he stopped there to eat.#Mt 10:40–42; 3Jn 5–8 9Then she said to her husband, “I know that the one who often passes by here is a holy man of God, 10so let’s make a small, walled-in upper room and put a bed, a table, a chair, and a lamp there for him. Whenever he comes, he can stay there.”#1Kg 17:19
The Shunammite Woman’s Son
11One day he came there and stopped at the upstairs room to lie down. 12He ordered his attendant Gehazi,#2Kg 4:29–31; 5:20–27 “Call this Shunammite woman.” So he called her and she stood before him.
13Then he said to Gehazi, “Say to her, ‘Look, you’ve gone to all this trouble for us. What can we do for you?#2Kg 4:2 Can we speak on your behalf to the king or to the commander of the army? ’”
She answered, “I am living among my own people.”
14So he asked, “Then what should be done for her?”
Gehazi answered, “Well, she has no son, and her husband is old.”
15“Call her,” Elisha said. So Gehazi called her, and she stood in the doorway. 16Elisha said, “At this time next year you will have a son in your arms.”#Gn 18:9–14; Lk 1:7–13
Then she said, “No, my lord. Man of God, do not lie to your servant.”#2Kg 4:28
17The woman conceived and gave birth to a son at the same time the following year, as Elisha had promised her.
The Shunammite’s Son Raised
18The child grew and one day went out to his father and the harvesters.#Ru 2:3 19Suddenly he complained to his father, “My head! My head!”
His father told his servant, “Carry him to his mother.” 20So he picked him up and took him to his mother. The child sat on her lap until noon and then died. 21She went up and laid him on the bed of the man of God, shut him in, and left.
22She summoned her husband and said, “Please send me one of the servants and one of the donkeys, so I can hurry to the man of God and come back again.”
23But he said, “Why go to him today? It’s not a New Moon or a Sabbath.”#Nm 10:10; 28:11
She replied, “It’s all right.”#2Sm 18:28; 2Kg 4:26
24Then she saddled the donkey and said to her servant, “Go fast; don’t slow the pace for me unless I tell you.” 25So she came to the man of God at Mount Carmel.#1Kg 18:19–20
When the man of God saw her at a distance, he said to his attendant Gehazi,#2Kg 4:12 “Look, there’s the Shunammite woman.#2Kg 4:8,12 26Run out to meet her and ask, ‘Are you all right? Is your husband all right? Is your son all right? ’”
And she answered, “It’s all right.”
27When she came up to the man of God at the mountain, she clung to his feet.#Mt 28:9 Gehazi came to push her away, but the man of God said, “Leave her alone — she is in severe anguish,#Ru 1:19–21; 1Sm 1:15; Zch 12:10 and the Lord has hidden it from me. He hasn’t told me.”
28Then she said, “Did I ask my lord for a son? Didn’t I say, ‘Do not lie to me?’” #2Kg 4:16
29So Elisha said to Gehazi, “Tuck your mantle#1Kg 18:46; 2Kg 9:1 under your belt, take my staff with you, and go. If you meet anyone, don’t stop to greet him, and if a man greets you, don’t answer him.#Lk 10:4 Then place my staff on the boy’s face.”
30The boy’s mother said to Elisha, “As the Lord lives and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.”#2Kg 2:2,4,6 So he got up and followed her.
31Gehazi went ahead of them and placed the staff on the boy’s face, but there was no sound or sign of life, so he went back to meet Elisha and told him, “The boy didn’t wake up.”#Jn 11:11
32When Elisha got to the house, he discovered the boy lying dead on his bed.#2Kg 4:21 33So he went in, closed the door behind the two of them, and prayed to the Lord.#Mt 6:6 34Then he went up and lay on the boy:#1Kg 17:21–23 he put mouth to mouth, eye to eye, hand to hand. While he bent down over him, the boy’s flesh became warm.#Ac 20:10 35Elisha got up, went into the house, and paced back and forth. Then he went up and bent down over him again. The boy sneezed seven times and opened his eyes.#2Kg 8:5
36Elisha called Gehazi and said, “Call the Shunammite woman.” He called her and she came. Then Elisha said, “Pick up your son.” 37She came, fell at his feet, and bowed to the ground; she picked up her son and left.#Heb 11:35
The Deadly Stew
38When Elisha returned to Gilgal,#2Kg 2:1 there was a famine#Lv 26:26; 2Kg 8:1 in the land. The sons of the prophets#2Kg 2:3,5,7 were sitting before him.#Lk 10:39; Ac 22:3 He said to his attendant, “Put on the large pot and make stew for the sons of the prophets.”
39One went out to the field to gather herbs and found a wild vine from which he gathered as many wild gourds as his garment would hold. Then he came back and cut them up into the pot of stew, but they were unaware of what they were.#4:39 of what they were added for clarity
40They served some for the men to eat, but when they ate the stew they cried out, “There’s death in the pot,#Ex 10:17 man of God!” And they were unable to eat it.
41Then Elisha said, “Get some flour.” He threw it into the pot and said, “Serve it for the people to eat.” And there was nothing bad in the pot.#Ex 15:25; 2Kg 2:21
The Multiplied Bread
42A man from Baal-shalishah#1Sm 9:4 came to the man of God with his sack full of#4:42 Or with some heads of fresh grain and twenty loaves of barley bread from the first bread of the harvest. Elisha said, “Give it to the people to eat.”#Mt 14:17
43But Elisha’s attendant asked, “What? Am I to set this before a hundred men?” #Lk 9:13; Jn 6:9
“Give it to the people to eat,” Elisha said, “for this is what the Lord says: ‘They will eat, and they will have some left over.’” 44So he set it before them, and as the Lord had promised, they ate and had some left over.#Mt 14:20
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© 2017 Holman Bible Publishers
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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