2 Kings 4

¹Now a certain woman, one of the wives of the sons of the prophets, cried out to Elisha, saying: 'Your servant my husband has died, and you know that your servant was a man who feared the LORD. And the creditor has come to take my two children as slaves.'

²And Elisha said to her, 'What shall I do for you? Tell me, what do you have in the house?' And she said, 'Your servant has nothing in the house, except for a flask of oil.'

³And he said, Go, borrow vessels from outside, from all your neighbors, empty vessels. Do not borrow just a few.

⁴And you shall go in and shut the door behind you and behind your sons, and pour into all these vessels; and the full ones you shall move aside.

⁵And she went from him and shut the door behind her and behind her sons; they were bringing to her, and she was pouring.

⁶And it came to pass, when the jars were full, that she said to her son: 'Bring me another jar.' And he said to her: 'There is no more jar.' And the oil stopped.

⁷And she came and told the man of God, and he said, Go, sell the oil and pay your debt, and you and your sons will live on what remains.

⁸And it came to pass one day that Elisha passed through to Shunem, and there was a prominent woman there, and she urged him to eat a meal. And it came to pass that whenever he passed by he would turn aside there to eat a meal.

⁹And she said to her husband, 'Behold, please, I know that this is a holy man of God who passes by us continually.'

¹⁰Let us make, please, a small walled upper room and put there for him a bed and a table and a chair and a lampstand. And it will be that whenever he comes to us, he will turn aside there.

¹¹And it came about one day that he came there and turned aside to the upper room and lay down there.

¹²And he said to Gehazi his servant, 'Call this Shunammite woman.' And he called her, and she stood before him.

¹³And he said to him: 'Say now to her: Look, you have shown us all this care. What can be done for you? Is there something to speak on your behalf to the king or to the commander of the army?' And she said: 'I dwell among my own people.'

¹⁴And he said: What then can be done for her? And Gehazi said: Indeed, she has no son, and her husband is old.

¹⁵And he said, Call her. And he called her, and she stood at the door.

¹⁶And he said, 'At this appointed time next year, you will be embracing a son.' And she said, 'No, my lord, man of God; do not deceive your servant.'

¹⁷And the woman conceived and gave birth to a son at the appointed time, at this season next year, as Elisha had spoken to her.

¹⁸And the child grew, and one day he went out to his father among the reapers.

¹⁹And he said to his father, My head, my head! And he said to the servant, Carry him to his mother.

²⁰And he carried him and brought him to his mother; and he sat on her knees until noon, and he died.

²¹And she went up and laid him on the bed of the man of God, and she shut the door on him and went out.

²²And she called to her husband and said: Send to me, please, one of the young men and one of the donkeys, so that I may hurry to the man of God and return.

²³And he said, Why are you going to him today? It is neither New Moon nor Sabbath. And she said, It is well.

²⁴And she saddled the donkey and said to her servant, 'Drive and go; do not hold back for me when riding, unless I tell you.'

²⁵And she went and came to the man of God at Mount Carmel. And it came to pass, when the man of God saw her from a distance, that he said to his servant Gehazi: 'There—the Shunammite!'

²⁶Now run, please, to meet her, and say to her: Is it well with you? Is it well with your husband? Is it well with the child? And she said: It is well.

²⁷And she came to the man of God at the mountain and grasped his feet. And Gehazi approached to push her away, and the man of God said, Let her alone, for her soul is bitter — the Lord has hidden it from me and has not told me.

²⁸And she said, 'Did I ask a son from my lord? Did I not say to him, do not deceive me?'

²⁹And he said to Gehazi: 'Gird your loins and take my staff in your hand and go. If you meet anyone, do not greet him, and if anyone greets you, do not answer him. And lay my staff on the face of the lad.'

³⁰And the mother of the lad said: As the Lord lives, and as your soul lives, I will not leave you. And Elisha arose and went after her.

³¹And Gehazi went on ahead of them and laid the staff on the face of the child; but there was no voice and no response. And he returned to meet him and told him, saying, 'The child has not awakened.'

³²And Elisha came into the house, and behold—the lad was dead, lying on his bed.

³³And he came in and shut the door behind the two of them and prayed to the Lord.

³⁴And he went up and lay down over the child, and put his mouth on his mouth, his eyes on his eyes, and his hands on his hands; and he bent down over him, and the flesh of the child became warm.

³⁵And he returned and walked in the house, once this way and once that way; and he went up and bent over him. And the child sneezed seven times; and the child opened his eyes.

³⁶And he called to Gehazi and said, Call this Shunammite woman. And he called her and she came to him, and he said, Take up your son.

³⁷And she came and fell at his feet and bowed down to the ground. Then she took up her son and went out.

³⁸And Elisha returned to Gilgal; and there was a famine in the land. And the sons of the prophets were sitting before him; and he said to his servant, 'Put on the great pot and boil stew for the sons of the prophets.'

³⁹And one went out to the field to gather herbs, and he found a wild vine and gathered from it gourds of the field, his garment full, and came and sliced them into the pot of stew; for they did not know what it was.

⁴⁰And they poured out for the men to eat. And when they ate from the stew, they cried out and said, Death in the pot, O man of God! And they were not able to eat.

⁴¹And he said: 'Bring flour.' And he threw it into the pot and said: 'Pour out for the people.' And they ate, and there was no bad thing in the pot.

⁴²And a man came from Baal-shalishah and brought to the man of God bread of firstfruits — twenty loaves of barley and fresh grain in his sack. And he said, 'Give it to the people and let them eat.'

⁴³And his servant said: How shall I set this before a hundred men? And he said: Give it to the people and let them eat; for thus says the Lord: They shall eat and have some left over.

⁴⁴And he set it before them, and they ate and had leftovers, according to the word of the Lord.