2Kgs 4
1
Now there cried a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets to Elisha,
saying, Your servant my husband is dead; and you know that your servant did fear YHWH:
and the creditor is come to take to him my two children to be bondmen.
2
And Elisha said to her, What shall I do for you? tell me; what have you in the house?
And she said, Your handmaid has not anything in the house, save a pot of oil.
3
Then he said, Go, borrow you vessels abroad of all your neighbors, even empty vessels;
borrow not a few.
4
And you shall go in, and shut the door upon you and upon your sons, and pour out into
all those vessels; and you shall set aside that which is full.
5
So she went from him, and shut the door upon her and upon her sons; they brought [the
vessels] to her, and she poured out.
6
And it came to pass, when the vessels were full, that she said to her son, Bring me
yet a vessel. And he said to her, There is not a vessel more. And the oil stayed.
7
Then she came and told the man of God. And he said, Go, sell the oil, and pay your
debt, and live you and your sons of the rest.
8
And it fell on a day, that Elisha passed to Shunem, where was a great woman; and she
constrained him to eat bread. And so it was, that as oft as he passed by, he turned
in there to eat bread.
9
And she said to her husband, Behold now, I perceive that this is a holy man of God,
that passes by us continually.
10
Let us make, I pray you, a little chamber on the wall; and let us set for him there
a bed, and a table, and a seat, and a candlestick: and it shall be, when he comes
to us, that he shall turn in there.
11
And it fell on a day, that he came there, and he turned into the chamber and lay there.
12
And he said to Gehazi his servant, Call this Shunammite. And when he had called her,
she stood before him.
13
And he said to him, Say now to her, Behold, you have been careful for us with all
this care; what is to be done for you? would you be spoken for to the king, or to
the captain of the host? And she answered, I dwell among mine own people.
14
And he said, What then is to be done for her? And Gehazi answered, Truly she has no
son, and her husband is old.
15
And he said, Call her. And when he had called her, she stood in the door.
16
And he said, At this season, when the time comes round, you shall embrace a son. And
she said, Nay, my lord, you man of God, do not lie to your handmaid.
17
And the woman conceived, and bare a son at that season, when the time came round,
as Elisha had said to her.
18
And when the child was grown, it fell on a day, that he went out to his father to
the reapers.
19
And he said to his father, My head, my head. And he said to his servant, Carry him
to his mother.
20
And when he had taken him, and brought him to his mother, he sat on her knees till
noon, and then died.
21
And she went up and laid him on the bed of the man of God, and shut [the door] upon
him, and went out.
22
And she called to her husband, and said, Send me, I pray you, one of the servants,
and one of the asses, that I may run to the man of God, and come again.
23
And he said, Wherefore will you go to him to-day? it is neither new moon nor sabbath.
And she said, It shall be well.
24
Then she saddled an ass, and said to her servant, Drive, and go forward; slacken me
not the riding, except I bid you.
25
So she went, and came to 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 the Shunammite:
26
run, I pray you, now 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 answered, It is well.
27
And when she came to the man of God to the hill, she caught hold of his feet. And
Gehazi came near to thrust her away; but the man of God said, Let her alone: for her
soul is vexed within her; and YHWH has hid it from me, and has not told me.
28
Then she said, Did I desire a son of my lord? did I not say, Do not deceive me?
29
Then he said to Gehazi, Gird up your loins, and take my staff in your hand, and go
your way: if you meet any man, salute him not; and if any salute you, answer him not
again: and lay my staff upon the face of the child.
30
And the mother of the child said, As YHWH lives, and as your soul lives, I will not
leave you. And he arose, and followed her.
31
And Gehazi passed on before them, and laid the staff upon the face of the child; but
there was neither voice, nor hearing. Wherefore he returned to meet him, and told
him, saying, The child is not awaked.
32
And when Elisha was come into the house, behold, the child was dead, and laid upon
his bed.
33
He went in therefore, and shut the door upon them twain, and prayed to YHWH.
34
And 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: and he stretched himself upon him;
and the flesh of the child waxed warm.
35
Then he returned, and walked in the house once to and fro; and went up, and stretched
himself upon him: and the child sneezed seven times, and the child opened his eyes.
36
And he called Gehazi, and said, Call this Shunammite. So he called her. And when she
was come in to him, he said, Take up your son.
37
Then she went in, and fell at his feet, and bowed herself to the ground; and she took
up her son, and went out.
38
And Elisha came again to Gilgal. And there was a dearth in the land; and the sons
of the prophets were sitting before him; and he said to his servant, Set on the great
pot, and boil pottage for the sons of the prophets.
39
And one went out into the field to gather herbs, and found a wild vine, and gathered
thereof wild gourds his lap full, and came and shred them into the pot of pottage;
for they knew them not.
40
So they poured out for the men to eat. And it came to pass, as they were eating of
the pottage, that they cried out, and said, O man of God, there is death in the pot.
And they could not eat thereof.
41
But 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 harm in the pot.
42
And there came a man from Baal-shalishah, and brought the man of God bread of the
first-fruits, twenty loaves of barley, and fresh ears of grain in his sack. And he
said, Give to the people, that they may eat.
43
And his servant said, What, should I set this before a hundred men? But he said, Give
the people, that they may eat; for thus says YHWH, They shall eat, and shall leave
thereof.
44
So he set it before them, and they did eat, and left thereof, according to the word
of YHWH.