2 Kings 4

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1. 1A certain woman, the wife of one of the sons of the prophets, cried out to Elisha, saying, "Your servant, my husband, is dead; and you know that he feared the LORD. Now the creditor has come to take my two sons as bondmen."
2. 2Elisha asked her, "What can I do for you? Tell me, what do you have in your house?" She replied, "Your servant has nothing at all in the house, except a pot of oil."
3. 3Then he said, "Go, borrow vessels from outside from all your neighbors, empty vessels. Do not borrow a few."
4. 4"Then go inside with your sons and shut the door behind you. Pour oil into every container, and set each one aside as it fills up."
5. 5So she left him and shut the door behind her and her sons. They kept bringing her containers, and she kept pouring.
6. 6When the vessels were full, she said to her son, "Bring me another vessel." He said to her, "There is not a vessel more." And the oil stopped.
7. 7She went and told the man of God. He said, "Go, sell the oil, pay your debt, and you and your children can live on the rest."
8. 8One day Elisha traveled to Shunem, where a prominent woman lived. She insisted he stay for a meal. After that, whenever he passed through, he would stop at her home to eat.
9. 9She said to her husband, "I can tell that this man who keeps passing through is a holy man of God."
10. 10Please, let us make a little chamber on the wall, and let us put a bed, a table, a stool, and a candlestick there for him. Then, when he comes to us, he will turn in there.
11. 11One day Elisha came by, went up to the room, and rested there.
12. 12He said to his servant Gehazi, "Go call the Shunammite woman." Gehazi called her, and she came and stood before Elisha.
13. 13Elisha told Gehazi, "Say to her, 'You've gone to so much trouble to take care of us. What can we do for you? Would you like me to speak to the king or the commander of the army on your behalf?'" She answered, "I live among my own people."
14. 14And he asked, "What then can be done for her?" Gehazi replied, "Indeed, she has no child, and her husband is old."
15. 15Elisha said, "Call her back." Gehazi called her, and she came and stood in the doorway.
16. 16Elisha said, "About this time next year, you will be holding a son in your arms." She said, "No, my lord! Please, man of God, do not lie to your servant."
17. 17But the woman became pregnant and gave birth to a son the following year, at exactly the time Elisha had told her.
18. 18The boy grew up. One day he went out to the fields where his father was working with the harvesters.
19. 19Suddenly he cried out to his father, "My head! My head!" His father told a servant, "Carry him to his mother."
20. 20The servant picked him up and brought him to his mother. The boy sat on her lap until noon, and then he died.
21. 21She carried him upstairs, laid him on the bed of the man of God, shut the door, and went out.
22. 22She called to her husband and said, "Please send me one of the servants and a donkey right away. I need to go see the man of God. I'll be back soon."
23. 23Her husband asked, "Why would you go to him today? It's not a new moon festival or a Sabbath." She replied, "It will be all right."
24. 24She saddled the donkey and told her servant, "Go as fast as you can. Don't slow down unless I tell you to."
25. 25She rode to Mount Carmel to find the man of God. When Elisha spotted her in the distance, he said to Gehazi, "Look — the Shunammite woman is coming."
26. 26"Run out to meet her and ask, 'Are you all right? Is your husband all right? Is your child all right?'" She told Gehazi, "Everything is fine."
27. 27But when she reached Elisha on the hill, she grabbed hold of his feet. Gehazi moved to push her away, but Elisha said, "Leave her alone. Her soul is in deep anguish, and the LORD has hidden the reason from me — he hasn't told me what's wrong."
28. 28Then she said, "Did I ask you for a son, my lord? Didn't I say, 'Don't deceive me'?"
29. 29Elisha immediately turned to Gehazi. "Get ready to run. Take my staff and go. If you meet anyone on the way, don't stop to greet them, and if anyone greets you, don't stop to answer. Go straight there and lay my staff on the child's face."
30. 30But the boy's mother said, "As surely as the LORD lives and as your soul lives, I won't leave without you." So Elisha got up and went with her.
31. 31Gehazi ran ahead and laid the staff on the child's face, but there was no sound and no response. He went back to meet Elisha and reported, "The child hasn't woken up."
32. 32When Elisha arrived at the house, he found the boy lying dead on his bed.
33. 33He went in, shut the door so it was just the two of them, and prayed to the LORD.
34. 34Then he got on the bed and lay on top of the child, placing his mouth on the boy's mouth, his eyes on his eyes, and his hands on his hands. As he stretched himself over the child, the boy's body began to grow warm.
35. 35Elisha got up and paced back and forth in the house. Then he went back and stretched himself over the boy again. The child sneezed seven times and opened his eyes.
36. 36Elisha called to Gehazi, "Bring the Shunammite woman!" Gehazi called her, and when she came in, Elisha said, "Pick up your son."
37. 37She came in, fell at Elisha's feet, and bowed to the ground. Then she picked up her son and walked out.
38. 38Elisha returned to Gilgal during a time of famine in the land. While the sons of the prophets were gathered around him, he told his servant, 'Put the large pot on the fire and make some stew for the sons of the prophets.'
39. 39One of them went out into the field to gather herbs. He found a wild vine and picked a whole lapful of wild gourds. He came back and sliced them into the pot of stew, not knowing what they were.
40. 40They served the stew to the men. But as soon as they started eating, they cried out, "Man of God, there is death in the pot!" No one could eat it.
41. 41Elisha said, "Bring me some flour." He threw it into the pot and said, "Now serve it to the people." They ate it, and there was nothing harmful in it.
42. 42A man came from Baal Shalishah and brought the man of God bread of the firstfruits—twenty loaves of barley and full ears of corn in their husks. Elisha said, "Give it to the people to eat."
43. 43His servant said, "How am I supposed to feed 100 men with this?" Elisha replied, "Give it to the people to eat, because the LORD says, 'They will eat and still have some left over.'"
44. 44So he set it before them, and they ate and had food left over, just as the LORD had said.