2 Kings 4
1Now there cried a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets unto Elisha, saying, Your servant my husband is dead; and you know that your servant did fear the LORD: and the creditor has come to take unto him my two sons to be slaves.
2And Elisha said unto 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, except a pot of oil.
3Then he said, Go, borrow you vessels outside of all your neighbors, even empty vessels; borrow not a few.
4And when you are come in, you shall shut the door upon you and upon your sons, and shall pour out into all those vessels, and you shall set aside that which is full.
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.
6And it came to pass, when the vessels were full, that she said unto her son, Bring me yet a vessel. And he said unto her, There is not a vessel more. And the oil stopped flowing.
7Then she came and told the man of God. And he said, Go, sell the oil, and pay your debt, and live you and your children from the rest.
8And it fell on a day, that Elisha passed to Shunem, where there was a wealthy woman; and she urged him to eat some food. And so it was, that as often as he passed by, he turned in there to eat some food.
9And she said unto 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 you, on the wall; and let us set for him there a bed, and a table, and a stool, and a lampstand: and it shall be, when he comes to us, that he shall turn in there.
11And it fell on a day, that he came there, and he turned into the chamber, and lay there.
12And he said to Gehazi his servant, Call this Shunammite. And when he had called her, she stood before him.
13And he said unto him, Say now unto her, Behold, you have cared 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 army? And she answered, I dwell among my own people.
14And he said, What then is to be done for her? And Gehazi answered, Verily she has no child, and her husband is old.
15And he said, Call her. And when he had called her, she stood in the door.
16And he said, About this season, next year, you shall embrace a son. And she said, Nay, my lord, you man of God, do not lie unto your handmaid.
17And the woman conceived, and bore a son at that time that Elisha had said unto her, according to the appointed time.
18And when the child was grown, on a certain day, he went out to his father to the reapers.
19And he said unto his father, My head, my head. And he said to a lad, Carry him to his mother.
20And when he had taken him, and brought him to his mother, he sat on her knees till noon, and then died.
21And she went up, and laid him on the bed of the man of God, and shut the door upon him, and went out.
22And she called unto her husband, and said, Send me, I pray you, one of the young men, and one of the donkeys, that I may run to the man of God, and come again.
23And he said, Why will you go to him today? it is neither new moon, nor sabbath. And she said, It shall be well.
24Then she saddled a donkey, and said to her servant, Drive, and go forward; slack not your riding for me, except I bid you.
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 you, to meet her, and say unto her, Is it well with you? is it well with your husband? is it well with the child? And she answered, It is well.
27And when she came to the man of God at the mountain, she caught him by the feet: but Gehazi came near to thrust her away. And 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 told 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 your loins, and take my staff in your hand, and go your way: if you meet any man, greet him not; and if any greet you, answer him not again: and lay my staff upon the face of the child.
30And the mother of the child said, As the LORD lives, and as your soul lives, I will not leave you. And he arose, and followed her.
31And Gehazi passed on before them, and laid the staff upon the face of the child; but there was neither voice, nor hearing. Therefore he went again to meet him, and told him, saying, The child has not awakened.
32And when Elisha had come into the house, behold, the child was dead, and laid upon his bed.
33He went in therefore, and shut the door upon the two of them, and prayed unto the LORD.
34And 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 the child; and the flesh of the child became warm.
35Then he returned, and walked in the house to and fro; and went up, and stretched himself upon him: 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 when she was come in unto him, he said, Take up your son.
37Then she went in, and fell at his feet, and bowed herself to the ground, and took up her son, and went out.
38And Elisha came again to Gilgal: and there was a famine in the land; and the sons of the prophets were sitting before him: and he said unto his servant, Set on the great pot, and boil pottage for the sons of the prophets.
39And one went out into the field to gather herbs, and found a wild vine, and gathered from it his lap full of wild gourds, 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 the pottage, that they cried out, and said, O you man of God, there is death in the pot. And they could not eat of 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 harm in the pot.
42And there came a man from Baal-shalisha, and brought the man of God bread of the firstfruits, twenty loaves of barley, and full ears of grain in his sack. And he said, Give unto the people, that they may eat.
43And his servant said, What, should I set this before a hundred men? He said again, Give the people, that they may eat: for thus says the LORD,
They shall eat, and shall have some left.
44So he set it before them, and they did eat, and had some left, according to the word of the LORD.
Commentaries for 2 Kings 4:0