The Widow’s Olive Oil

4 The wife of a man from the company^(A) of the prophets cried out to Elisha, “Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that he revered the Lord. But now his creditor^(B) is coming to take my two boys as his slaves.”

² Elisha replied to her, “How can I help you? Tell me, what do you have in your house?”

“Your servant has nothing there at all,” she said, “except a small jar of olive oil.”^(C)

³ Elisha said, “Go around and ask all your neighbors for empty jars. Don’t ask for just a few. ⁴ Then go inside and shut the door behind you and your sons. Pour oil into all the jars, and as each is filled, put it to one side.”

⁵ She left him and shut the door behind her and her sons. They brought the jars to her and she kept pouring. ⁶ When all the jars were full, she said to her son, “Bring me another one.”

But he replied, “There is not a jar left.” Then the oil stopped flowing.

⁷ She went and told the man of God,^(D) and he said, “Go, sell the oil and pay your debts. You and your sons can live on what is left.”

The Shunammite’s Son Restored to Life

⁸ One day Elisha went to Shunem.^(E) And a well-to-do woman was there, who urged him to stay for a meal. So whenever he came by, he stopped there to eat. ⁹ She said to her husband, “I know that this man who often comes our way is a holy man of God. ¹⁰ Let’s make a small room on the roof and put in it a bed and a table, a chair and a lamp for him. Then he can stay^(F) there whenever he comes to us.”

¹¹ One day when Elisha came, he went up to his room and lay down there. ¹² He said to his servant Gehazi, “Call the Shunammite.”^(G) So he called her, and she stood before him. ¹³ Elisha said to him, “Tell her, ‘You have gone to all this trouble for us. Now what can be done for you? Can we speak on your behalf to the king or the commander of the army?’”

She replied, “I have a home among my own people.”

¹⁴ “What can be done for her?” Elisha asked.

Gehazi said, “She has no son, and her husband is old.”

¹⁵ Then Elisha said, “Call her.” So he called her, and she stood in the doorway. ¹⁶ “About this time^(H) next year,” Elisha said, “you will hold a son in your arms.”

“No, my lord!” she objected. “Please, man of God, don’t mislead your servant!”

¹⁷ But the woman became pregnant, and the next year about that same time she gave birth to a son, just as Elisha had told her.

¹⁸ The child grew, and one day he went out to his father, who was with the reapers.^{(I) 19} He said to his father, “My head! My head!”

His father told a servant, “Carry him to his mother.” ²⁰ After the servant had lifted him up and carried him to his mother, the boy sat on her lap until noon, and then he died. ²¹ She went up and laid him on the bed^(J) of the man of God, then shut the door and went out.

²² She called her husband and said, “Please send me one of the servants and a donkey so I can go to the man of God quickly and return.”

²³ “Why go to him today?” he asked. “It’s not the New Moon^(K) or the Sabbath.”

“That’s all right,” she said.

²⁴ She saddled the donkey and said to her servant, “Lead on; don’t slow down for me unless I tell you.” ²⁵ So she set out and came to the man of God at Mount Carmel.^(L)

When he saw her in the distance, the man of God said to his servant Gehazi, “Look! There’s the Shunammite! ²⁶ Run to meet her and ask her, ‘Are you all right? Is your husband all right? Is your child all right?’”

“Everything is all right,” she said.

²⁷ When she reached the man of God at the mountain, she took hold of his feet. Gehazi came over to push her away, but the man of God said, “Leave her alone! She is in bitter distress,^(M) but the Lord has hidden it from me and has not told me why.”

²⁸ “Did I ask you for a son, my lord?” she said. “Didn’t I tell you, ‘Don’t raise my hopes’?”

²⁹ Elisha said to Gehazi, “Tuck your cloak into your belt,^(N) take my staff^(O) in your hand and run. Don’t greet anyone you meet, and if anyone greets you, do not answer. Lay my staff on the boy’s face.”

³⁰ But the child’s mother said, “As surely as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you.” So he got up and followed her.

³¹ Gehazi went on ahead and laid the staff on the boy’s face, but there was no sound or response. So Gehazi went back to meet Elisha and told him, “The boy has not awakened.”

³² When Elisha reached the house, there was the boy lying dead on his couch.^{(P) 33} He went in, shut the door on the two of them and prayed^(Q) to the Lord. ³⁴ Then he got on the bed and lay on the boy, mouth to mouth, eyes to eyes, hands to hands. As he stretched^(R) himself out on him, the boy’s body grew warm. ³⁵ Elisha turned away and walked back and forth in the room and then got on the bed and stretched out on him once more. The boy sneezed seven times^(S) and opened his eyes.^(T)

³⁶ Elisha summoned Gehazi and said, “Call the Shunammite.” And he did. When she came, he said, “Take your son.”^{(U) 37} She came in, fell at his feet and bowed to the ground. Then she took her son and went out.

Death in the Pot

³⁸ Elisha returned to Gilgal^(V) and there was a famine^(W) in that region. While the company of the prophets was meeting with him, he said to his servant, “Put on the large pot and cook some stew for these prophets.”

³⁹ One of them went out into the fields to gather herbs and found a wild vine and picked as many of its gourds as his garment could hold. When he returned, he cut them up into the pot of stew, though no one knew what they were. ⁴⁰ The stew was poured out for the men, but as they began to eat it, they cried out, “Man of God, there is death in the pot!” And they could not eat it.

⁴¹ Elisha said, “Get some flour.” He put it into the pot and said, “Serve it to the people to eat.” And there was nothing harmful in the pot.^(X)

Feeding of a Hundred

⁴² A man came from Baal Shalishah,^(Y) bringing the man of God twenty loaves^(Z) of barley bread^(AA) baked from the first ripe grain, along with some heads of new grain. “Give it to the people to eat,” Elisha said.

⁴³ “How can I set this before a hundred men?” his servant asked.

But Elisha answered, “Give it to the people to eat.^(AB) For this is what the Lord says: ‘They will eat and have some left over.^(AC)’” ⁴⁴ Then he set it before them, and they ate and had some left over, according to the word of the Lord.

The Covenant Is Broken

11 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: ² “Listen to the terms of this covenant^(A) and tell them to the people of Judah and to those who live in Jerusalem. ³ Tell them that this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘Cursed^(B) is the one who does not obey the terms of this covenant— ⁴ the terms I commanded your ancestors when I brought them out of Egypt,^(C) out of the iron-smelting furnace.^(D)’ I said, ‘Obey^(E) me and do everything I command you, and you will be my people,^(F) and I will be your God. ⁵ Then I will fulfill the oath I swore^(G) to your ancestors, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey’^(H)—the land you possess today.”

I answered, “Amen,^(I) Lord.”

⁶ The Lord said to me, “Proclaim^(J) all these words in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem: ‘Listen to the terms of this covenant and follow^(K) them. ⁷ From the time I brought your ancestors up from Egypt until today, I warned them again and again,^(L) saying, “Obey me.” ⁸ But they did not listen or pay attention;^(M) instead, they followed the stubbornness of their evil hearts.^(N) So I brought on them all the curses^(O) of the covenant I had commanded them to follow but that they did not keep.^(P)’”

⁹ Then the Lord said to me, “There is a conspiracy^(Q) among the people of Judah and those who live in Jerusalem. ¹⁰ They have returned to the sins of their ancestors,^(R) who refused to listen to my words.^(S) They have followed other gods^(T) to serve them.^(U) Both Israel and Judah have broken the covenant^(V) I made with their ancestors. ¹¹ Therefore this is what the Lord says: ‘I will bring on them a disaster^(W) they cannot escape.^(X) Although they cry^(Y) out to me, I will not listen^(Z) to them. ¹² The towns of Judah and the people of Jerusalem will go and cry out to the gods to whom they burn incense,^(AA) but they will not help them at all when disaster^(AB) strikes. ¹³ You, Judah, have as many gods^(AC) as you have towns;^(AD) and the altars you have set up to burn incense^(AE) to that shameful^(AF) god Baal are as many as the streets of Jerusalem.’

¹⁴ “Do not pray^(AG) for this people or offer any plea or petition for them, because I will not listen^(AH) when they call to me in the time of their distress.

¹⁷ The Lord Almighty, who planted^(AN) you, has decreed disaster^(AO) for you, because the people of both Israel and Judah have done evil and aroused^(AP) my anger by burning incense to Baal.^(AQ)

Plot Against Jeremiah

¹⁸ Because the Lord revealed their plot to me, I knew it, for at that time he showed me what they were doing. ¹⁹ I had been like a gentle lamb led to the slaughter;^(AR) I did not realize that they had plotted^(AS) against me, saying,

²¹ Therefore this is what the Lord says about the people of Anathoth^(AZ) who are threatening to kill you,^(BA) saying, “Do not prophesy^(BB) in the name of the Lord or you will die^(BC) by our hands”— ²² therefore this is what the Lord Almighty says: “I will punish them. Their young men^(BD) will die by the sword, their sons and daughters by famine. ²³ Not even a remnant^(BE) will be left to them, because I will bring disaster on the people of Anathoth in the year of their punishment.^(BF)”

Concerning Married Life

7 Now for the matters you wrote about: “It is good for a man not to have sexual relations with a woman.”^{(A) 2} But since sexual immorality is occurring, each man should have sexual relations with his own wife, and each woman with her own husband. ³ The husband should fulfill his marital duty to his wife,^(B) and likewise the wife to her husband. ⁴ The wife does not have authority over her own body but yields it to her husband. In the same way, the husband does not have authority over his own body but yields it to his wife. ⁵ Do not deprive each other except perhaps by mutual consent and for a time,^(C) so that you may devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again so that Satan^(D) will not tempt you^(E) because of your lack of self-control. ⁶ I say this as a concession, not as a command.^{(F) 7} I wish that all of you were as I am.^(G) But each of you has your own gift from God; one has this gift, another has that.^(H)

⁸ Now to the unmarried^[a] and the widows I say: It is good for them to stay unmarried, as I do.^{(I) 9} But if they cannot control themselves, they should marry,^(J) for it is better to marry than to burn with passion.

¹⁰ To the married I give this command (not I, but the Lord): A wife must not separate from her husband.^{(K) 11} But if she does, she must remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband.^(L) And a husband must not divorce his wife.

¹² To the rest I say this (I, not the Lord):^(M) If any brother has a wife who is not a believer and she is willing to live with him, he must not divorce her. ¹³ And if a woman has a husband who is not a believer and he is willing to live with her, she must not divorce him. ¹⁴ For the unbelieving husband has been sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wife has been sanctified through her believing husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy.^(N)

¹⁵ But if the unbeliever leaves, let it be so. The brother or the sister is not bound in such circumstances; God has called us to live in peace.^{(O) 16} How do you know, wife, whether you will save^(P) your husband?^(Q) Or, how do you know, husband, whether you will save your wife?

Concerning Change of Status

¹⁷ Nevertheless, each person should live as a believer in whatever situation the Lord has assigned to them, just as God has called them.^(R) This is the rule I lay down in all the churches.^{(S) 18} Was a man already circumcised when he was called? He should not become uncircumcised. Was a man uncircumcised when he was called? He should not be circumcised.^{(T) 19} Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing.^(U) Keeping God’s commands is what counts. ²⁰ Each person should remain in the situation they were in when God called them.^(V)

²¹ Were you a slave when you were called? Don’t let it trouble you—although if you can gain your freedom, do so. ²² For the one who was a slave when called to faith in the Lord is the Lord’s freed person;^(W) similarly, the one who was free when called is Christ’s slave.^{(X) 23} You were bought at a price;^(Y) do not become slaves of human beings. ²⁴ Brothers and sisters, each person, as responsible to God, should remain in the situation they were in when God called them.^(Z)

Concerning the Unmarried

²⁵ Now about virgins: I have no command from the Lord,^(AA) but I give a judgment as one who by the Lord’s mercy^(AB) is trustworthy. ²⁶ Because of the present crisis, I think that it is good for a man to remain as he is.^{(AC) 27} Are you pledged to a woman? Do not seek to be released. Are you free from such a commitment? Do not look for a wife.^{(AD) 28} But if you do marry, you have not sinned;^(AE) and if a virgin marries, she has not sinned. But those who marry will face many troubles in this life, and I want to spare you this.

²⁹ What I mean, brothers and sisters, is that the time is short.^(AF) From now on those who have wives should live as if they do not; ³⁰ those who mourn, as if they did not; those who are happy, as if they were not; those who buy something, as if it were not theirs to keep; ³¹ those who use the things of the world, as if not engrossed in them. For this world in its present form is passing away.^(AG)

³² I would like you to be free from concern. An unmarried man is concerned about the Lord’s affairs^(AH)—how he can please the Lord. ³³ But a married man is concerned about the affairs of this world—how he can please his wife— ³⁴ and his interests are divided. An unmarried woman or virgin is concerned about the Lord’s affairs: Her aim is to be devoted to the Lord in both body and spirit.^(AI) But a married woman is concerned about the affairs of this world—how she can please her husband. ³⁵ I am saying this for your own good, not to restrict you, but that you may live in a right way in undivided^(AJ) devotion to the Lord.

³⁶ If anyone is worried that he might not be acting honorably toward the virgin he is engaged to, and if his passions are too strong^[b] and he feels he ought to marry, he should do as he wants. He is not sinning.^(AK) They should get married. ³⁷ But the man who has settled the matter in his own mind, who is under no compulsion but has control over his own will, and who has made up his mind not to marry the virgin—this man also does the right thing. ³⁸ So then, he who marries the virgin does right,^(AL) but he who does not marry her does better.^[c]

³⁹ A woman is bound to her husband as long as he lives.^(AM) But if her husband dies, she is free to marry anyone she wishes, but he must belong to the Lord.^{(AN) 40} In my judgment,^(AO) she is happier if she stays as she is—and I think that I too have the Spirit of God.