2 Kings 4-6

Holman Christian Standard Bible

The Widow’s Oil Multiplied

4 One of the wives of the sons of the prophets^(A) cried out to Elisha, “Your servant, my husband, has died. You know that your servant feared the Lord.^(B) Now the creditor is coming to take my two children as his slaves.”^(C)

² Elisha asked her, “What can I do for you? Tell me, what do you have in the house?”

She said, “Your servant has nothing in the house except a jar of oil.”^(D)

³ Then he said, “Go and borrow empty containers from everyone—from all your neighbors. Do not get just a few.^{(E) 4} Then go in and shut the door behind you and your sons, and pour oil into all these containers. Set the full ones to one side.” ⁵ So she left.

After she had shut the door behind her and her sons, they kept bringing her containers, and she kept pouring.^{(F) 6} When they were full, she said to her son, “Bring me another container.”

But he replied, “There aren’t any more.” Then the oil stopped.

⁷ She went and told the man of God,^(G) and he said, “Go sell the oil and pay your debt; you and your sons can live on the rest.”^(H)

The Shunammite Woman’s Hospitality

⁸ One day Elisha went to Shunem.^(I) A prominent woman who lived there persuaded him to eat some food. So whenever he passed by, he stopped there to eat.^{(J) 9} Then she said to her husband, “I know that the one who often passes by here is a holy man of God, ¹⁰ so let’s make a small room upstairs and put a bed, a table, a chair, and a lamp there for him. Whenever he comes, he can stay there.”^(K)

The Shunammite Woman’s Son

¹¹ One day he came there and stopped and went to the room upstairs to lie down. ¹² He ordered his attendant Gehazi,^(L) “Call this Shunammite woman.” So he called her and she stood before him.

¹³ Then he said to Gehazi, “Say to her, ‘Look, you’ve gone to all this trouble for us. What can we do for you?^(M) Can we speak on your behalf to the king or to the commander of the army?’”

She answered, “I am living among my own people.”

¹⁴ So he asked, “Then what should be done for her?”

Gehazi answered, “Well, she has no son, and her husband is old.”

¹⁵ “Call her,” Elisha said. So Gehazi called her, and she stood in the doorway. ¹⁶ Elisha said, “At this time next year you will have a son in your arms.”^(N)

Then she said, “No, my lord. Man of God, do not deceive your servant.”^(O)

¹⁷ The woman conceived and gave birth to a son at the same time the following year, as Elisha had promised her.

The Shunammite’s Son Raised

¹⁸ The child grew and one day went out to his father and the harvesters.^{(P) 19} Suddenly he complained to his father, “My head! My head!”

His father told his servant, “Carry him to his mother.” ²⁰ So he picked him up and took him to his mother. The child sat on her lap until noon and then died. ²¹ Then she went up and laid him on the bed of the man of God, shut him in, and left.

²² She summoned her husband and said, “Please send me one of the servants and one of the donkeys, so I can hurry to the man of God and then come back.”

²³ But he said, “Why go to him today? It’s not a New Moon or a Sabbath.”^(Q)

She replied, “Everything is all right.”^(R)

²⁴ Then she saddled the donkey and said to her servant, “Hurry, don’t slow the pace for me unless I tell you.” ²⁵ So she set out and went to the man of God at Mount Carmel.^(S)

When the man of God saw her at a distance, he said to his attendant Gehazi,^(T) “Look, there’s the Shunammite woman.^{(U) 26} Run out to meet her and ask, ‘Are you all right? Is your husband all right? Is your son all right?’”

And she answered, “Everything’s all right.”

²⁷ When she came up to the man of God at the mountain, she clung to his feet.^(V) Gehazi came to push her away, but the man of God said, “Leave her alone—she is in severe anguish,^(W) and the Lord has hidden it from me. He hasn’t told me.”

²⁸ Then she said, “Did I ask my lord for a son? Didn’t I say, ‘Do not deceive me?’”^(X)

²⁹ So Elisha said to Gehazi, “Tuck your mantle^(Y) under your belt, take my staff with you, and go. If you meet anyone, don’t stop to greet him, and if a man greets you, don’t answer him.^(Z) Then place my staff on the boy’s face.”

³⁰ The boy’s mother said to Elisha, “As the Lord lives and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.”^(AA) So he got up and followed her.

³¹ Gehazi went ahead of them and placed the staff on the boy’s face, but there was no sound or sign of life, so he went back to meet Elisha and told him, “The boy didn’t wake up.”^(AB)

³² When Elisha got to the house, he discovered the boy lying dead on his bed.^{(AC) 33} So he went in, closed the door behind the two of them, and prayed to the Lord.^{(AD) 34} Then he went up and lay on the boy:^(AE) he put mouth to mouth, eye to eye, hand to hand. While he bent down over him, the boy’s flesh became warm.^{(AF) 35} Elisha got up, went into the house, and paced back and forth. Then he went up and bent down over him again. The boy sneezed seven times and opened his eyes.^(AG)

³⁶ Elisha called Gehazi and said, “Call the Shunammite woman.” He called her and she came. Then Elisha said, “Pick up your son.” ³⁷ She came, fell at his feet, and bowed to the ground; she picked up her son and left.^(AH)

The Deadly Stew

³⁸ When Elisha returned to Gilgal,^(AI) there was a famine^(AJ) in the land. The sons of the prophets^(AK) were sitting at his feet.^[a](AL) He said to his attendant, “Put on the large pot and make stew for the sons of the prophets.”

³⁹ One went out to the field to gather herbs and found a wild vine from which he gathered as many wild gourds as his garment would hold. Then he came back and cut them up into the pot of stew, but they were unaware of what they were.

⁴⁰ They served some for the men to eat, but when they ate the stew they cried out, “There’s death in the pot,^(AM) man of God!” And they were unable to eat it.

⁴¹ Then Elisha said, “Get some meal.” He threw it into the pot and said, “Serve it for the people to eat.” And there was nothing bad in the pot.^(AN)

The Multiplied Bread

⁴² A man from Baal-shalishah^(AO) came to the man of God with his sack full of 20 loaves of barley bread from the first bread of the harvest. Elisha said, “Give it to the people to eat.”^(AP)

⁴³ But Elisha’s attendant asked, “What? Am I to set 20 loaves before 100 men?”^(AQ)

“Give it to the people to eat,” Elisha said, “for this is what the Lord says: ‘They will eat, and they will have some left over.’” ⁴⁴ So he gave it to them, and as the Lord had promised, they ate and had some left over.^(AR)

Naaman’s Disease Healed

5 Naaman,^(AS) commander of the army for the king of Aram, was a great man in his master’s sight^[b] and highly regarded^(AT) because through him, the Lord had given victory to Aram. The man was a brave warrior, but he had a skin disease.^(AU)

² Aram had gone on raids^(AV) and brought back from the land of Israel a young girl who served Naaman’s wife. ³ She said to her mistress, “If only my master would go to^[c] the prophet who is in Samaria, he would cure him of his skin disease.”

⁴ So Naaman went and told his master what the girl from the land of Israel had said. ⁵ Therefore, the king of Aram said, “Go and I will send a letter with you to the king of Israel.”

So he went and took with him 750 pounds^[d] of silver, 150 pounds^[e] of gold, and 10 changes of clothes.^{(AW) 6} He brought the letter to the king of Israel, and it read:

⁷ When the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes^(AX) and asked, “Am I God,^(AY) killing and giving life that this man expects me to cure a man of his skin disease? Think it over and you will see that he is only picking a fight with^[f] me.”^(AZ)

⁸ When Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel tore his clothes, he sent a message to the king, “Why have you torn your clothes? Have him come to me, and he will know there is a prophet in Israel.”^{(BA) 9} So Naaman came with his horses and chariots and stood at the door of Elisha’s house.

¹⁰ Then Elisha sent him a messenger,^(BB) who said, “Go wash^(BC) seven times^(BD) in the Jordan and your flesh will be restored and you will be clean.”

¹¹ But Naaman got angry and left, saying, “I was telling myself: He will surely come out, stand and call on the name of Yahweh his God, and will wave his hand^(BE) over the spot and cure the skin disease. ¹² Aren’t Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel?^(BF) Could I not wash in them and be clean?” So he turned and left in a rage.^(BG)

¹³ But his servants approached and said to him, “My father,^(BH) if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more should you do it when he tells you, ‘Wash and be clean’?” ¹⁴ So Naaman went down and dipped himself in the Jordan seven times, according to the command of the man of God. Then his skin was restored and became like the skin of a small boy, and he was clean.^(BI)

¹⁵ Then Naaman and his whole company went back to the man of God, stood before him, and declared, “I know there’s no God in the whole world except in Israel.^(BJ) Therefore, please accept a gift^(BK) from your servant.”

¹⁶ But Elisha said, “As the Lord lives,^(BL) I stand before Him. I will not accept it.”^(BM) Naaman urged him to accept it, but he refused.

¹⁷ Naaman responded, “If not, please let your servant be given as much soil as a pair of mules can carry,^(BN) for your servant will no longer offer a burnt offering or a sacrifice to any other god but Yahweh.^{(BO) 18} However, in a particular matter may the Lord pardon your servant: When my master, the king of Aram, goes into the temple of Rimmon to worship and I, as his right-hand man,^[g](BP) bow in the temple of Rimmon—when I bow^[h] in the temple of Rimmon, may the Lord pardon your servant in this matter.”

¹⁹ So he said to him, “Go in peace.”^(BQ)

Gehazi’s Greed Punished

After Naaman had traveled a short distance from Elisha, ²⁰ Gehazi,^(BR) the attendant of Elisha the man of God, thought: My master has let this Aramean Naaman off lightly by not accepting from him what he brought. As the Lord lives,^(BS) I will run after him and get something from him.

²¹ So Gehazi pursued Naaman. When Naaman saw someone running after him, he got down from the chariot to meet him and asked, “Is everything all right?”

²² Gehazi said, “It’s all right.^(BT) My master has sent me to say, ‘I have just now discovered that two young men from the sons of the prophets have come to me from the hill country of Ephraim. Please give them 75 pounds^[i] of silver and two changes of clothes.’”^(BU)

²³ But Naaman insisted, “Please, accept 150 pounds.”^[j] He urged Gehazi and then packed 150 pounds^[k] of silver in two bags with two changes of clothes. Naaman gave them to two of his young men who carried them ahead of Gehazi. ²⁴ When Gehazi came to the hill,^[l](BV) he took the gifts from them and stored them in the house. Then he dismissed the men, and they left.

²⁵ Gehazi came and stood by his master. “Where did you go, Gehazi?” Elisha asked him.

“Your servant didn’t go anywhere,” he replied.

²⁶ But Elisha questioned him, “Wasn’t my spirit^(BW) there^[m] when the man got down from his chariot to meet you? Is it a time to accept money and clothes, olive orchards and vineyards, sheep and oxen, and male and female slaves? ²⁷ Therefore, Naaman’s skin disease will cling to you and your descendants forever.” So Gehazi went out from his presence diseased—white as snow.^(BX)

The Floating Ax Head

6 The sons of the prophets^(BY) said to Elisha, “Please notice that the place where we live under your supervision^[n] is too small for us. ² Please let us go to the Jordan where we can each get a log and can build ourselves a place to live there.”

“Go,” he said.

³ Then one said, “Please come with your servants.”

“I’ll come,” he answered.

⁴ So he went with them, and when they came to the Jordan, they cut down trees. ⁵ As one of them was cutting down a tree, the iron ax head fell into the water, and he cried out, “Oh, my master, it was borrowed!”^(BZ)

⁶ Then the man of God^(CA) asked, “Where did it fall?”

When he showed him the place, the man of God cut a stick, threw it there, and made the iron float.^{(CB) 7} Then he said, “Pick it up.” So he reached out and took it.

The Aramean War

⁸ When the king of Aram^(CC) was waging war against Israel, he conferred with his servants, “My camp will be at such and such a place.”

⁹ But the man of God^(CD) sent word to the king of Israel: “Be careful passing by this place, for the Arameans are going down there.” ¹⁰ Consequently, the king of Israel sent word to the place the man of God had told him about. The man of God repeatedly^[o] warned the king, so the king would be on his guard.

¹¹ The king of Aram was enraged because of this matter, and he called his servants and demanded of them, “Tell me, which one of us is for the king of Israel?”

¹² One of his servants said, “No one, my lord the king. Elisha, the prophet in Israel, tells the king of Israel even the words you speak in your bedroom.”

¹³ So the king said, “Go and see where he is, so I can send men to capture him.”

When he was told, “Elisha is in Dothan,”^{(CE) 14} he sent horses, chariots, and a massive army there. They went by night and surrounded the city.

¹⁵ When the servant of the man of God got up early and went out, he discovered an army with horses and chariots surrounding the city. So he asked Elisha, “Oh, my master, what are we to do?”

¹⁶ Elisha said, “Don’t be afraid,^(CF) for those who are with us outnumber those who are with them.”^(CG)

¹⁷ Then Elisha prayed, “Lord, please open his eyes and let him see.” So the Lord opened the servant’s eyes. He looked and saw that the mountain was covered with horses and chariots of fire^(CH) all around Elisha.

¹⁸ When the Arameans came against him, Elisha prayed to the Lord, “Please strike this nation with blindness.” So He struck them with blindness,^(CI) according to Elisha’s word. ¹⁹ Then Elisha said to them, “This is not the way, and this is not the city. Follow me, and I will take you to the man you’re looking for.” And he led them to Samaria.^{(CJ) 20} When they entered Samaria, Elisha said, “Lord, open these men’s eyes and let them see.” So the Lord opened their eyes. They looked and discovered they were in Samaria.

²¹ When the king of Israel saw them, he said to Elisha, “My father,^(CK) should I kill them? I will kill them.”

²² Elisha replied, “Don’t kill them. Do you kill those you have captured with your sword or your bow? Set food and water in front of them so they can eat and drink and go to their master.”^(CL)

²³ So he prepared a great feast for them. When they had eaten and drunk, he sent them away, and they went to their master. The Aramean raiders^(CM) did not come into Israel’s land again.

²⁴ Some time later, King Ben-hadad^(CN) of Aram brought all his military units together and marched up to besiege Samaria. ²⁵ So there was a great famine^(CO) in Samaria, and they continued the siege against it until a donkey’s head sold for 80 silver shekels,^[p] and a cup^[q] of dove’s dung^[r] sold for five silver shekels.^[s](CP)

²⁶ As the king of Israel was passing by on the wall, a woman cried out to him, “My lord the king, help!”

²⁷ He answered, “If the Lord doesn’t help you, where can I get help for you? From the threshing floor or the winepress?”^{(CQ) 28} Then the king asked her, “What’s the matter?”^(CR)

She said, “This woman said to me, ‘Give up your son, and we will eat him today. Then we will eat my son tomorrow.’ ²⁹ So we boiled my son and ate him, and I said to her the next day, ‘Give up your son, and we will eat him,’^(CS) but she has hidden her son.”

³⁰ When the king heard the woman’s words, he tore his clothes.^(CT) Then, as he was passing by on the wall, the people saw that there was sackcloth^(CU) under his clothes next to his skin. ³¹ He announced, “May God punish me and do so severely^(CV) if the head of Elisha son of Shaphat remains on his shoulders today.”

³² Elisha was sitting in his house, and the elders^(CW) were sitting with him. The king sent a man ahead of him, but before the messenger got to him, Elisha said to the elders, “Do you see how this murderer^(CX) has sent someone to cut off my head? Look, when the messenger comes, shut the door to keep him out. Isn’t the sound of his master’s feet behind him?”

³³ While Elisha was still speaking with them, the messenger^[t] came down to him. Then he said, “This disaster is from the Lord. Why should I wait for the Lord any longer?”^(CY)