2 Kings 4
Elisha Helps a Widow and Her Sons
4:1 Now a wife of one of the prophets1 appealed2 to Elisha for help, saying, “Your servant, my husband is dead. You know that your servant was a loyal follower of the
Elisha Gives Life to a Boy
4:8 One day Elisha traveled to Shunem, where a prominent9 woman lived. She insisted that he stop for a meal.10 So whenever he was passing through, he would stop in there for a meal.11 4:9 She said to her husband, “Look, I’m sure12 that the man who regularly passes through here is a very special prophet.13 4:10 Let’s make a small private upper room14 and furnish it with15 a bed, table, chair, and lamp. When he visits us, he can stay there.”
4:11 One day Elisha16 came for a visit; he went17 into the upper room and rested.18 4:12 He told his servant Gehazi, “Ask the Shunammite woman to come here.”19 So he did so and she came to him.20 4:13 Elisha said to Gehazi,21 “Tell her, ‘Look, you have treated us with such great respect.22 What can I do for you? Can I put in a good word for you with the king or the commander of the army?’” She replied, “I’m quite secure.”23 4:14 So he asked Gehazi,24 “What can I do for her?” Gehazi replied, “She has no son, and her husband is old.” 4:15 Elisha told him, “Ask her to come here.”25 So he did so26 and she came and stood in the doorway.27 4:16 He said, “About this time next year28 you will be holding a son.” She said, “No, my master! O prophet, do not lie to your servant!” 4:17 The woman did conceive, and at the specified time the next year she gave birth to a son, just as Elisha had told her.
4:18 The boy grew and one day he went out to see his father who was with the harvest workers.29 4:19 He said to his father, “My head! My head!” His father30 told a servant, “Carry him to his mother.” 4:20 So he picked him up and took him to his mother. He sat on her lap31 until noon and then died. 4:21 She went up and laid him down on the prophet’s32 bed. She shut the door behind her and left. 4:22 She called to her husband, “Send me one of the servants and one of the donkeys, so I can go see the prophet quickly and then return.” 4:23 He said, “Why do you want to go see him today? It is not the new moon33 or the Sabbath.” She said, “Everything’s fine.”34 4:24 She saddled the donkey and told her servant, “Lead on.35 Do not stop unless I say so.”36
4:25 So she went to visit37 the prophet at Mount Carmel. When he38 saw her at a distance, he said to his servant Gehazi, “Look, it’s the Shunammite woman.
4:26 Now, run to meet her and ask her, ‘Are you well? Are your husband and the boy well?’” She told Gehazi,39 “Everything’s fine.”
4:27 But when she reached the prophet on the mountain, she grabbed hold of his feet. Gehazi came near to push her away, but the prophet said, “Leave her alone, for she is very upset.40 The
4:31 Now Gehazi went on ahead of them. He placed the staff on the child’s face, but there was no sound or response. When he came back to Elisha45 he told him, “The child did not wake up.”
4:32 When Elisha arrived at the house, there was46 the child lying dead on his bed.
4:33 He went in by himself and closed the door.47 Then he prayed to the
Elisha Makes a Meal Edible
4:38 Now Elisha went back to Gilgal, while there was famine in the land. Some of the prophets were visiting him56 and he told his servant, “Put the big pot on the fire57 and boil some stew for the prophets.”58 4:39 Someone went out to the field to gather some herbs and found a wild vine.59 He picked some of its fruit,60 enough to fill up the fold of his robe. He came back, cut it up, and threw the slices61 into the stew pot, not knowing they were harmful.62 4:40 The stew was poured out63 for the men to eat. When they ate some of the stew, they cried out, “Death is in the pot, O prophet!” They could not eat it. 4:41 He said, “Get some flour.” Then he threw it into the pot and said, “Now pour some out for the men so they may eat.”64 There was no longer anything harmful in the pot.
Elisha Miraculously Feeds a Hundred People
4:42 Now a man from Baal Shalisha brought some food for the prophet65 – twenty loaves of bread made from the firstfruits of the barley harvest, as well as fresh ears of grain.66 Elisha67 said, “Set it before the people so they may eat.”
4:43 But his attendant said, “How can I feed a hundred men with this?”68 He replied, “Set it before the people so they may eat, for this is what the