2 Kings 4-7

New American Standard Bible 1995

The Widow’s Oil

4 Now a certain woman of the wives of ^(A)the sons of the prophets cried out to ^[a]Elisha, “Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that your servant feared the Lord; and ^(B)the creditor has come to take my two children to be his slaves.” ² Elisha said to her, “What shall I do for you? Tell me, what do you have in the house?” And she said, “Your maidservant has nothing in the house except ^(C)a jar of oil.” ³ Then he said, “Go, borrow vessels at large for yourself from all your neighbors, even empty vessels; do not get a few. ⁴ And you shall go in and shut the door behind you and your sons, and pour out into all these vessels, and you shall set aside what is full.” ⁵ So she went from him and shut the door behind her and her sons; they were bringing the vessels to her and she poured. ⁶ When ^(D)the vessels were full, she said to her son, “Bring me another vessel.” And he said to her, “There is not one vessel more.” And the oil stopped. ⁷ Then she came and told ^(E)the man of God. And he said, “Go, sell the oil and pay your debt, and you and your sons can live on the rest.”

The Shunammite Woman

⁸ Now there came a day when Elisha passed over to ^(F)Shunem, where there was a ^[b]prominent woman, and she persuaded him to eat ^[c]food. And so it was, as often as he passed by, he turned in there to eat ^[d]food. ⁹ She said to her husband, “Behold now, I perceive that this is a holy ^(G)man of God passing by us continually. ¹⁰ Please, let us ^(H)make a little walled upper chamber and let us set a bed for him there, and a table and a chair and a lampstand; and it shall be, when he comes to us, that he can turn in there.”

^11 [e]One day he came there and turned in to the upper chamber and ^[f]rested. ¹² Then he said to ^(I)Gehazi his servant, “Call this Shunammite.” And when he had called her, she stood before him. ¹³ He said to him, “Say now to her, ‘Behold, you have been ^[g]careful for us with all this ^[h]care; what can I do for you? Would you be spoken for to the king or to the captain of the army?’” And she ^[i]answered, “I live among my own people.” ¹⁴ So he said, “What then is to be done for her?” And Gehazi ^[j]answered, “Truly she has no son and her husband is old.” ¹⁵ He said, “Call her.” When he had called her, she stood in the doorway. ¹⁶ Then he said, “^(J)At this season ^[k]next year you will embrace a son.” And she said, “No, my lord, O man of God, ^(K)do not lie to your maidservant.”

¹⁷ The woman conceived and bore a son at that season ^[l]the next year, as Elisha had said to her.

The Shunammite’s Son

¹⁸ When the child was grown, the day came that he went out to his father to the reapers. ¹⁹ He said to his father, “My head, my head.” And he said to his servant, “Carry him to his mother.” ²⁰ When he had taken him and brought him to his mother, he sat on her ^[m]lap until noon, and then died. ²¹ She went up and ^(L)laid him on the bed of ^(M)the man of God, and shut the door behind him and went out. ²² Then she called to her husband and said, “Please send me one of the servants and one of the donkeys, that I may run to the man of God and return.” ²³ He said, “Why will you go to him today? It is neither ^(N)new moon nor sabbath.” And she said, “It will be well.” ²⁴ Then she saddled a donkey and said to her servant, “Drive and go forward; do not slow down ^[n]the pace for me unless I tell you.” ²⁵ So she went and came to the man of God to ^(O)Mount Carmel.

When the man of God saw her at a distance, he said to Gehazi his servant, “Behold, ^[o]there is the Shunammite. ²⁶ Please run now to meet her and say to her, ‘Is it well with you? Is it well with your husband? Is it well with the child?’” And she ^[p]answered, “It is well.” ²⁷ When she came to the man of God ^(P)to the hill, she caught hold of his feet. And Gehazi came near to push her away; but the man of God said, “Let her alone, for her soul is ^[q]troubled within her; and the Lord has hidden it from me and has not told me.” ²⁸ Then she said, “Did I ask for a son from my lord? Did I not say, ‘^(Q)Do not deceive me’?”

²⁹ Then he said to Gehazi, “^(R)Gird up your loins and ^(S)take my staff in your hand, and go your way; if you meet any man, do not ^(T)salute him, and if anyone salutes you, do not answer him; and ^(U)lay my staff on the lad’s face.” ³⁰ The mother of the lad said, “^(V)As the Lord lives and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” And he arose and followed her. ³¹ Then Gehazi passed on before them and laid the staff on the lad’s face, but there was no sound or ^[r]response. So he returned to meet him and told ^[s]him, “The lad ^(W)has not awakened.”

³² When Elisha came into the house, behold the lad was dead and laid on his bed. ³³ So he entered and ^(X)shut the door behind them both and prayed to the Lord. ³⁴ And ^(Y)he went up and lay on the child, and put his mouth on his mouth and his eyes on his eyes and his hands on his hands, and he stretched himself on him; and the flesh of the child became warm. ³⁵ Then he returned and walked in the house once back and forth, and went up and ^(Z)stretched himself on him; and the lad sneezed seven times and the lad opened his eyes. ³⁶ He called Gehazi and said, “Call this Shunammite.” So he called her. And when she came in to him, he said, “Take up your son.” ³⁷ Then she went in and fell at his feet and bowed herself to the ground, and ^(AA)she took up her son and went out.

The Poisonous Stew

³⁸ When Elisha returned to ^(AB)Gilgal, there was ^(AC)a famine in the land. ^[t]As ^(AD)the sons of the prophets ^(AE)were sitting before him, he said to his servant, “^(AF)Put on the large pot and boil stew for the sons of the prophets.” ³⁹ Then 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 sliced them into the pot of stew, for they did not know what they were. ⁴⁰ So they poured it out for the men to eat. And as they were eating of the stew, they cried out and said, “O man of God, there is ^(AG)death in the pot.” And they were unable to eat. ⁴¹ But he said, “Now bring meal.” ^(AH)He threw it into the pot and said, “Pour it out for the people that they may eat.” Then there was no harm in the pot.

⁴² Now a man came from Baal-shalishah, and brought the man of God bread of the first fruits, twenty loaves of barley and fresh ears of grain in his sack. And he said, “^(AI)Give them to the people that they may eat.” ⁴³ His attendant said, “What, ^(AJ)will I set this before a hundred men?” But he said, “Give them to the people that they may eat, for thus says the Lord, ‘They shall eat and have some left over.’” ⁴⁴ So he set it before them, and they ate and ^(AK)had some left over, according to the word of the Lord.

Naaman Is Healed

5 Now ^(AL)Naaman, captain of the army of the king of Aram, was a great man ^[u]with his master, and highly respected, because by him the Lord had given victory to Aram. The man was also a valiant warrior, but he was a leper. ² Now the Arameans had gone out ^(AM)in bands and had taken captive a little girl from the land of Israel; and she ^[v]waited on Naaman’s wife. ³ She said to her mistress, “I wish that my master were ^[w]with the prophet who is in Samaria! Then he would cure him of his leprosy.” ^4 [x]Naaman went in and told his master, saying, “Thus and thus spoke the girl who is from the land of Israel.” ⁵ Then the king of Aram said, “Go ^[y]now, and I will send a letter to the king of Israel.” He departed and ^(AN)took with him ten talents of silver and six thousand shekels of gold and ten ^(AO)changes of clothes.

⁶ He brought the letter to the king of Israel, saying, “And now as this letter comes to you, behold, I have sent Naaman my servant to you, that you may cure him of his leprosy.” ⁷ When the king of Israel read the letter, ^(AP)he tore his clothes and said, “^(AQ)Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man is sending word to me to cure a man of his leprosy? But ^(AR)consider now, and see how he is seeking ^[z]a quarrel against me.”

⁸ It happened when Elisha ^(AS)the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, that he sent word to the king, saying, “Why have you torn your clothes? Now let him come to me, and he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel.” ⁹ So Naaman came with his horses and his chariots and stood at the doorway of the house of Elisha. ¹⁰ Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, “^(AT)Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh will be restored to you and you will be clean.” ¹¹ But Naaman was furious and went away and said, “Behold, I ^[aa]thought, ‘He will surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, and wave his hand over the place and cure the leper.’ ¹² Are not ^[ab]Abanah and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them and be clean?” So he turned and ^(AU)went away in a rage. ^13 (AV)Then his servants came near and spoke to him and said, “^(AW)My father, had the prophet told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more then, when he says to you, ‘Wash, and be clean’?” ¹⁴ So he went down and dipped himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God; and ^(AX)his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child and ^(AY)he was clean.

Gehazi’s Greed

¹⁵ When he returned to the man of God ^[ac]with all his company, and came and stood before him, he said, “Behold now, ^(AZ)I know that there is no God in all the earth, but in Israel; so please ^(BA)take a ^[ad]present from your servant now.” ¹⁶ But he said, “^(BB)As the Lord lives, before whom I stand, ^(BC)I will take nothing.” And he urged him to take it, but he refused. ¹⁷ Naaman said, “If not, please let your servant at least be given two mules’ load of ^(BD)earth; for your servant will no longer offer burnt offering nor will he sacrifice to other gods, but to the Lord. ¹⁸ In this matter may the Lord pardon your servant: when my master goes into the house of Rimmon to worship there, and ^(BE)he leans on my hand and I bow myself in the house of Rimmon, when I bow myself in the house of Rimmon, the Lord pardon your servant in this matter.” ¹⁹ He said to him, “^(BF)Go in peace.” So he departed from him some distance.

²⁰ But ^(BG)Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, ^[ae]thought, “Behold, my master has spared this Naaman the Aramean, ^[af]by not receiving from his hands what he brought. ^(BH)As the Lord lives, I will run after him and take something from him.” ²¹ So Gehazi pursued Naaman. When Naaman saw one running after him, he came down from the chariot to meet him and said, “Is all well?” ²² He said, “^(BI)All is well. My master has sent me, saying, ‘Behold, just now two young men of the sons of the prophets have come to me from ^(BJ)the hill country of Ephraim. Please give them a talent of silver and ^(BK)two changes of clothes.’” ²³ Naaman said, “^(BL)Be pleased to take two talents.” And he urged him, and bound two talents of silver in two bags with two changes of clothes and gave them to two of his servants; and they carried them before him. ²⁴ When he came to the ^[ag]hill, he took them from their hand and ^(BM)deposited them in the house, and he sent the men away, and they departed. ²⁵ But he went in and stood before his master. And Elisha said to him, “Where have you been, Gehazi?” And he said, “^(BN)Your servant went nowhere.”

²⁶ Then he said to him, “Did not my heart go with you, when the man turned from his chariot to meet you? ^(BO)Is it a time to receive money and to receive clothes and olive groves and vineyards and sheep and oxen and male and female servants? ²⁷ Therefore, the leprosy of Naaman shall cling to you and to your ^[ah]descendants forever.” So he went out from his presence ^(BP)a leper as white as snow.

The Axe Head Recovered

6 Now ^(BQ)the sons of the prophets said to Elisha, “Behold now, the place before you where we are living is too limited for us. ² Please let us go to the Jordan and each of us take from there a beam, and let us make a place there for ourselves where we may live.” So he said, “Go.” ³ Then one said, “Please be willing to go with your servants.” And he ^[ai]answered, “I shall go.” ⁴ So he went with them; and when they came to the Jordan, they cut down trees. ⁵ But as one was felling a beam, ^[aj]the axe head fell into the water; and he cried out and said, “Alas, my master! For it was borrowed.” ⁶ Then the man of God said, “Where did it fall?” And when he showed him the place, ^(BR)he cut off a stick and threw it in there, and made the iron float. ⁷ He said, “Take it up for yourself.” So he put out his hand and took it.

The Arameans Plot to Capture Elisha

⁸ Now the king of Aram was warring against Israel; and he ^[ak]counseled with his servants saying, “In such and such a place shall be my camp.” ^9 (BS)The man of God sent word to the king of Israel saying, “Beware that you do not pass this place, for the Arameans are coming down there.” ¹⁰ The king of Israel sent to the place about which the man of God had told him; thus he warned him, so that he guarded himself there, ^[al]more than once or twice.

¹¹ Now the heart of the king of Aram was enraged over this thing; and he called his servants and said to them, “Will you tell me which of us is for the king of Israel?” ¹² One of his servants said, “No, my lord, O king; but Elisha, the prophet who is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the words that you speak in your bedroom.” ¹³ So he said, “Go and see where he is, that I may send and take him.” And it was told him, saying, “Behold, he is in ^(BT)Dothan.” ¹⁴ He sent horses and chariots and a great army there, and they came by night and surrounded the city.

¹⁵ Now when the attendant of the man of God had risen early and gone out, behold, an army with horses and chariots was circling the city. And his servant said to him, “Alas, my master! ^[am]What shall we do?” ¹⁶ So he ^[an]answered, “^(BU)Do not fear, for ^(BV)those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” ¹⁷ Then Elisha prayed and said, “^(BW)O Lord, I pray, open his eyes that he may see.” And the Lord opened the servant’s eyes and he saw; and behold, the mountain was full of ^(BX)horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. ¹⁸ When they came down to him, Elisha prayed to the Lord and said, “Strike this ^[ao]people with blindness, I pray.” So He ^(BY)struck them with blindness according to the word of Elisha. ¹⁹ Then Elisha said to them, “This is not the way, nor is this the city; follow me and I will bring you to the man whom you seek.” And he brought them to Samaria.

²⁰ When they had come into Samaria, Elisha said, “O ^(BZ)Lord, open the eyes of these men, that they may see.” So the Lord opened their eyes and they saw; and behold, they were in the midst of Samaria. ²¹ Then the king of Israel when he saw them, said to Elisha, “^(CA)My father, shall I ^[ap]kill them? Shall I ^[aq]kill them?” ²² He ^[ar]answered, “You shall not ^[as]kill them. Would you ^[at](CB)kill those you have taken captive with your sword and with your bow? ^(CC)Set bread and water before them, that they may eat and drink and go to their master.” ²³ So he prepared a great feast for them; and when they had eaten and drunk he sent them away, and they went to their master. And ^(CD)the marauding bands of Arameans did not come again into the land of Israel.

The Siege of Samaria—Cannibalism

²⁴ Now it came about after this, that ^(CE)Ben-hadad king of Aram gathered all his army and went up and besieged Samaria. ²⁵ There was a great ^(CF)famine in Samaria; and behold, they besieged it, until a donkey’s head was sold for eighty shekels of silver, and a fourth of a ^[au]kab of dove’s dung for five shekels of silver. ²⁶ As the king of Israel was passing by on the wall a woman cried out to him, saying, “Help, my lord, O king!” ²⁷ He said, “^[av]If the Lord does not help you, from where shall I help you? From the threshing floor, or from the wine press?” ²⁸ And the king said to her, “^(CG)What ^[aw]is the matter with you?” And she ^[ax]answered, “This woman said to me, ‘Give your son that we may eat him today, and we will eat my son tomorrow.’ ^29 (CH)So we boiled my son and ate him; and I said to her on the next day, ‘Give your son, that we may eat him’; but she has hidden her son.” ³⁰ When the king heard the words of the woman, ^(CI)he tore his clothes—now he was passing by on the wall—and the people looked, and behold, he had sackcloth ^[ay]beneath on his ^[az]body. ³¹ Then he said, “May ^(CJ)God do so to me and more also, if the head of Elisha the son of Shaphat ^[ba]remains on him today.”

³² Now Elisha was sitting in his house, and ^(CK)the elders were sitting with him. And the king sent a man from his presence; but before the messenger came to him, he said to the elders, “Do you ^(CL)see how this son of a murderer has sent to take away my head? Look, when the messenger comes, shut the door and ^[bb]hold the door shut against him. Is not the sound of his master’s feet behind him?” ³³ While he was still talking with them, behold, the messenger came down to him and he said, “^(CM)Behold, this evil is from the Lord; why should I wait for the Lord any longer?”

Elisha Promises Food

7 Then Elisha said, “Listen to the word of the Lord; thus says the Lord, ‘^(CN)Tomorrow about this time a ^[bc]measure of fine flour will be sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, in the gate of Samaria.’” ^2 (CO)The royal officer on whose hand the king was leaning answered the man of God and said, “Behold, ^(CP)if the Lord should make windows in heaven, could this thing be?” Then he said, “Behold, you will see it with your own eyes, but you will not eat ^[bd]of it.”

Four Lepers Relate Arameans’ Flight

³ Now there were four ^(CQ)leprous men at the entrance of the gate; and they said to one another, “Why do we sit here until we die? ⁴ If we say, ‘We will enter the city,’ then the famine is in the city and we will die there; and if we sit here, we die also. Now therefore come, and let us ^[be]go over to ^(CR)the camp of the Arameans. If they spare us, we will live; and if they kill us, we will but die.” ⁵ They arose at twilight to go to the camp of the Arameans; when they came to the outskirts of the camp of the Arameans, behold, there was no one there. ⁶ For ^(CS)the Lord had caused the army of the Arameans to hear a sound of chariots and a sound of horses, even the sound of a great army, so that they said to one another, “Behold, the king of Israel has hired against us ^(CT)the kings of the Hittites and ^(CU)the kings of the Egyptians, to come upon us.” ⁷ Therefore they ^(CV)arose and fled in the twilight, and left their tents and their horses and their donkeys, even the camp just as it was, and fled for their life. ⁸ When these lepers came to the outskirts of the camp, they entered one tent and ate and drank, and ^(CW)carried from there silver and gold and clothes, and went and hid them; and they returned and entered another tent and carried from there also, and went and hid them.

⁹ Then they said to one another, “We are not doing right. This day is a day of good news, but we are keeping silent; if we wait until morning light, punishment will ^[bf]overtake us. Now therefore come, let us go and tell the king’s household.” ¹⁰ So they came and called to the gatekeepers of the city, and they told them, saying, “We came to the camp of the Arameans, and behold, there was no one there, nor the voice of man, only the horses tied and the donkeys tied, and the tents just as they were.” ¹¹ The gatekeepers called and told it within the king’s household. ¹² Then the king arose in the night and said to his servants, “I will now tell you what the Arameans have done to us. They know that ^(CX)we are hungry; therefore they have gone from the camp ^(CY)to hide themselves in the field, saying, ‘When they come out of the city, we will capture them alive and get into the city.’” ¹³ One of his servants said, “Please, let some men take five of the horses which remain, which are left ^[bg]in the city. Behold, they will be in any case like all the multitude of Israel who are left in it; behold, they will be in any case like all the multitude of Israel who have already perished, so let us send and see.” ¹⁴ They took therefore two chariots with horses, and the king sent after the army of the Arameans, saying, “Go and see.”

The Promise Fulfilled

¹⁵ They went after them to the Jordan, and behold, all the way was full of clothes and equipment which the Arameans had thrown away in their haste. Then the messengers returned and told the king.

¹⁶ So the people went out and plundered the camp of the Arameans. Then a ^[bh]measure of fine flour was sold for a shekel and two ^[bi]measures of barley for a shekel, ^(CZ)according to the word of the Lord. ¹⁷ Now the king appointed ^(DA)the royal officer on whose hand he leaned ^[bj]to have charge of the gate; but the people trampled on him at the gate, and he died just as the man of God had said, ^(DB)who spoke when the king came down to him. ¹⁸ It happened just as the man of God had spoken to the king, saying, “^(DC)Two ^[bk]measures of barley for a shekel and a ^[bl]measure of fine flour for a shekel, will be sold tomorrow about this time at the gate of Samaria.” ¹⁹ Then the royal officer answered the man of God and said, “Now behold, ^(DD)if the Lord should make windows in heaven, could such a thing be?” And he said, “Behold, you will see it with your own eyes, but you will not eat ^[bm]of it.” ²⁰ And so it happened to him, for the people trampled on him at the gate and he died.